NEW YORK – The Civil Air Patrol was front and center Friday morning at the New York Stock Exchange, with high-ranking CAP officers and cadets perched atop the podium on the trading room floor to open the third day of business for the new year.
The CAP bell-ringing team was led by National Commander Maj. Gen. Chuck Carr, who touted the 61,000-member organization and its missions for America during the brief stock exchange appearance.
“This was a very unique opportunity for Civil Air Patrol,” said Carr, who officially rang the opening bell along with former National Commander Maj. Gen. Amy S. Courter and three CAP cadets. “We were delighted to get this chance to tell more about our world-class public service organization, which has been performing missions for America for more than 70 years.”
The cadets, members of CAP’s New York Wing, were on hand to call attention to the organization’s cadet program, which provides young people between the ages of 12 and 21 with a program of leadership development, aerospace education, physical fitness and moral and ethical decision-making. In addition to educating more than 26,000 cadets, CAP’s adult leaders also provide training and resources to teachers who reach out to students of all ages across the country.
CAP also performs emergency services missions, like search and rescue for downed planes and missing people and disaster relief to communities throughout the United States, as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The bell-ringing ceremony was featured on the NYSE Euronext website and on television networks such as CNBC, Bloomberg TV and Fox Business News, reaching millions of viewers worldwide.
Courter helped organize the ceremony and, as board president of the International Air Cadet Exchange, also represented that association. The IACEA is a 20-nation consortium that provides annual air cadet exchanges involving more than 500 young people worldwide, including CAP cadets.
Other CAP dignitaries on the podium included National Vice Commander Brig. Gen. Joe Vazquez, New York Wing Commander Col. Jack Ozer and Chief Operating Officer Don Rowland.
CAP, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 61,000 members nationwide, operating a fleet of 550 aircraft. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 80 lives annually. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to nearly 27,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet program. CAP received the World Peace Prize in 2011 and has been performing missions for America for 71 years. CAP also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans.
(Photo courtesy of Dario Cantatore/NYSE Euronext)
