Pennsylvania Wing Civil Air Patrol

History

Pennsylvania Wing is one of the original 48 wings in Civil Air Patrol.

In the spring of 1942, the Pennsylvania Wing conducted a 30-day experiment with the intention of convincing the Army Air Forces that they were capable of flying cargo missions for the nation. PA Wing transported Army cargo as far as Georgia, and top Army officials were impressed. After the 30 day trial period, the War Department gave CAP permission to conduct courier and cargo service for the military, often flying mail, light cargo, and important military officials between USAAF bases.

One of the Civil Air Patrol's very first "Aviation Cadet Programs" was established at the Pittsburgh Army Air Field in the Spring of 1943. Accepting young men as "Aviation Cadets" in a delayed enlistment program for the Army Air Forces, the Pittsburgh Squadron trained these boys (as young as 15) in Aerospace and Military subjects and vetted them for service as Army Air Force Pilots. Graduating a total of 16 Aviation Cadets for the Army in less than ten months, the Pittsburgh Squadron model was copied by units in Philadelphia, New York City and as far south as Florida. Today, the current Squadron with direct lineage to that Aviation Cadet Unit is the CAP's second longest, continually operated unit on a Military Installation.

On December 31, 1999, PA Wing units were put on stand-by in case of any problems arising from the Y2K bug.

During the September 11 attacks, Pennsylvania Wing was ordered to a stand-by state. Although not officially tasked with any missions in direct support, PAWG radio communications centers were operational and prepared to offer assistance.

In 2006, PA Wing was activated to fly reconnaissance missions during the 2006 flood. PAWG aircraft flew over major waterways to provide detailed photographs of flood-affected areas and to monitor floodwaters as they moved downstream.

31 Members from Pennsylvania Wing Civil Air Patrol traveled 28 hours to Pascagoula, Mississippi to aid in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. PAWG Ground Teams went door-to-door ensuring that local residents had adequate food, water, and medical care.

In August and September 2011, all CAP emergency service teams in Pennsylvania Wing and CAP members from Maryland,West Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana Wings were activated to assist communities affected by Hurricane Irene (2011) and Tropical Storm Lee (2011).

During the time between September 1, 2010 to December 1, 2011, the Pennsylvania Wing saved eleven lives, provided emergency response in Pennsylvania during the 2011 flooding and severe winter storms.

In November 2012, CAP Pennsylvania Wing emergency services air crews and ground teams were activated to assist communities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware during flooding and high wind of Hurricane Sandy.

2016, CAP celebrates its 75th Anniversary.

Pennsylvania Wing Commanders

1. Lt. Col. William L. Anderson Dec 1, 41 to Aug 18, 45
2. Lt. Col. Philip F. Neuweiler Aug 18, 45 to Mar 26, 46
3. Lt. Col. Carl A. Reber Mar 26, 46 to Aug 15, 47
4. Col. Philip F. Neuweiler Aug 15, 47 to Mar 21, 70
5. Col. Angelo A. Milano Mar 22, 70 to Nov 5, 77
6. Temp. Col. Andrew E. Skiba Nov 5, 1977 to Jun 28, 1978
7. Lt. Col. Edward T. Kelly (Int.) Jun 28, 1978 to Jan 1, 1979
8. Col. Angelo A. Milano Jan 1, 1979 to Dec 7, 1987
9. Col. Raymond F. Schuler Dec 7, 1987 to Feb 16, 1990
10. Col. M. Allen Applebaum Feb 16, 1990 to Nov 14, 1990
11. Col. Larry Kauffman Nov 14, 1990 to Nov 20, 1993
12. Col. Joseph A. Guimond, Jr. Nov 20, 1993 to Aug 19, 1995
13. Col. Jean-Pierre J. Habets Aug 19, 1995 to Aug 15, 1999
14. Col. Fredric K. Weiss Aug 15, 1999 to Jun 14, 2003
15. Col. M. Allen Applebaum Jun 14, 2003 to Sep 29, 2007
16. Col. Mark A. Lee Sep 29, 2007 to Nov 12, 2011
17. Col. Sandra E. Brandon Nov 12, 2011 to May 16, 2015
18. Col. Gary Fleming May 16, 2015 to Present

Pennsylvania Spaatz Awards

10 Michael F. S. Hanford Feb 14, 1966
47 Kenneth B. Hibbert Sep 12, 1967
62 Ramon L. Bennedetto May 16, 1968
74 Michael A. Allen Nov 22, 1968
79 Richard B. Smith Jan 7, 1969
88 James I. Heald May 15, 1969
104 Paul S. Draper Jan 14, 1970
105 Harry Z. Mertz Jan 14, 1970
116 Gary J. Kirkpatrick May 14, 1970
166 Roy K. Salomon Apr 11, 1972
171 Marie E. Stutz Jun 28, 1972
174 Donald P. Flinn Jul 24, 1972
205 Mark L. Sweeney Mar 15, 1973
220 George S. Rose Jun 18, 1973
230 Robert P. Pelligrini Aug 2, 1973
299 Gary p. Standorf Nov 7, 1974
314 Keith D. Kries Mar 7, 1975
423 Konrad J. Trautman Feb 14, 1977
445 Robert Mattes Oct 2, 1977
452 Lawrence L. Trick Nov 22, 1977
463 Jerrold Warthman Mar 1, 1978
480 Richard Magners Jul 3, 1978
484 Richard Graves Aug 22, 1978
495 James Kraftchak Jan 2, 1979
510 William Snee May 1, 1979
532 Bryan Watson Nov 13, 1979
533 Robert Atwell Nov 16, 1979
534 Terry Hawes Nov 19, 1979
553 Jeff Riley Aug 8, 1980
554 Terry Friend Sep 3, 1980
558 Tim Hawes Oct 27, 1980
570 Richard Yingling May 6, 1981
583 R. Steven Rickert Oct 7, 1981
613 Edward Czeck Jun 25, 1982
625 Sean Neal Dec 13, 1982
626 Anthony Sodano Dec 17, 1982
691 Walter Garnett Apr 1, 1984
738 Kurt Hack Feb 28, 1985
783 Robert Lutz Jan 22, 1986
797 Daniel Weston May 8, 1986
815 David Mertes Sep 5, 1986
882 Paul Andrew Apr 6, 1988
889 John Angeny Jul 1, 1988
935 Lawrence L. Stouffer Apr 18, 1989
950 John Talaber Aug 8, 1989
957 Henry Lutz Aug 29, 1989
1007 William Davis Jun 12, 1990
1043 Kerim Yasar Jan 16, 1991
1073 Joseph Shirer Aug 27, 1991
1074 Randy Lentz Aug 27, 1991
1081 Isaac Zortman Nov 21, 1991
1083 Richard Gray Dec 9, 1991
1101 Nathaniel Szewczyk Feb 25, 1992
1153 Kara Grimaldi Jan 18, 1993
1173 Timothy Cheslock Jun 29, 1993
1174 Sarah Ferdinand Jun 29, 1993
1236 Julian Rivera Jan 12, 1995
1282 Julius Armstrong Dec 22, 1995
1286 Joel A. Martin Dec 3, 1995
1287 Broderick A. Jones Dec 3, 1995
1383 Michael T. Bauer Jul 19, 1998
1409 Jason Secrest Jul 16, 1999
1432 Sean T. Conroy Jun 9, 2000
1480 Joshua Plocinski Dec 21, 2002
1497 Shawn M. Cressman Mar 13, 2003
1590 Erin M. Nelson Feb 21, 2006
1631 David J. Spillane Apr 21, 2007
1658 Robert A. Nolt Jul 26, 2007
1662 Matthew J. Postupack Aug 28, 2007
1677 Thomas P. Carr Dec 22, 2007
1748 Courtney Gallagher Dec 23, 2009
1767 Dane V. Carroll Aug 19, 2010
1791 Noah D. Bendele Apr 21, 2011
1900 Abigail R. Hawkins Aug 9, 2013
1949 Ethan J. Dunlap May 20, 2014
1994 Nicholas A Cavacini Jun 19, 2015
2011 Nicholas G Basile Sep 28, 2015
2044 Adam I. Parker 17 May 2016

Source: http://www.spaatz.org/mbr/list.php

Structure

Pennsylvania Wing is the highest echelon of Civil Air Patrol in Pennsylvania. PA Wing reports to Northeast Region CAP, who reports to CAP National Headquarters.

Pennsylvania Wing Headquarters is located in a renovated former World War Two Post Exchange (PX) and Non Commissioned Officers Club (NCO Club) complex at Fort Indiantown Gap in Annville, Pennsylvania. Offices, classrooms, a communications center and an emergency operations center are located inside the Headquarters. Additionally, the headquarters building is located approximately one mile from Muir Army Airfield.

Reporting to the Wing level, Pennsylvania is divided into six geographic groups. Each group conducts training, activities, classroom learning and programs, with actual missions assigned to a group from the Wing. Originally, the state was divided into three groups (western, central, and eastern); but with an increasing number of squadrons, PAWG divided split each group into northern and southern sections, creating six groups in 2007.

Reporting to each group are 60 squadrons. Squadrons are the local level of organization and serve the local community, and squadrons meet weekly to conduct conducts training, activities, classroom learning and programs to carry out the three missions of Civil Air Patrol - Emergency Services, Cadet Programs, and Aerospace Education.

There are three types of Civil Air Patrol squadrons.

1. A cadet squadron focus primarily on providing for cadets (ages 12 to 21).
2. A senior squadron is a unit dedicated to allowing senior members to focus on CAP's missions.
3. Composite squadrons have both cadets and senior members working together.

As of December 1, 2014, the PA Wing operates 60 squadrons, in six groups, 15 aircraft, 34 ground vehicles and a state-wide radio communications network that is operational 24/7 and is part of a national network.

Group 1

Group 1 is responsible for operations in and around the Pittsburgh area.

Group 2

Group 2 operates around Harrisburg.

Group 3

Group 3 operates in the greater Philadelphia area.

Group 4

Group 4 conducts operations in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Lehigh Valley areas.

Group 5

The Group 5 region encompasses much of North Central Pennsylvania, including State College, Altoona, and Williamsport.

Group 6

Group 6 is responsible for operations near Erie.