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Air Force Academy, Civil Air Patrol cadets fly high

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Lauren Snyder
  • 433rd Airlft Wing Public Affairs

Members from the Three Rivers Composite Squadron Civil Air Patrol from Grape Creek, Texas along with cadets from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado visited here to check out the mission of the 433rd Airlift Wing and catch a flight onboard a C-5M Super Galaxy on June 8, 2018.

CAP cadets, senior members, along with Air Force Academy cadets, met with Col. T.K. Smith, 433rd Airlift Wing commander, received a mission brief, met with aircrew members and witness an aerial refueling during an incentive flight.  

The cadets and those who accompanied were all welcomed aboard the giant aircraft for a three-hour nonstop flight from San Antonio, Texas, to the Lafayette, Louisiana area and back.

“I’ve just started this year; I’m 13,” said Cadet Senior Airman Calie Reyes, San Angelo Composite Squadron, Civil Air Patrol. “I learned about the Civil Air Patrol from my sister. I saw pictures of her in her uniform and I just wanted to do it because it looked so cool.”

“Cadets range from 12 to 21, and after 18 you can become a senior member,” Reyes said. “It’s super fun. We fly airplanes; I’ve gotten to do that already, and it’s really cool. Getting to fly a plane at 13 isn’t something that happens very often.”

Flight participants had a chance to visit the cockpit, talk to the crew and soak up the atmosphere as they rode the behemoth aircraft.

The Civil Air Patrol is a congressionally chartered, federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force. Its congressionally mandated missions are aerospace, education and cadet programs.

The United States Air Force Academy is a military academy for officer cadets of the United States Air Force. Its mission is to educate, train, and inspire men and women to become officers preparing them to serve their country and succeed in 21st-century careers.