Civil Air Patrol Expands Role in Lost / Missing Person Search
Civil Air Patrol (CAP) has been the best kept secret in
search and rescue for years. Perhaps best known for its
air search and rescue efforts, CAP flies more than 85
percent of all federal inland search and rescue missions
directed by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center
at Tyndall Air Force Base, FL. Outside the continental
United States, CAP supports the Joint Rescue
Coordination Centers in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
The Civil Air Patrol averages approximately 100 saves per year. However, other than missing
aircraft or emergency locator searches, Civil Air Patrol has been largely overlooked for missing
person ground search and rescue efforts. This situation is about to change.
The Texas Wing of Civil Air Patrol is in the process of establishing seven (7) task force teams in
Texas for the purpose of assisting local law enforcement with missing person search and rescue
operations. This new resource is called CAPSAR (Civil Air Patrol Search and Rescue).
Texas Wing Commander Col. Brooks Cima came to this idea after being approached by several
law enforcement agencies that were frustrated over the lack of quality resources available. She
learned of a similar, very successful, program in Arizona led by Major Dallas Lane of the
Arizona Civil Air Patrol. The Texas is designed to expand the traditional SAR role of Civil Air
Patrol ground teams to include assisting local law enforcement in the search and rescue of lost
and missing persons.
CAPSAR members train to meet or exceed the FEMA / DHS requirements and become a
recognized, typed asset for search and rescue of lost or missing persons. The foundation of
these teams include National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) and Civil Air Patrol
training to prepare the members to be certified as a Search and Rescue Technicians. All
members of CAPSAR enter as a SAR-Tech 3 then those who want to be part of the field
deployed search team train to advance to a minimum of SAR-Tech 2. Other requirements to
meet FEMA Job Class requirements include; HazMat Introduction, Basic First Aid, CPR/AED,
CERT, and much more. However, this training is only the beginning. Once search and rescue
members complete the basic requirements, they will continue to more advanced levels of
training in areas such as man-tracking, search management, canine search, and state certified
medical training such as the Medical First Responder or Emergency Medical Technician.
2nd Lt. Don Stephens is an instructor and the State
Coordinator for the CAPSAR project. He is a NASAR
Master Lead Evaluator and Civil Air Patrol member with 25
years of search and rescue experience. “Several of our
instructors have law enforcement and EMS backgrounds”,
says Stephens. “This training and certifications are only a
very basic beginning or foundation on which we are
building this resource. It helps to assure the requesting
agency that they are using a resource that has been
trained, certified, and equipped to assist them in their
investigation”.
All Civil Air Patrol members are non-paid volunteers from all walks of life. When requested
through either the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center or the state of Texas Office of
Emergency Management, all costs are covered, members are protected by insurance, and the
impressive depth of Civil Air Patrol assets are available to assist. Stephens further explained,
“We are there to assist, not to take over an agency’s search. We have people trained to fully
run the search if needed, but we like the agency to retain control and just allow us to manage
our assets in a unified command structure.”
The Civil Air Patrol must be requested by the official agency in charge of the search. However,
they stress that they work with local search and rescue teams and are not in competition. “We
have the depth of resources that go beyond our State and can sustain operations for days or
weeks with over 3400 members in Texas and over 60,000 nationally. In addition to our
members, Civil Air Patrol has the largest fleet of single engine piston aircraft in the world, with
30 of their aircraft stationed throughout Texas”. Stephens states, “Local SAR teams can usually
work for a few hours, maybe a few days. We can help augment their capabilities and want to be
a positive resource for them and law enforcement which typically handles these types of cases.
It’s about doing what is best for the victim we serve.”
. . . . that others may live.
For more information please contact Don Stephens by email at: [email protected]