Change in Command at the U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal
Civil Air Patrol Squadron Recognizes Commander Caffarra
Cadet Captain Ned Caffarra, Gold Palm Eagle Scout, Takes Charge of the
Picatinny Arsenal Cadet Squadron in a Homeland Defense Ceremony
Cadet Captain Ned Caffarra (left) takes command of the Picatinny
Arsenal Squadron with the Passing of the Guidon by Command
Sergeant Major Scott Koroll (center), U.S. Army Garrison. Outgoing
Cadet Commander Lt. Col. Nico Longhi (right) of Succasunna transfers
the colors to the new commanding officer.
PICATINNY ARSENAL, NJ – Sept. 29th,
2009 – Cadet Captain Ned Caffarra took
command of the historic Picatinny Arsenal
Civil Air Patrol Squadron in a formal
Change of Command ceremony at the U.S.
Army Base’s Homeland Defense compound.
The customary passing of the squadron
guidon was executed by Command Sergeant
Major Scott Koroll of the U.S. Army
Garrison, the commanding NCO of the
Arsenal. Cadet Captain Caffarra, a highly
experienced Eagle Scout, is in his fourth
year of service in the U.S. Air Force
Auxiliary, and moves into senior command
from his successful tenure as squadron
Executive Officer and Deputy Commander.
With this ceremonial exchange of colors,
Captain Caffarra now leads one of the most
historic Civil Air Patrol squadrons in the
country, which directly serves the U.S.
military community. Picatinny is the
premier Joint Armament Research &
Development facility in the nation, and its
CAP unit has assisted the base’s families,
soldiers, and civilians in service for the past
37 years. Picatinny relies on core volunteer
partners, and their resident CAP Squadron
has always been a prime contributor.
Ned Caffarra, now seventeen years old, belongs to the exclusive double-Eagle community of Scouts
who have earned the BSA’s highest award while also attaining the Billy Mitchell and Amelia Earhart
achievements as a Civil Air Patrol officer. Caffarra has received numerous Scouting awards for
leadership, and has recently earned both the Bronze and the Gold Eagle Palms for his continuing service.
He is junior Assistant Scoutmaster in Troop 16 of St. Philomena’s Church in Livingston, and holds
perennial leadership roles on the Northern New Jersey Council’s National Youth Leadership Team.
The formal military Change in Command ceremony
dates back to the Middle Ages, when it afforded the
troops an opportunity to witness the establishment of
their field commander and identify his colors in the heat
of battle. Passing the Guidon is the time honored
assurance of a continuous unbroken chain of command
through history, and the public acclamation of leadership
authority within a fighting unit.
Cadet Commander Caffarra’s experience with the
Picatinny Squadron includes leading the unit in multiple
community service events, including traffic and crowd
management missions, formal Honor Guard duty for
fallen soldier memorials, and organizing youth
mentorship opportunities. Caffarra was named VFW
Cadet of the Year, and served as Squadron Commander
at the N.J. Wing bivouac at the West Point Military
Academy this spring. He also represents Picatinny on the
New Jersey Cadet Advisory Council.
Over the summer, this cadet and Eagle Scout shared
leadership responsibilities of the BSA Northern New
Jersey Council’s challenging ten day National Youth
training program in the Catskill Mountains of New
York. As a cadet officer, he graduated the U.S.A.F. Air
University’s CAP Officer School at Maxwell AFB, and
completed his jet flight orientation with the 47th Fighter
Training Wing at Laughlin AFB in Texas.
Ned Caffarra begins his junior year at Seton Hall
Preparatory School in West Orange, where he is a
Varsity swimmer and honor student. Caffarra is
following in the footsteps of yet another Seton Hall
student – the outgoing Cadet Commander Lt. Colonel
Nicholas Longhi. Longhi is one of the most highly
decorated CAP cadets nationally, and the recipient of the
Air Force Association’s Cadet of the Year Award. Cadet
Longhi will complete his private pilots’ license this year,
and aims to begin his aviation career at U.S. Air Force
Academy in the summer of 2010. Likewise, Commander
Caffarra hopes to begin his professional career by
earning a U.S. service academy appointment for 2011.
‘At Ease’. Caffarra in command of West Point Squadron. (New
Jersey Wing CAP Bivouac, U. S. Military Academy, March 2009.)
Cadet Commander Lt. Colonel Nico Longhi (with guidon) and
Executive Officer Cadet Captain Ned Caffarra parade to their
Squadron Change of Command Ceremony at Picatinny’s
Homeland Defense Compound
The Civil Air Patrol is the official auxiliary of
the U.S. Air Force and contracted by law to
execute a multi-role mission of aerospace
education, disaster relief (DR) and search &
rescue (SAR), and to serve America’s youth
by building future airmen and officers through
a rigorous Cadet Program. CAP is a nonprofit
organization with more than 56,000 members
nationwide, and 40 percent of these are
participating cadets. The organization
performs 90 percent of all continental U.S.
inland SAR missions for the U.S. First Air
Force as tasked by the Air Force Rescue
Coordination Center, and was credited by the
AFRCC with saving 90 lives in 2008 alone.
Its dedicated volunteers also perform
homeland security and disaster relief missions
at the request of federal, state and local
agencies. Senior members play a leading role
in U.S. aerospace education and serve as
mentors to the nearly 22,000 young people
currently participating in CAP cadet
programs. CAP has been performing this
mission for America for more than 67 years.
For more information about the Civil Air Patrol,
see www.gocivilairpatrol.com