Blairsville, Ga – The 152nd Composite Squadron of North Georgia of the Civil Air Patrol updated Blairsville City Council on their efforts to shape young lives and help the community.

Ken Stanger, the new Commander of the Civil Air Patrol, spoke on behalf of the non-profit organization and its nine cadets.

Civil Air Patrol instills four core values in all its cadets – Integrity, Volunteer Services, Excellence, and Respect.

“Those are actually mimicking the Air Forces with exception of Volunteer Services,” stated Stanger.
The organization has saved 158 lives in conjunction with the Air Force, found 712 missing individuals, and operated 560 single-engine piston planes.

Currently, the organization has flown 35,316 flights with cadets, ROTC, JROTC to give these individuals flying experience and has recorded 89,773 flight hours.

61,066 volunteers make up the 14,022 squads across the country. 700,000 plus students benefit from the Civil Air Patrol through STEM programs. The federal government invested over $2.4M into cadet training to reduce the nation’s pilot storage.

$187M spent in man-hours in 2018 serving emergency services, cadet training, youth development, and aerospace educational STEM.

The 152nd is currently in a rebuilding phase and looking for new adult volunteers to help out.

“We are a non-profit organization. The air force does furnish us certain things, but they do not furnish us our clothing. The cadets have to buy. We try to help them, but the funds aren’t always there. We try to do setups at Wal-Mart,” explained First Lt. Judy Brighten, “If you know any organization that you might now that you might like to sponsor us, we’d appreciate it.”

“Have you tried to do a fund collection here in town?” commented Mayor Jim Conley, “Whenever you get ready, just see Cindy Neely at the Police Department, and she’ll issue the permit.”

The organization also performs flag replacements, flag disposal, and honor guard presentations.

The Civil Air Patrol meets weekly on Thursday at the Blairsville Airport from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and welcomes all visitors. The group’s planning an open house on October 26.

Emblem for the 152nd Composite Squadron provided by the group’s website.

Founded in December 1941 by 150,000 civilians who were concerned about coastline defense, the Civil Air Patrol became a federally-funded organization in 1946 by President Truman.

Blairsville’s division began over 40 years ago with resident R. Neal Collins instrumental in setting it up.

All photos taken from Civil Air Patrol website.