The Auxiliary Beacon
News from Civil Air Patrol... Now with 30% more sarcasm and 100% fewer safety briefings.
Latest dispatch
Fifty-four Civil Air Patrol cadets from 31 states reported to Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., from July 18-25, 2026, for the National Cadet Engineering Technology Academy, a competitively selected week whose title contained the word “engineering” and whose calendar contained horse science, fashion studies, social work,…
A cadet beamed with the unfiltered joy of someone who had just discovered that gravity still works after a 20-minute loop around the Fort Worth traffic pattern. It was a glorious Saturday of controlled mayhem for…
Welcome to the Civil Air Patrol America 250 series. In a bid to attach ourselves to a national birthday party we had nothing to do with founding, we will be highlighting American hero members and their…
Col. Joe R. Smith of Wichita Falls, Texas, has joined the elite 1 percent of American pilots who have managed to keep their machines in the air for 50 years without the Federal Aviation Administration having…
McALLEN, Texas — In a triumph that will echo through the annals of teenage aviation history, Civil Air Patrol Cadet Capt. Sebastian Vargas has officially become the 200th Cadet Wings pilot to cash in on a…
Susanna Marking, in her role as deputy director for interagency communications for the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026, enjoys the view at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, during a recent World…
Welcome to the Civil Air Patrol America 250 series. We highlight American hero members whose service somehow loops back to 250 years of history, even when that history involves leftover Soviet bases and courtyard art. This…
With its new organizational membership in the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF), Civil Air Patrol is strengthening its growing role within the national geospatial information, intelligence, remote sensing, and GIS community. Because flying small planes…
Welcome to the Civil Air Patrol America 250 series, in which we profile members whose idea of a quiet retirement involves more radios, cadets, and emergency management than most people encounter in a lifetime. Fifth installment:…
Welcome to the Civil Air Patrol America 250 series, where we spotlight members whose lives appear to have been plotted by a committee of overly enthusiastic destiny enthusiasts. This installment features Capt. Angel Figueroa of the…
Cadet Chief Master Sgt. Sydney Otis of the Idaho Wing’s Teton Valley Composite Squadron has become the 500th Civil Air Patrol student to earn her wings, a milestone that officials insist proves America’s aging pilot corps…
In a ceremony dripping with military pageantry and enough acronyms to fill a phone book, Col. Andrew J. Stewart officially became the 34th Civil Air Patrol-U.S. Air Force commander on April 20 at Maxwell Air Force…
In a stunning display of what happens when you mix military discipline with simulation software, the Colorado Springs Cadet Squadron’s Wolfpack clawed their way to third place at the Air & Space Forces Association’s National Space…
In a dazzling feat of volunteer aviation excess, Civil Air Patrol’s Hawaii Wing transformed a routine Kona Low into an all-island photo marathon, delivering thousands of ultra-crisp images that let bureaucrats count every soggy palm frond…
Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost (standing left) and Air Force Brig. Gen. Matthew French (right) tour Civil Air Patrol communications operations at Maxwell Air Force Base as CAP Col. Ross E. Veta (foreground)…
The Civil Air Patrol has officially joined forces with NASA in a Space Act Agreement so groundbreaking it might just launch the next generation of aerospace overlords, complete with capes and decoder rings. The CAP-NASA Space…
Col. Amy Myzie (third from left, grinning like she'd just won the lottery) snaps a triumphant selfie with her band of CAP volunteers who heroically descended on the Armed Services Whole Blood Processing Lab-East at Joint…
The spirit of endless “talk story” sessions, where memories stretch longer than a sugar cane field, still clings to the Hawaiian Islands and the souls of those who escaped them. Retired airline Capt. Clement Hirae’s winding…
