Welcome to Illinois Wing

Established in 1941, Civil Air Patrol is the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force and as such is a member of its Total Force. In its auxiliary role, CAP operates a fleet of 555 single-engine aircraft and 2,250 small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) and performs about 90% of all search and rescue operations within the contiguous United States as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. Often using innovative cellphone forensics and radar analysis software, CAP was credited by the AFRCC with saving 108 lives last year. CAP’s 58,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. As a nonprofit organization, CAP plays a leading role in aerospace education using national academic standards-based STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education resources. Members also serve as mentors to over 24,000 young people participating in CAP’s Cadet Programs.

Civil Air Patrol’s Illinois Wing Statistics (2021)

Volunteer Members:

584 adult members

471 cadets

95 aircrew personnel

692 emergency responders

Total Hours Flown: 870

Aircraft Fleet: 9 Single-Engine and 3 Gliders | Vehicle Fleet:  16

Financial: $3,763,773 value of wing’s volunteer hours

Cadet Flying: 89 CAP, Air Force ROTC, and Air Force Junior ROTC cadet orientation flights

Find more statistics in the Illinois Wing Report found in the Related Documents column