CAP History

Our history dates back to World War II, when civilian pilots flew their private aircraft from the Atlantic coast, patrolling America's shores for German U-boats.

With most of the Army Air Corps aircraft deployed in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific, only the CAP were left to search for enemy subs. When a U-boat was found, CAP pilots called in air strikes against the subs. German U-boat commanders quickly recognized the threat of these tiny, civil, aircraft.

U-boats would crash-dive upon sighting a CAP aircraft. Many German sub crews would try to shoot down CAP aircraft. As a result, the Army Air Corps began arming CAP planes with bombs. Two German U-boats were sunk by Civil Air Patrol aircraft. But victory was not without its price. CAP aircraft that were shot down left their crews with little chance of survival in the cold Atlantic waters. As a result, CAP quickly learned the art of search and rescue, taking care of their own in the process. These early CAP pilots came to be known as the Flying Minutemen. These civilians, with no formal military training, would leave their homes and families in the morning, go to fight in war, and return home for supper. They were the only men to do this since the revolutionary war.

After the German surrender, one of Hitler's high-ranking naval officers was asked why the Nazi U-boats had been withdrawn from U.S. coastal waters early in 1943. The answer was exploded in a curt guttural: 'It was because of those damned little red and yellow planes!"
-- From Robert E. Neprud's The Flying Minute Men