Group 6 Team Effort Connects Youth with Aviation and STEM Opportunities
By: Capt. William Brown, CAP
Assistant Public Affairs Officer, North Carolina Wing
On July 15, 2026, cadets and senior members from across Group 6 of Civil Air Patrol's North Carolina Wing came together to support a “Community Aviation Day” at the North Carolina Army National Guard aviation facility in Salisbury.
The purpose of the event was to support aerospace education for approximately 135 Scouts and their parents. About 175 non-CAP attendees participated in the event. Supporting the event were 26 CAP cadets and senior members from five squadrons.
A large recruiting display featuring CAP equipment, STEM kits and informational materials was set up, giving cadets and senior members the opportunity to introduce CAP to many of the Scouts and their parents. In addition, two CAP aircraft were flown in for display alongside the Army aviation UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache helicopters.
CAP pilots shared information about the organization's aviation missions, showcased the aircraft and demonstrated the capabilities of their Garmin G1000 glass cockpits. Many Scouts took the opportunity to sit at the controls and learn more about CAP aircraft.
In addition to the recruiting and aerospace education efforts, 1st Lt. Derwin Phillips conducted an urban direction finding (UDF) training sortie for several cadets and one senior member. The training provided an opportunity to complete UDF tasks in an environment with real-world challenges similar to those encountered during an actual mission. Trainees had to overcome obstacles such as signal reflections caused by Air National Guard vehicles, steel buildings and storage facilities. In all, six cadets and one senior member completed UDF training tasks.
According to Lt. Col. Mike Garrison, commander of the Charlotte Senior Squadron, Community Aviation Day was a success, and National Guard hosts expressed interest in having CAP return for future aviation events.
"This was a great Group 6 and North Carolina Wing team effort," Garrison said. "We were able to combine aerospace education, emergency services and cadet programs activities into one large event. Our cadets made a very positive impression on attendees, which helped support recruiting efforts. We also exercised incident command protocols for planning, logistics and operations during the event."
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Capt. William Brown, CAP
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