Civil Air Patrol members to commemorate 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks during training exer

FULLERTON, Calif. - Sept. 7, 2021 - PRLog -- Members of Civil Air Patrol's (CAP) South Coast Group 7 will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks by flying U.S. flags on its aircraft during a search and rescue training exercise at Fullerton Municipal Airport on September 11, 2021.

The idea to fly flags in California Wing CAP aircraft on September 11 originated with Col. Jon Stokes. Stokes who said, "In 2014, while California Wing Commander, we began a tradition of taking American flags aloft in CAP aircraft in honor of those lost on that horrific day."

Stokes, who is serving as the Incident Commander for this training exercise, saw the exercise as the perfect opportunity to continue this tradition, and also to acknowledge CAP's role in flying over Ground Zero on September 12, 2001 to document and photograph the damage. The photographs taken by CAP helped Federal and State leaders understand the scope of the disaster and to start planning their rescue and recovery efforts.

The search and rescue training exercise, which will take place at Fullerton Municipal Airport on Saturday, September 11^th and Sunday, September 12^th will include multiple aircraft and ground teams responding to simulated crisis and emergency scenarios such as missing aircraft and natural disasters.

The media is welcome to visit the incident command post at Fullerton Municipal Airport on either day.

"It's an honor to have our members fly the flag aloft on September 11" said Capt. Rommel Anacan, South Group 7 Public Affairs Officer, "And it seems particularly fitting to be doing so during an exercise as we continue to train to perform our missions for America, just as CAP did after 9/11."

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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 560 single-engine Cessna aircraft and more than 2,000 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 130 lives during the past fiscal year. CAP's 54,000 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. Members also serve as mentors to over 20,000 young people participating in CAP's Cadet Programs. Visit www.CAP.News or www.GoCivilAirPatrol.com for more information.