Civil Air Patrol 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 56,000 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.

Scott Kaplan sat down with us to discuss what CAP’s role is in the geospatial industry dating back to World War 2. He then went on to explain the coordination between NGA and CAP in regards to search and rescue operations. Along with talking about recent news for the organization and his favorite new technology that he saw at the symposium.