The Tullahoma Composite Squadron will have a Change of Command for both Senior Members and Cadets on Monday, January 16 at 6:30pm at the Tennessee Army National Guard Readiness Center at 1402 E Carroll St, in Tullahoma. Press and the public are invited to attend and cover this event.

The Tullahoma Composite Squadron currently has 26 senior members and 21 cadets aged 12-18. The squadron is very active in aerospace education, cybersecurity education, cadet programs and emergency services. The squadron has earned the Civil Air Patrol’s Quality Cadet Unit Award for three consecutive years. The squadron’s CyberPatriot competition team earned 1st place in the Gold Tier for the Tennessee All Service Division in 2022.

Tullahoma is also the home of glider operations for the Tennessee Wing and hosts orientation flights for cadets from four states as well as the Southeast Region Glider Academy, a week long summer Cadet Special Activity that helps cadets earn their glider pilot license. Several senior members of the Tullahoma Composite Squadron support these glider activities as pilots and as support staff.

The Tullahoma Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol is accepting new members. Cadets must be 12-18 years old. Senior members from all backgrounds and experience are needed to support the cadet program, train and perform emergency services both in the air and on the ground. There is a special educator membership category that provides free lesson plans, digital books and STEM kits for use in public, private and home schools.

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 2250 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 58000 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 24000 young people participating in CAP’s Cadet Programs.