The Pennsylvania Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is the highest echelon of CAP in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Wing headquarters is located at Fort Indiantown Gap, an Army National Guard installation near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Wing is abbreviated as "PAWG", and is often referred to by its members as "PA Wing". A Pennsylvania keystone is a symbol commonly used in patches and designs of PAWG.

History

Pennsylvania Wing is one of the original 48 wings in Civil Air Patrol.

In the spring of 1942, the Pennsylvania Wing conducted a 30-day experiment with the intention of convincing the Army Air Forces that they were capable of flying cargo missions for the nation. PA Wing transported Army cargo as far as Georgia, and top Army officials were impressed. After the 30 day trial period, the War Department gave CAP permission to conduct courier and cargo service for the military, often flying mail, light cargo, and important military officials between USAAF bases.

One of the Civil Air Patrol's very first "Aviation Cadet Programs" was established at the Pittsburgh Army Air Field in the spring of 1943. Accepting young men as "Aviation Cadets" in a delayed enlistment program for the Army Air Forces, the Pittsburgh Squadron trained these boys (as young as 15) in Aerospace and Military subjects and vetted them for service as Army Air Force Pilots. Graduating a total of 16 Aviation Cadets for the Army in less than ten months, the Pittsburgh Squadron model was copied by units in Philadelphia, New York City and as far south as Florida. Today, the current Squadron with direct lineage to that Aviation Cadet Unit is the CAP's second longest, continually operated unit on a Military Installation.

On December 31, 1999, PA Wing units were put on stand-by in case of any problems arising from the Y2K bug.

During the September 11 attacks, Pennsylvania Wing was ordered to a stand-by state. Although not officially tasked with any missions in direct support, PAWG radio communications centers were operational and prepared to offer assistance.

In 2006, PA Wing was activated to fly reconnaissance missions during the 2006 flood. PAWG aircraft flew over major waterways to provide detailed photographs of flood-affected areas and to monitor floodwaters as they moved downstream.

31 Members from Pennsylvania Wing Civil Air Patrol traveled 28 hours to Pascagoula, Mississippi to aid in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. PAWG Ground Teams went door-to-door ensuring that local residents had adequate food, water, and medical care.

In August and September 2011, all CAP emergency service teams in Pennsylvania Wing and CAP members from Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, and Indiana Wings were activated to assist communities affected by Hurricane Irene (2011) and Tropical Storm Lee (2011).

During the time between September 1, 2010 to December 1, 2011, the Pennsylvania Wing saved eleven lives, provided emergency response in Pennsylvania during the 2011 flooding and severe winter storms.

In November 2012, CAP Pennsylvania Wing emergency services air crews and ground teams were activated to assist communities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware during flooding and high wind of Hurricane Sandy.

During Late December 2017 and early January 2018, CAP Pennsylvania Wing emergency services ground teams were sent to help dig out Erie Pennsylvania.

In March 2021, as a part of Civil Air Patrol's response in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, members of Pennsylvania Wing provided support at a vaccine point of distribution.

Pennsylvania Wing Commanders

Lt. Col. William L. Anderson — December 1, 1941 to August 18, 1945 Lt. Col. Philip F. Neuweiler — August 18, 1945 to March 26, 1946 Lt. Col. Carl A. Reber — March 26, 1946 to August 15, 1947 Col. Philip F. Neuweiler — August 15, 1947 to March 21, 1970 Col. Angelo A. Milano — March 22, 1970 to November 5, 1977 Temp. Col. Andrew E. Skiba — November 5, 1977 to June 28, 1978 Lt. Col. Edward T. Kelly (Int.) — June 28, 1978 to January 1, 1979 Col. Angelo A. Milano — January 1, 1979 to December 7, 1987 Col. Raymond F. Schuler — December 7, 1987 to February 16, 1990 Col. M. Allen Applebaum — February 16, 1990 to November 14, 1990 Col. Larry Kauffman — November 14, 1990 to November 20, 1993 Col. Joseph A. Guimond, Jr. — November 20, 1993 to August 19, 1995 Col. Jean-Pierre J. Habets — August 19, 1995 to August 15, 1999 Col. Fredric K. Weiss — August 15, 1999 to June 14, 2003 Col. M. Allen Applebaum — June 14, 2003 to September 29, 2007 Col. Mark A. Lee — September 29, 2007 to November 12, 2011 Col. Sandra E. Brandon — November 12, 2011 to May 16, 2015 Col. Gary Fleming — May 16, 2015 to May 18, 2019 Col. Kevin Berry — May 18, 2019 to May 1, 2023 Col William A. Schlosser — May 1, 2023 to Present

Pennsylvania Spaatz Awards

Michael F. S. Hanford — February 14, 1966 Kenneth B. Hibbert — September 12, 1967 Ramon L. Bennedetto — May 16, 1968 Michael A. Allen — November 22, 1968 Richard B. Smith — January 7, 1969 James I. Heald — May 15, 1969 Paul S. Draper — January 14, 1970 Harry Z. Mertz — January 14, 1970 Gary J. Kirkpatrick — May 14, 1970 Roy K. Salomon — April 11, 1972 Marie E. Stutz — June 28, 1972 Donald P. Flinn — July 24, 1972 Mark L. Sweeney — March 15, 1973 George S. Rose — June 18, 1973 Robert P. Pelligrini — August 2, 1973 Gary P. Standorf — November 7, 1974 Keith D. Kries — March 7, 1975 Konrad J. Trautman — February 14, 1977 Robert Mattes — October 2, 1977 Lawrence L. Trick — November 22, 1977 Jerrold Warthman — March 1, 1978 Richard Magners — July 3, 1978 Richard Graves — August 22, 1978 James Kraftchak — January 2, 1979 William Snee — May 1, 1979 Bryan Watson — November 13, 1979 Robert Atwell — November 16, 1979 Terry Hawes — November 19, 1979 Jeff Riley — August 8, 1980 Terry Friend — September 3, 1980 Tim Hawes — October 27, 1980 Richard Yingling — May 6, 1981 R. Steven Rickert — October 7, 1981 Edward Czeck — June 25, 1982 Sean Neal — December 13, 1982 Anthony Sodano — December 17, 1982 Walter Garnett — April 1, 1984 Kurt Hack — February 28, 1985 Robert Lutz — January 22, 1986 Daniel Weston — May 8, 1986 David Mertes — September 5, 1986 Paul Andrew — April 6, 1988 John Angeny — July 1, 1988 Lawrence L. Stouffer — April 18, 1989 John Talaber — August 8, 1989 Henry Lutz — August 29, 1989 William Davis — June 12, 1990 Kerim Yasar — January 16, 1991 Joseph Shirer — August 27, 1991 Randy Lentz — August 27, 1991 Isaac Zortman — November 21, 1991 Richard Gray — December 9, 1991 Nathaniel Szewczyk — February 25, 1992 Kara Grimaldi — January 18, 1993 Timothy Cheslock — June 29, 1993 Sarah Ferdinand — June 29, 1993 Julian Rivera — January 12, 1995 Julius Armstrong — December 22, 1995 Joel A. Martin — December 3, 1995 Broderick A. Jones — December 3, 1995 Michael T. Bauer — July 19, 1998 Jason Secrest — July 16, 1999 Sean T. Conroy — June 9, 2000 Joshua Plocinski — December 21, 2002 Shawn M. Cressman — March 13, 2003 Erin M. Nelson — February 21, 2006 David J. Spillane — April 21, 2007 Robert A. Nolt — July 26, 2007 Matthew J. Postupack — August 28, 2007 Thomas P. Carr — December 22, 2007 Courtney Gallagher — December 23, 2009 Dane V. Carroll — August 19, 2010 Noah D. Bendele — April 21, 2011 Abigail R. Hawkins — August 9, 2013 Ethan J. Dunlap — May 20, 2014 Nicholas A Cavacini — June 19, 2015 Nicholas G Basile — September 28, 2015 Jared K. Przelomski — January 19, 2016 Adam I. Parker — May 17, 2016 Josiah L. Acosta — August 1, 2017 Matthew J. Chirik — November 6, 2017 Brandon M. Webber — January 21, 2018 Matthew D. Robinson — June 15, 2018 Mallory Fichera — July 26, 2018 Nolan E. Hulick — January 9, 2019 Andrew G. Myers — February 9, 2019 Andrew S. Wieder — August 10, 2019 Colin T. Phipps — January 6, 2021

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Structure

Pennsylvania Wing is the highest echelon of Civil Air Patrol in Pennsylvania. PA Wing reports to Northeast Region CAP, who reports to CAP National Headquarters.

Pennsylvania Wing Headquarters is located in a renovated former World War Two Post Exchange (PX) and Non Commissioned Officers Club (NCO Club) complex at Fort Indiantown Gap in Annville, Pennsylvania. Offices, classrooms, a communications center and an emergency operations center are located inside the Headquarters. Additionally, the headquarters building is located approximately one mile from Muir Army Airfield.

Reporting to the Wing level, Pennsylvania is divided into six geographic groups. Each group conducts training, activities, classroom learning and programs, with actual missions assigned to a group from the Wing. Originally, the state was divided into three groups (western, central, and eastern); but with an increasing number of squadrons, PAWG divided split each group into northern and southern sections, creating six groups in 2007.

Reporting to each group are 60 squadrons. Squadrons are the local level of organization and serve the local community, and squadrons meet weekly to conduct conducts training, activities, classroom learning and programs to carry out the three missions of Civil Air Patrol - Emergency Services, Cadet Programs, and Aerospace Education.

There are three types of Civil Air Patrol squadrons. A cadet squadron focus primarily on providing for cadets (ages 12 to 21). A senior squadron is a unit dedicated to allowing senior members to focus on CAP's missions. Composite squadrons have both cadets and senior members working together.

As of December 1, 2014, the PA Wing operates 60 squadrons, in six groups, 15 aircraft, 34 ground vehicles and a state-wide radio communications network that is operational 24/7 and is part of a national network.

Groups and Squadrons

Group 1

Group 1 is responsible for operations in and around the Pittsburgh area. Squadron Number Name/Location/Type Notes Group 1 HeadquartersAllegheny County Airport Squadron 601 Washington Composite Squadron 602 Allegheny County Composite Squadron 603 Golden Triangle Composite Squadron 606 Greene County Composite Squadron 704 Beaver County Composite Squadron 712 Butler Composite Squadron 1502 Somerset Composite

Group 2 Group 2 operates around Harrisburg. Squadron Number Name/Location/Type Notes Group 2 Headquarters Fort Indiantown Gap Squadron 301 York Composite Squadron 302 Capital City Composite Squadron 304 Jesse Jones Composite Squadron 306 Harrisburg International Composite Squadron 307 Lebanon Composite Squadron 307 Squadron 308 Gettysburg Composite Squadron 811 Reading Composite

Group 3 Group 3 operates in the greater Philadelphia area. Squadron Number Name/Location/Type Notes Group 3 Headquarters Willow Grove JRB Squadron 102 Philadelphia Composite Unit Citation Award Squadron 103 Philadelphia Composite Unit Citation Award Squadron 104 Northeast Philadelphia Composite Squadron 812 General Carl A. Spaatz Composite Squadron 902 Willow Grove JRB Composite Unit Citation Award Squadron 1006 West Philadelphia Composite Unit Citation Award Squadron 1007 Delco Composite Squadron 1008 Chester County Composite

Group 4 Group 4 conducts operations in the 14 county area of Eastern Pennsylvania from Lower Bucks County to the PA/NY State Border. Squadron Number Name/Location/Type Notes Group 4 Headquarters Quakertown Airport Squadron 101Lower Bucks Squadron Squadron 201 Scranton Composite Squadron 203 Luzerne County Composite Squadron 207 Mt Pocono Composite Squadron 251 Hilltown Senior Squadron 805 Lehigh Valley Composite Squadron Squadron 807 Bangor Slate Belt Composite Squadron 904 Quakertown Composite Unit Citation Award Squadron 907 Doylestown Composite Unit Citation Award

Group 5 The Group 5 region encompasses much of North Central Pennsylvania, including State College, Altoona, and Williamsport.