CAP INT SSG Brandt

Cadet Staff Sergeant Brandt discusses her experience in the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), which is an auxiliary of the United States Air Force. CAP provides emergency services, cadet programs, and aerospace education. Brandt joined CAP because she wanted to do something military-related and found the Medford Squadron. She was particularly interested in the aerospace education program, which teaches about aircraft and offers activities like building model airplanes. Brandt highlights the community involvement and parades as the coolest things CAP does. After leaving the squadron, she plans to attend Southwestern Community College and eventually transfer to a university for a bachelor's degree. Brandt credits CAP with developing her leadership, time management, and camaraderie skills. While she is uncertain about serving in the military or CAP in the future, she recommends joining CAP for the opportunity to meet amazing people, serve the community, and grow as an individual. Cold Country Radio, it's Mike talking with Cadet Staff Sergeant Brandt who is graduating and moving on to college. She is part of the Klamath Falls Civil Air Patrol squadron cadet program and actually our cadet leader up to this point. She's done an excellent job. What is the Civil Air Patrol and what does it do? So the Civil Air Patrol started during World War II. It was meant to prevent and deter enemy attacks by submarines on shipping vessels on the East Coast. It's an auxiliary of the United States Air Force and it involves emergency services, cadet programs, and aerospace education. Okay, cool. So how did you hear about the Civil Air Patrol and what made you want to join? I always knew I wanted to do kind of something with the military and I originally wanted to join ROTC but there wasn't an option for that in my area. So I did a lot of research and I ended up finding the Civil Air Patrol and I found the Medford Squadron and soon found out there's one in Klamath Falls, transferred here and the rest is history. Nice. What program within the Civil Air Patrol has interested you most during your career? Definitely the aerospace education. There's so many different lessons and activities that teach you all about aircraft and how they work and what you can do and the opportunities you have and there's a lot of activities like building model airplanes, things like that. Very cool. In your opinion, what is the coolest thing that the Civil Air Patrol does? There's a lot of community events that we're involved with and one of the coolest things in my opinion is the parades that we get to be involved in. I was in the Snowflake Parade a couple years back. It was a great experience. And you guys were marching in military style, right? Yes, sir. Very cool. So what are your plans for the future now that you're leaving the squadron and heading out? Yeah, in the future I plan to go to Southwestern Community College out in Coos Bay for general studies and transfer to university and get a bachelor's. I'm undecided so far. Sure, you'll figure it out. And how do you think your experience within this unit in the Civil Air Patrol will help you down the road? The Civil Air Patrol has given me a lot of amazing leadership skills and a better work ethic and a lot better time management skills. I was really bad at managing my time before Civil Air Patrol and it gave me a really nice feel for camaraderie and how important that is. Yeah, any time in particular that you can remember that's kind of an example of how you were helped in that area? Yeah, time management definitely helping plan out meetings and being here on time consistently. And camaraderie just like it's really important to know the people that you're working with when you're marching so that you're all on the same page and working together in meetings in all areas. Very cool. So I know they don't have a squadron over where you're going to school. Do you have any plans to maybe serve either in the military or even in Civil Air Patrol as a senior member in the future? Yeah, it's definitely always been an idea of mine. I've always kept it kind of on the back burner and right now I'm just kind of seeing where life takes me. I'm going to focus on college but I definitely want to circle back. So based on your experience, why should people that were in your shoes a few years ago consider joining Civil Air Patrol? It's a great experience and you get to meet a lot of amazing people that you can continue talking to for your entire lifetime if you choose. And it teaches you the importance of camaraderie like I mentioned and you get to serve your community and try and make it a better place and try and make yourself a better person. Absolutely. So are there any unique qualifications for teenagers that are looking to come into the cadet program? Yeah, you definitely want to have a willingness to serve your community and put in the effort and the time and willing to work on skills and take constructive criticism. Yeah, it's kind of like that old adage, you know, you get out of it what you put into it. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. All right, well how can people learn more about Civil Air Patrol if they want to join? Yeah, they can go to gocivilairpatrol.com or there's meetings here on Thursdays at 6 p.m. at Kingsley Field and you can call for an escort to get on the base and come to meetings, see what it's all about. Sounds good. So if you do decide to come to one of those Thursday night meetings, just let the security guys know at the front and they will call over and we'll send somebody over to get you and you can kind of check out what happens at the weekly meetings. If you guys have an interest in checking out the Civil Air Patrol and our local squadron and what we're all about, you can call the station at 541-238-6989 or shoot me an email at goldcountryradio at gmail.com. Staff Sergeant Brandt, it was a pleasure talking to you. Good luck in your future endeavors and thanks for shedding some light on your experience in the Civil Air Patrol. Yeah, of course. Thank you for having me.