Chain of Command

No matter how talented the national commander is, a single individual cannot lead the Civil Air Patrol on his or her own. CAP is too big. Assistants, in the form of region commanders, wing commanders, and squadron commanders aid the national commander by taking responsibility for their corner of CAP.

This system in which leaders are ranked one above the other according to their status is known as the chain of command. More simply, the chain of command is the order of authority. It links the most junior cadet with every leader in CAP, all the way up to the national commander.

NATIONAL COMMANDER
Maj Gen Amy S. Courter, CAP

REGION COMMANDER
There are 8 CAP regions

WING COMMANDER
There are 52 CAP wings, 1 per state plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia

GROUP COMMANDER  (Optional)
Groups are found only in large wings

SQUADRON COMMANDER
The squadron is the CAP "hometown" organization

------- CADET STRUCTURE ------

CADET COMMANDER

CADET FLIGHT COMMANDER

CADET FLIGHT SERGEANT

CADET ELEMENT LEADER

CADET ELEMENT MEMBER