Civil Air Patrol State Competition

While we were in Utah, Jason and I had the opportunity to watch our niece Rose compete in the Civil Air Patrol Color Guard state competition.  We were pleased to be able to see Rose and her team the Weber Minutemen preform as they have put in countless hours of practice and studying over the last three months to prepare for the competition. I must say that Rose and her teammates dedication and pride in their performance was evident during the competition.

Previous to Rose joining Civil Air Patrol Color Guard, we were unaware of the program.  Civil Air Patrol was started on December 1^st, 1941 as an all-volunteer auxiliary to the Air force to protect US coastlines.  The Civil Air Patrol continues to be an all-volunteer force.  However the mission has since expanded to cadet programs such as the Color Guard, search and rescue, and homeland security.  Rose has been participating in CAP for several years now and within the last year joined the Color Guard team.  The purpose of the cadet Color Guard is to post and retrieve the flag and render honors to the flag.  The Color Guard also posses an in-depth knowledge of flag etiquette.  Their knowledge is impressive.  I had no clue how many rules there are around flag etiquette.  Once a year, the Color Guard has a competition between the cadets of the different squadrons at the state, regional and national level.  This competition includes a 1-mile run, written and panel exam, inspection, and indoor and outdoor posting and retrieval of the flag.  The written exam and panel exam review cadets’ knowledge of aeronautics.  The panel exam is like team jeopardy.

I am so proud of Rose and her team.  Her team swept the state competition this year taking first in inspection, indoor and outdoor competition, panel exam and the 1-mile run.  Rose also received the fleet foot award, which means she was the fastest female in the competition.  She ran 1 mile in 7 minutes 14 seconds.  Her teammate Zane also took fleet foot for the fastest male runner.  He ran 1 mile in 6 minutes 23 seconds.  Rose and her team are now off to the regional competition, which will occur in April.  It was exciting to see all their hard work come to fruition.  I also continue to be amazed at the confidence Rose exhibited as commander of her squadron.   I don’t think I have ever seen a more confident 14-year-old woman as Rose before.  Congratulations to the Weber Minutemen Color Guard for all their hard work and dedication.