Cadet Captain Daniel A. Brand has assumed the position of cadet commander of the St. Mary’s Composite Squadron in the Maryland Wing of the US Civil Air Patrol (CAP). He relieves the outgoing cadet commander, Matthew Herten, who had served in that position for the previous year.
Cadet Brand is from Great Mills and is a senior at Leonardtown High School, in Leonardtown. He has been a member of CAP since December 2002. In addition to serving as cadet commander, Brand has attended the Air Force Air Education Training Command familiarization course, the National Emergency Services Academy, and the Regional Cadet Leadership School. US Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 60,000 members nationwide.
CAP volunteers perform 95 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies.
Members take a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the almost 25,000 young people currently participating in the CAP Cadet Program. CAP’s cadet programs provide young men and women with a safe and motivating environment in which to grow and explore opportunities in the military and aviation industries. Cadets progress through a 16-step program of leadership and aerospace education. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 63 years. There are approximately 1,300 members of CAP in Maryland. Last fiscal year wing members flew 34 search and rescue missions and were credited with 23 finds.