Learning to fly

Julianna Gorton, daughter of retired U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Richard Gorton and Aime Gorton, hones her glider skills at the Curtis E. LeMay Composite Squadron's open house March 30 at their squadron headquarters. The event showcased a new state-of-the-art cybersecurity and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning environment made possible by grants from a local corporate sponsor, the Offutt Officers’ Spouses’ Club and an anonymous donor. About 56,000 members make up CAP, which celebrated 75 years of service on Dec. 1, 2016, and consists of eight geographical regions, composed of 52 separate wings, one in each state, and Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. The organization operates a fleet of 550 aircraft and performs about 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. CAP is credited with saving an average of 78 lives every year.