Photo: Cadet Senior Airman Tessa Smith. Photo courtesy of CAP.

Community News

Thursday evening, November 7, 2024, Cadet Senior Airman Tessa Smith (2015) of Chelsea was awarded the Find Ribbon by Major Jeffery Hines, of the Civil Air Patrol.

Last fall, Tessa and crew members First Lt. Fatimah Alhawary, First Lt. Alexander Dontu, Lt Col. Paul Kloehn and Second Lt. Kevin Smith, recovered an aircraft and pilot, Richard Martin of Dowagiac, who had been missing for five days. Regrettably, Mr. Martin was found dead at the site of the crash.

“We were hoping for a different outcome but we got to help bring him home. His family gets to say good-bye and have some closure,” Smith says of the recovery. She feels honored to have participated.

The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) was founded December 1, 1941 as a civilian auxiliary wing of the United States Air Force to mobilize the nation’s civilian aviation resources for national defense. Since then, CAP has evolved into a premier public service organization that still carries out emergency service missions when needed. Today, CAP exists to search for and find the lost, provide comfort in times of disaster and to keep the homeland safe. CAP members selflessly devote their time, energy, and expertise toward the well-being of their communities while also promoting aviation and related fields through aerospace/STEM education and helping shape future leaders through CAP’s cadet program.