MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- Civil Air Patrol's Cadet Officer School brought 120 of the nation's top cadets to Air University, July 18-27, for its 55th year of leadership development.
Hosted at the Squadron Officer School, the COS immerses students in military culture and introduces them to high-level leadership concepts beyond what they typically experience at their home squadrons.
"This is CAP's most rigorous leadership school," said Kathleen Crockett, director of COS. "We're not just teaching cadets how to lead at the squadron level; we're helping them make the jump from tactical to strategic leadership. That's a transformational shift."
The COS pairs cadets with mentors from both CAP and the U.S. Air Force, who come from all walks of life, including career pilots, education, law enforcement, Department of the Air Force, civilians and more.
Each flight of 10 cadets is mentored by one CAP officer and one Air Force instructor, forming a one-on-one leadership development team.
"It's a one-on-one experience that accelerates their development and immerses them in the same kind of professional military education that shapes captains at SOS," Crockett said.
The curriculum closely mirrors SOS, using the same facilities, instructional blocks and leadership exercises like Project X and Team Leadership Problems. Cadets receive 77 hours of instruction in a collegiate environment designed to challenge and inspire.
"We want our cadets to leave here understanding the world beyond their local squadrons," Crockett said. "We're training them to be aware, informed and ready to lead; not just in CAP, but in their communities, the military and wherever life takes them."
While at Maxwell, cadets also visited the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site to connect leadership lessons with history and legacy.
"I'm here to develop my personal leadership as an officer, but also to learn about the Tuskegee Airmen and how they paved the way for so many of us to fly," said CAP Cadet Maj. Taylor Goodrich. "I came in for the aviation aspect, but there's so much more leadership to be gained from this experience. I would highly recommend this program to the next generation of youth."
This year's COS cohort represented 38 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and overseas locations.
COS is run by a team of CAP volunteers and Air Force active-duty, reserve, guard and civilian personnel, many of whom are former cadets.
"I was a student here in 2008," Crockett said. "One of my flight instructors is still here this year with a new flight of cadets. It's a full-circle moment for us and the cadets we're seeing today are light-years ahead of where I was at their age."
As the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force and member of the Total Force, Civil Air Patrol serves America through emergency services, aerospace education and cadet programs.
"These cadets are the top one percent in the country," Crockett said. "Out of more than 32,000 cadets nationwide, only about 120 get accepted. But every one of them leaves here changed, and every year, they restore our faith in the future."