On this day in 1941, the Civil Air Patrol was founded, owing its origins largely to NJ aviation advocate Gill Robb Wilson. NY mayor Fiorello LaGuardia (for whom the airport is named) was also instrumental.

The Civil Air Patrol is a Nonprofit, 501(c)(3) corporation; the Auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. There are more than 58,000 members, including approximately 27,000 cadets ages 12- 21. It has 52 wings, and 1,700 units.

Headquartered at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, the Civil Air Patrol boasts the world’s largest fleet of single-engine, piston aircraft (550 of them), one of the nation's most extensive communications networks, and 1,000 emergency services vehicles.

Initially designed for liaison and reconnaissance flying, the CAP quickly expanded to play a vital role in searching for German submarines off the American East Coast. CAP planes carried bombs and depth charges to assist in the effort to protect the U.S. Its coastal patrols flew 24 million miles, attacking more nearly 60 submarines (it found more than 170). It hit ten, and sank two. The CAP became an auxiliary of the Army Air Force in 1943, and when the Air Force became an independent service, it became that branch's official auxiliary.

All told, the CAP flew more than a half a million miles in WWII, and lost 64 of its civilian heroes in the line of duty.

What does the Civil Air Patrol Do Today?
95% of the nation’s inland search and rescue missions, with 100 lives saved per year
Aerial reconnaissance for homeland security
Disaster-relief and damage assessment, including the transportation of officials to remote locations.
Transport for time-sensitive medical materials (such as blood or live tissue)
Reconnaissance, communications, and trasnportation for counterdrug missions
100 aerospace education workshops each year
Aerospace classroom materials, grades K through college
Nation’s premier annual aerospace education conference

On average, CAP members fly more than 100,000 hours in operational missions per year.

For More Information:
Civil Air Patrol - Official Site
Happy Hooligans - About Civil Air Patrol

UPDATES: (More sites to find out about the CAP):
Wikipedia: Civil Air Patrol
Global Security: The Civil Air Patrol