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CIVIL AIR PATROL
HISTORICAL MONOGRAPH
“FOUNDING” VERSUS “ESTABLISHMENT”
A PERSPECTIVE ON CIVIL AIR PATROL’S RECOGNIZED
DATE OF ORIGIN
2017
NATIONAL HISTORY PROGRAM
HEADQUARTERS CAP
“FOUNDING” VERSUS “ESTABLISHMENT”
A PERSPECTIVE ON CIVIL AIR PATROL’S RECOGNIZED
DATE OF ORIGIN
By
Frank A. Blazich, Jr., Col, CAP
CAP NATIONAL HISTORY PROGRAM
2017
ABSTRACT
Every December 1, the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) celebrates its anniversary. There is a nebulous
nature, however, to what day is the “correct” establishment of the corporation, with December 8
also a possible day of “birth.” There are differences to the events and purposeful actions of each
day to consider from the perspective of both CAP’s legal establishment and its symbolic or
honorary date of creation. Based on a review of existing documentation, it is evident that on
December 8, 1941, Office of Civilian Defense (OCD) Director Fiorello H. LaGuardia formally
established CAP for the intent and purpose of the federal government in conjunction with federal
law. On December 1, 1941 is the date that LaGuardia signed a drafted, simplified established
document in order to rush a booklet about CAP off to the printers. This signed letter by
LaGuardia provided the public with a formal – albeit basic – decree of existence, but OCD did
not recognize it as the legally binding establishment document. Today, December 1, 1941 is best
phrased semantically as the founding of CAP as an element of OCD. By preceding the
commencement of hostilities between the U.S. and the Japanese Empire, this date acknowledges
the work of small group of individuals in the fall of 1941 to shepherd the idea of the Civil Air
Patrol into reality.
Frank A. Blazich, Jr.
Col
CAP
National Historian, National Headquarters
November 2017
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Essay ....................................................................................................................................1
Relevant Documents ...........................................................................................................6
Endnotes.............................................................................................................................19
ESSAY
Every December 1, the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) celebrates its anniversary. There is a
nebulous nature, however, to what day is the “correct” establishment of the corporation, with
December 8 also a possible day of “birth.” There are differences to the events and purposeful
actions of each day to consider from the perspective of both CAP’s legal establishment and its
symbolic or honorary date of creation. Two documents are the source of the confusion. This
essay outlines the documents and uses the existing evidence to understand the context behind the
two dates representing CAP’s anniversary to differentiate between a “founding” and an
“establishment.”
The first is a letter signed by Fiorello H. LaGuardia, director of the federal Office of
Civilian Defense (OCD) dated December 1, 1941 and printed on OCD letterhead. The letter
includes the statement that under the authority conferred upon LaGuardia by Executive Order
8757, “. . . I do hereby order established under the Office of Civilian Defense, the Civil Air
Patrol.”1 This letter is reproduced on the third page of the booklet “Civil Air Patrol –
Organization, Purpose, Program, Enlistment,” but the original letter is not found in the National
Archives and is the only document pertaining to the CAP dated December 1, 1941 yet to be
located.
Clues to this original establishment letter are found in an internal OCD letter dated
November 15, 1941. Written by Reed G. Landis, LaGuardia’s aviation aide, the letter served as a
cover document for the draft manuscript of the Civil Air Patrol booklet authored by Gill Robb
Wilson. Landis mentions a draft of a CAP establishment order:
The Order which we have drafted for your signature establishing the Civil Air Patrol in
the Office of Civilian Defense was purposively written as it is drafted because it was not
believed that all of the details of the organization should be of interest to the prospective
recruits and, therefore, included in the booklet and that your detailed order should be to
2
the General Staff, National Commander and Executive Office for their guidance. You
will note that in the order drafted to establish the Civil Air Patrol over your signature we
have stated that “the organization will be formed and conducted as provided in the
attached chart which is hereby approved.” That chart forms a part of the booklet and it
and the material in the booklet outline pretty exactly the way the Civil Air Patrol will
work. We are afraid that a long, detailed order may first confuse the people in the field
and secondly require so much revision as the show develops as to cause further confusion
among those who will have seen the initial booklet but not understand completely the
interior administrative reasons requiring changes and ways of doing various things.2
Additionally, Landis remarks in the letter that he also enclosed “copies of the letters from
General [Henry H.] Arnold, Admiral [John H.] Towers, and General [Donald H.] Connolly
approving the entire project and so written as to be appropriate for reproduction in the booklet.”
The original documents Landis retained “to preserve them here for reproduction in the booklet
when it is approved.” These letters appear on page 13 of the booklet. According to an intra-office
note from CAP Administrative Assistant Kathryn Godwin, the original letters were sent to the
printing office for reproduction, but in a follow-up note from a Lieutenant E. Strode, he reported
that originals were never returned.3
Landis asked LaGuardia to quickly approve the document so the booklet could be printed
and an announcement issued. On November 21, Landis wrote to Wilson and reported that “The
Mayor [LaGuardia] has approved of going ahead with the printing of the booklet. . . .” Landis
suggests that Wilson have the document sent off for type, but notes that “the Government
Printing Office is just astanding [sic] around flat-footed waiting until we get the name of the
National Commander to press the button to start the process. We must be very careful not to print
the booklet with the incorrect name of the National Commander but we want it to go to press just
as soon as the National Commander is designated.”4 Previously on October 8, 1941, LaGuardia
wrote to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson requesting assignment of Major General James E.
Fechet, former Chief of the Air Corps, as national commander.5 On November, 21, however,
3
LaGuardia wrote to Major General Henry H. “Hap” Arnold about the joint OCD – U.S. Army
Air Corps effort to secure a retired Air Corps general officer to serve as CAP National
commander. The OCD director mentioned hearing of the possibility of ordering Major General
John F. Curry to such duty.6 A week later, the Air Corps assigned Curry as CAP’s National
Commander.7
Mention of Curry’s appointment is key to framing the December 1, 1941 letter.
LaGuardia wrote to all 48 governors on November 28, a Friday. The next workday, Monday,
was December 1. While there are no documents in the National Archives dated December 1,
1941, the following day Wilson wrote to several individuals mentioning that “The organization
booklet has gone to the printers and I surmise the Director of Civilian defense will be ready
shortly to make a national announcement.”8 Factoring in Curry’s appointment, the existing draft
of an establishment order, and the urgency to publish the CAP booklet it is plausible that
LaGuardia signed the draft establishment order on December 1 when the booklet went to the
printer. There is, however, one oddity in the timetable. Of the three letters mentioned on page 13,
the letter signed by Donald H. Connolly, administrator for the Civil Aeronautics Administration
is dated December 5, 1941. Was this letter received after the booklet went to the printer? Was it
postdated? Landis did send a draft letter to Connolly on October 17, but the text of the actual
letter is currently lost to history.9
On December 7, elements of the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked American military
installations and vessels of the U.S. Pacific Fleet on Oahu, Hawaii. The attack caught the U.S.
completely by surprise, including OCD and the fledging CAP National Headquarters staff. The
CAP booklet and application forms were still being printed by the Government Printing Office.10
The following day, the Monday after the weekend, LaGuardia signed OCD Administrative Order
4
No. 9. This order mirrors the language found in the December 1 letter, but it has greater
complexity in its language. The order, written on OCD letterhead, states “I have caused to be
created and organized a branch of this Office [of Civilian Defense] of volunteers for the purpose
of enlisting and training personnel to aid in the national defense of the United States, designated
as the Civil Air Patrol.”11 The original copy of the order in possession of the National Archives
bears LaGuardia’s initials in the upper right and has annotations and changes to the language.
That evening, long after President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress to
request a declaration of war, LaGuardia announced CAP’s existence in a national radio broadcast
and OCD issued a press release with a basic overview of the new organization. The press release
included the text of Administrative Order No. 9 and biographical sketches on Curry and
Landis.12 On December 9, the New York Times and Chicago Daily Tribune, among other papers,
published small articles announcing the CAP.13 Concurrently, 200 copies of Administrative
Order no. 9 were mimeographed for distribution.14
From OCD’s perspective, Administrative Order No. 9 represented the legal establishment
document for CAP. This is reflected in CAP’s initial press release and internal documents. On
December 9, LaGuardia wrote to Curry about the composition of an Aviation Planning Staff,
authorized in Administrative Order No. 9, “establishing the Civil Air Patrol. . . .”15 In a bi-fold
pamphlet from late 1941, CAP is mentioned as being “Created by administrative order of
December 1941. . . .”16 In internal CAP National Headquarters reports, the administrative order
of December 8, 1941 “created” CAP.17 Legally, Administrative Order No. 9 was superseded by
Administrative Order No. 23 of April 23, 1942, establishing CAP, and clarifying the units,
insignia, supervision, and organization of the organization.18
5
By December 1942, CAP National Headquarters promulgated the date of December 1,
1941 as the organization’s anniversary. The November 27, 1942 issue of the CAP Bulletin began
this campaign of December 1 as the date of establishment.19 When CAP National Headquarters
issued the first iteration of the CAP Rules in General Memorandum 78 of March 29, 1943, the
organizational authority reads “CAP was established Dec. 1, 1941 . . . The establishment of CAP
was formalized on Dec. 8, 1941, by OCD Administrative Order No. 9. . . .”20 Inclusion of the
CAP Rules in Southern Flight’s publication of the CAP Handbook reiterated December 1, 1941
as CAP’s establishment date, although the book also states “Civil Air Patrol was formed by OCD
on 1 December 1941, a week before the Battle of Pearl Harbor.”21
When reviewing all the surviving documentation there are a few simple conclusions to
state. First, December 8, 1941, LaGuardia and OCD formally established CAP for the intent and
purpose of the federal government in conjunction with federal law. Second, December 1, 1941 is
evidently the date that LaGuardia signed a drafted, simplified established document in order to
rush a booklet about CAP off to the printers. This signed letter by LaGuardia provided the public
with a formal – albeit basic – decree of existence, but OCD did not recognize it as the legally
binding establishment document. Today, December 1, 1941 is best phrased semantically as the
founding of CAP, akin to being “created” or “formed” as an element of the Office of Civilian
Defense. Lastly, by preceding the commencement of hostilities between the U.S. and the
Japanese Empire, this date acknowledges the work of small group of individuals in the fall of
1941 to shepherd the idea of the Civil Air Patrol into reality.
6
RELEVANT DOCUMENTS
Figures 1 and 2. Cover of the Civil Air Patrol
booklet published in December 1941 and
page 3 featuring a facsimile of a letter dated
December 1, 1941 signed by Office of
Civilian Defense Director Fiorello H.
LaGuardia.
7
Figure 3. A digitally corrected copy of the December 1, 1941 letter.
8
Figure 4. OCD Administrative Order No. 9, initialed by LaGuardia, signed December 8, 1941.
9
Figure 5. Publicly released copy of OCD Administrative Order No. 9.
10
11
Figures 6 and 7. OCD press release announcing CAP’s establishment, December 8, 1941.
12
13
Figures 8 and 9. Reed G. Landis to Fiorello H. LaGuardia, November 15, 1941.
14
Figure 10. Letters replicated on page 13 in the CAP booklet, December 1941.
15
Figure 11. Intra-office message regarding fate of original signed letters seen in Figure 10.
16
Figure 12. Message from Reed G. Landis to Gill Robb Wilson, November 21, 1941.
17
Figure 13. Fiorello H. LaGuardia to J. Melville Broughton, November 28, 1941. Note “P.S.”
18
Figure 14. CAP National Headquarters GM-78, “CAP Rules,” published March 29, 1943.
19
ENDNOTES
Fiorello H. LaGuardia, December 1, 1941, in Office of Civilian Defense, “Civil Air Patrol –
Organization, Purpose, Program, Enlistment” (Washington, DC: GPO, 1941).
2
Reed G. Landis to Fiorello H. LaGuardia, November 15, 1941, folder labeled “Confidential
C.A.P. Chronological,” Box 1, Record Group 171, Entry 12, Office of Civilian Defense National
Headquarters, General Correspondence, 1941 – May 1942, National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA), College Park, MD.
3
Civil Air Patrol intra-office note from Kathryn Godwin on “Reproduction of Three Original
Letters,” February 13, 1942, Barry L. Spink Collection, CAP National Archives and Historical
Collections. The identity of “E. Strode” remains unknown at the time of writing.
4
Reed G. Landis to Gill Robb Wilson, November 21, 1941, folder labeled “Confidential C.A.P.
Chronological,” Box 1, Record Group 171, Entry 12, Office of Civilian Defense National
Headquarters, General Correspondence, 1941 – May 1942, NARA.
5
Fiorello H. LaGuardia to Henry L. Stimson, October 8, 1941, folder labeled “Confidential
C.A.P. Chronological,” Box 1, Record Group 171, Entry 12, Office of Civilian Defense National
Headquarters, General Correspondence, 1941 – May 1942, NARA.
6
Fiorello H. LaGuardia to Henry H. Arnold, November 21, 1941, folder labeled “Confidential
C.A.P. Chronological,” Box 1, Record Group 171, Entry 12, Office of Civilian Defense National
Headquarters, General Correspondence, 1941 – May 1942, NARA.
7
Mention of Curry’s assignment as CAP’s National Commander is marked post scriptum on the
letters to the governors, see in Figure 13. Fiorello H. LaGuardia to J. Melville Broughton,
November 28, 1941, folder labeled “Civil Air Patrol,” Box 192, World War II Papers, 19391947, State Archives, North Carolina Office of Archives and History, Raleigh.
8
Gill Robb Wilson to William B. Robertson, December 2, 1941; see also Gill Robb Wilson to
Max C. Fleischmann, December 2, 1941; Gill Robb Wilson to Edward G. Schultz, December 2,
1941; Gill Robb Wilson to Maurice L. Horner, Jr., December 2, 1941, folder labeled
“Confidential C.A.P. Chronological,” Box 1, Record Group 171, Entry 12, Office of Civilian
Defense National Headquarters, General Correspondence, 1941 – May 1942, NARA.
9
Reed G. Landis to Donald H. Connolly, October 17, 1941, folder labeled “Confidential C.A.P.
Chronological,” Box 1, Record Group 171, Entry 12, Office of Civilian Defense National
Headquarters, General Correspondence, 1941 – May 1942, NARA.
10
Kathryn Godwin, “Administrative Office Report,” March 9, 1942, Barry L. Spink Collection,
CAP National Archives and Historical Collections.
11
Office of Civilian Defense, Administrative Order No. 9, December 8, 1941, folder labeled
“December 8, 1941 A09; Subject: Establishing Civil Air Patrol,” Box 39, Record Group 171,
Entry 10, Office of Civilian Defense National Headquarters, Administrative Orders, July 1941 –
May 1945, NARA.
1
20
Press Release, Office of Civilian Defense, “For Tuesday’s A.M.’s, December 9, 1941,” folder
labeled “Civil Air Patrol,” Box 192, World War II Papers, 1939-1947, State Archives, North
Carolina Office of Archives and History, Raleigh.
13
“LaGuardia Details Air Raid Behavior: OCD Warns Public to Keep cool and Obey Instruction
of Volunteer Wardens,” New York Times, December 9, 1941, 34; “90,000 Flyers to Form Civil
Aerial Patrol,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 9, 1941, 17.
14
Intra-office message tom E.H. Veatch to E.C. DesVarets, December 9, 1941, folder labeled
“December 8, 1941 A09; Subject: Establishing Civil Air Patrol,” Box 39, Record Group 171,
Entry 10, Office of Civilian Defense National Headquarters, Administrative Orders, July 1941 –
May 1945, NARA.
15
Fiorello H. LaGuardia to John F. Curry, December 9, 1941, folder labeled “Civil Air Patrol,”
Box 111, Record Group 171, Entry 10, Office of Civilian Defense National Headquarters,
General Correspondence, 1940-1942, 502 to 511, NARA.
16
Office of Civilian Defense, pamphlet, “Joint Your Civil Air Patrol,” 1941, folder labeled
“Civilian Defense Activities – Air Patrol; Fire School; Warning Posts; etc.,” Box 29, Governor J.
Melville Broughton Papers, State Archives, North Carolina Office of Archives and History,
Raleigh.
17
Kathryn Godwin, “Administrative Office Report,” March 9, 1942 and June 9, 1942, Barry L.
Spink Collection, CAP National Archives and Historical Collections.
18
Office of Civilian Defense, Administrative Order No. 23, April 29, 1942, folder labeled “April
29, 1942 AO23, Subject: Establishment of: U.S. Citizens’ defense Corps, U.S. Citizens’ Service
Corps, etc.,” Box 39, Record Group 171, Entry 10, Office of Civilian Defense National
Headquarters, Administrative Orders, July 1941 – May 1945, NARA.
19
Office of Civilian Defense, CAP Bulletin, “First Anniversary,” November 22, 1942, CAP
National Archives and Historical Collections.
20
Memorandum from Office of Civilian Defense, CAP National Headquarters to All CAP Unit
Commanders, about “CAP Rules,” (GM-78) March 29, 1943, binder labeled “Civil Air Patrol,
Establishment of, Charts, Staff General Memoranda, Training Memoranda,” Box 2, Record
Group 171, Entry 54, Processed Documents Issued by the OCD CAP, Office of Civilian
Defense, NARA.
21
Civil Air Patrol Handbook – 1944 Edition (Dallas: Southern Flight, 1944), 6.
12
21
HISTORICAL MONOGRAPH
“FOUNDING” VERSUS “ESTABLISHMENT”
A PERSPECTIVE ON CIVIL AIR PATROL’S RECOGNIZED
DATE OF ORIGIN
2017
NATIONAL HISTORY PROGRAM
HEADQUARTERS CAP
“FOUNDING” VERSUS “ESTABLISHMENT”
A PERSPECTIVE ON CIVIL AIR PATROL’S RECOGNIZED
DATE OF ORIGIN
By
Frank A. Blazich, Jr., Col, CAP
CAP NATIONAL HISTORY PROGRAM
2017
ABSTRACT
Every December 1, the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) celebrates its anniversary. There is a nebulous
nature, however, to what day is the “correct” establishment of the corporation, with December 8
also a possible day of “birth.” There are differences to the events and purposeful actions of each
day to consider from the perspective of both CAP’s legal establishment and its symbolic or
honorary date of creation. Based on a review of existing documentation, it is evident that on
December 8, 1941, Office of Civilian Defense (OCD) Director Fiorello H. LaGuardia formally
established CAP for the intent and purpose of the federal government in conjunction with federal
law. On December 1, 1941 is the date that LaGuardia signed a drafted, simplified established
document in order to rush a booklet about CAP off to the printers. This signed letter by
LaGuardia provided the public with a formal – albeit basic – decree of existence, but OCD did
not recognize it as the legally binding establishment document. Today, December 1, 1941 is best
phrased semantically as the founding of CAP as an element of OCD. By preceding the
commencement of hostilities between the U.S. and the Japanese Empire, this date acknowledges
the work of small group of individuals in the fall of 1941 to shepherd the idea of the Civil Air
Patrol into reality.
Frank A. Blazich, Jr.
Col
CAP
National Historian, National Headquarters
November 2017
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Essay ....................................................................................................................................1
Relevant Documents ...........................................................................................................6
Endnotes.............................................................................................................................19
ESSAY
Every December 1, the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) celebrates its anniversary. There is a
nebulous nature, however, to what day is the “correct” establishment of the corporation, with
December 8 also a possible day of “birth.” There are differences to the events and purposeful
actions of each day to consider from the perspective of both CAP’s legal establishment and its
symbolic or honorary date of creation. Two documents are the source of the confusion. This
essay outlines the documents and uses the existing evidence to understand the context behind the
two dates representing CAP’s anniversary to differentiate between a “founding” and an
“establishment.”
The first is a letter signed by Fiorello H. LaGuardia, director of the federal Office of
Civilian Defense (OCD) dated December 1, 1941 and printed on OCD letterhead. The letter
includes the statement that under the authority conferred upon LaGuardia by Executive Order
8757, “. . . I do hereby order established under the Office of Civilian Defense, the Civil Air
Patrol.”1 This letter is reproduced on the third page of the booklet “Civil Air Patrol –
Organization, Purpose, Program, Enlistment,” but the original letter is not found in the National
Archives and is the only document pertaining to the CAP dated December 1, 1941 yet to be
located.
Clues to this original establishment letter are found in an internal OCD letter dated
November 15, 1941. Written by Reed G. Landis, LaGuardia’s aviation aide, the letter served as a
cover document for the draft manuscript of the Civil Air Patrol booklet authored by Gill Robb
Wilson. Landis mentions a draft of a CAP establishment order:
The Order which we have drafted for your signature establishing the Civil Air Patrol in
the Office of Civilian Defense was purposively written as it is drafted because it was not
believed that all of the details of the organization should be of interest to the prospective
recruits and, therefore, included in the booklet and that your detailed order should be to
2
the General Staff, National Commander and Executive Office for their guidance. You
will note that in the order drafted to establish the Civil Air Patrol over your signature we
have stated that “the organization will be formed and conducted as provided in the
attached chart which is hereby approved.” That chart forms a part of the booklet and it
and the material in the booklet outline pretty exactly the way the Civil Air Patrol will
work. We are afraid that a long, detailed order may first confuse the people in the field
and secondly require so much revision as the show develops as to cause further confusion
among those who will have seen the initial booklet but not understand completely the
interior administrative reasons requiring changes and ways of doing various things.2
Additionally, Landis remarks in the letter that he also enclosed “copies of the letters from
General [Henry H.] Arnold, Admiral [John H.] Towers, and General [Donald H.] Connolly
approving the entire project and so written as to be appropriate for reproduction in the booklet.”
The original documents Landis retained “to preserve them here for reproduction in the booklet
when it is approved.” These letters appear on page 13 of the booklet. According to an intra-office
note from CAP Administrative Assistant Kathryn Godwin, the original letters were sent to the
printing office for reproduction, but in a follow-up note from a Lieutenant E. Strode, he reported
that originals were never returned.3
Landis asked LaGuardia to quickly approve the document so the booklet could be printed
and an announcement issued. On November 21, Landis wrote to Wilson and reported that “The
Mayor [LaGuardia] has approved of going ahead with the printing of the booklet. . . .” Landis
suggests that Wilson have the document sent off for type, but notes that “the Government
Printing Office is just astanding [sic] around flat-footed waiting until we get the name of the
National Commander to press the button to start the process. We must be very careful not to print
the booklet with the incorrect name of the National Commander but we want it to go to press just
as soon as the National Commander is designated.”4 Previously on October 8, 1941, LaGuardia
wrote to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson requesting assignment of Major General James E.
Fechet, former Chief of the Air Corps, as national commander.5 On November, 21, however,
3
LaGuardia wrote to Major General Henry H. “Hap” Arnold about the joint OCD – U.S. Army
Air Corps effort to secure a retired Air Corps general officer to serve as CAP National
commander. The OCD director mentioned hearing of the possibility of ordering Major General
John F. Curry to such duty.6 A week later, the Air Corps assigned Curry as CAP’s National
Commander.7
Mention of Curry’s appointment is key to framing the December 1, 1941 letter.
LaGuardia wrote to all 48 governors on November 28, a Friday. The next workday, Monday,
was December 1. While there are no documents in the National Archives dated December 1,
1941, the following day Wilson wrote to several individuals mentioning that “The organization
booklet has gone to the printers and I surmise the Director of Civilian defense will be ready
shortly to make a national announcement.”8 Factoring in Curry’s appointment, the existing draft
of an establishment order, and the urgency to publish the CAP booklet it is plausible that
LaGuardia signed the draft establishment order on December 1 when the booklet went to the
printer. There is, however, one oddity in the timetable. Of the three letters mentioned on page 13,
the letter signed by Donald H. Connolly, administrator for the Civil Aeronautics Administration
is dated December 5, 1941. Was this letter received after the booklet went to the printer? Was it
postdated? Landis did send a draft letter to Connolly on October 17, but the text of the actual
letter is currently lost to history.9
On December 7, elements of the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked American military
installations and vessels of the U.S. Pacific Fleet on Oahu, Hawaii. The attack caught the U.S.
completely by surprise, including OCD and the fledging CAP National Headquarters staff. The
CAP booklet and application forms were still being printed by the Government Printing Office.10
The following day, the Monday after the weekend, LaGuardia signed OCD Administrative Order
4
No. 9. This order mirrors the language found in the December 1 letter, but it has greater
complexity in its language. The order, written on OCD letterhead, states “I have caused to be
created and organized a branch of this Office [of Civilian Defense] of volunteers for the purpose
of enlisting and training personnel to aid in the national defense of the United States, designated
as the Civil Air Patrol.”11 The original copy of the order in possession of the National Archives
bears LaGuardia’s initials in the upper right and has annotations and changes to the language.
That evening, long after President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress to
request a declaration of war, LaGuardia announced CAP’s existence in a national radio broadcast
and OCD issued a press release with a basic overview of the new organization. The press release
included the text of Administrative Order No. 9 and biographical sketches on Curry and
Landis.12 On December 9, the New York Times and Chicago Daily Tribune, among other papers,
published small articles announcing the CAP.13 Concurrently, 200 copies of Administrative
Order no. 9 were mimeographed for distribution.14
From OCD’s perspective, Administrative Order No. 9 represented the legal establishment
document for CAP. This is reflected in CAP’s initial press release and internal documents. On
December 9, LaGuardia wrote to Curry about the composition of an Aviation Planning Staff,
authorized in Administrative Order No. 9, “establishing the Civil Air Patrol. . . .”15 In a bi-fold
pamphlet from late 1941, CAP is mentioned as being “Created by administrative order of
December 1941. . . .”16 In internal CAP National Headquarters reports, the administrative order
of December 8, 1941 “created” CAP.17 Legally, Administrative Order No. 9 was superseded by
Administrative Order No. 23 of April 23, 1942, establishing CAP, and clarifying the units,
insignia, supervision, and organization of the organization.18
5
By December 1942, CAP National Headquarters promulgated the date of December 1,
1941 as the organization’s anniversary. The November 27, 1942 issue of the CAP Bulletin began
this campaign of December 1 as the date of establishment.19 When CAP National Headquarters
issued the first iteration of the CAP Rules in General Memorandum 78 of March 29, 1943, the
organizational authority reads “CAP was established Dec. 1, 1941 . . . The establishment of CAP
was formalized on Dec. 8, 1941, by OCD Administrative Order No. 9. . . .”20 Inclusion of the
CAP Rules in Southern Flight’s publication of the CAP Handbook reiterated December 1, 1941
as CAP’s establishment date, although the book also states “Civil Air Patrol was formed by OCD
on 1 December 1941, a week before the Battle of Pearl Harbor.”21
When reviewing all the surviving documentation there are a few simple conclusions to
state. First, December 8, 1941, LaGuardia and OCD formally established CAP for the intent and
purpose of the federal government in conjunction with federal law. Second, December 1, 1941 is
evidently the date that LaGuardia signed a drafted, simplified established document in order to
rush a booklet about CAP off to the printers. This signed letter by LaGuardia provided the public
with a formal – albeit basic – decree of existence, but OCD did not recognize it as the legally
binding establishment document. Today, December 1, 1941 is best phrased semantically as the
founding of CAP, akin to being “created” or “formed” as an element of the Office of Civilian
Defense. Lastly, by preceding the commencement of hostilities between the U.S. and the
Japanese Empire, this date acknowledges the work of small group of individuals in the fall of
1941 to shepherd the idea of the Civil Air Patrol into reality.
6
RELEVANT DOCUMENTS
Figures 1 and 2. Cover of the Civil Air Patrol
booklet published in December 1941 and
page 3 featuring a facsimile of a letter dated
December 1, 1941 signed by Office of
Civilian Defense Director Fiorello H.
LaGuardia.
7
Figure 3. A digitally corrected copy of the December 1, 1941 letter.
8
Figure 4. OCD Administrative Order No. 9, initialed by LaGuardia, signed December 8, 1941.
9
Figure 5. Publicly released copy of OCD Administrative Order No. 9.
10
11
Figures 6 and 7. OCD press release announcing CAP’s establishment, December 8, 1941.
12
13
Figures 8 and 9. Reed G. Landis to Fiorello H. LaGuardia, November 15, 1941.
14
Figure 10. Letters replicated on page 13 in the CAP booklet, December 1941.
15
Figure 11. Intra-office message regarding fate of original signed letters seen in Figure 10.
16
Figure 12. Message from Reed G. Landis to Gill Robb Wilson, November 21, 1941.
17
Figure 13. Fiorello H. LaGuardia to J. Melville Broughton, November 28, 1941. Note “P.S.”
18
Figure 14. CAP National Headquarters GM-78, “CAP Rules,” published March 29, 1943.
19
ENDNOTES
Fiorello H. LaGuardia, December 1, 1941, in Office of Civilian Defense, “Civil Air Patrol –
Organization, Purpose, Program, Enlistment” (Washington, DC: GPO, 1941).
2
Reed G. Landis to Fiorello H. LaGuardia, November 15, 1941, folder labeled “Confidential
C.A.P. Chronological,” Box 1, Record Group 171, Entry 12, Office of Civilian Defense National
Headquarters, General Correspondence, 1941 – May 1942, National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA), College Park, MD.
3
Civil Air Patrol intra-office note from Kathryn Godwin on “Reproduction of Three Original
Letters,” February 13, 1942, Barry L. Spink Collection, CAP National Archives and Historical
Collections. The identity of “E. Strode” remains unknown at the time of writing.
4
Reed G. Landis to Gill Robb Wilson, November 21, 1941, folder labeled “Confidential C.A.P.
Chronological,” Box 1, Record Group 171, Entry 12, Office of Civilian Defense National
Headquarters, General Correspondence, 1941 – May 1942, NARA.
5
Fiorello H. LaGuardia to Henry L. Stimson, October 8, 1941, folder labeled “Confidential
C.A.P. Chronological,” Box 1, Record Group 171, Entry 12, Office of Civilian Defense National
Headquarters, General Correspondence, 1941 – May 1942, NARA.
6
Fiorello H. LaGuardia to Henry H. Arnold, November 21, 1941, folder labeled “Confidential
C.A.P. Chronological,” Box 1, Record Group 171, Entry 12, Office of Civilian Defense National
Headquarters, General Correspondence, 1941 – May 1942, NARA.
7
Mention of Curry’s assignment as CAP’s National Commander is marked post scriptum on the
letters to the governors, see in Figure 13. Fiorello H. LaGuardia to J. Melville Broughton,
November 28, 1941, folder labeled “Civil Air Patrol,” Box 192, World War II Papers, 19391947, State Archives, North Carolina Office of Archives and History, Raleigh.
8
Gill Robb Wilson to William B. Robertson, December 2, 1941; see also Gill Robb Wilson to
Max C. Fleischmann, December 2, 1941; Gill Robb Wilson to Edward G. Schultz, December 2,
1941; Gill Robb Wilson to Maurice L. Horner, Jr., December 2, 1941, folder labeled
“Confidential C.A.P. Chronological,” Box 1, Record Group 171, Entry 12, Office of Civilian
Defense National Headquarters, General Correspondence, 1941 – May 1942, NARA.
9
Reed G. Landis to Donald H. Connolly, October 17, 1941, folder labeled “Confidential C.A.P.
Chronological,” Box 1, Record Group 171, Entry 12, Office of Civilian Defense National
Headquarters, General Correspondence, 1941 – May 1942, NARA.
10
Kathryn Godwin, “Administrative Office Report,” March 9, 1942, Barry L. Spink Collection,
CAP National Archives and Historical Collections.
11
Office of Civilian Defense, Administrative Order No. 9, December 8, 1941, folder labeled
“December 8, 1941 A09; Subject: Establishing Civil Air Patrol,” Box 39, Record Group 171,
Entry 10, Office of Civilian Defense National Headquarters, Administrative Orders, July 1941 –
May 1945, NARA.
1
20
Press Release, Office of Civilian Defense, “For Tuesday’s A.M.’s, December 9, 1941,” folder
labeled “Civil Air Patrol,” Box 192, World War II Papers, 1939-1947, State Archives, North
Carolina Office of Archives and History, Raleigh.
13
“LaGuardia Details Air Raid Behavior: OCD Warns Public to Keep cool and Obey Instruction
of Volunteer Wardens,” New York Times, December 9, 1941, 34; “90,000 Flyers to Form Civil
Aerial Patrol,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 9, 1941, 17.
14
Intra-office message tom E.H. Veatch to E.C. DesVarets, December 9, 1941, folder labeled
“December 8, 1941 A09; Subject: Establishing Civil Air Patrol,” Box 39, Record Group 171,
Entry 10, Office of Civilian Defense National Headquarters, Administrative Orders, July 1941 –
May 1945, NARA.
15
Fiorello H. LaGuardia to John F. Curry, December 9, 1941, folder labeled “Civil Air Patrol,”
Box 111, Record Group 171, Entry 10, Office of Civilian Defense National Headquarters,
General Correspondence, 1940-1942, 502 to 511, NARA.
16
Office of Civilian Defense, pamphlet, “Joint Your Civil Air Patrol,” 1941, folder labeled
“Civilian Defense Activities – Air Patrol; Fire School; Warning Posts; etc.,” Box 29, Governor J.
Melville Broughton Papers, State Archives, North Carolina Office of Archives and History,
Raleigh.
17
Kathryn Godwin, “Administrative Office Report,” March 9, 1942 and June 9, 1942, Barry L.
Spink Collection, CAP National Archives and Historical Collections.
18
Office of Civilian Defense, Administrative Order No. 23, April 29, 1942, folder labeled “April
29, 1942 AO23, Subject: Establishment of: U.S. Citizens’ defense Corps, U.S. Citizens’ Service
Corps, etc.,” Box 39, Record Group 171, Entry 10, Office of Civilian Defense National
Headquarters, Administrative Orders, July 1941 – May 1945, NARA.
19
Office of Civilian Defense, CAP Bulletin, “First Anniversary,” November 22, 1942, CAP
National Archives and Historical Collections.
20
Memorandum from Office of Civilian Defense, CAP National Headquarters to All CAP Unit
Commanders, about “CAP Rules,” (GM-78) March 29, 1943, binder labeled “Civil Air Patrol,
Establishment of, Charts, Staff General Memoranda, Training Memoranda,” Box 2, Record
Group 171, Entry 54, Processed Documents Issued by the OCD CAP, Office of Civilian
Defense, NARA.
21
Civil Air Patrol Handbook – 1944 Edition (Dallas: Southern Flight, 1944), 6.
12
21