Seeking records of Civil Air Patrol

Dear Mr. Scholz,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the series Processed Documents Issued Serially by the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), 2/1942-4/1943, the series Letters Sent and Interoffice Correspondence, 1941-1944, and the series Classified Files of General Correspondence, 5/1941-5/1945 in the Records of the Office of Civilian Defense (Record Group 171) that contain information related to the Civil Air Patrol that may be of interest to you. These records have not been digitized. Please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual  Reference (RDT2) at archives2reference@nara.gov for access to and information about these records.

We also located the series Central Decimal Correspondence Files, 1919-1950 in the Records of U.S. Air Force Commands, Activities, and Organizations (Record Group 342) that contains 4 files related to the Civil Air Patrol. These records have not been digitized. Please contact RDT2 with any questions you may have about these records.

In addition, we located the series Moving Images Relating to Military Aviation Activities in Record Group 342 that contains 8 files related to Civil Air Patrol and the series Special Projects Films Relating to Military Activities in Record Group 342 that contains 5 files related to Civil Air Patrol that may be of interest to you. These records have not been digitized. For access to and information about these and similar records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Motion Pictures (RDSM) at mopix@nara.gov.    

Plus, we located the series Monthly War Diaries, 3/1942-8/1945 in the Records of Naval Districts and Shore Establishments (Record Group 181) that includes records related to the Northern Civil Air Patrol. These records have been digitized and can be viewed online in the Catalog. Please contact the National Archives at Boston (RE-BO) at boston.archives@nara.gov with any questions you might have about these records.

Next, we located the series Photographs Relating to Defense Practices, 1942-1943 and the series World War II Posters Accumulated by the Office of Civil Defense, ca. 1942 - ca. 1945 in Record Group 171. These records have not been digitized. Please contact the National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures (RDSS) at stillpix@nara.gov for assistance with these records.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT2, RDSM, RE-BO, and RDSS. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

Further, records of the Civil Air Patrol are at the Civil Air Patrol, National Headquarters, 105 South Hansell Street, Building 714, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL 36112-6332.

Finally, the SNAC (Social Networks and Archival Context) Cooperative has links to multiple archival collections related to the Civil Air Patrol that may be relevant.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!