Our History
The Air Victory Museum Composite Squadron traces its origins going back before 1985 and was an offshoot of the Flying W Squadron and Burlington Camden Composite Squadron. In 2001, the new squadron moved to the Air Victory Museum, where it continues to grow and thrive. The charter was signed and the new squadron became known as the Air Victory Museum Composite Squadron - 079. The squadron is within the Northeast Region (Maine to Pennsylvania), of the Civil Air Patrol and part of the New Jersey Wing. Thus, our designation is NER-NJ-079. CAP in NJ is divided into Groups for span of control; Air Victory is part of Group 225.
Air Victory is a composite squadron, which comprises both cadet and adult members. Air Victory draws membership from Burlington County and surrounding areas. Our squadron meets every Thursday night in the Air Victory Museum (a converted airplane hangar) on the grounds of the South Jersey Regional Airport (VAY). We are very fortunate to be at an airport (for cadet orientation flights) and in an aviation museum.
Air Victory Museum Composite Squadron
29079 / NJ-079
January 2001 - Present
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The Civil Air Patrol was created on 1 December 1941 (six days before Pearl Harbor) in Cape May, NJ, with civilian aviators using their own planes to guard the NJ coastline as war was looming on the home front. During World War II, the Civil Air Patrol presented the means of using America's civilian aviation resources to aid the war effort. Thousands of volunteer members answered America's call to national service and sacrifice by accepting and performing critical wartime missions. Assigned to the War Department under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Corps, the contributions of Civil Air Patrol, including logging more than 500,000 flying hours and saving hundreds of crash victims during World War II, are well documented. CAP members eagerly assumed the missions, including anti-submarine patrol and warfare, border patrols and courier services. CAP sighted 173 enemy submarines and officially sank two.
After the end of World War II, a thankful nation understood that Civil Air Patrol could continue providing valuable services to both local and national agencies. On July 1, 1946, President Harry Truman signed Public Law 476 incorporating Civil Air Patrol -- a benevolent non-profit organization dedicated to education and national service. On May 26, 1948, Congress passed Public Law 557 permanently establishing Civil Air Patrol as the auxiliary of the new U.S. Air Force. For the past 75 years, it has served as a volunteer organization with over 60,000 members, including over 26,000 cadets and nearly 35,000 adult members. CAP performs three Congressionally-assigned missions: Aerospace Education, Emergency Services, and Cadet Programs.