Maj. Gen. Chuck Carr (left), CAP national commander, and Brig. Gen. Joe Vazquez, vice commander, confer during a National Board meeting.
Photo by Susan Schneider, National Headquarters
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS – During a conference call meeting Sept. 23, Civil Air Patrol’s Board of Governors confirmed Maj. Gen. Chuck Carr’s appointment as CAP’s national commander and chief executive officer to complete his current three-year term of office.
Also, according to the provisions of CAP’s new Constitution and Bylaws, Carr submitted the name of Brig. Gen. Joe Vazquez for confirmation as vice commander, and he was confirmed. Vazquez has no specified term and may serve sequential commanders if nominated and confirmed by the BoG.
Carr was elected to his three-year term as national commander and Vazquez to a one-year term as national vice commander on Aug. 18, 2011, by the CAP National Board during the organization’s Annual Conference and National Board meeting in Louisville, Ky. Before that Carr served one term as national vice commander, while Vazquez was commander of the Middle East Region.
Carr previously served as Great Lakes Region commander and also served on the CAP National Board and the National Executive Committee. Before becoming region commander, he served as Ohio Wing commander for 3½ years.
He joined the wing in 1989 as a member of Columbus Senior Squadron 801. He subsequently served as director of Ohio Wing personnel, commander of Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker Cadet Squadron 803, deputy commander and commander of Group VIII, wing air operations officer, vice commander of wing operations and wing vice commander.
As Middle East Region commander beginning in 2008, Vazquez was also a member of the National Board and the National Executive Committee. He also served on the CAP National Finance Committee as an adviser.
Before becoming region commander, Vazquez was CAP’s national operations adviser. He joined CAP as a Georgia Wing cadet in 1975 and rose to the rank of cadet major before transitioning to the senior member program in 1978.
Vazquez served as a group commander in the South Carolina Wing, squadron commander and group commander in the Maryland Wing and group commander in the Virginia Wing before being appointed Virginia Wing vice commander in 1997 and wing commander in 2001. He became vice commander of the Middle East Region in 2003 and national operations adviser in 2007.
CAP’s new governance structure was unveiled Aug. 24 at the 2012 Annual Conference and National Board meeting in Baltimore. Under it, the BoG selects the national commander and evaluates his performance annually. In addition, the National Board – which previously elected the commander and vice commander – becomes the CAP Command Council, with members serving as advisers to the national commander. The National Executive Committee becomes the CAP Senior Advisory Group, which may recommend policy changes to the BoG.
