Astronaut Boe,

a major in the U. S. Air Force, is no stranger to CAP. He began his aviation

career as a Georgia CAP cadet in 1976 with Atlanta Composite Squadron

II at Ft. Gillem in Forest Park. To the great satisfaction of his CAP

cadet audience, Astronaut Boe told them that he has kept continuous membership

in CAP during his cadet years at the U. S. Air Force Academy (class of

'87), and throughout his Air Force ­ and now NASA career. To the

delight of the CAP squadron members, Astronaut Boe promises that when

he makes his first space flight as a space shuttle pilot, that he will

carry the Peachtree City­Falcon Field Squadron patch into orbit and

return it to them.

Astronaut Boe

showed a short NASA video of current space shuttle and International Space

Station activities. He then spoke about his years as a CAP cadet, told

about his experiences as an Air Force test pilot, flying 55 combat missions

over Iraq, and how he volunteered for NASA. Boe gave great credit to his

early CAP training. He then fielded many eager questions from squadron

cadets and senior member staff.

Boe brought

with him a stack of official NASA photos of himself, and to the delight

of the some 50 CAP cadets present, inscribed each photo with a personal

note for every one of them. Nobody wanted "their" astronaut

to leave, but he had to fly