MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. – “Total Force Partners,” a historic Civil Air Patrol painting by renowned aviation artist Rick Broome, is leaving Colorado Springs Saturday morning on a 1,638-mile trek through the nation’s heartland to its final destination at the Pentagon. The CAP van relay begins at 7 a.m. MT on May 19 and will end at 11 a.m. ET on May 25. Most of the trip will be made along Interstate 70, one of the nation’s longest cross-country routes. A major interstate highway that runs from Cove Fort, Utah, to Baltimore, I-70 approximately traces the path of U.S. Route 40 (the old National Road) east of the Rockies, and near iconic sites like the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Pentagon. The Wheeling Composite Squadron, located in Wheeling, WV, is the only squadron in West Virginia to have the honor of relaying from Ohio to Pennsylvania. The exchange will take place at the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport on Tuesday, May 22 at 7 p.m. Broome, a former CAP cadet from Colorado, was commissioned to create the commemorative painting in 2016 as part of CAP’s 75th anniversary celebration. It was scheduled to be presented to then-Secretary of the Air Force Deborah James and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein during the 2016 Air Force Association Air, Space & Cyber Conference. However, the painting was damaged in transit to National Harbor, Maryland, forcing CAP to present a print of the painting for temporary display in the Pentagon. Last month, Broome completed a second painting of “Total Force Partners,” which again features a CAP Cessna 182 being intercepted by an Air Force F-16 during a U.S. air defense training exercise. “This is really an incredible work of art,” said Maj. Gen. Mark Smith, CAP’s national commander and chief executive officer. “We’re proud of our partnership with the U.S. Air Force, and this painting wonderfully depicts the importance of homeland security missions we perform as the Air Force Auxiliary.” To safeguard the painting (plus promote Civil Air Patrol and have some fun doing it), the painting will be transported from Colorado Springs to Washington, D.C., via a CAP van relay. “This wing-by-wing painting relay provides a fun and interesting opportunity to promote CAP’s brand,” said John Salvador, the organization’s chief operating officer. To add a new twist, the painting relay, which includes 11 wings — Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and National Capital — plus Civil Air Patrol’s Congressional Squadron, will take place the week before CAP’s 70th anniversary as the volunteer auxiliary of the Air Force. Congress passed Public Law 80-557 in 1948, and President Harry S. Truman signed it into law on May 26, formally establishing CAP as the volunteer auxiliary of the Air Force. Before that, CAP had served in support of the Army Air Corps, but the new law ensured that the partnership would continue with the newly formed Air Force. “That relationship with the Air Force continues today, and it is stronger than ever,” said Smith, an Operation Desert Storm veteran with 26 years of Air Force service. He added that the new original painting, after it arrives in the nation’s capital on May 25, will replace the print currently on display in the Pentagon. Civil Air Patrol, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Force’s Total Force. In this role, CAP operates a fleet of 560 aircraft, performs about 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 80 lives annually. CAP’s 60,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. In addition, CAP plays a leading role in aerospace/STEM education, and its members serve as mentors to over 25,000 young people participating in CAP’s Cadet Programs. Visit www.GoCivilAirPatrol.com or www.CAP.news for more information. Track the painting's progress here!
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