On September 23, 2024, I became an official member of the Civil Air Patrol. Today marks the six-month anniversary of joining. Life and other things have taken hold over the last several months and I just haven't been in much of a mood to write. Given this six-month anniversary of my CAP membership, I thought it appropriate. I discovered CAP by way of a chattanoogan.com article about the local Choo Choo Squadron's B.E.S.T program, a program used for recruiting and training purposes. I reached out and began attending meetings. Suffice to say that I enjoyed it and kept attending. Full disclosure, initially, I thought it might be a good way to learn to fly. After attending a few meetings and talking to several existing members, I realized that CAP would not be teach me how to fly, but I would get to train for other aircrew duty assignments... Mission Scanner, Mission Observer, and others. I completed my Mission Scanner rating on March 2, 2025, and with any luck, will be promoted to 2nd Lt before too long. We are currently going through Urban Direction-Finding training, and I will begin Mission Observer training before too long. The training and reward for a job well done is what keeps me motivated, day-to-day, but it is the larger picture, the service to our Nation and the citizens of the United States that really makes CAP worthwhile. There is still much that I haven't seen and much for me to learn and figure out, but I haven't felt like this about something since I joined the Masons. I'm in my happy place.