Civil Air Patrol Elects Carr National Commander, Vazquez National Vice Commander

A native of Columbus, Carr is a graduate of Columbus East High School. His education also includes management courses from the University of Maryland and military training that includes NCO Leadership School, Command NCO Academy, U.S. Air Force Senior NCO Academy, Military Police Investigations and U.S. Customs. He retired as superintendent of security police with the grade of master sergeant after serving 23 years in the Air Force.

In addition to his Air Force and CAP service, Carr has more than 16 years in retail sales and management. He and his wife, Erena, are owners of ABC Academy Daycare Center in Columbus.

Vazquez’s primary duty as vice commander is to assist Carr in leading CAP’s more than 61,000 volunteers in fulfillment of the organization’s three congressionally chartered missions — emergency services, cadet programs and aerospace education, as well as CAP’s steadily increasing role in America’s homeland security.

“I appreciate the confidence CAP’s National Board has in me,” said Vazquez, who also assumes command Saturday along with Carr. “I look forward to fulfilling the challenges and shaping the future of America’s best volunteer organization.”

Before his election as national vice commander, Vazquez served as the highest-ranking officer of CAP’s Middle East Region. Appointed region commander in 2008, he led the region’s 7,000-plus volunteers in his home state of Virginia, as well as Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. He also was a member of the National Board and the National Executive Committee, and he served on the CAP National Finance Committee as an adviser.

Before becoming region commander, Vazquez was CAP’s national operations adviser. In this position, he restructured CAP’s core flying regulation, CAPR 60-1. His commitment to regulatory overhaul started a trend among other national staff that will benefit many areas of CAP in the future.

Vazquez joined CAP’s Georgia Wing as a cadet in 1975 and rose to the rank of cadet major before transitioning to the senior member program in 1978. He qualified as a CAP ground team leader while still a cadet, and as a senior member he became a mission pilot in 1986. He qualified as a flight instructor and check pilot and in 1992 became an incident commander, the highest search and rescue rating in CAP. 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 wing vice commander in 1997 and wing commander in 2001.

He became vice commander of the Middle East Region in 2003 and the national operations adviser in 2007.

Vazquez is a CAP senior pilot with an instrument rating. He also has a master rating in CAP’s standardization/evaluation and communications professional development specialty tracks.

His CAP awards include the Distinguished Service and the Brig. Gen. Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager Aerospace Achievement awards. He also holds the Gill Robb Wilson Award.

A native of Savannah and a graduate of Warner Robins High School in Georgia, Vazquez attended the University of Georgia, earning a bachelor’s degree with majors in psychology and computer science. He began his career as a software engineer with E.I. Dupont at the Savannah River Plant in Aiken, S.C.; he later transferred to Computer Sciences Corp . (CSC). He retired in October 2010 as an operations manager with CSC’s North American Service Restoration Team.

Vazquez is married to Lt. Col. Leslie Vazquez, who is CAP’s national standardization/evaluation adviser.