Wing News Story

Dennis Barron selected as new Civil Air Patrol WV Wing Commander

Col Rod Moore congratulates Col Dennis Barron after he assumes command as the new Wing Commander of the West Virginia Wing of Civil Air Patrol. Moore, served as Wing Commander from 2005-2009 and transferred command during a change of command ceremony held during the West Virginia Wing Banquet held on October 24, 2009 in Charleston, W.Va. (Photo by Capt Russell Voelker)

Wing Headquarters -- Effective October 25 2009, the appointment of Lt Col. Dennis D. Barron, CAP as Commander of West Virginia Wing became official.

Barron took over command during a ceremony held on October 24, 2009 during the West Virginia Wing of Civil Air Patrol's Conference and Banquet held in Charleston, W.Va.

Col Barron joined the Civil Air Patrol in 1965, as a cadet member of the Martinsburg Composite Squadron.

Barron is concluding four years of service as the Wing's Chief of Staff. He also held the positions of Wing DDR administrator, Wing Inspector General, and was a commander of the Martinsburg Composite Squadron for 20 years.

He is a pilot and an incident commander, and has command to this date over 45 summer encampments for the West Virginia Wing.

Included among the many awards that he has earned over the years are three Exceptional Service Awards, eight Meritorious Service Awards, over 25 Commander's Commendation Awards, the West Virginia Wing Commander's Special Commendation Award, the Gill Robb Wilson Award, and three Air Force Liaison Awards for mentoring cadets.

"I am very honored to have been selected as the new Commander of the West Virginia Wing," said Barron. "We have an outstanding Wing with some of the finest members in the nation and it is a real privilege to have been named the WV Wing Commander.

"The West Virginia Wing has made great progress in the last four to six years in every facet of the CAP program. We have a lot to be proud of but, we cannot rest on our laurels. We must forge ahead and build on our past successes." said Barron.

Former Wing Commander, Col. Rod Moore has agreed to act as Vice Commander until a new command staff is in place. He will also be assuming the position of Director of Operations for the Wing.

"He has done an excellent job managing the West Virginia Wing, and will be a valuable member of West Virginia and Middle East Region in the years to come." said Col Joe Vazquez, commander of Civil Air Patrol Middle East Region.

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 57,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 91 lives in fiscal year 2008. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the nearly 22,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for 67 years.

For more on the CAP go to www.gocivilairpatrol.com