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Penick News
July 13, 2008
'Outstanding Service': Wood Has Spent 50 Years as CAP Chaplain
BY FAYE M. DASEN: FEATURES EDITOR, THE PILOT NEWSPAPER
For 50 years, Charles L. Wood has been a part of the Civil Air Patrol, serving both members and those people in need of comfort after airplane accidents or the loss of loved ones.
Wood, now a Penick Village resident, was honored recently in a ceremony at Pope Air Force Base. A plaque, presented by Lt. Col. David Bobbie, North Carolina Wing Chaplain, reads: "Presented to Lt. Col. Charles L. Wood in Recognition of 50 Years of Outstanding Service to the Civil Air Patrol."
The plaque was actually given by the CAP wing of Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, but the presentation was made in North Carolina.
Born in Rahway, N.J., Wood had two older sisters.
"I was the college, serving as a radio operator with the 20th Air Force, and later served three years as an artillery officer in the National Guard. The U.S. Air Force was created as an independent armed service in 1947, and CAP was designated as its official civilian auxiliary the next year.
The CAP is made up of unpaid volunteers who carry out three major areas of responsibility:
First, CAP was to promote aviation. As years passed, that mission expanded to include aerospace education as well.
Second, CAP was to provide a training program to support the nation's youth in contributing to society and preparing for successful adult lives.
Finally, CAP was to continue its emergency services, the work for which CAP is still best known today.
To be a chaplain, Wood says, one had to be of age, a college and seminary graduate, and have at least two years of pastoral experience. "I had to fill out a lot of paperwork," he says.
Wood's initial appointment as a chaplain began Nov. 4, 1957, when he served the Monmouth Composite Squadron, which met on Fort Monmouth, N.J. He served nearly 23 years as wing chaplain (chief chaplain) in New Jersey, and then over 25 years on the staff of HQ Great Lakes Region.
Wood's chief interest was in communications, and from 1986 to 2006, he was the national director for chaplains communications.
"When I first started, we used AM radios with adapted frequencies," he says. "They were World War II surplus."
The CAP now uses single-sideband radio transmission, he says. Wood has his ham radio license and has a small setup in the Woods' Penick Village cottage.
"For many years, I was responsible for a coast-to-coast communication among our chaplains during which we discussed many topics," says Wood. "That was dismantled two years ago because of cell phones and the Internet, which allow for a new way of communication."
Wood gets on the N.C. Wing Radio Net on Sundays to give a five-minute devotional, which must be geared toward CAP issues.
"It must be nondenominational and nonsectarian," he says. "The chaplain has to be everybody's chaplain. That's the real challenge."
Wood was National Chaplain of the Year in 1987. He was the first CAP chaplain to graduate from the Air War College and first to graduate from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He has eight decorations, including a Distinguished Service Medal.
Since his work as a chaplain was unpaid, Wood's "day job" was that of parish priest for Episcopal congregations in New Jersey, Michigan, and North Carolina. His last position before retirement was as priest (and organist) for St. Luke's in Yanceyville.
"It was a little mission up in the hills," he says. "Now I'll fill in somewhere as time and opportunity offer."
Wood also taught psychology at Durham Technical Community College for 17 years. Wood and his wife, Nancy, are the parents of a son who lives in Durham, and a daughter who resides in the Washington, D.C., area. They have two grandchildren. Contact Faye Dasen at fdasen@thepilot.com or 693-2475.
'Outstanding Service': Wood Has Spent 50 Years as CAP Chaplain
BY FAYE M. DASEN: FEATURES EDITOR, THE PILOT NEWSPAPER
For 50 years, Charles L. Wood has been a part of the Civil Air Patrol, serving both members and those people in need of comfort after airplane accidents or the loss of loved ones.
Wood, now a Penick Village resident, was honored recently in a ceremony at Pope Air Force Base. A plaque, presented by Lt. Col. David Bobbie, North Carolina Wing Chaplain, reads: "Presented to Lt. Col. Charles L. Wood in Recognition of 50 Years of Outstanding Service to the Civil Air Patrol."
The plaque was actually given by the CAP wing of Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, but the presentation was made in North Carolina.
Born in Rahway, N.J., Wood had two older sisters.
"I was the college, serving as a radio operator with the 20th Air Force, and later served three years as an artillery officer in the National Guard. The U.S. Air Force was created as an independent armed service in 1947, and CAP was designated as its official civilian auxiliary the next year.
The CAP is made up of unpaid volunteers who carry out three major areas of responsibility:
First, CAP was to promote aviation. As years passed, that mission expanded to include aerospace education as well.
Second, CAP was to provide a training program to support the nation's youth in contributing to society and preparing for successful adult lives.
Finally, CAP was to continue its emergency services, the work for which CAP is still best known today.
To be a chaplain, Wood says, one had to be of age, a college and seminary graduate, and have at least two years of pastoral experience. "I had to fill out a lot of paperwork," he says.
Wood's initial appointment as a chaplain began Nov. 4, 1957, when he served the Monmouth Composite Squadron, which met on Fort Monmouth, N.J. He served nearly 23 years as wing chaplain (chief chaplain) in New Jersey, and then over 25 years on the staff of HQ Great Lakes Region.
Wood's chief interest was in communications, and from 1986 to 2006, he was the national director for chaplains communications.
"When I first started, we used AM radios with adapted frequencies," he says. "They were World War II surplus."
The CAP now uses single-sideband radio transmission, he says. Wood has his ham radio license and has a small setup in the Woods' Penick Village cottage.
"For many years, I was responsible for a coast-to-coast communication among our chaplains during which we discussed many topics," says Wood. "That was dismantled two years ago because of cell phones and the Internet, which allow for a new way of communication."
Wood gets on the N.C. Wing Radio Net on Sundays to give a five-minute devotional, which must be geared toward CAP issues.
"It must be nondenominational and nonsectarian," he says. "The chaplain has to be everybody's chaplain. That's the real challenge."
Wood was National Chaplain of the Year in 1987. He was the first CAP chaplain to graduate from the Air War College and first to graduate from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He has eight decorations, including a Distinguished Service Medal.
Since his work as a chaplain was unpaid, Wood's "day job" was that of parish priest for Episcopal congregations in New Jersey, Michigan, and North Carolina. His last position before retirement was as priest (and organist) for St. Luke's in Yanceyville.
"It was a little mission up in the hills," he says. "Now I'll fill in somewhere as time and opportunity offer."
Wood also taught psychology at Durham Technical Community College for 17 years. Wood and his wife, Nancy, are the parents of a son who lives in Durham, and a daughter who resides in the Washington, D.C., area. They have two grandchildren. Contact Faye Dasen at fdasen@thepilot.com or 693-2475.