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Incoming Sr. Staff Appointments Announced
Bailey, Blazich, Fielitz-Scarbrough, Maxfield, Orcutt and Sattgast named to new command team
Aug. 17, 2017
MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. – Maj. Gen. Joe Vazquez, Civil Air Patrol CEO and national commander, and Maj. Gen.-Select Mark Smith, incoming CEO/national commander, announce the following six appointments to the incoming senior staff:
- Col. Arlinda C. Bailey, CAP’s national executive officer
Bailey, a 19½-year member of CAP, is currently in her third year as the first female commander of the Tennessee Wing. A resident of Johnson City, Tenn., she previously commanded the wing’s East Tennessee group, after serving as deputy group commander and commander of the Kingsport Composite Squadron. She was honored as the wing’s squadron commander of the year in 2006. Bailey graduated from East Tennessee State University and worked as an electronic sales representative for Texas Instruments and as a merchandise representative for the Procter and Gamble Corp. She became a full-time mom after the birth of two sons, Ed and Sam. Sam eventually enrolled as a cadet in the Kingsport squadron, which prompted Bailey’s lengthy volunteer service in CAP.
- Col. Frank Blazich, CAP’s national historian
Blazich has served in that capacity since April 2013, playing a prominent role in Civil Air Patrol’s observance of its 75th anniversary in 2016. He has completed all five levels of the senior member professional development program and has a Master rating as a CAP historian. Prior to serving as national historian, Blazich served as historian of the Ohio Wing. In his civilian work, Blazich is a military curator with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He has a doctorate degree in history from Ohio State University.
- Col. Cheryl Fielitz-Scarbrough, CAP’s national inspector general
Fielitz-Scarbrough, of Bluefield, West Virginia, is continuing as national IG, a post she has held since January 2017. Previously, she served as the IG for Middle East Region and for West Virginia Wing. She was a Distinguished Graduate of the National Inspector General College in 2014 and an instructor of the National IG College in 2016. Fielitz-Scarbrough holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health from Malone College in Canton, Ohio, as well as a master’s degree in athletic administration from Seattle Pacific University. A former basketball coach, she currently serves as an evaluator of officials for women’s Division II college basketball.
- Lt. Col. John A. Maxfield, chief of the CAP Legal Officer Corps
Maxfield has been serving as the interim chief since the death of Maj. Gen. Dwight Wheless earlier this summer. A resident of Raleigh, North Carolina, Maxfield was the assistant deputy chief of the legal officer corps under Wheless. Prior to that, he served as a Middle East Region assistant legal officer and North Carolina Wing assistant legal officer and as the North Carolina Wing assistant director of safety. Maxfield has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from North Carolina Wesleyan College and a Juris Doctor from Campbell University School of Law. He is currently the Wake County (N.C.) sheriff’s attorney, a position he has held for 28 years.
- Chief Master Sgt. Dennis H. Orcutt Jr., CAP command chief
Serving as Middle East Region command NCO since September 2016, Orcutt is a current resident of Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Before becoming MER command NCO, he served as command NCO of the
National Capital Wing. Orcutt joined the Okinawa Cadet Squadron at Kadena Air Base in Japan as a senior member in 1992, having been an Air Force JROTC cadet prior to enlisting in the U.S. Air Force. During his 25 years in CAP, he has held a variety of positions within the Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Alabama, Georgia and National Capital wings, along with the overseas unit in Japan. A native of Oklahoma, Orcutt has earned associate degrees in logistics, information management and human resource management from the Community College of the Air Force and a bachelor’s degree in network management from Southern Nazarene University. Still active in the Air Force, Orcutt deployed in theatre to support Operation Desert Storm/Provide Comfort and Operation Enduring Freedom.
- Chaplain Lt. Col. Charlie Sattgast, chief of the CAP Chaplain Corps
Sattgast, who resides in Portland, Oregon, and Yuma, Arizona, has been deputy chief of the CAP
Chaplain Corps since September 2015. Previously, he served as chaplain of the Pacific Region and the Oregon Wing. Sattgast has been in CAP since 2001. In addition to his chaplain Master rating, he holds a Senior rating in cadet programs. He earned the Gill Robb Wilson Award (#2497) in 2007. Sattgast is endorsed by the Foursquare Church, and has served over the years as a senior pastor, associate pastor, worship pastor and children's pastor. He currently serves as a volunteer assisting minister in his local church, The Oregon Community, in Portland. He holds a master’s degree from Multnomah Biblical Seminary and a doctorate in leadership development from Bethel University. He and his wife, Linda, have two adult children and own a training company that teaches Photoshop online.
Bailey, a 19½-year member of CAP, is currently in her third year as the first female commander of the Tennessee Wing. A resident of Johnson City, Tenn., she previously commanded the wing’s East Tennessee group, after serving as deputy group commander and commander of the Kingsport Composite Squadron. She was honored as the wing’s squadron commander of the year in 2006. Bailey graduated from East Tennessee State University and worked as an electronic sales representative for Texas Instruments and as a merchandise representative for the Procter and Gamble Corp. She became a full-time mom after the birth of two sons, Ed and Sam. Sam eventually enrolled as a cadet in the Kingsport squadron, which prompted Bailey’s lengthy volunteer service in CAP.
Fielitz-Scarbrough, of Bluefield, West Virginia, is continuing as national IG, a post she has held since January 2017. Previously, she served as the IG for Middle East Region and for West Virginia Wing. She was a Distinguished Graduate of the National Inspector General College in 2014 and an instructor of the National IG College in 2016. Fielitz-Scarbrough holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health from Malone College in Canton, Ohio, as well as a master’s degree in athletic administration from Seattle Pacific University. A former basketball coach, she currently serves as an evaluator of officials for women’s Division II college basketball.
Maxfield has been serving as the interim chief since the death of Maj. Gen. Dwight Wheless earlier 
National Capital Wing. Orcutt joined the Okinawa Cadet Squadron at Kadena Air Base in Japan as a senior member in 1992, having been an Air Force JROTC cadet prior to enlisting in the U.S. Air Force. During his 25 years in CAP, he has held a variety of positions within the Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Alabama, Georgia and National Capital wings, along with the overseas unit in Japan. A native of Oklahoma, Orcutt has earned associate degrees in logistics, information management and human resource management from the Community College of the Air Force and a bachelor’s degree in network management from Southern Nazarene University. Still active in the Air Force, Orcutt deployed in theatre to support Operation Desert Storm/Provide Comfort and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Chaplain Corps since September 2015. Previously, he served as chaplain of the Pacific Region and the Oregon Wing. Sattgast has been in CAP since 2001. In addition to his chaplain Master rating, he holds a Senior rating in cadet programs. He earned the Gill Robb Wilson Award (#2497) in 2007. Sattgast is endorsed by the Foursquare Church, and has served over the years as a senior pastor, associate pastor, worship pastor and children's pastor. He currently serves as a volunteer assisting minister in his local church, The Oregon Community, in Portland. He holds a master’s degree from Multnomah Biblical Seminary and a doctorate in leadership development from Bethel University. He and his wife, Linda, have two adult children and own a training company that teaches Photoshop online.“I am very fortunate to have professionals of this caliber to serve alongside me on the senior national staff,” said Smith. “I look forward to working with them to lead CAP forward.”
The new senior staff will begin their duties Sept. 2 during Civil Air Patrol’s National Conference in San Antonio, Texas, following a change of command ceremony in which Smith officially becomes CAP’s CEO and national commander and Brig. Gen.-Select Edward Phelka becomes national vice commander.
CAP contact info:
Julie DeBardelaben – jdebardelaben@capnhq.gov – 334-953-7748, ext. 250
Steve Cox – scox@capnhq.gov – 334-953-7748, ext. 251
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 57,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. CAP also plays a leading role in aerospace/STEM education, and its members serve as mentors to 24,000 young people participating in CAP’s Cadet Programs. Visit www.GoCivilAirPatrol.com for more information.