Col. Curtis Boehmer, former Michigan Wing commander and a CAP Board of Governors member emeritus, is adding Great Lakes Region commander to his record of service over more than 53 years in Civil Air Patrol.
Maj. Gen. Regena Aye, national commander/CEO, appointed Boehmer to succeed Col. Rickey Oeth, interim commander, as head of the region. The Great Lakes Region consists of the Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin wings.
“Col. Boehmer’s long list of accomplishments at the local, wing, and national levels made him an obvious choice to lead the Great Lakes Region,” Aye said. “I look forward to the region and its members, as well as their communities, benefiting from his experience and leadership.”
Boehmer thanked the national commander for his appointment and said he looks forward to the next stage of his CAP career.
“Col. Oeth helped further the Great Lakes Region’s long legacy of success in serving communities and residents across our six wings under all sorts of circumstances,” Boehmer said. “I hope to use our past and current record of service as the foundation for even greater accomplishments in fulfilling our many missions.”
The change of command ceremony is set for March 29 at the Ohio Wing Conference.
Boehmer commanded the Michigan Wing from July 2014-September 2018. After that, he served as an at-large member of the Board of Governors, CAP’s governing body, from November 2018-November 2024, including two years as vice chair from February 2021-February 2023.
He previously served two terms as Michigan Wing vice commander, from 2007-2010 and 2013-2014, after filling the roles of wing director of cadet programs, chief of staff, government relations adviser, and web security administrator.
He also served for 10 years at the national Cadet Officer School and as director of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan; the Advanced Technology Academy in New York; and the Great Lakes Region Leadership School.
In November at National Headquarters he led a seminar group developing wing commanders at the Region and Wing Commanders College.
A CAP member since joining in November 1971 at age 15, Boehmer is a mission observer and has a Master rating in Command and Cadet Programs.
He holds a master’s degree in educational leadership — special education from Grand Valley State University and a bachelor’s in speech pathology and audiology from the University of Texas at Dallas and spent 34 years as a speech and language pathologist with the Huron Intermediate School District.
Since March 2017 he has been a mediator with Silver Eagle Services in Harbor Beach and Charlevoix.
