Operation Pulse Lift Goes Global, Saving U.S. Military Lives
In January, U.S. Army officer cadets and U.S. Navy midshipmen, along with faculty and staff from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, came together to compete in what is now known as Civil Air Patrol’s Operation Pulse Lift “Blood Bowl.”
Everyone’s a Winner in This Matchup
Not to be confused with the Army–Navy football game in December (won by the Navy, 17–16), the Blood Bowl held one month later carried far higher stakes — potentially saving thousands of U.S. military lives.
Four Civil Air Patrol state wings supported the Armed Services Blood Program and the American Red Cross during Blood Donor Center events held Jan. 12–23 at both military academies. The first event took place over four days at the U.S. Naval Academy, where midshipmen helped support the collection of 806 units of blood. That was followed by a four-day event at West Point, where Army officer cadets supported the collection of 775 units.
“While the Navy supported 31 more units than the Army during the Blood Bowl, everyone across the U.S. uniformed services became a winner with enough blood to save nearly 5,000 military members and family members in the U.S. and overseas”
Civil Air Patrol Leads the Way
Forty-nine members from four Civil Air Patrol wings participated in supporting the Blood Donor Centers at the two military academies. Lt. Col. Jean-Marie Nixon of the Delaware Wing led members from the Delaware, National Capital, and Maryland wings in providing setup, logistics, administrative assistance, and other support during the Annapolis event.
At West Point, Col. William Martin, former New York Wing commander, led CAP members supporting blood collection efforts.
Lt. Col. Nixon donates at Naval Avademy
A History of Military Support
While Civil Air Patrol had previously supported six weeklong Blood Donor Center events at the U.S. Military Academy, this marked the first time CAP members supported a four-day event at the U.S. Naval Academy. CAP is now firmly engaged in supporting future Armed Services Blood Program events in Annapolis.
CAP, the official civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, has also supported seven multi-day Blood Donor Center events at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is scheduled to return in February to support a similar two-day event.
These efforts reflect CAP’s ongoing support to U.S. service members and their families. To date, Operation Pulse Lift has helped collect more than 30,000 units of blood during dozens of Blood Donor Center events at 22 military installations in 13 states nationwide, including Alaska and Hawaii.
An Operation With a Global Reach
According to the Armed Services Blood Program, blood collected during these military installation events directly supports combat casualty care overseas.
One notable example followed the Kabul Airport suicide bombing, when the Texas Wing supported a Blood Donor Center at Joint Base San Antonio–Lackland. Blood collected there was immediately packaged and airlifted to support U.S. casualties who were aeromedically evacuated to Landstuhl, Germany, and Washington, D.C.
Together, these missions underscore Civil Air Patrol’s global reach, while serving as a valued Total Force partner and force multiplier.
If you want to be a part of something that changes and saves lives, check out gocivilairpatrol.com.
