Always ready, always vigilant, always there for cadets and adult members of the Delaware Wing, Lt. Col. John Lierenz knows first-hand the impact Civil Air Patrol has on everyone it touches.
Lierenz, a second-generation cadet whose father flew for CAP in the 1950s and 1960s, was 14 when he joined in November 1980 just to learn to fly — though he didn’t get that chance until he was 32 and paid for his own flying lessons.
Even so, he was touched so deeply upon seeing what the organization stood for and did for young people that he has played an active part in the Delaware Wing for more than 43 years. He’s now the wing’s vice commander (South).
“I see myself as being a member the rest of my life, and I want to continue to make an impact [in CAP] after it as well,” he said.
Even when a stroke in 2018 left him partially disabled and a 2020 diagnosis of parkinsonism — a syndrome that mimics Parkinson’s disease — created more physical challenges, he continued his wing staff duties.
“I find that CAP keeps me going — it gives me a purpose in life,” Lierenz said.
That dedication to CAP influenced his daughter, Jessalyn, when she became the family’s third-generation cadet. She served in the Middletown Composite Squadron from ages 12-20, attaining the rank of cadet lieutenant colonel. She still leads and mentors — now as an elementary school music teacher.
“CAP provided a learning experience and affected me in ways I never anticipated,” her father said. “I developed leadership skills, felt a sense of purpose and began mentoring more and more.”
In fact, Lierenz played such an instrumental part in cadets’ CAP experience that he was recognized as Civil Air Patrol’s 2004National Senior Member of the Year.
“I became the wing’s Senior Member of the Year, then the region’s,” he recalled. “I never dreamed I’d go on. I am just somebody who did my best.”
Another award he felt very honored to receive was the Delaware Wing’s Torch Award, presented by newly chosen Cadets of the Year to the adult member most instrumental in their path in Civil Air Patrol.
Lierenz has received the award twice — once from his own daughter.
“Seeing the impact my mentoring has had on Delaware cadets, including my daughter, makes me so proud,” he said.
Lt. Col. Jo’Andrew Cousins was a member of the Dover Cadet Squadron drill team when he met Lierenz, then the director of cadet programs. Cousins, a former U.S. Coast Guard C-130 pilot, flies for United Airlines and was a 2023 inductee into the Delaware Aviation Hall of Fame.
“CAP launched him on that career, and I feel proud to have been a part of it,” Lierenz said.
Cousins cites Lierenz’s impact on his career and life.
“The environment and the tone he set was a really good one for the cadets to develop their own sense of style, ” he said. “It let you be yourself and just perform,.”
As an adult member himself, Cousins said he draws on a lot of what Lierenz taught him when he has mentored Virginia Wing cadets and his military and airline colleagues.
“I create environmental situations so people can see what does and doesn’t work,” he said.
Lierenz hasn’t limited his mentoring to American cadets. Active as both host and overseas adult escort in the International Air Cadet Exchange program, he once escorted five cadets to Japan.
“It was a life-changing experience. I made friends all over the world through CAP,” he said.
He recounted the story of how years later, a Belgian cadet he’d hosted in Delaware was on vacation and came by with his wife and kids.
Although Lierenz had already set up his will to provide for a cash donation to fund activity scholarships for Delaware Wing cadets, he knew he needed to join the Semper Vigilans Society after reading about it in last year’s Annual Report.
“I’ve seen the tremendous impact donations have upon our cadets,” he said.
The society was established in 2020 to recognize the generosity of those who have made provisions for CAP through a deferred gift arrangement (including wills, revocable living trusts, or life insurance/retirement account beneficiary designations).*
Lierenz felt becoming part of the society was another way to ensure his gift would continue to support cadets’ dreams.
It was “a pretty simple thing to do,” he said, especially since he had already included CAP in his will.
The one thing Lierenz feels is most important about CAP?
“It takes young kids and turns them into leaders … and then it turns them into leaders of leaders.”
Helping cadets grow, learn, and excel as whatever and whoever they choose to be is why he embodies the essence of the Semper Vigilans Society.
“I hope to help make that impact for others,” he said.
And now he will, as his legacy ensures current and future cadets will have the resources to be vigilant and to help others — just like Lierenz._____Julia MartinContributing Writer
* Deferred Semper Vigilans Society gift commitments can be for any amount and can be made specific to the programs, activities, wings, squadrons, and/or scholarships the donor chooses.
