Two longtime Civil Air Patrol members will join CAP’s Board of Governors, bringing decades of experience serving on boards and leading other organizations.
Col. Rajesh “Raj” Kothari and Lt. Col. Andrew J. Oppmann will officially join the board — CAP’s top governing body — in December as members-at-large selected recently by CAP’s Senior Advisory Group.
The 11-member board, which meets this week in San Antonio, consists of four members-at-large as well as four U.S. Air Force appointees and three members appointed jointly by the secretary of the Air Force and CAP’s national commander.
Kothari and Oppmann will succeed Cols. Brian Ready and Curtis Boehmer, whose service on the board ends Aug. 27 and Nov. 2, respectively.
“I am excited to welcome Col. Kothari and Lt. Col. Oppmann to the Board of Governors,” said Col. John Longley, the board’s chair and also a CAP member-at-large. “Their diverse skill sets will contribute greatly to CAP’s growth and success in the years ahead.”
Kothari serves as the chair of the CAP Foundation and is one of its original board members, first serving from 2011-2014 and again since 2019. He has helped set the direction of the foundation, supporting its success and establishing it as a long-term way to address CAP’s financial needs
He also leads the CAP Investment Committee and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his service as the panel’s chair.
“I have served Civil Air Patrol for over 40 years and now I am humbled to serve as a member of the Board of Governors, helping ensure our organization remains a relevant and powerful organization serving America,” Kothari said.
Kothari joined Civil Air Patrol as a Michigan Wing cadet in 1981. Since then, he has served at nearly every echelon of CAP as a member of a team, a leader in the organization, and commander at the squadron, group, and wing levels. He served as Michigan Wing commander (2018 – 2021) and as CAP’s first national executive officer (2009). He was later National Cadet Special Activities coordinator (2014-2018) after serving as the activity director for Cadet Officer School (2012-2014).
Professionally, Kothari has been an entrepreneur for over 30 years, founding and leading several companies. He is the founder, chair, and managing director of Cascade Partners LLC/Cascade Partners BD LLC, an investment banking and private investment firm in Southfield, Michigan.
Kothari has also supported the growth and development of over 20 nonprofit and for-profit organizations as a board member, including his current service on the OHM Advisors, Northstar Bank, Celtic Band, and Crecera Brands corporate boards and a philanthropic board, the Leader Dogs for the Blind Foundation.
He is a chartered financial analyst and served as an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and the University of Notre Dame Mendonza School of Business.
He is married to Christie Kothari, his wife of 30 years. They have two children, including a CAP adult member and former cadet.
Oppmann serves National Headquarters as adviser to the Marketing and Strategic Communications chief. In that role, he chairs the Strategic Communications Advisory Group and serves as a mentor to the eight regional public affairs directors. He became adviser after serving as interim marketing chief in 2019 while CAP searched for a full-time executive.
“I am looking forward to continuing my Civil Air Patrol service as a member of the Board of Governors and working with my new colleagues to support and strengthen our organization,” Oppmann said.
Oppmann’s CAP career began in 1979 as a Kentucky Wing cadet. He served as cadet squadron commander and chair of the Kentucky Wing’s Cadet Advisory Council.
He returned to CAP in 2014 as an aerospace education officer, helping form a partnership between Civil Air Patrol and Middle Tennessee State University, where he works as vice president for marketing and communications. Through the partnership, MTSU hosts the Cadet Engineering Technology Academy, one of CAP’s National Cadet Special Activities, and has been the site of numerous Tennessee Wing and Southeast Region events.
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for leading CAP’s national news outreach during Hurricane Matthew in 2016. He was also part of the launch team in 2017 for CAP.news, the organization’s digital news platform.
Oppmann serves as adviser to the Tennessee Wing commander. His previous assignments include serving as director of public affairs for the Southeast Region (2016-2019) and Tennessee Wing government relations director (2015-2018).
He joined MTSU in 2010 as associate vice president and led a strategic restructuring of its marketing and communications operations. He became vice president in 2013 and also serves as executive director of MTSU’s True Blue TV and host of “Out of the Blue,” the university’s monthly public affairs TV program that airs in 17 states.
In addition to CAP, his community involvement includes service on the Stars and Stripes Publisher’s Advisory Board, an Army Reserve Ambassador, past chair of the United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties, and a volunteer leader for the Middle Tennessee Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
Oppmann and his wife of 35 years, Elise, have three daughters.
