Wing History
California Wing History and Heritage Website
Please visit our California Wing History and Heritage website, click here.
Commanders of California Wing
|
COMMANDER’S LIST Grade*
|
Name
|
Start Date
|
End Date
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Colonel
|
Bertrand Rhine
|
1-Dec-41
|
1-Jan-49
|
|
Colonel
|
Benjamin S. McGlashan
|
1-Jan-49
|
11-Apr-49
|
|
Colonel
|
Howard B. Freeman
|
11-Apr-49
|
25-May-55
|
|
Colonel
|
Wallace Hershel Easley
|
25-May-55
|
21-Dec-56
|
|
Colonel
|
Clement C. Lattimore
|
21-Dec-56
|
25-Mar-58
|
|
Colonel
|
Charles A. Ashlock
|
25-Mar-58
|
4-Aug-60
|
|
Colonel
|
Leroy F. Breithbarth, Jr.
|
4-Aug-60
|
9-Dec-60
|
|
Colonel
|
Herbert Barnett
|
9-Dec-60
|
8-Dec-62
|
|
Colonel
|
Raymond H. Gaver
|
8-Dec-62
|
14-Mar-69
|
|
Colonel
|
Howard L. Brookfield
|
14-Mar-69
|
13-Mar-71
|
|
Colonel
|
Donald D. Dixon
|
13-Mar-71
|
27-Aug-72
|
|
Colonel
|
Howard L. Brookfield
|
27-Aug-72
|
1-Feb-73
|
|
Colonel
|
Jack Ferman
|
1-Feb-73
|
1-Mar-74
|
|
Colonel
|
Warren J. Barry
|
1-Mar-74
|
30-Sep-78
|
|
Colonel
|
Edwin W. Lewis Jr.
|
30-Sep-78
|
30-Sep-82
|
|
Colonel
|
Donald M. Biondich
|
30-Sep-82
|
20-Sep-86
|
|
Colonel
|
V. Lee White
|
20-Sep-86
|
21-Apr-90
|
|
Colonel
|
Ernest C. Pearson
|
21-Apr-90
|
30-Aug-93
|
|
Colonel
|
Angelo A. Porco
|
30-Aug-93
|
5-May-96
|
|
Colonel
|
Bryon L. Brammer
|
5-May-96
|
16-Oct-99
|
|
Colonel
|
Larry F. Myrick
|
16-Oct-99
|
18-Oct-03
|
|
Colonel
|
Virginia M. Nelson
|
18-Oct-03
|
24-Mar-07
|
|
Colonel
|
Jesus Muniz
|
24-Mar-07
|
11-Sep-07
|
|
Colonel
|
Larry F. Myrick
|
11-Sep-07
|
7-Nov-07
|
|
Colonel
|
Kenneth W. Parris
|
7-Nov-07
|
27-Aug-11
|
|
Colonel
|
Jon Stokes
|
27-Aug-11
|
26-Sep-15
|
|
Colonel
|
Alan Ferguson
|
26-Sep-15
|
23-Sep-19
|
|
Colonel
|
Ross E. Veta
|
23-Sep-19
|
Incumbent
|
Emblem of California Wing
Civil Air Patrol (CAP) California Wing emblem.
The California Wing emblem is a dark blue pentagon, on which the outlines of the State of California are imposed, and a California Grizzly Bear in gold. This is surrounded by a pair of stylized wings in gold. The wings denote CAP’s flying mission, and the bear is representative of the bear on our state flag. The gold color in the emblem is symbolic of the state’s history and the reference of California as the ‘Golden State’ and its early gold rush period.1
The patch was allegedly designed by Walt Disney Studios in Los Angeles, California, in the 1950s.2
This logo has been used since the mid-1950s; no information about the original approval date or heraldry is available.
- A letter by Maj. Roberta D. Lantz, CAP Director of Senior Programs, California Wing, March 6, 1982.
- Caution: Many service units claim that Walt Disney Studios designed their unit patch. It's a proud boast, but it isn't easy to back up those claims. In "Disney Dons Dogtags: The Best of Disney Military Insignia from World War II" (Walton Rawls, 1992), Disney Archivist David S. Smith figures that Disney Studios designed over 1,200 insignia. The originals were sent to the unit that requested them, and few, if any, remain in the Disney archives. In the case of the California Wing patch, it just doesn't look like other vintage Disney patches from that period. But maybe. Col Charles Wiest, March 20, 2020.
