Cadets from 18 states gather for Joint Dakota Encampment in Rapid City

More than 150 cadets and senior members of the Civil Air patrol have gathered at Camp Rapid for the 2025 Joint Dakota Encampment. The annual training includes instruction in leadership, military-style discipline and aerospace education. This year’s participants hail from 18 states.

Cadet Major Clover Naughton of the Sioux Falls Composite Squadron serves as cadet commander. Lt. Col. Tom Anez of the South Dakota Wing, an Army combat veteran, is this year’s encampment commander. “This is a complicated, high-level event that is largely planned and managed by the cadets,” Anez was quoted as saying. Activities include classroom sessions, physical training, orientation flights over the Black Hills and daily drills. The eight-day encampment ends June 29.