Since air search and rescue had been one of CAP's primary missions during the war, it was obvious there was no other organization with the equipment and training to continue this vital job in the post-war years. Even though there were plenty of military aircraft available, they cost far too much to operate and flew too fast for accurate spotting of downed planes and personnel. Military pilots were expensive to train as well, and mission requirements limited their availability for search and rescue work. Civil Air Patrol, with its proven record of volunteer service using light aircraft, was put to work.

By 1954, CAP was flying over 50 percent of the search and rescue hours flown in the country and according to the Air Force Air Rescue Service, was saving the country $46 million a year--the cost equal to the military and flight pay of the 12,000 fliers that would have been needed to fly the missions had CAP not been available.

In October 1954, Navy pilot Joe Meder became one of the many crash survivors who owe their lives to CAP. Flying at night at 40,000 feet in stormy skies, he was forced to eject from his burning Banshee jet fighter. Falling almost 30,000 feet as he wrestled with his ejection seat, he was able to separate from it and get his parachute open, only to have it rip and begin to lose air. He slammed into the ground, breaking both ankles and numerous other bones, and puncturing a lung. He crawled 150 feet before collapsing in a rain drenched bean field. Nearing death, Meder was spotted at first light by CAP pilots Vince Causmaker and John Zonge who were part of a two-state air and ground search team. When floods ravaged Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia in 1957, CAP ground, air and radio teams swung into action. CAP planes flew vital serum and vaccines to forward areas unreachable by heavier military aircraft. Ground teams helped in the evacuation of cities and towns. In the Hazard, Kentucky area, the CAP radio net handled most of the traffic for the emergency agencies, coordinated the activities of Army rescue helicopters, controlled CAP activities in the area, and broadcast weather advisories from the U.S. Weather Bureau.

By the 1960s and '70s, CAP was logging over 75 percent of the search and rescue hours flown each year. The burgeoning civil aircraft fleet was the primary impetus for the continued need for a growing CAP organization, but the CAP's parent organization, the U.S. Air Force, sometimes had to use Civil Air Patrol's search and rescue skills as well. When an F-111 fighter-bomber went down in the southwest, CAP members from six states were called up in a 15 day search and rescue operation. CAP pilots flew over 80 percent of the 1,400 sorties flown.

On May 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helens in Washington exploded, devastating approximately 150 square miles and triggering massive mud flows, floods and ash falls. When the county sheriff asked the Civil Air Patrol for help, CAP members were quickly on the scene, establishing a 24 hour headquarters, plotting leads, aiding search and rescue missions, and updating weather advisories. CAP teams assisted in several out-lying command centers and worked in ash cleanup crews.