Maj. Gen. Regena M. Aye

National Commander

Maj. Gen. Regena M. Aye

Civil Air Patrol National Commander & Chief Executive Officer

Maj. Gen. Regena M. Aye is Civil Air Patrol’s national commander and the corporation’s CEO.

As Civil Air Patrol’s 26th national commander, she is a major general — two-star — and the highest-ranking CAP officer. She leads CAP’s nearly 70,000 members across the United States in fulfilling the nonprofit organization’s three primary programs of emergency services, cadet programs, and aerospace education.

In its role as the Air Force auxiliary, CAP is also a member of the Total Force, filling a critical role in Defense Support of Civil Authorities that includes preserving life, relieving suffering, and providing training support.

A college teacher and mentor by trade, Aye was the first CAP chief of education and training, a national post she assumed in 2020 after leading the Leadership Development Working Group that, over a three-year period, revised CAP’s legacy professional development program and replaced it with the more flexible Education and Training program.

The new program, launched in 2020, includes Volunteer University, which provides on-site and online professional development experience for CAP’s more than 36,000 adult members, and the mentoring program.

Before her appointment as chief of education and training, Aye served as commander of CAP’s North Central Region from 2016-2020. She was responsible for leading the region’s seven wings, including her home state of Kansas. Before that, she served as region vice commander from 2013-2016 and commander of the Kansas Wing from 2008-2012.

Aye has a CAP Senior Aircrew rating and is qualified as a Liaison Officer, Mission Staff Assistant, Public Information Officer, and Mission Safety Officer.

Outside CAP, she works as an online professor at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, where she teaches Instructional Design and Performance Technology. She has served as the university’s IDPT doctorate program coordinator since 2019.

Aye has three college degrees — a doctorate in educational leadership and a bachelor’s degree in history from Baker University, where she graduated magna cum laude, and a master’s degree in history from Emporia State University.