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Operation Pulse Lift
Operation Pulse Lift
Motto: "And the beat goes on."
Background & History
Updated 1 June 2026
SUBJECT: The U.S. Air Force Auxiliary – Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is chartered by Congress for three programs; Aerospace Education, Cadet Programs, and Emergency Services (ES). ES programs include Search & Rescue, Drug Interdiction, and Disaster Relief (DR). One DR operation is blood support. Known as Operation Pulse Lift (OPL), it was in CAP’s Top 10 Initiatives/Achievements from 2020-2026 and its largest mission since World War II; and its longest running DR/humanitarian mission. It has received the President’s - Volunteer Service Award; the First Air Force – AFNORTH /AFSPACE Commander's Meritorious Mission Award and been recognized by the Defense Health Agency and Air Force Surgeon General for mission contributions. In 2026 it received the ARC annual Biomedical Services Excellence Award; and the President’s Award, the highest national honor bestowed by ARC.
DISCUSSION: Beginning 12 April 2017 to 2019, CAP stood up OPL; an unprecedented/innovative capability providing facilities and Blood Support Teams (BST); hosting 12 Blood Donor Centers (BDC) and collecting 527 units from one Arizona site. On 17 March 2020, at the urging of the U.S. Surgeon General, OPL was mobilized to support CAP’s COVID-19 response, because the nation had lost 80% of its donor sites due to COVID closures. The first BDC was on 15 April 2020. During the initial 9-month surge response CAP hosted 42 BDCs at seven sites. It also supported individual member collections of 1,530 units: as one of the nation’s largest blood donor programs. By 10 April 2023 (the last day of the COVID-19 Presidential Disaster Declaration), 21,171 units were collected, potentially saving 63,902 lives during the pandemic. This resulted in Outstanding Service recognitions from the President/CEO of the American Red Cross (ARC). By 2021, OPL quintupled, collecting 7,493 units at 23 sites, and 372 blood transport sorties. This blood went to hospitals supporting Pacific coast wildland fires, hurricanes along the Gulf of Mexico, and a southwest winter storm, Throughout the pandemic there were over 22,000 public encounters during 378 BDC events, but with stringent adherence to both safety and infectious disease protection protocols, enforced by CAP Safety Officers, not a single COVID cross-infection occurred to a CAP member. None!
- In April 2021, OPL began supporting the Armed Services Blood Program; at Dyess AFB and Joint Base-San Antonio, TX; the Air Force Academy, Ft Carson, and Peterson AFB, CO; Ft Huachuca and Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ; West Point, NY; U.S. Naval Academy; FT Knox, KY; Eielson AFB, Ft Wainwright, Joint Base-Elmendorf /Richardson, AK; Keesler AFB, MS, Nellis AFB, NV, Cannon AFB, NM, F.E. Warren AFB, WY; Ft Bragg, NC; and Pensacola NAS, FL. In August 2021 OPL surged to support the collection of 230 units for transport to Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington D.C., and Landstuhl Army Medical Center, GE; for casualties from the 2021 Kabul Airport suicide bombing. Later the New York Wing shattered all records, supporting a single day of 553 units. Since 2021, 33,687 units were collected during 134 BDCs at the 25 military bases. Since 7 March 2026 OPL has surged to support Operation Epic Fury, including first-time simultaneous support to the Armed Services Whole Blood Processing Lab at Joint Base - McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, and multiple military installation blood collection sites. In April 2026 OPL supported blood processing at four bases in Hawaii and in Okinawa, Japan as a part of Exercise Pacific Pulse. This was the first Emergency Services mission ever supported by a CAP overseas unit.
- On 11-12 December 2021, a major tornado outbreak hit the Quad-State region of the nation inflicting over 90 deaths and hundreds of injured. At the request of the ARC, OPL surged, and supported the collection of 222 units of blood from members in 31 CAP Wings and the National Headquarters Staff. On 28 September 2022, Cat 4 Hurricane Ian hit Florida, generating a 1,000-unit shortfall across, CAP responding with 404 units. In October 2024, during the Hurricane Helene/Milton response, members collected/donated 366 units to the Southeastern U.S. On 11 January 2025 the Arizona Wing surged with two BDCs tor hospitals supporting the Los Angeles Fire Disaster and on 13 December 2025 the Southern California Floods. The mission recently surged to counter the shortfall in blood collections in January 2026 due to severe winter and influenza conditions experienced across the nation.
- For seven years straight, CAP has also been awarded national Premier Blood Partner Award status by the ARC; in 2022 the ARC Ironman Award, and 2023 the ARC National Impact Award for nation-wide blood support efforts; and in 2023, 2024 and 2025 the Business and Private Sector Integration and Public Sector Partnership Award, by the International Association of Emergency Managers, for excellence in Emergency Management partnerships.
CONCLUSION: Since 2017, CAP’s Presidential, International, and DoD/Air Force Award-winning mission has supported 896 BDC events, at 101 sites, in 37 states, and in Japan; collecting/processing 96,474 blood units. With 5,000+ members participating, it is CAP’s largest/longest humanitarian mission in history. It has supported over a dozen disasters and combat operations, saving 35 times more lives (289,422) than all other combined missions in CAP’s 84 -Years. As the nation’s most Cost-Effective and Innovative – lifesaving mission it has cost CAP $0.00.
See the following from NBC News https://nbcmontana.com/
For more information, and how to get more involved in Operation Pulse Lift, go to the following links.
- Operation Pulse Lift - Important Contacts: Important Contacts | Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters (gocivilairpatrol.com)
- CAP Blood Donor Center Schedules and Locations: Operation Pulse Lift - Master Schedule | Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters (gocivilairpatrol.com)
- CAP Support to the Armed Services Blood Program: Operation Pulse Lift - Military Support | Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters (gocivilairpatrol.com)
- How to support American Red Cross "Hometown" Blood Program: Operation Pulse Lift - "Hometown" Blood Collection Centers"Hometown'" Blood Collection Centers | Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters (gocivilairpatrol.com)
- Operation Pulse Lift - "In the News:" Operation Pulse Lift - News | Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters (gocivilairpatrol.com)
- Operation Pulse Lift - Briefings: Operation Pulse Lift - Briefings | Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters (gocivilairpatrol.com)
- Operation Pulse Lift - Planning Documents: Operation Pulse Lift - Planning Documents | Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters (gocivilairpatrol.com)
