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Lt Col Magee is the New York Wing Vice Commander and Director of the 2018 Northeast Region Staff College.  He joined CAP as a cadet in 1967 and completed the cadet program.  He served as cadet commander of the NY Wing Encampment and was named the Outstanding Speaker at the Cadet Officer School.  He completed the Professional Development Program and received Gill Robb Wilson Award #142.  He has served as a Group Commander, Wing Finance Director and Wing Chief of Staff and he was recognized for his work with inner-city youth and the cadet program and awarded the CAP Distinguished Service Award.   Lt Col Magee is a retired supervisory agent who spent thirty-two years with Federal Law Enforcement.  His last two decades were spent with US Customs Aviation.  He is a rated CAP Observer and has been married for over forty-one years to his wife Cherie, a former cadet.

Col. Tim Nelson is one of Civil Air Patrol’s two Northeast Region Deputy Commanders.

As Deputy Commander, Col Nelson serves as a senior advisor to the Region Commander.  He also serves as liaison between the Region Commander and five Wings.  Those Wings are New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts. 

Col Nelson joined CAP in September 1991 serving as Aerospace Education Officer and Safety Officer for Westover Composite Squadron.  An established pilot when he joined CAP, Col Nelson became a Cadet Orientation Pilot and soon thereafter a Mission Pilot.  In 2001, Col Nelson was named Director of Safety for Massachusetts Wing and in 2014 was named Director of Operations for Massachusetts Wing.  In 2021, Col Nelson was selected as Commander for Massachusetts Wing.    

Col Nelson is a Command Pilot with over 7,000 flight hours. He is a Mission Pilot, Mission Check Pilot, Mission Observer and Cadet Orientation Pilot.  Col Nelson is a Senior Incident Commander holding Master Ratings in Safety and Operations.  He is also qualified as an Operations Section Chief, Planning Section Chief and Air Operations Branch Director.   He is an instructor for NESA and NERESA.  He is the Coordinator for the Fertile Keynote Intercept and RPA Escort missions.  Decorations include the Exceptional Service Award and the Meritorious Service Award. 

Col Nelson is a graduate of Westfield State College and Springfield Technical Community College.  He recently retired as the Fire Chief/Emergency Management Director for the Town of Amherst MA.  Col Nelson is currently an Associate with the Edward Collins Center for Public Management/University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Current as of Oct. 26, 2024

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Col. James A. Ridley, Sr., is Civil Air Patrol’s Northeast Region commander.

As region commander, Ridley leads more than 8,000 CAP members in nine states — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont — and serves as a member of CAP’s Senior Advisory Group. He also serves on the national volunteer staff and is an instructor with the Mobile Training Team (MTT) which teaches FEMA courses (ICS).

Ridley joined CAP in April 2004 and was deputy commander for cadets for the New York Wing’s Col. Francis S. Gabreski Squadron. He also served as the squadron’s public affairs officer before taking command of Suffolk County Squadron VII, which he had renamed as the Leroy R. Grumman Squadron in honor of the founder of the Grumman Aircraft Corp. Ridley has also held the roles of Long Island Group director of cadet programs and PAO, New York Wing PAO, and Northeast Region director of public affairs and director of plans and programs.

Upon transfer to the Connecticut Wing and before assuming command of the wing May 20, 2017, Ridley held the positions of Western Connecticut Group commander and wing chief of staff. He served as 2013 and 2014 Connecticut Wing Encampment commander and directed the 2016 and 2017 Northeast Region staff colleges and the 2016 Region Cadet Leadership School. He commanded the wing through May 24, 2021, and most recently has served as Northeast Region chief of staff.

Ridley holds Emergency Services qualifications as incident commander 1 (trainee), incident commander 2, operations section chief, planning section chief, ground branch director, ground team leader, flight release officer, and mission scanner, among others. He received the 2014 Connecticut Wing Commanders Award and has been recognized as the New York Wing’s Staff Officer of the Year, PAO of the Year, and Cadet Programs Officer of the Year. Ridley’s decorations include the Distinguished Service Award, eight Exceptional Service Awards, seven Meritorious Service Awards, and 9 Commanders Commendations.

Ridley holds a master’s degree in technological systems management from Stony Brook University and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from State University of New York College at Old Westbury. He is an advisory technical account manager for BMC Software as well as a former adjunct professor of computer science at Suffolk Community College. He participated in U.S. Army ROTC at Hofstra University and is a former platoon leader with the 423rd Military Police Company, 77th Army Reserve Command, U.S. Army Reserve. 

Current as of Oct. 26, 2024

Lt Col Robert Roy

Lt Col Robert Roy is Civil Air Patrol’s Northeast Region Secretary to the Region Command Staff.

As Secretary to the Region Command Staff, Roy is responsible to the region commander and assists the commander and/ or vice commanders and command chief in managing non-operational day-to-day activities of the region for more than 8,000 CAP members in nine states.  

Roy joined CAP on 10 August 1979 and is a former CAP cadet who earned his Ira Eaker Achievement on 01 Apr 84 and Command Sergeant Major, (Ret) US Army.  Roy took over the Secretary for the Region Command Staff duties in October of 2024 after successful completion of term as Government Relations Advisor and Military Liaison Officer for NER and continues as the CTWG Advisor to the Commander. 

Additional duty assignments at the wing and squadron level and include Vice-Commander, Inspector General, Advisor to Commander, Squadron Administration Officer, AEO, ES, LOG, PDO and Safety Officer.

Roy earned Level V of the CAP Senior Member Development program in November of 2013 and has attended both Region and National staff colleges.  Roy holds Master ratings in Administration, Personnel and Inspector General as well as Senior Rating’s in Cadet Programs, Command and Logistics Specialty Tracks.  Roy also has completed the IG College, numerous additional courses and is rated as an Observer.  Roy has served on Six Cadet Encampment staffs and is the recipient of numerous awards and decorations to include the Exceptional Service Award, Meritorious Service Award, Commander’s Commendation Medal and Inspector General of the Year.

In addition to his most recent military assignment as Regimental Command Sergeant Major and Commandant, Roy served for over 32 years in the active and reserve components of the Army and held key leadership and staff positions up through corps level.  His assignments placed him in active leadership roles during Operation Joint Forge, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.  He is a graduate of the US Army Sergeants Major Academy and other prominent functional and leadership courses and is also the recipient of numerous awards and decorations to include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman badge.

Roy holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance from The University of Connecticut and is formally trained in Lean Six Sigma, Project Management and is Certified as a Scaled Agilist and Scrum Master. He is a Sr. Director and Product Delivery Lead at The Hartford Financial Services Group in Hartford, CT.  He resides in Newington, CT with his wife Erika and their children.

Current as of Oct. 26, 2024