A Legacy of Readiness: Lieutenant Colonel Pete Bohler Retires in the Capacity of NC Wing Disaster Relief Officer

By: Major Stephen Beal, CAP

Assistant Director of Emergency Services, North Carolina Wing

Having carried out more than ten years' work in preparing the personnel of the North Carolina Wing for the most disastrous situations that could occur, Lt. Col. Pete Bohler is retiring from his role as Disaster Relief Officer with the NC Wing at the end of this year; the last official Points of Distribution (POD) training session of the year, which was held on August 29, 2026, marked the close of a career defined by practical instruction, constant travel, and a strong commitment to community resilience.

In 2012, when Col. Bohler was appointed Assistant Disaster Relief Officer, he became involved with the NC Wing's disaster relief program. By 2016, after four years, he had taken over the main role. He assumed full responsibility for a mission that eventually became one of the highlights of his career with the Civil Air Patrol—making sure that cadets and senior members in North Carolina were ready to respond in the event of a disaster. For anyone connected to the North Carolina Wing, the POD training course is closely associated with Col Bohler’s name. The course, which he carried out consistently and with great enthusiasm across the state, became a rite of passage for those preparing to serve their communities during crises.

For those who may not know what a POD is. A Point of Distribution, or POD, is a temporary arrangement established to provide people with essentials such as food, water, and other necessities. It becomes important after disasters since normal supply chains are disrupted and the usual commercial infrastructure is either damaged or unavailable. In these situations, a well-managed POD can be the factor that determines whether a community endures difficulties or recovers. Owing to the work of Colonel Bohler, members of the NC Wing have, on many occasions, been ready to go to POD sites after hurricanes, floods, and other emergencies—providing affected communities with order, safety, and relief.

For Colonel Bohler, the extreme unpredictability of the missions he arranged was always an integral part of the story. "You can't make this up," he said. "Since Hurricane Irene in 2011, each hurricane or disaster has been different—there have been seven named hurricanes, one pandemic, and two instances of water shortages—and yet Civil Air Patrol volunteers have still been willing to step forward and deploy to the unknown devastation."

Colonel Bohler was just as determined as he was thorough in his training methods. He would frequently travel to the various regional groups of the NC Wing to conduct full-day workshops, allowing people across North Carolina—not just those near the Wing Headquarters—to receive the same high-standard training. While he was doing his training, he delivered lessons in POD operations and the principles of emergency management, gave practical instruction in traffic control to safely manage the movement of vehicles and people at distribution sites, taught how to use safety equipment to prepare members for real field conditions, and conducted hands-on exercises with the standard POD kits so that both cadets and senior members could obtain practical experience through muscle memory that they could rely on in stressful situations. The primary aim of each session was simple and essential: to prepare cadets and senior members to set up and manage emergency distribution sites after natural disasters, so that when the call came, NC Wing would be ready.

Major Matt Chirik, Director of Emergency Services for the NC Wing, praised Colonel Bohler for his role in improving the Wing's ability to respond to disasters. "The impact that Col Bohler has had on this Wing is hard to overstate," he said. "Every time we have been asked to deal with a real-world disaster, it is due to the standard that he set and to the people whom he trained personally to meet that standard that our PODs perform so well. He is not just passing on a program—he is leaving behind a culture of preparedness which will prove beneficial to the NC Wing for years to come."

Lt. Col. Bob Annechiarico, who is the Assistant Disaster Relief Officer, also expressed the same sense of pride in the Wing's readiness. "He enjoys giving real-world examples of the Wing's deployment to PODs," Annechiarico said. "He constantly stresses that you just can't make this stuff up. He also points out that within North Carolina, we are unique in that we are the only group completely trained to operate PODs."

With the end of this year's training cycle, it also marks the end of several years of service that has had a major effect on the way the entire Wing deals with disaster response. The knowledge, discipline, and readiness he instilled in the members of the NC Wing will be passed on for years to come through the cadets and senior members he trained. Upon Lt. Col. Pete Bohler's retirement of the position, the NC Wing will be saying farewell to a leader whose dedication to disaster relief preparedness has left behind not only a program but also a culture of readiness that will endure long after his last POD training course is completed.

Col. Brendan Kearns, who is the Commander of the North Carolina Wing, also commended Col Bohler for his decade of work in leading the Wing's disaster relief operations. "Pete's involvement can be seen in every disaster response that this Wing has carried out over the past ten years," Kearns stated. "He didn't merely train people how to run a POD — he created a culture of preparedness which will benefit this Wing well beyond the time when his final training class concludes."

The NC Wing wishes Lt. Col. Pete Bohler well in his retirement of Disaster Relief Officer and thanks him for his many years of service.

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Major Stephen Beal, CAP

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