Maine Wing - Mar 2002

8/9/2019 Maine Wing - Mar 2002

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March 2002

THE NEWSLETTER OF MAINE WING, CIVIL AIR PATROL, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE AUXILIARY

Maine Wing Civil Air Patrol at Din-ing Out as guests of the Maine AirNational Guard. The 265 CombatCommunications Squadron and the243 Engineering Installation Squad-ron of the Maine Air National Guardinvited members of Maine Wing, CivilAir Patrol to join them at their Dining-Out in Portland, Maine on SaturdayFebruary 2nd, 2002. They extendedspecial recognition of the Civil Air Pa-trol by inviting Cadet James Connorsto join their honor guard and post the

Civil Air Patrol colors alongside thoseof the USAF and Air National Guard.Other honors included a toast to theNational Commander, CAP, amongthe initial toasts of the evening by thePresident of the Mess. M/SGT Ed-ward Vajda, USAF (aka LTC EdwardVajda, Maine Wing, CAP) played therole of Mr. Brewmiester .Dressed in

face shield and lab coat, he pre-pared a devilishly foaming grog

bowl whose less alarming ingredi-ents included kitty litter, prune juice,and Maines acquired taste softdrink, Moxie. LTC Vajda has pre-pared the grog many times for theMaine Wing CAP Dining-Out heldeach fall. The evening followed theset procedure of points-of-orderbeing raised by members of themess and the Mess President me-

tering out numerous trips to thegrog bowl. One Civil Air Patrol guestnoted: Its good to know that our

CAP Dining-Outs use the samescript and generate equal camara-derie. Lieutenant General RonaldC. Marcotte, USAF, Vice Com-mander, Air Mobility Command,Scott AFB, was the Special Guestof Honor and Speaker. Other rank-ing military guests included Briga-dier General John Libby, Deputy

Adjutant General of the Great Stateof Maine and Brigadier General John

Bubar, Commander, Maine Air Na-tional Guard. Representing MaineWing, Civil Air Patrol were ColJames Linker, Commander, MaineWing; Col Craig Treadwell, formerMaine Wing Commander; LTCSheryl Treadwell, Director of CadetPrograms Development; Capt. Chris-topher Hayden, Commander, Cum-berland County Composite Squad-ron; 2Lt Paul Connors, Public AffairsOfficer, Cumberland County Com-posite Squadron and Cadet A1C,James Connors.

Capt Chris Hayden, Maine Wing

Photos By LTC Edward Vajda, Maine Wing

Col. Craig Treadwell and Col. JamesLinker of Maine Wing CAP conversewith Lieutenant General Ronald C.Marcotte, USAF Vice Commander,Air Mobility Command.

Maine Wing well represented at Dining out Ball

Maine Wing, CAP Guests of Maine Air National Guard

Cadet A1C Connors with AF honor guard

ParticipationMakes you

ABetter

Member


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MMaine Wing Overaine Wing Over

Wing CommanderCol James F. Linker

Vice CommanderCapt Mitch Sammons

Newsletter EditorLt Dennis Murray

HeadquartersMaine Wing, Civil Air Patrol

PO Box 5006Augusta Maine, 04332-5006

Editorial Office: 207/767-1874Headquarters: 207/626-7830

The Maine Wing Over is an unofficial newsletterpublished quarterly in the interest of members of theMaine Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. Any opinionseither expressed or inferred by the writers herein aretheir own and are not to be considered official ex-pression by the Civil Air Patrol or the Department ofthe Air Force.

The historic and closely held searchmission on Saturday, December 8th,

in Portland that included certainmembers of Cumberland CountyComposite Squadron CAP can nowbe reported.

If you saw the news on WMTW (andWCSH) on Saturday you would haveseen the Cumberland County Squad-ron CAP team working in the crimearea alongside the Maine WardenService and State and local police.They were there as members of acombined search team that success-

fully found the body Amy St. Laurentlate Saturday afternoon. (This newsstory was repeated throughout Sun-day.) Police had been searching forAmy St. Laurent, a 25 year old fe-male missing since October 21st, formany weeks without a great deal ofsuccess.

The Warden Service had been fol-lowing the local search and recom-mended deployment of qualifiedsearch & rescue teams from acrossthe state to assist local authorities.

This recommendation resulted in amassive search Saturday involvingthe Maine Warden Service, Stateand local Police and volunteersearchers from various Maine Asso-ciation Search & Rescue (MASAR)affiliates including Maine WingCAP. This was an experiment initi-ated by the Maine Warden Serviceand as such they have dubbed it ahistoric event that proved the suc-cess of this combined search team.

Members of the Cumberland CountyComposite Squadron (NERME058)contributed over 60 hours of groundsearch time on Saturday as part ofteam #9. There were 10 teams inthe field yesterday searching 17 sus-pected areas; each one included astate police officer and a state war-den who coordinated the search

team with SAR/ICP at the State Po-lice barracks on the Maine turnpike inPortland.

Capt. Chris Hayden, Lt.s AndreaHayden, Rick Machado, Paul Con-

nors and David Genest and CaptRalph Gamache found themselvesboth dumpster diving as well as per-forming traditional line searches inthe thick and hilly woods surroundingthe Smiling Hill Farm area of Scar-borough. Assisting them from CCCSHQ via radio was Lt. Mark Sullivan.

While a police helicopter and planewere used through out the day,CAPs participation was limited to as-sisting in the ground team search.

Although at the last minute as thelight started to fade, CAP aviation re-sources were requested to photo-graph the crime scene. However thefading light won out over the crew'sability to launch. All teams werecalled back to the ICP at 3:30 pm af-ter the discovery of the shallowgrave.

One of the volunteer teams with SARdogs had discovered the shallowgrave off Route 22 west of the Port-land Jetport. This was apparently an

area that had been searched by po-lice only a few days prior. An autopsyon the Sunday confirmed everyone'ssuspicions that they had found AmySt. Laurent.

The Warden Service was verypleased with the volunteer efforts onSaturday and is hopeful the use ofMASAR and CAP resources will beemployed in the future should stateand local police authorities face simi-lar situations.

Lt Paul ConnorsME058/[email protected]

Closely Held Mission Completed

by Cumberland County Composite

SquadronCongratulations to Brooke Renzullowho was promoted from TacticalFlight Officer to First Lieutenant atour meeting on 1/31/02. Brooke alsoreceived her EMT credentials from a

long hard training course at the Uni-versity of Maine at Machias and willbe sporting an EMT patch. She hasonly one more step to be certified asa scuba rescuer. Congrats!Maj Jim Raymond, Machias Composite

IN THE NEWS

Lt Col Michael Walko, Jr. served welland faithfully on NER staff for manyyears. Those who knew him will besaddened by his passing in Decem-ber.Our condolences to his family.

TAPS

Former Maine Wing Commander,Col. Richard T. Davis has passedaway. He commanded Maine Wingfor nearly 7 years, from March1970 until December 1976.


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aine Wing Cadets and Seniors at Sto bie Seaplane Base on Moosehea d Lake, Maine move a Cessna 182 seapl ane from the water ramp to land parking. Maine Wing

has supported the International Pilots association Fly-in for the past se ven years.Photo Courtesy of Mike Lange, Moosehead Messenger.

I was recently notified that CAP/EXhas authorized CAP/LG to execute thevehicle buy that had previously beenpostponed. As you might imagine, agreat deal of "horse trading" has beengoing on among Region Commandersto try and get the greatest number ofvehicles for our respectiveRegions. All in all, Northeast Regiondid pretty well. As it now stands, thebuy will be let for bid next month, withdeliveries staggered throughout theMay - June time frame. These vehi-

cles will be purchased with a 7-year,100,000 mile full warranty, whichshould save Wings a substantialamount in maintenance costs over thelife of the vehicle. Currently, we have140 vehicles in Northeast Region, dis-tributed as follows:NER 2CT WG 13MA WG 16ME WG 15NH WG 11NJ WG 14NY WG 18

PA WG 30RI WG 9VT WG 12With the help of CAP/LG, I have deter-mined the following Wings will be get-ting vehicles. In some cases, Wingswill also be giving up vehicles thathave gone past their useful life. Thelist is as follows: CT WG will be gettingone 12 passenger van to replace CT06005. (Net gain = 0; new total = 13)MA WG will be getting one 12 passen-ger van. (Net gain = 1; new total = 17)ME WG will be getting one 12 passen-ger van. (Net gain = 1; new total = 16)NY WG will be getting three 12 pas-senger vans, one to replace NY31001. (Net gain = 2; new total = 20)PA WG will be getting 4X4 pickup toreplace PA 37674 (for glider program).(Net gain = 0; new total = 30) NER will

be getting two 7 passenger vans,one to replace NER 91003. (Net gain= 1; new total = 3) The total is 9 newvehicles for the Region, with 4 oldvans being turned in, for a net gain of5 for the Region, bringing our total up

to 145.Northeast Region has a better ratioof vans to members than most otherRegions, so we are lucky to be ableto have a net gain in vehicles.My distribution plan is based on thenumber of total members a Winghas, as well as the percentage of Ca-dets to Senior members and thesquare miles covered by the Wing. Ialso took into account the number ofactual missions AFRCC assigned toa Wing during FY '01. I know this is

not what many of you wished, but Ihave to place the vehicles wherethey will benefit the greatest numberof CAP members within the Region,as well as Cadet transport and mis-sion requirements.Wing Commanders have the finalsay as to where in their Wings theywish these new vehicles to go.Please don't pester Duane about thenumber of vehicles we got, or howmany your Wing will or will not get.That decision was mine and minealone, and National has no say in

allocation of vehicles beyond the to-tal coming to a particular Region. Ifyou have any problems or com-plaints about this allocation, pleasecontact me directly.

RICHARD A. GREENHUT, Col,CAP Commander -- Northeast Re-gion

Maine Wing

To ReceiveOne

New Van

On January 26th and 27th, thisyears first CLC Course was held inAugusta, Maine for those senior

members who havecompleted the SLS.The Corporate Learn-

ing Course is designedto further seniors edu-cation about how theCorporate CAP func-

tions. As always, our Wing Com-mander Col Jim Linker presentedour Welcome and Introductions andassisting, him on this mission aswell as taking charge of the coursewas Capt Mitch Sammons. The firstday consisted of courses on CAP-USAF/ State Directors, presentedby Chief Porter, Aerospace Educa-

tion, presentedby LTC Christie,Jr., InspectorGeneral, pre-sented by LTCSchaffer, CadetPrograms, pre-sented by Col Treadwell, Drug De-mand Reduction, presented by 1LtHunter, Legal, presented by LTCBroder and Safety, presented byCol Linker. At the end of a full day,the attendees went their separateways to get some much needed

dinner and sleep. The following daywe started classes with EmergencyServices, presented by 2Lt MerrieKnightly, Counterdrug, presentedby Maj Crowley, Flight Operations,presented by Col Linker, MemberServices & Administration, pre-sented by 1Lt Wayne McKinney,Logistics, presented by LTCGrover, Communications, pre-sented by Maj. Pellerin, Finance,presented by Maj Quinn. Becausewe were running late we also hadshort presentations for Training,presented by 1Lt Greer and Mar-keting & Public Relations, pre-sented by Capt Chris Hayden. At-tendees and graduates of the 2002CLC Course were, 1Lt Mary East-man, Capt Josh Broder, 1Lt AndreaHayden, Capt Richard Doughty, 2Lt

(Continued on page 5)

CLC CourseGraduates


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Walter

Waterville Composite

Squadron

On Friday, January 25, 2002, repre-sentatives from Waterville CompositeSquadron went to talk to a 6th grade

class at Benton Elementary Schoolin Benton Maine.

The two cadets, C/CMSgt Erik Bel-landi, and C/Amn Miles Noonan,along with Squadron Commander,Captain Mitch Sammons, talkedabout the opportunities of being acadet in the Civil Air Patrol.

With a discussion style presentation,the students of Mrs. Walder's classresponded very well, and expressedtheir interest in the Civil Air Patrol

cadet program. The entire presenta-tion lasted 40 minutes.

This presentation was the secondsuch opportunity for the WatervilleComposite Squadron to meet areastudents and to tell them about theCivil Air Patrol. Another presentationis scheduled for February 23rd at theFrankfurt, Maine, school where al-most an entire day will be spent dis-cussing C.A.P. and aerospace sub-jects with the students.

C / A m n M i l e s N o o n a nWaterville Composite SquadronPublic Affairs

At our meeting, February 11th, theDowneast Patrol Squadron pro-moted c/SSgt Dana Maddocks to his

current rank. The award was pre-sented by LtCol Ken Goldstein. Visit-ing our meeting and witnessing thepromotion were LtCol LindonChristie and Maj Larry Woods ofMaine Wing and Commander DickButters of the Trenton, Maine Ameri-can Legion Post 207. Additionally,Commander Butters presentedAmerican Legion Certificates of Ap-preciation for participation in theAmerican Legion "Table for One"ceremony. Over the last Year, theDowneast Patrol Squadron cadets

have presented the "Table for One"ceremony at least eight (8) times atvarious locations around the State ofMaine; including the Maine StateAmerican Legion Convention atwhich they were commended for anoutstanding" performance by theNational Commander of the Ameri-can Legion! In fact, the DowneastPatrol Cadet Squadron has earned avery good reputation for performingthe "Table for One" ceremony andwe continue to receive requests from

other American Legion posts to pro-vide this service to them as well.LtCol Kenneth Goldstein

Downeast Patrol

Composite Squadron

Bangor-Brewer CompositeSquadron

Are You Mission Ready?

Be Prepared!

Our squadron is mourning the loss of

three of its members. LTC Walter

Anderson, LTC Lee Winter and LTCDon Strout. Our Prayers are with the

families. Recent promotions include C/

SSgt Hicks and Webber promoted to C/

TSgt, C/SSgt Knightly and Taylor to C/

TSgt, C/A1C Curley to C/SrA, C/Amn

Gomes to C/A1C and C/Amn Crump to

C/A1C. Congratulations to all cadets

and to the Cadet Commander C/MSgt

Thompson for receiving his Goddard.

Scenes from the funeral of

Walter AndersonPhotos by 1Lt Merrie Knightly

W a l t e r

A nder son

served 50

years in

CAP and

will be

missed by

all of us.

Our prayers go out to his family andfriends on the lost of a great member.

Bangor-Brewer especially will miss him.

The experience at Lt. Col. WalterAndersons funeral was new forsome people. Performing the mili-tary honors, and working with an

Air Force Honor Guard doing thegun salutes, was part of somethingthat, whether it was new or not,made participants honored to be insuch an event, especially since wewere honoring one of our own.Right before vehicles arrived, ca-dets lined up on the sides of thepath the hearse was going to drivethrough. As the hearse drove by,the cadets saluted. The casket,draped in an American flag, wascarried over to the gravesite. Afterthe pastor said a few words, mili-

tary honors started. The Air Forceand Navy Honor Guard performeda twenty-one-gun salute; sevengunmen fired their M-16s threetimes. As the sound of shots dieddown a lone trumpeter soundedtaps. As the cadets saluted, mem-bers of the Air Force and NavyHonor Guards folded the Americanflag and presented it to Lt. Col.Walter Andersons family. As this



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First Lieutenant Wayne Merritt, Com-mander of the Machias Valley Com-posite Squadron, promotes SecondLieutenant Elaine Merritt to First Lieu-tenant. Elaine serves as the adminis-

trative officer and testing officer of thesquadron.

Augusta-Gardiner CompositeSquadron

Cumberland County

Composite Squadron

Machias Valley

Composite Squadron

Pinetree Senior Squadron

Sundown CompositeSquadron

St Croix Composite

Squadron

Well, they finally did it. Major JimGreenlaw and Major Jim Raymond

made it to the top. It is over 900 feetfrom Musquash Lake to Musquashsummit. There are several antennatowers there and several equipment

shelters toa c c o m p a n ythem. Thewing was in-terested in isa small 8x8wood con-

struction with Styrofoam insulation.Not exactly weather tight. They ac-quired the combination and finally gotin. There are three repeaters housedin the shelter. K1HHC amateur voice,K1HHC amateur digi and ME1601CAP digi. The tower is claimed to beunder the control of the InternationalAmateur Radio Club and under thecustodianship of Harland Hitchins ofPrinceton.

Machias Valley and St Croix Compos-ite Squadronsheld a jointholiday partyat the winterquarters ofthe MachiasSquadron. Allcadets and

seniors enjoyed the food and socialaspects of the party.

During the last quarter, the St CroixComposite Squadron has been busywith learning about the updates on

CPR & First Aid training. All cadetsand senior members did very well inadapting to the new procedures. Oneentire meeting was dedicated to learn-

ing about this important subject. In ourmonthly newsletter Sierra Charlie,a quiz is presented to educate our ca-dets and keep them up-to-date. InFebruary, the squadron had the firstever Winter Survival weekend. Thecadet and seniors arrived at thePrinceton Airport after dark and madeshelters out of the materials availablein the woods where the camp was setup. Classes were held on a variety ofsubjects pertaining to winter survivaland off they went to sleep outside with

temperatures dropping to 5 degreesabove zero. All survived and ateMREs the next morning for breakfast.Cadets stated they enjoyed the week-end and additional training they re-ceived.2Lt Judy Murray, PAO, ME076

(Continued from page 4)Walter Anderson

was being done, one of Bangor/Brewer Squadrons aircraft flewover, dipping its wings. Afterwards,as people were leaving, Mrs. Ander-son thanked cadets. This experi-ence was a good one for cadetswho were involved. The Air ForceHonor Guard was very helpful in let-ting the cadets know what they wereto be doing while military honorswere given. It is something that willnot soon be forgotten, the honor ofpaying tribute to one of our mem-bers. By C/TSgt Scott Knightly.

First Lieuten-ant WayneMerritt, Com-mander of theMachias ValleyC o m p o s i t eSquadron, pro-motes SecondLieutenant Elaine Merritt to First Lieu-tenant. Elaine serves as the administra-tive officer and testing officer of thesquadron.

(Continued from page 7)CAP In Races

to work in the shop to complementthe 2001 team. The No. 46 Civil AirPatrol Chevrolet will make its debutrun Feb. 16 in the Daytona 300 at

Daytona International Speedway inFlorida. (Courtesy of Air Educationand Training Command News Ser-vice)

(Continued from page 3) CLC Course

Peter Kleskovic, SM MichaelMcCray, 2Lt Merrie Knightly, 2LtKenneth Knightly, 1Lt DennisMurray, 2Lt JudyMurray, Capt Don-

ald Godfrey, 2LtPaul Connors, 1LtRichard Machado,Capt Chris Hay-den, Capt Brian Carter, 1Lt CindyGreer, 1Lt Richard Hunter, LTC RichGrover, 2Lt Mona Grover, CaptJerry Carlyle, 1Lt Louis Eastman,1Lt Jean Boynton, 1Lt WayneMcKinney and Capt Ralph Ga-mache. Capt Mitch Sammons did anexcellent job by putting together thiscourse and for having speakersavailable to fill in for educators who

at the last minute could not attend. Istrongly recommend to each seniormember to attend the CLC if giventhe chance to do so. You will learnmore than you can get on thesquadron level and this course helpsto bring you the big picture. -Editor


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The Civil Air Patrol is oftenthe first to find those whoare lost or in distressBy Tech. Sgt. John B. Dendy IV, Photosby Tech. Sgt. John Lasky. Reproduced byspecial permission from Jerry R. Stringer-Editor, Airman Magazine

The master pilot and his untestedCivil Air Patrol search party orbitedthe Alaskan bush between Anchor-age and Mount McKinley. All eyes

were on the ground, looking for evi-dence of aircraft wreckage. Twohours into their sector, full of bears,leafy brown plains and brisk Memo-rial Day air traffic, the team spiedthe speck of a wreck from 1,500feet. The search team honed theirskills in this aerial confidencecourse. Someday members mightfly an actual emergency missionover Alaska, sometimes called theinland aerial search capital of Amer-ica. Airmanship, courage, vigilanceand sacrifice pervade Alaska, the

sprawling land where many citizensown private airplanes. And whereone-third of the CAPs forces neverserved in the military. No problem.Theyre serving humanity with theircivic duty today. The Civil Air Patrolis the official Air Force auxiliary, anonprofit and federally charteredcorporation of nearly 60,000 peopleage 12 and up. Their storied andaggressive start was in 1941. As aflying Neighborhood watch withbombs, they were on patrol againstNazi subs and other menaces tonational defense a week beforePearl Harbor was attacked.Since that dark time, the UnitedStates need for this volunteergroup has increased, although themission has changed.Floats and skis

The Alaska Civil Air Patrol flies 31

corporate fixed-wing search planes,some in stock trim. Others are cus-tom-outfitted with floats or skis. Eachhauls a crew of three, four or six onair hunts. Searchers find crash sitesand radio their findings to a dis-

patcher. Then other agencies pick upthe survivors. In Alaska that processamounts to about 100 saves yearly.A commercially rated pilot flies theaircrew within an assigned inlandsearch grid. A scanner crewmem-ber, which sits in the rear seat of thesingle engine aircraft, looks forwreckage and other air traffic. In theright front seat an observer primar-ily navigates and picks up distresssignals. The CAP, for example, canhave several search aircraft teamsorbiting Alaskas sprawling land

mass. Their senior members workclosely with the Alaska Rescue Coor-

dination Center atCamp Denali on fortRichardson. This in-teragency organiza-tion responds toabout 400 rescuecalls each year. Thecenter is also theCAPs mission-based

planning staff in Alaska. While ateam at camp Denali does much ofthe flight following, planning and di-recting, the CAP focuses its missionsfor the centers time sensitivesearches. Such a support structure isparticularly helpful during costly, andof ten over lapping, mul t i -daysearches that require several rescuecraft. This is unlike other wings. Theamount of saves they do is probablydouble or triple what the lower 48does, said Lt. Col. Randy Mathis,the Civil Air Patrol-Air Force PacificLiaison Region commander at BealAir Force Base, California. Credit for

all lives saved in Alaska is aboutequally divided among Civil Air Pa-trol, Air Guard, Army guard and mu-nicipal forces he said.Special arsenalSeventy-five feet of wood plankingsqueaked and swayed with friendly


CONCORD, N.C. (AFPN) -- TheCivil Air Patrol announced Jan. 15a multiyear agreement as the pri-mary sponsor of the NASCARBusch Series No. 46 Lewis Mo-t o r s p o r t s C h e v r o l e t . By signing on as primary sponsor,CAP officials hope to increase aware-ness of their three primary missions:cadet programs, aerospace educa-tion, and emergency services. CAP isthe official civilian auxiliary of the AirForce. "The NASCAR Busch Seriesoffers the Civil Air Patrol an afford-able and effective marketing platformthat will provide the vehicle to informand educate the general public aboutCAP," said Brig. Gen. Richard Bowl-ing, CAP national commander. "Theenormous reach of the sport will en-able us to introduce our 60 year old

organization to millions of peopleover a short period of time," he said."This will provide the impetus neces-sary to effectively augment and ad-vance CAP missions." CAP found aperfect fit with driver Ashton Lewis Jr.and the family-owned team of LewisMotorsports, CAP officials said."Once the Civil Air Patrol recognizedthe marketing potential available tous through primary sponsorship inthe NASCAR Busch series, it be-came necessary to find the rightteam -- or the right fit -- for CAP,"Bowling said. "We were not inter-ested in just any team. Other than theobvious criteria -- a driver with theability to win races -- there were otherrequirements that had to be met if wewere to enter into this arena. "TheLewis Motorsports Team fit the bill for



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(Continued from page 6)

familiarity under the weight of BobBrouillettes brown Wellingtonboots. Shock waves in the waterunderneath the dock obscured anupside-down view of what could be

called the wettest U.S. governmentairfield, The Alaska Civil Air Patrolsfloatplane base and maintenancefacility at Lake Hood in Anchorage.Brouillette flies and manages theCAP facility that maintains 31 air-craft and five gliders. His staff in-cludes three full-time mechanics.He learned about CAP when heretired from the Air Force in 1970.

I was always interested in makingcivilians proud of the military, hesaid. This fulfills that requirement.Two of the patrols floatplanes arealways ready for duty for Alaskasmany lakes and 17,500 miles ofinland waterways, even during win-

ter. This includes the states 28,000miles of glaciers. Aircraft fromAlaskas state law enforcement andNational Guard are also in thesearch chain. But- logistically andfinancially- the Civil Air Patrol is theareas first search force.Growth from withinAcross town in Anchorage is thebright blue-and-white Polaris CivilAir Patrol compound at MerrillField. CAP leaders tweak the curi-osity of 12 young cadets.Cadets dont fly searches, butmany do learn to refuel and fly air-craft--and discourage drug useamong peers. These are forms ofcadet education, said Capt.Stanley Bolling, the Reserves indi-vidual mobilization augmentee tosquadrons in Alaska. Bolling is anative of the state and a former ac-

tive-duty air weapons instructor. Heteaches technology, aerospace andmath at Anchorages Bartlett High,subject areas that help him moti-vate cadets who attend school.Just 25 air miles from Merrill Field

stands a flight-meeting centerwhere members practice aerospaceeducation. The town, airport andauxiliary derive their natural name-Birchwood- from the surroundingtrees. Exuberant cadets marshal$250,000 aircraft at Birchwood, withsenior members shadowing them.Their spirit and curiosity makethose fictitious youths from Lord ofthe Flies seem like wimpy wanna-bes. One clear motivating factor forcadets remains encased. Its a Ger-

man-made glider so advanced theU.S. Test Pilot School at EdwardsAir force Base, Calif., leases one asthe TG-9. On this three-day holidayweekend, cadets at Birchwoodraised their voices in unanimoussupport of the glider flights beingrolled into the patrols cadets andaviat ion education charters.Everybody was out of their seats,going Yes! theres a glider comingdown, said Cadet Naythan Han-sen, an excited visitor from Kenai,Alaska. The charismatic glider of-

fers quality airtime at a sliver of the

fixed wing flying hour expense. Itsone big way the leaders motivatecadets. There are rewards for thepatrols senior members, too. Theycan rotate through the core emer-gency leadership positions at Birch-wood, from the office radio commu-

nications, or on search parties. For-tunately, the intensive aerial drills inclear summer weather were not in-terrupted by any calls to real, direaction. But more than a few seniormembers had ears trained to res-

cue radio bands for field calls thatcould have turned into riveting, all-out holiday search calls. BethanyMorgan of Anchorage listened andlabored. As a volunteer shes readyon the invisible edge membersmaintain between practice andreal world at Birchwood. Althoughshe works full time, Morgan hasbeen on three searches, once overthe exotic grand spine of the lowerAlaska-Canada frontier. Whenwere on exercises, we search for a

target, and its a scientific mindset.But an actual search is different,she explained. Youre searchingfor a life.Saving others is at the core ofCAP service.

(Continued from page 6)CAP in the Races

us," he said. "They are a family-owned and managed team. CAP isa family-oriented membership or-ganization. We have many mem-bers where the entire family partici-

pates in CAP missions -- someeven go back to the grandparentswho joined during World War II."Ashton Lewis Jr. will pilot the No.46 Civil Air Patrol Chevrolet, whilehis brother Charlie Lewis will callthe shots as crew chief. "We haveworked for years to get to thispoint, and to have our first sponsorbe the Civil Air Patrol is more than Icould have ever asked for," Ashtonsaid. "The Civil Air Patrol is new tothe sport and we want to maketheir first year very memorable, and

that is my major focus for the 2002season. "Last year we ran in thefront with teams that have 20 or 30guys at their shop," he said. "LewisMotorsports had eight guys total,including the team owner, my fa-ther." The sponsorship will allowthe team to hire additional people



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Documents

Maine Wing - Mar 2002