Wyoming Wing - Jun 2009

8/9/2019 Wyoming Wing - Jun 2009

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Wyoming

Wings

Wyoming

WingsJune 2009

Orientation Flight Weekend

see str pae 3 . . .


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W WThe Wyoming Wings is an autho-

rized magazine published three

times a year in the interest of the

members of Wyoming Wing,

Civil Air Patrol. The printers

are a private rm in no way con-

nected with the Department of

the Air Force or Civil Air Patrol.

Opinions expressed by the pub-

lishers and writers are their own

and not to be considered ofcial

expression by Civil Air Patrol or

the Air Force. The appearance of

advertisements in this publica-

tion, including supplements and

inserts, does not constitute an

endorsement by Civil Air Patrol

or the Department of the Air

Force of products and services

advertised.

H HEADQUARTERS H

Wyom W

Cv Ar PatroBd. 233

Warre AFB

(307) 773-4519

Fax (307) 773-4783

H MAiling ADDRESS H

Wyom W

Cv Ar Patro

P. O. Box 9507

Cheyee, WY 82003-9507

W CommaderClel sta skrabut

Edtor

1t Lt. Jeae ste-Huter

For formato o

adverts rates ad space,

pease ca

1-800-635-6036

Continued on page 7 . . .

Commanders Commentssta skrabut, Cl., CAP, W W Cader

I am way behind the powercurve in put t ing this notetogether, and unfortunately,

I must keep it short so that I

can get it off to the magazine. Iam currently sitting in a motelroom in Cody attending the rstSAREX of the year writing thisnote. We had a great turn out

and good training in spite of the

weather working against us. I

am hoping for better weatherfor the next few months, but it isWyoming in the springtime. As I

look at where we are, I am quitepleased with our standing in theregion and nation. It is becauseof all your hard work that we aredoing so well.

We are now nishing up themonth of April, so this is a great

time to report where we are. Atthis time in FY 2008, we flew162 hours. In FY 2009, we haveown 321 hours. This is doublethe hours of the previous year.

This is a signicant accomplish-ment and it could not have beendone without the tremendoussupport of the State of Wyoming

and their nancial support and the

Wyoming Military Department.We currently rank 22 out of 52for aircraft utilization; this is upfrom 43 at the end of last year.We have made great strides in

conducting B-12 ying; we cur-rently have a C-17/B-12 rationof 104%. This is huge; otherwings in our region are around40 to 50%. In spite of this goodnews, not all of the crews are

taking advantage of the B-12prociency ying. Additionally,our cadets need to receive orien-tation ights; so far, only 68%of all our cadets have received aight, and they are eligible for 9ights. We are planning a largeorientation ight weekend at theend of May.

Aerospace Educat ion Presently, 44% of our members

have received this award, andwe are on track to again meetour goal of 2 members earn-

ing this award for 2009. I amseeing some advancement inthe Aerospace Education spe-cialty track; naturally, I wouldlike to see more. This is a great


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WyomingWing

ConductsOrientationFlightWeekend

Twenty-f ive Wyoming WingCadets, 8 Wyoming Wing Senior

Members, and 4 Colorado Wing Senior

Members participated in the WyomingWings first-ever Orientation Flight

weekend, 29-31 May, in Lander,Wyoming. Four Wyoming Wing pow-ered aircraft and two Colorado Wing

gliders, as well as a commercial towplane from Colorado supported Cadet

Orientation Flights throughout the

weekend. Several Wyoming SeniorMembers also experienced the thrill ofglider ights.

Ten Cadets ew their rst powered

Orientation Flight, and 22 Cadets

received their rst glider ight.The three Cadets not receiv-ing glider flights opted out of

the opportunity. The remaining

Cadets ew powered OrientationFlights 2 through 5, dependingon their specic needs. In spite

Lt. Cl. Erc Dav,W W Drectr f Cadet Prra


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of a few minor cases of airsickness, theCadets smiles indicated a hugely suc-cessful weekend.

The participants arrived Friday, 29May at the Twin Pines RV Park just

south of Lander, where they pitchedtents and had dinner. The group wokeup early Saturday morning for break-

fast, briengs, and a 0745 show time atthe Lander Airport. After safety brief-

ings from Wing Commander Colonel

Stan Skrabut and the Orientation

Flight Pilots, the Cadets receivedflight assignments and assisted

the Colorado crews with gliderassembly. They also learned glider

launch and wing-runner proce-dures. All but one Cadet receivedglider ights on Saturday, and allbut four Cadets received poweredOrientation Flights on Saturday.

Saturday night back at camp,

the Cadets and Senior Membersfeasted on pizza and enjoyed pick-

up games of volleyball and

football. During this time theparticipants were also able tosocialize with each other in arelaxed atmosphere. This wasa great opportunity to discussissues, problems, and solutions

common to the geographicallydispersed units in the Wyoming

Wing.

The ve Cadets who did notfly on Saturday were the firstin the air on Sunday morning.

Also on Sunday, the Senior

Members who wanted to take


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the chance were allowed gliderrides. Its difficult to say who hadbigger smiles after their glider rides,

the Seniors or the Cadets. Sufce itto say, all the participants exited the

craft with huge smiles.Cadets participating in the event

were Cadet Airman Basics BrandonMunn and Teray Haynes; Cadet

Airmen Katelyn Munn and ShelbySterling; Cadet Airmen First ClassDaniel Crosby, Christopher Bray,Tyler Toman, James Argeris, and

Stephen Myers; Cadet Senior AirmenJoshua Kirkman, Tyler Stovall, and

Nathan Kamm; Cadet Staff SergeantStephen Belden; Cadet TechnicalSergeants Ross Wald and Evan

Schmitzer; Cadet Master SergeantsChristopher Hodges, Elizabeth

Parker, and Dylan Cattaneo; Cadet

Senior Master Sergeants Kyle Deweyand Matthew Court; Cadet ChiefMaster Sergeants Christopher Gross

and Ezekiel House; Cadet SecondLieutenant Nia Cattaneo; Cadet FirstLieutenant Brad Coonis; and CadetMajor Heather Gould. LieutenantCoonis was the Cadet Officer in

Charge of the event.

Wyoming Wing Senior Members

part icipating in the event wereWyoming Wing Commander Colonel

Stan Skrabut; Lieutenant ColonelsEric Davis, Assunta McDonald, DougHenry, and Michael Carlson; MajorsBJ Carlson, Dennis Cornell, JasonWollard, and George Twitchell;


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specialty track, and all seniormembers are encouraged to pur-sue it. Finally, if your unit is not

involved with the AerospaceEducation Excellence (AEX)program, I encourage you to doso. You can now enroll onlinewithin e-services.

Cadet Programs Presently,44% of our cadets have earnedthe Wright Brothers Award,10% have earned the MitchellAward, and 5 % have earnedthe Earhart Award. No cadets

have earned the Eaker or SpaatzAward. I am not seeing muchmovement in this area; I wouldlike to see more. As I mentioned

earlier, only 68% of cadets havehad an orientation flight. Our

goal is 100%; if you are a cadetand have not flown with CAP;see your unit commander toschedule a ight.

E m e r g e n c y S e r v i c e s

Presently, 81% of our mem-bers have completed GeneralEmergency Services training,this is up from 9%. The region

goal is 100%, so we have a littlework yet to do. We are alsograded on the number of mission

pilots we have. In order to meetthe standard set by National, weneed 5 mission pilots for each ofour aircraft. Presently, we have3.41 mission pilots per aircraft;this is a decrease from 4.9. TheNIMS courses are holding acouple of members back. Weneed to place more attention ingetting members through the

various NIMS courses.Membership Naturally, we

can not get any of our missions

done with out our membership.Senior members have been

steadily increasing. We have

increased senior member mem-bership by 9 since the beginningof the year; however we aredown 1 cadet since the begin-ning of the year. I would liketo see more emphasis in cadetmembership. Of course, I do notwant to see a loss in membershipif we can do anything about it.We are currently at 236 mem-bers, this has been a positive

trend, and I am very happy.Thanks for all your hard

work. I am looking forward toeven more success in the future.Keep up the great job.

As you can see, there area number of ways where yourindividual efforts help Wyoming

Wing as a team. Please be a

great team player. Remember,

T.E.A.M. Together Each

Achieves More.Well that is it for now. I look

forward to what the next threemonths brings us. In the mean-

time, make a difference and getinvolved. Be safe in everythingyou do.

Captains Gary Chizever, D.J.Sadler, John Todd, Miguel

Acevedo, Orville Moore, andJohn Burkett; First LieutenantsAdam Munn, Michael Gray,and Bill Jepsen. LieutenantColonel Davis developed theplan for the event and led the

overall activity.Col o rado W i ng Sen i o r

Members participating in the

event were Lieutenant ColonelJer Eberhard; Captains SamStreger and Bob Lynn, andSenior Member Rick Mason.Lieutenant Colonel Eberhard

and Captain Streger were theglider pilots, Captain Lynn wasthe tow plane pilot, and SeniorMember Mason directed gliderground operations and taught

the Cadets the basics of glider

ground ops. We in the Wyoming

W i ng a re i ndeb t ed t o t he

Colorado officers not only forthe glider operations in Lander,

but also for safely towing the2 gliders over 360 miles fromBoulder, Colorado to Lander,and of course, the smiles on thefaces of Cadets and Seniors asthey exited the gliders.

Colonel Skrabut said, This

was a great event and we needto do it again SOON! TheCadets could not have agreedmore with this statement, and theWyoming Wing Staff is looking

forward to planning and execut-ing another flying weekend inthe near future.

Commanders CommentsContinued from page 1 . . .Orientation

FlightsContinued . . .

H

H


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This article is for all Senior Members andCadets in the Wyoming Wing. Many of you have

joined this volunteer organization for Search andRescue. What ever your reasons for becoming apart of this World Class Volunteer Organization Iapplaud and commend you and thank you for all ofthe contributions you are making to Civil Air Patrol.

I appreciate all of the hard work you SquadronCommanders, Directors of Aerospace EducationOfcers, Directors of Professional Development,and all Ofcer Positions held both at Wing HQ andin your Squadrons are accomplishing because wecan not do the Mission without you. We are nowmore than affiliated with the United States AirForce we are a Team. Aerospace Education andthose reports you are required to ll out are vitalto the Mission. Anything your Squadron does fallsunder Aerospace Education. Any activities you par-

ticipate in, any training you take, any communityservice you do all counts for Aerospace Education.The only way National HQ, Wing HQ, and yourSquadron can recognize you, or show appreciationis to get the information about all involvement

by you in Civil Air Patrol. The only thing we canoffer you in Civil Air Patrol is Rank, which mustbe earned, and Awards for Service Before Self. Italso lets Region and National HQ know what weare doing out here is this smallest State population

wise with land mass and mountains fth largestin the Nation. We have all types of weather hereand more wind than Chicago. By Civil Air PatrolRegulation we must have an Aerospace EducationProgram, and we must promote Civil Air Patrol.We need External Aerospace Education Ofcersand they are normally Teachers. These Officersdo not have to belong to Civil Air Patrol, but wedo all we can to recruit them to become members.The Specialty Track for Aerospace Education

maj. steve L. Ell/W W HQ. DAE/DPDDrectr Aerpace Educat

Cvl Ar Patrl

Wyoming Wing HeadquartersAerospace Education

is 215 and the Specialty Track for Director ofProfessional Development is 204. These are bothexcellent Training Fields for all members to earna Master Rating. If any of you will complete theGeneral Charles (Chuck) Yeager Award whilein Level II Training you are entitled to wearan additional device on your Ribbon Bar. The

Yeager Award Test is online and it has a lot ofhistory about the United States Air Force, Space,and Aircraft. I hope this article will spark someinterest in completing this Award. The ScottCrosseld Award can be earned by completing therequirements in Specialty Track 215. These are allbuilding blocks to your career in Civil Air Patrol.The United States Air Force expects us to live upto our promise of being well Trained, Educated,and Mission ready. The United States Air Forceexpects us to be enrolled in a Specialty Track and

to complete training. If I can be of assistance to allof you please contact me at Wing HQ. I am avail-able to answer questions, concerns, and provideguidance in solving your problems, and encourageyou to have a thirst for knowledge and learn asmuch as you can about the organization you havebecome a vital part of in service to our Nation.

Teddy Roosevelt said, Do what you canwith what you have no matter your position inlife. No one remembers, but we all remembera student of his who said, Ask not what yourCountry can do for you, but ask what you can dofor your Country.


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Awards and

PromotionsChuck Yeaer Aerospace Award RecpetsLt. Col. Nickie Fuerst WY 000

SM Ronald Leader WY 00

1st Lt. Robert Mosbacher WY 066

Capt. Gary Chizever WY 02

1st Lt. Phillip Duran WY 072

st Lt. Erik Hendershot WY 0

st Lt. Marvin Nunn WY 0

st Lt. Joseph Herman WY 0

Capt. Charles Moore WY 0

st Lt. Neil Mayes WY 0

st Lt. Juthann Self WY 08

SM Martin E Phillips WY 09

Wrht Brothers AwardC/SrAmn. Nathan Kamm WY 0

C/SSgt. Jonathan Barella WY 002

C/SSgt. Evan Schmitzer WY 059

By Mtche AwardC/CMSgt. Josh Vallee WY 066

leve iiiCapt. Daniel Wilcox WY 002

leve iVCapt. Jeanne Stone-Hunter WY 00

Promotos

Capt. Jeanne Stone-Hunter WY 002nd Lt. Ambika Schoening WY 001

Capt. Randall Hunter WY 00

Capt. Roy Baughman WY 002

st Lt. Joseph Feiler WY 002

st Lt. Adam Munn WY 02

Capt. Nicole Farnham WY 072

Capt. Gary Chizever WY 02

Lt. Col. Michael Carlson WY 075


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Chances are yourenot making the most of

the Wings web pres-ence and theres a lotthere to offer . Col .

Skrabut recently set upa social networking site

specifically for Wingmembers use. It has got

all the great features of

MySpace and Facebookwith the added benefitof being exclusively forus. Unit commandersand parents can restassured that the site

offers a safe place forcadets to interact with

each other and with thesenior members.

You rst must createan own account. Thenyou can personalized my pages, add friends,invite friends who arent already signed up, creategroups, post photos and videos and much more. Isuggest each commander create a unit group fortheir members and use that group to keep everyone

in the loop; share photos and news; etc. Why notadd a group for each specialty track too? Theoptions are infinite. Photos and videos from all

your unit events can be posted. Col. Skrabut has aCommanders Corner where hes posting impor-tant information and Wyoming Wing Newshighlights events and member accomplishments.

What are you waiting for? Sign up now and getto know your fellow CAP members. Wyoming Wing Ning (Social Networking) Site

Join the Wyoming WingsOwn Social Networking Site

Capt. Jeae ste-Huter

- http://wywgcap.ning.com/ Wyoming Wing Webstie - http://partnerpage.

google.com/capwyhq.org?tab=mSYou can also nd the Wing on: Facebook Wyoming Wing - http://www.facebook.com/

home.php?ref=home#/pages/Wyoming-Wing-Civil-Air-Patrol/30723342934?ref=ts

Twitter Wyoming Wing - http://twitter.com/wywgcap Wheatland Composite Squadron - http://twitter.

com/WheatlandCAPIf you or your unit is using social networking,

I would love to hear from you [email protected].


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Hello and a belated Happy New Year to all!I hope everyones 2009 is going well and I amsure everyone is looking forward to the summer. Iknow I am!

Since we are not currently producing a monthlyCadet Programs Update as we did for some time,I wanted to run down the list of whats going onin the Cadet realm. Of course all these things areavailable on the Cadet Web Site (www.wyocadets.com), but I know not everyone has ready accessto the internet and I still nd Cadets (and Seniors)

who dont know we have a Cadet Web Site! So, onwith the 411

CADET ADViSORY COUnCil

The Cadet Advisory Council seems to be gain-ing some traction throughout the Wing, for which Iam most grateful! We have a great group of moti-vated CAC Representatives right now and I hopethey will continue to participate in the CAC. Theyare all submitting their monthly reports on time and

virtually everyone is participating in our confer-

ence calls. We also had a great turnout in Casper inMarch for the face-to-face meeting in conjunctionwith the Senior Member Commanders Call.

The CAC is a forum for Cadets to positively

influence the Wings direction and help set upand execute activities. It is an opportunity forCadets to lead and they should be chomping atthe bit to become your units representative andshow what they can do. I consider them, and I amalmost certain Colonel Skrabut considers them,an invaluable part of the Wing Staff. SquadronCommanders should consider them an integral partof the Squadron Staff as well.

All the CAC Representatives report two com-mon problems in all squadrons. Those two issuesare recruiting and retention. We have done acouple of things to try to boost this, so far withoutsuccess. If anyone has ideas on how to improveretention, which will help get more people in,please let us know!

Lt. Cl. Erc s. Dav

Drectr f Cadet Prra

Cadet Programs Update

Our CAC Representatives are as follows:Chair: C/Maj. Heather Gould, SheridanCasper Primary: C/SMSgt. John Houser

Casper Alternate: C/SrAmn. Josh Kirkman

Cheyenne Primary: C/CMSgt. Josh ValleeCheyenne Alternate: C/CMSgt. Ezekiel House

Laramie Primary: C/SMSgt. Christopher Gross

Laramie Alternate: Not yet appointed

Cody Primary: C/SMSgt. Kyle DeweyCody Alternate: C/AC Stephen Myers

Sheridan Primary: C/CMSgt. Nia Cattaneo

Sheridan Alternate: C/MSgt. Elizabeth ElleParker

Wheatland Primary: Not yet appointed

Rocky Mountain Region Representatives:Region Primary: C/SMSgt. John Houser, Casper

Region Alternate: C/MSgt. Elizabeth ElleParker, Sheridan

nATiOnAl CADET SPECiAl ACTiViTiES

(nCSA)

This year Wyoming had two Cadets selected to

participate in NCSA. Cadet Major Heather Gouldwas picked to attend the National Flight Academy- Powered, at Ashland, Nebraska. Here she willearn her solo wings. Cadet Senior Master SergeantKyle Dewy was chosen to attend the SpecializedUndergraduate Pilot Training FamiliarizationCourse. At this course, Cadet Dewey will get ataste of what USAF Officers endure when theyattend training to get their wings. Congratulationsto both Cadets!

Wing CADET ACTiViTiESENCAMPMENT

We regret we are not able to eld an Encampmentthis year. Camp Guernsey is too busy training activeduty, reserve, and National Guard people to accom-modate us this time. However, we are confidentwe will return in force next year! In lieu of anEncampment, we are going to do several smalleractivities this year. Here are a few of them


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FlYing WEEKEnD

Of course by the time this magazine gets toyou, we will have already had the Flying and AEWeekend in Lander, Wyoming. I feel condent in

saying that unless the weather closes us down, weshould have had a great time with powered andglider orientation ights, aerospace education, ES-related classes, a barbecue, volleyball, softball, andanother spectacularly successful CAC meeting!

gROUnD TEAM SCHOOl

Captain Josh Thomas and Cadet Christopher

Gross are working to set up a class for ground teampersonnel. We have many hurdles to clear beforewe get this moving but before the weather gets cold

again, we should be able to get us all together in thefield for some intensive training on ground team

skills. Watch the web site for details as they develop!

DRill ACADEMY

I have not been 100% happy with the resultsof our Cadet Leadership Schools, especially in thearea of drill. I believe we need a class with plentyof time devoted strictly to drill. We must havetime to practice and time to correct mistakes andfollow-up to be sure we have corrected everything.

Otherwise, Cadets seem to revert to bad practicesonce they return to their home units. So, we willaddress that through a Drill Academy.

The Drill Academy will be fairly physicallyintensive, with the better part of two days devotedalmost entirely to drill. Thats a LOT of drill,

but I believe the Cadets ability to perform, lead,

and teach drill will be much improved. SeniorMembers wanting to learn how to drill will bewelcome as well.

FiRST AiD & CPR

Lieutenant Kelsey Raile of the Laramie County

Fire District 2 (Formerly Known as C/Lt. Col.Aitchison) has volunteered to teach a CPR/FirstAid Training class for our Cadets. Since FirstAid/CPR qualications are required for the groundteam qualication anyway, so this should dovetailnicely with the ground team school.

We are looking for a good time to present this

class, since it takes the better part of an entire dayto effectively learn the material. We are lookingat POSSIBLY presenting this class at the Wing

Conference in October. Well see how things workout with the Ground Team School.

CADET lEADERSHiP ACADEMY

As we have done the last two years, this fallwe plan to conduct our Cadet Leadership School(CLS). We will probably be doing this in Octoberor early November. This year we will be eliminat-ing MOST of the drill from the class, as that por -tion will be expanded and incorporated as the DrillAcademy. So, the Fall CLS will look somewhat

different than the ones in the past.Cadets attending this years CLS will need to

have attended the drill academy, unless they haveattended previous CLS years classes.

CADET UniFORMS

The Laramie Squadron has a lot of extra uni-forms. If you need one, please coordinate with yourCAC Representative and Squadron Commander sothat he/she/they can contact Cadet ChristopherGross, who is assisting the Laramie Squadron in

nding good homes for uniforms.

ORiEnTATiOn FligHTS

Units need to pursue Orientation Flights fortheir Cadets. I have tasked the CAC Representatives

to help their unit commanders in any and everyway possible to be sure Cadets get signed up andto hound (professionally of course) their unitcommanders to be sure they schedule OrientationFlights. This is a monthly topic at our CAC confer-ence calls, and of course Colonel Skrabut watchesthe numbers as well. If you want to keep Cadets,one proven method of keeping them is to y them!

I think thats about it for now. Please feel freeto drop me an e-mail at [email protected] ifyou have any questions or concerns, or post a blogout on the Cadet Web Site. I look forward to see-ing you at a Cadet Activity in the near future! Andremember our web site: www.wyocadets.com. H


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I would like to tell you about

my trip to the National Boards inWashington, D.C. While I washoping it was a dream, you cantmake this up.

My trip was intended to bea roundabout journey to thenational boards; I was planningto visit friends in New York,my mom in Pennsylvania,

and the nat ional boards in

Washington, D.C.

On Saturday morning, I wokein plenty of time to make ightfrom the great Laramie Airport.

It was clear weather with a tem-perature of 2 degrees. My ightwas scheduled to leave at 0650,and I was comfortably waiting ahalf an hour prior to the ight.Fifteen minutes prior to take-off,

we were checked through secu-rity, but oddly enough, our plane

was not in front of the termi-nal yet. As soon as we checkedinto security, ground handlingtowed the plane to the front ofthe terminal. Interesting, but no

worries, my next ight leaves at0900. I noticed that they pluggeda power cart into the plane. Aswe were waiting, an attendantnotied us that there was goingto be a delay, it was cold out,

and they had to warm up theplane. I am thinking to myself, it

is 2 degrees, there is snow on theground, and it is Wyoming; I amsure this was just as obvious thenight before. Thirty minutes go

by and we were updated that thepower cart was draining powerfrom the aircraft, and they would

You Cant Make This UpB Cl. sta skrabut, W Cader

have to go to Cowboy Aviation

to use their cart. So they dragour aircraft over to CowboyAviation. Fifteen minutes later,

our aircraft was running enginesand taxied to the taxiway to do apreight. Great! I will still makemy connecting ight. The pilotsthen bring the aircraft over tothe terminal and shutdown theengines. No problem, this wasexpected to load passengers.

However, the TSA attendantcommented that both the pilotand co-pilot left the plane, thiswas not a good sign. Apparently,no one noticed that we bustedour window, and the pilots hadto redo the paperwork to y into Denver. Once everything wasin order, we finally departed,and we are expected to arrive inDenver at 0845.

We arrived in Denver asexpected at 0845 and pulled intothe A terminal; unfortunately,my connecting ight was in theB terminal. In knew that Icould make the B terminalin 0 minutes if I pushed it. At

2,000 less feet, the running waseasier. I arrived at my connect-ing gate at 0855, only to see myconnecting ight being pushed

back 5 minutes earlier thanadvertised. Here I am in Denver,standing in line, waiting forthe check-in agent to get donewith the person in front of meso that I could get instructionson my next steps. As soon as

the woman in front of me wasdone, I stepped up to be assisted;

however, the agent started to

walk away without a word. Iasked her where she was going,and she told me she had to go

to another counter. Since therewere two others behind me, Iasked her what we were sup-posed to do. She told us to go

to customer service; obviously,because were certainly not get-ting any customer service wherewe were standing.

After spending an hour incustomer service, I was noti-ed that I was now on standbyto Chicago, and they directedme to the proper gate. I waslucky because they had a coupleof open seats to Chicago andcaught a flight out of Denver;however, I would never makemy ight to Rochester on time.When I got to Chicago, I found

out I was again on standby. Butto add to the story, the only

weather front in the nation wasparked right over Chicago andthere was a blizzard. Naturally,this was delaying all ights out.Regardless, I report to my gate,

and I am pleased to note that I

am number 5 on the standby list.I think it was terminal B. Wellmy plane is reported to be late by

at least an hour. So I grab a biteto eat and work on some CAPstuff. Well, my ight comes andgoes, and I never moved from

my fifth place. The next planeto Rochester will leave from theC terminal. To get from oneterminal to another, you have to

go outside and board a bus. I get


13/27

9 9

to my gate and I am still listed as

number 5. Again, a plane comesand goes, and I stay at number

5. The next plane to Rochester

will again leave from terminalB. I again bundle up and bravethe blizzard to take a bus to my

gate. When I get there, I ask

about my chances to catch aflight, the agent said the flight

was full, and my best chanceout was to y to Buffalo. Well,Buffalo was certainly closer thanChicago, so I grabbed a standbyight to Buffalo. The ight was

to leave at 2200. The problemwith Buffalo was that the car Ihad reserved was in Rochester.I arrived at Buffalo around mid-night and strolled over to the

rental car place. I checked in tomy rental car agent to see if Icould change my rental to at leaststart in Buffalo. Unfortunately,the computers were down at myagent. However, the next agent

over was willing to rent me acar. For $140, I could rent aone-way to Rochester. It was anexpensive 60 miles. Before I leftBuffalo, I dropped by the lug-gage agent to get an idea wheremy luggage was. I was condentthat it was not in Buffalo, and Iwas right, it was still in Denver.

Well, the drive from Buffalowas rather uneventful other than

the fact that it was snowing,and it was 0100. I arrived at theairport in Rochester so that Icould turn in my car rst thingin the morning. I checked intoa familiar motel at 0200. I wasexhausted and jumped right intobed, setting my clock for 0730so that I could meet a friend

for breakfast. During my greatsleep I awoke due to a loud con-versation. I thought it was nextdoor and that it would die down.

Unfortunately, the noise did notdie down, so I got dressed toask them to quiet down, I wassurprised to see a group of 4

right out side my door having a

party. After some friendly dis-

cussion, they moved their party.This was 0330. I went back tobed only to be awakened bymore loud conversation. Again,I dressed and opened my door

to find the party has grown to6 but it moved to two doorsdown. This was at 0530. At0730, I promptly woke up to getmy car and meet my friend.

The day went very well, tir-ing but well. I gave a martialarts seminar in the afternoon

with some good friends. Aftertraining, I called the airlines tond out where my luggage was,

all my uniforms were in my bagand the next day I was to leave.The airlines had no idea wheremy luggage was; however, Itook a chance and drove an hourto Rochester to see if my lug-gage arrived. When I arrived at

the airline, the luggage agents

were just setting it aside and get-ting ready to call me. With myluggage in hand, and a car with

XM, I was back in Geneva for agoodnight sleep.

Prior to leaving on my

trip Rochester, I noticed thatI would be returning throughWashington. I called my travelcompany and they told me thatit would be possible to dropmy Rochester to Washington

connection once I arrived inRochester. I gured I would justturn in my car in Washington,and fly out of there after the

boards. Keep this in mind, it willcome up again.

My mom is doing well; Ithought you would be curious.I visited for a good day and a

half and then drove down toWashington. When I arrived in

Washington, I stopped by the

airport to see if I could turn inmy car and cancel my rst leg ofmy ight. Unfortunately, infor-

mation I received earlier was notcorrect. I am glad I checked withthe travel agent prior to turning

in the car.The national board went well,

and upon completion, I had tojump in my car for a 7 hour rideback to Rochester. I stopped inCorning for a sleep, and woke intime to turn in my car and catchmy ight. I arrived at my gate an

hour ahead of my ight, so I satback and cranked up my com-puter. My ight was scheduledto leave at 1050. Fifteen minutesprior to boarding, we were noti-ed that our plane was delayedin Washington due to snow.Apparently, someone failed to

put deicer on the wings. Withsnow on the wings, who wouldhave thought deicer was needed.

An hour and a half later, ourplane arrived and we departedRochester for Washington.Believe it or not, the only weatherfront in the nation was sittingover Washington. We arrived

in Washington and pulled up

to the gate. We waited for 30minutes at the gate because


14/27

2 2

someone had to find a set of

steps so that we could get off theplane. Naturally, I missed my

connecting ight; however, this

time, a flight agent booked meon a later ight without standby,and I got extra leg room. This

ight was on time, and I man-aged to board, but I was stuckbetween two guys who weretwice the size of me. As youcan imagine, they were prettybig. I sat for 4 hours with myarms crossed but the leg roomwas nice.

W e l l , w e a r r i v e d i nDenver, and I strolled to mygate. Everything seems to be

going well, and I will soon behome. Fifteen minutes prior to

the flight, we were informedthat they needed to find some

pilots for our plane and that

there would be a delay. I couldonly laugh. Well, a half an hour

later, they found some pilots

and we were ready to board. Iwas glad to be getting home.We took off and we were onour way, yeah! However, halfway home, the pilot came onthe speaker and informed me

that there was a problem withan oil gauge and we would haveto divert to a maintenance facil-ity in this case, the facilitywas in Cheyenne. I could not geta break. Fortunately, my wifewas notied of the change in air-ports and left a message on my

phone that she was going to pickme up. At 2230, I arrive safelyin Laramie. Boy, do I love toy. It is all about the adventure.I am planning my last trip to

Washington to be via Amtrak.

In a Change of Command ceremony in the Laramie ValleyComposite Squadron on August 16, 2008, 1st Lt. Vance Hoytassumed command. 1st Lt. Hoyt replaced Maj. Randy Schein.

In attendance: Col. Stan Skrabut, Maj. Randy Schein, Capt.Gery Simpson, 1st Lt. Chris Gallus, 1st Lt. Vance Hoyt, C/MSgt. Christopher Gross, C/TSgt. Brock Hileman and C/Amn.Matthew Hayek.

When the regular unit meeting started, Col. Skrabut

called SM Vance Hoyt forwarded and awarded the grade offirst lieutenant to him. After that, Col. Skrabut called Maj.

Schein forward and Maj. Schein relinquished his position ofCommander. 1st Lt. Hoyt stepped forward and assumed theposition of Commander. After the Change of Command, Maj.Schein said a few words and Col. Skrabut took questions fromall the members in the Squadron. After Col. Skrabut and Maj.Schein left, 1st Lt. Hoyt met with the members and discussedthe future of the Squadron.

1st Lt. Vance Hoyt is retired from the Air Force. He lives withhis wife in Laramie. He plans to be a pilot in the Civil Air Patrolwhile being a Commander for the Squadron.

Laramie ValleyComposite

Squadron Changeof Command

C/mst. Chrtpher gr

Public Affairs Ofcer

H

Make this upContinued . . .


15/27

22 22

yEs!3 SARs

3 WeeksBy Lt. Col. Mike Carlson

Its been a dry spell since Ive written an article for the Wings Magazine. I was hoping someone would ll in for me, but, that

didnt happen. Sooooo, here are my experiences with 3 SARs that occurred during a 3 week period of the end of January and

the rst part of February, 2009.

The 1st was o Moday, Ja 26th. Three snowmobilers, from Colorado, took the weekend to snowmobile in the Snowy Mtn.

range of south central Wyoming. They

did not return as scheduled on Saturday

so the families called the Albany County

Sheriff around 0920. The weather at the

time was snowing and high winds.

The Albany County SAR Teams were out

early Sunday morning searching but tono avail by 2300 that night. By Monday

morning the 3 had spent 2 nights out in

the weather. The weather conditions were

slowly improving in the area; by after-

noon blue sky was peeking through but

there was three feet of new snow.

CAP was called out to help provide air

assets to look for them. I was called by

Col. Skrabut to be Incident Commander

(IC) just shy of noon time. With the help

of AFRCC (Air Force Rescue Coordina-

tion Center) and WY JOC (Wyoming

Joint Operations Center) basic informa-

tion of approximately where to start plac-

ing CAP assets came to me.

From here, let me tell you, one person has a hard time putting this together. But, 95% of the CAP WY SARs are run this way. When

we have SAR Exs we all gather together in one spot. The IC has staff members available to handle all the minute details. He/She can

react personally one on one if needed. But, as I said above, the majority of the times one person ends up handing all the tasks.

I was fortunate to have Major BJ Carlson, my Commander of the Cody Cadet Squadron and our family, at home with me. While

I was trying to obtain information and look for aircrews she was able to take some basic position reports and spot the areas on

several different maps we use in CAP (WY Gazeteer, Grided

Sectional maps, Google Earth, etc., etc.).

I encounter a lot of problems. The biggest one was the newer re-

quirements, set out by National CAP that we now must comply

with the US standards of Emergency Services set out by FEMA(Federal Emergency Management Agency). They basically say

that all agencies will comply with how they are to manage an

incident. There are certain courses to take to understand the sys-

tem. National CAP said, about April of 2008, that as of January

1st, 2009, for members to continue with their ES jobs they must

take certain NIMS/ICS courses to continue. For most of us that

means we must take on-line courses ICS-100 & ICS-700. Pilots

and Staff also need ICS-200 and SAR Staff positions ICS-300

& ICS-800. For exact details check out CAPR 60-3 the letter

by then Brigadier General Courter dated April 10th, 2008, from


16/27

23 23

Regulations & Manuals, from your E-services. I guess a bunch

of us did not take the 7 month opportunity to comply and so

there were fewer qualied folks for me to select from.

Weather and pilot sickness prevented the Cheyenne based aircraft

from being used for the mission. With weather conditions in Casper

and hard time nding crew members shot that option. Jackson

Holes look at the weather said they were not able to launch. Same

was true for the Big Horn Squadron. Sooooo what to do?With time clicking away, now that its later than 1400, not able

to get aircraft into the area to search, and not wanting to have

the snowmobilers stay out for a 3rd night, I call AFRCC and

ask if helicopter assets out of FE Warren Air Force Base could

be used with thermal imaging equipment. My reasoning is the

onset of darkness and thermal imaging would have the best

probability of detection. As AFRCC is working on that plausi -

bility I get a call for the Albany County Dispatch ofce that the

3 had been found alive. They had walked to a nearby trail and

were found by a group of snowmobilers from Iowa. They were

not in need of medical attention. They had no food but were

able to melt snow for water.

GREAT!!! So I start calling folks of the Call-down. WhenI get to AFRCC they said the helicopter crews were a hour

from wheels-up.

So, what started at about 12:00 noon and ended about 1715, did

not end for me and a few others. It was my understanding that the last part of the Search Teams got off the mountains by 2300.

That was about the same time the last piece of paper that I completed and sorted into the Mission Packet.

The 2d SAR was o Suday, Feb 1st. Two young snowmobilers from Montana went out snowmobiling in the north end of

the Big Horn Mountains. They did not return as scheduled on Saturday night. Their parents called into the Big Horn County

Sheriffs Department Sunday morning for help in locating their children. Im a volunteer reghter for the community of Burl -

ington and have a Pager/Radio for call out to res. Its always on. About 0800 MST the pager goes off and the Sheriffs Dis -

patch ofce calls out North Big Horn SAR Team to search for the two. By 0815 I hear the IC, over the radio, ask the dispatcher

to start the process of getting CAP In the picture. I want to jump in but must hold back. We cant join in on a SAR until

Ofcially asked. That means that the dispatch ofce must call Wyoming Homeland Security (HS). HS calls out to WY JOC &

AFRCC. From AFRCC they give us that all important Mission number to start charging against. They call Col. Skrabut notify -

ing of the commitment, and he in turn starts thinking of which IC might be available to handle it. Like the previous SAR, I am

the only one in Wyoming that completed all the NIMS requirements for Incident Command Staff and was relegated the IC job

by 1030 MST.

The 2 hours of waiting werent wasted. Again I use BJ to help out. I call Big Horn Squadrons Commander Rita Malone and ask

for use of her squadrons air assets. She puts me in contact with Capt. Orville Moore. I give out the details as I knew at the time

and said to start prepping until we get the ofcial word from AFRCC. With a Mission number in hand I call Capt. Moore and

say its a Go. I send BJ up to the Cowley Airport with some special maps, radios, and act as Support Staff on scene for me.

Communications is always important. The North Big Horn SAR Team was using FM transceivers operating off the Countys

repeater on Medicine Wheel. CAP has its own frequencies along with air-band frequencies. The problem is they dont work

together. There is one that will work and that is WYs Mutual Aid frequency. I coordinate the information to both sides and the

call signs to be used. CAP Flight (CPF) 4935 has wheels-up at approximately 1215 with a crew consisting of mission pilot

(MP), 1st Lt. T. Herman; mission observer (MO), Capt. O. Moore; and mission scanner (MS), 1st Lt. N. Mayes. They weretasked to y a search pattern over a CAP Grid in the Medicine Wheel area.

During the duration my input is minimal, as all ICs are, when things are up and working. Instead I take on the role of Com -

munications Ofcer and make sure that the crew reports in on the hours, before and after the hour. Then, by 1230, there were

rumblings the 2 had been found, but not conrmed. By 1330 it was conrmed. I Call-off CPF 4935 and have them return to

base (RTB). Listening to the SAR radio the 2 snowmobilers had gotten their one snowmobile stuck in the deep snow and ended

up running it out of gas. They spent the night out hoping someone would come looking for them. A group of snowmobilers from

Deer Lodge found the two and brought them to the staging area where their pick-up was parked. Under the insistence from the

SAR IC the two were checked out by the on-scene EMTs. By 1350 I hear a report requesting for ambulance service to the stag -

ing area. It seems that one of the snowmobilers had stepped in a creek and had water seep into the boots resulting in some toes

that were probably frost bitten.


17/27

25 25

The aircrew arrived back safely and set

out, with BJ, to make sure the aircraft

paperwork was completed. I start on the

paperwork trail and complete the Mission

Packet about 2000 that evening.

The 3rd SAR was o Suday, Feb 15th.

This involved a much older snowmobiler

back down in the area of the SnowyMountains. The individual, from Iowa

had just come to the area for the rst time

on Saturday. He had gotten his machine

stuck, extracted it with some help from

others, and told them he was going to

head out in a certain direction and be

back later. He never showed up so the

Carbon County Sheriffs Department was

contacted.

The search started out on Sunday morn-

ing, the Sheriffs Department went through channels and CAP was called on for air assets around 0730. Here again, Col. Strabut

asked if I would handle the IC duties and volunteered his and Capt. John Burketts services so I wouldnt have to be buried. Col.

Skrabut set up a Skype Chat so one input could be seen by all and entered the sorties into WIMRS. Capt. Burkett took over get -ting a crew from Jackson while I worked on getting a crew out of Big Horn Squadron. The information of the area to search was

not transmitted accurately. Later communications with Carbon County dispatch set us straight and I made sure the aircrews had

the new info before wheels-up.

The process seemed to proceed well and had wheels-up out of Jackson by 0930; CPF 4953 was crewed by MP Capt. A.

LaPointe, MO 1st Lt. B. Jepsen, and MS SM S. Foster. Their Ops plan was to y toward the search area some 2 hrs away

and either refuel in Rawlins or Saratoga. The Big Horn Squadron had Capt. Moore y CPF 4935 from Powell to Cowley Airport

and pick up other crew members. Their Ops plan had them ying to Casper, pick up other crewmembers and refuel as neces -

sary before proceeding to their assigned search area. They had wheels-up by 0948. CPF 4935 was crewed by TMP- 1st Lt. N.

Mayes, MO Capt. O. Moore, and MS 1st Lt. T. Herman.

At 1002 I receive a call from the WY JOC saying the individual was found alive and well and was being taken to Saratoga Clinic

for check-up. GREAT !!!! another successful search and people found alive and not hurt. But. Ohhhh man Ive got to

get in touch and recall the aircrews that are in transit. Capt. Burkett works on contacting the Jackson crew through FSS while I am

lucky enough that the Big Horn crew hadnt gotten too far, just over Worland, where I transmitted the call-off and RTB orders.

I later get a call, approximately 1115, from the Jackson crew at the Saratoga aireld refueling. They had gured out the mission

had been called off and were planning to return to Jackson. On the way to Saratoga they had experienced 30 45 knot tailwinds.

The 2 hours they had own to Saratoga would most likely take 3 hours back to Jackson. They had wheels-up out of Saratoga

by 1145 and I expected not to hear from them until at least 1445.

In the meantime Capt. Moore had returned the plane to Powell and refueled it. He said he would like help in lling out the

paperwork for his ights and asked for my assistance. Im NEVER going to turn down an opportunity like this. Soooo, I spend

about an hour on the phone with Capt. Moore helping work his way through adding data to WIMRS and completing CAPF104s

for the ights.

Around 1400 I get a call from the Jackson crew that they were on the ground and refueling the plane. But wait a minute

theyre in early. Instead of ying at higher altitudes they stayed lower and made it back in 2 hours. At least they had a good ight.

With all crews back safe I take a looooong deep breath and let out the tension. Since the CAP plane crash in the Big Horn Moun -

tains 1-1/2 years ago I act like an old mother hen and worry about the safety of my troops.The remaining time until 1830 is spent on that great paperwork shufe. Making sure that WIMRS is updated, IMU has all the

people involved imputed, ICS Forms 201, 211, etc, etc, etc. are nished.

To Major George Twitchell, who has been doing this for what seems forever, How have you kept a your har?

What I have learned (through the School of Hard Knocks) is the IC doesnt have to be the Lone Ranger. Now that we have

qualied folks having access to e-mails, computers, and phones the IC wont be alone and can delegate things that need to be

accomplished in a timely manner. Those of us, that are ICs, just have to remember there are qualied CAP members out there

biting-at-the-bit, willing to help in any way. We just have to step back, take that deeeeeep breath when the situation is coming

down fast and furious, and say,

i. eed. HElP! H


18/27

2 2

Some of you may be wondering about thenew requirements set forth by FEMA (FederalEmergency Management Agency) for all enti-ties involved with emergency services. All ESpersonnel in WY are required to complete at leastthe IS100a and IS700a courses which are on-linethrough the FEMA website at http://training.fema.gov/IS/NIMS.asp. Depending on your specialtylevel, CAP Emergency Services personnel mayneed additional courses such as IS200a, IS800b,

ICS 300, and ICS 400.All but the ICS 300 and 400 courses are avail-

able on-line. There are study materials available

as PowerPoint presentations or pdf les. The testshave between 20-25 multiple choice questions andthe answers are usually easily accessible in thestudy materials. An easy way to proceed is to doa key word search in a pdf le to nd the answers.These can be completed in comfort of ones homeor through group training at the squadron level.All-in-all it does not take a lot of time and once you

have received this certication it does not expire(of course that does not mean that there might notbe other requirements as we go along). Once youreceive a certicate of completion that informationcan be entered into the Operations Qualicationssection of e-services. Once it is approved by theunit commander and Wing Staff it will be regis-tered permanently on your training record.

The ICS 300 is required for all command andgeneral staff positions (Operations, Planning,

Finance/Administration, Logistics, Safety, Liaison,Incident Commander, Information Ofcer). Thisis where the WY Wing is hurting right now. Wecurrently do not have many members qualifiedwith ICS 300 and therefore at SAREXs or SARswe can function with only a handful of people.That really taxes the current qualied members.Unfortunately, the number of ICS 300 coursesavailable throughout the state is limited and many

require a person to be available for 2-3 weekdays.

B majr BJ Carl

What is with these NewFEMA Requirements?

Just before Easter I completed the ICS 300course in Worland. Due to my spring break vaca-tion schedule I only needed to take one day offfrom work. Our class had 12 participants and I wasthe only one serving in a volunteer capacity. Therest of the participants were from law enforcement,re departments and other agencies that may needto use the ICS (Incident Command System) guide-lines. It was quite an interesting group and onegood thing about the class was that it was free.

The premise of the ICS 300 course was todiscuss incidents that could expand and use theexpertise of various organizations. The use of

common terminology and standardized, definedstaff positions allow various groups to functionunder one system. FEMA is trying to get everyone

using the same system across the nation in order tostreamline emergency services and provide a wayfor groups to work together to make efcient useof resources, people, equipment, and money.

The class was a mixture of PowerPoint pre-

sentations and practical exercises. The nice partabout the exercises was that they were alwaysdone as a team effort. Because each team memberhad a different background, understanding, andapproach to handling things, it was good to getdifferent viewpoints. It also let us know that we arenot alone in this ICS business. It really cementedthe notion that two heads (or more) are betterthan one. In a real ICS situation we are expectingpeople to work together so the class was purposelyset up that way.

I would encourage WY Wing members to takeall of the necessary courses on-line as soon as pos-sible. Then search out and sign up for the ICS300course in order to help the Wing fulfill its emer -gency services mission. And, if you wish to be an IC(Incident Commander) or Agency Liaison you willneed the ICS400 course as well, but that is a matterfor another article. I have not taken that course andam not sure if I want to go that route quite yet.


19/27

29 29

On March 10th promotions

were held for Cadets at WheatlandComposite Squadron. Cadet MattCourt was promoted to C/MSgt.,Cadet Evan Schmitzer was pro-moted to C/SSgt., Cadet Jamie

Ames promoted to C/SrAmn.,

Cadet Tyler Stovall promoted to C/

A1C, and our newest cadet, ShelbySterling was sworn in as a C/AB.

Cadets from Wheatland

Composite Squadron began the

CAP Rocketry Program this April.We have completed theREDSTONE chapter. This pro-gram is progressive in nature.

Each of thethree sections named for a

type of rocket; Redstone, Titanand Saturn. Each chapter beginswith a reading and 10 questiontest. Each member get theirOWL signed and then complete

two hands on activities havea qualied senior sign off andget your commander to sign offand you received a nice certi-cate. Once all three sections arecompleted you earn your modelrocketry badge.

The A F l i gh t Above

Lt. Cl. Auta mcDald

Wheatland Composite Squadron News

after school program beginsat Torrington Middle School.Middle School s tudents atTMS wil l begin the brandnew revamped after schoolprogram hosted by the mem-

bers of Wheatland Composite

Squadron. The group will meet

each Monday after school atthe Middle School from April20 and will run until the lastweek of school in early June.The students will get a tasteof the full CAP cadet programby participating in leadership,aerospace, physical training,

bas i c emer gency s e r v i ce ,safety, and drill and ceremo-nies. When they complete theprogram they can graduate intothe regular squadron.

Drug Demand Reductionwill be a big part of this programalso. The companion book A

Flight Above compiled by Lt.Col. McDonald, combines les-sons from the Cadet Leadership

Book, Aerospace Dimensions,AEX and the brand new LetsGo Flying book written by Dr.Ben Millspaugh for the NHQCAP DDR/AE program.


20/27

31 31

H HEADQUARTERS HWyom W, Cv Ar Patro

Bd. 233, Warre AFB

(307) 773-4519 Fax (307) 773-4783

www.capwyhq.or www.ocvarpatro.com

MAiling ADDRESS: Wyom W, Cv Ar Patro

P. O. Box 9507, Cheyee, WY 82003-9507


21/27

33 33

I recently attended my rst SAREX. I had no idea what I was getting into and was a little hesitant. Iwasnt sure what Id be asked to do or if I was up to whatever tasks Id be assigned. Im still in my rst yearin the Civil Air Patrol and somewhat behind the learning curve. I arrived at Wing Headquarters Friday,July 20th at 1710 (thats 5:10 for you non-military and Air Force types). I was to meet Colonel Skrabutat 1730 and had a few duty chores to do before he arrived. As always seems to happen when one makesplans to meet another, the Colonel didnt arrive until nearly 1800. I got far more work accomplished thanI thought I would. Youre late. Ipointed out(not a whine) when he nally arrived.

We loaded the Comm Van with our gear and with only two trips back into the building (one to print aForm 73 and the other to grab some Commander Commendation Certicates) we were nally underway.

When are we eating? Im hungry and need a Coke. I asked (also not a whine) as we pulled out of theWing parking lot. So, our rst stop was the base gas station for road snacks. A young airman, who used tobe a cadet, recognized the Colonels uniform. We spent nearly 30 minutes trying to recruit him for eitherthe wing or the Cheyenne squadron. We, of course, felt this was time well spent.

We jumped back in the van, ready to hit the road but all that happened when the Colonel turned thekey was the starter made a clicking noise. I thought for sure our trip was not going to happen. After severaltries the van nally started. It turns out the van prefers the key to be turned a very specic way beforeit will condescend to start. It was nearly 1900 before we were lumbering down the highway in what Iddecided to call the Ford-osaurus, aka Comm Van. I was shocked when we starting ying past everything

B 2d Lt. Jeae ste-Huter

My First sArEX

Cadet 2d lt. Zubk reax hs home for the SAREX.


22/27

35 35

on the road. I didnt think the van could go that fast and was pretty sure the Colonel wouldnt speed in aCAP vehicle. Why are we passing everyone? How fast are you going? I asked(also not a whine). Hechecked the speedometer. It indicated we were traveling at 75 miles per hour. The GPS had a differentstory to tell. According to it we were ying along at 91 miles per hour. The Colonel immediately slowedto a reasonable, safe and legal speed. (Note soon after the SAREX Captain Schein took the van in forrepairs so in the future we shouldnt have people unwittingly committing trafc violations.)

Are we there yet, I asked(also not a whine) somewhere north of the Torrington highwayinterchange..

As we neared Wheatland I noted(also not a whine) that I was hungry and asked, Can we getsomething to eat? Having spent long days at Wing during our recent inspection preparation and theactual inspection, Id had the occasion to pick up lunch a couple of times and it was always Subways.Do we have to eat Subway again? Cant we eat somewhere else? I asked(also not a whine).With our subs in hand we set out again for Casper.

This seat is killing me. My back hurts. I commented(also not a whine) to no one in particular. TheFord-osaurus must have the most uncomfortable seats. Theyre hard, pushed too far forward and dontreally recline because of all the equipment in the back.

We nally arrived at the campsite at 2130. In Squadron Leadership School part of what is taught isethics so I was quite surprised when we didnt stop to pay the required park fees. I was equally shockedto see a No Overnight Use sign posted next to the fee schedule. Heedless of the warning, the Colonelblasted through the entry while assuring me that we had permission to stay for free and overnight. Ireasoned that as a CAP ofcer, he wasnt likely to lie to me, so I relaxed.

When we arrived Major Mike Carlson and Cadet Lt Zubik were already set up and relaxing. C/LtZubik had quite the tent set up (see photo).

A thunderstorm had been brewing for the last hour or longer. The wind, lightening and impendingdarkness had us hurrying to set up the Colonels tent and mine. Tent building was made more difcultbecause the Colonel and Major refused to allow ashlights and everything had to be done in the dark.God, however, seemed to not care about their light discipline rule as He kept lighting the entire sky in a

spectacular fashion! My tent went up fairly easily, even in the dark. (How many CAP ofcers does it taketo build a one-person pup tent? Three seniors and one cadet ofcer.) The Colonel, however, had a three-room mansion and he and Major Carlson were forced to endure the now very damp weather to completeconstruction of his palace. Its raining. Im getting wet. I noted(not whined) when the rain started. I,being the wily second lieutenant, had decided an inspection of potential leaks on the inside of my tent wasnecessary so I climbed in. Who says lieutenants are dumb?

Within a few minutes, a torrential downpour started and I began to fear my tent would oat into thenearby Platte River to the Mississippi River, and eventually through the New Orleans, to the Gulf ofMexico and the Atlantic Ocean. I only hoped that one of the CAP wings downstream would have goodenough weather and be well rehearsed through their own SAREXs to mount a SAR to nd me before myuntimely death at sea.

At 0530 the next morning (Saturday) the Colonel gently shouted us awake. Its a great sign of myself-discipline that he wasnt maimed. I imagine Im like a particularly unpleasant bear being awakenedtoo early from his hibernation. I tend to snarl, bare my teeth and growl when spoken to too early. The hourwasnt a problem. Im up by 5:30 every morning. The issue was that I dont want to see, talk to or hearfrom anyone the rst hour or so Im awake (ask my hubby!). At least my stony silence and monosyllabicanswers couldnt be mistaken for whining. I wanted to permanently silence everyone in camps voices.

As we neared the airport, we pulled into a truck stop for breakfast. Why cant we eat in the restaurantlike Captain Burkett? What do you mean I have to eat stale, prepackaged donuts for breakfast? I asked(also not a whine). Donuts and Cokes in hand, we drove the nal mile or so.


23/27

37 37

We arrived at the Natrona County International Airport by 0700 and set up shop. Since this articleisnt really about the SAREX, Im going to skip the details. Sufce to say, I had a great time, completedseveral tasks for Mission Information Ofcer qualication, learned a little about using WMIRS and spentthat afternoon participating in a ground crew. Everyone was fantastic, incredibly knowledgeable, willingto help me learn and just fun to be with. I never once felt my lack of experience was a hindrance to theteam or that I wasnt welcome to participate in anything they were doing. If youve ever stayed homefrom a SAREX with those fears, trust me, you have no need to worry.

Saturday night we stopped at Safeway for dinner more ne dining. Captain Todd joined the rest ofus campers. We gathered around to eat dinner. The mosquitoes also gather for their dinner US! Evenwith a lack of articial light to draw them, these enterprising pests located us easily. The bugs are eatingme alive. (also not a whine) I commented. I was given a can of bug spray which helped immediatelyupon appilication.

When I climbed into my tent, I noticed it had developed an odd odor. It might have been me.

The Natrona County Sheriff Deputy, who woke us at three AM Sunday morning, didnt buy theColonels story that we had permission to camp overnight for free. He didnt seem to know that CAPofcers have the utmost integrity and never lie. After grilling the Colonel for what seemed like an hour,he decided to let us remain and we were able to get another hour or two of sleep before the wake up ritualmentioned previously began anew.

Fresh from our four hours of sleep in tents with hard, lumpy oors, we arose again at 0530 to completethe second day of the SAREX. All went well again and by shortly after noon we were done.

I never once whined during the entire weekend but I think Colonel Skrabut disagreed. Actually, I knowhe disagrees because he accused me of it. I think he believes I achieved a high level of prociency and

Capt. Patricia Clark and Maj. Mike Carlson checking qualifcations in WMIRS.


24/27

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Tracking Transmitter for Searchand Rescue: Micro-Trak All-In-One

39 39

may feel I am at least qualied as a technician inthe Whining Ofcer Specialty Track. Or maybehell let me pass right up to the master level! Oh,wait; I havent completed ECI-13 yet. I guess itsjust technician for me for now.

Lesson I learned but didnt cover in this

article include: Dont stay at a campground without a

shower.

Dont wear your best dress uniform.Thats why they make BDUs.

Wear comfortable shoes if you do wear adress uniform. Wear comfortable boots ifyoure in BDUs.

Bring lots of extra batteries, both thedisposable kind and the rechargeable

ones the radios use. GPS and ELTs are cool toys.

Dont let a spinning prop hit you in thehead (didnt have to experience that oneto learn it, but thought Id throw it in!)

Members ear about us gPS for roud team searches.

H


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With the weather predicting a fierce springstorm, the organizers of the rst SAREX ofthe season (April 17-19) were wondering

whether it would be a go. By Thursday night it wasdecided that it would indeed be a GO!, at least for theupper and western portions of the state. Unfortunately, the storm brought a heavy blanket of snow fromCasper to Cheyenne and did not allow most CAP members from that region to participate.

With members from Jackson, Cody, Big Horn, Wheatland, and Sheridan along with the WingCommander (who managed to get out of Laramie before the storm hit), we began the SAREX at 0745 onSaturday. It was a gorgeous day with lots of sunshine and warm temps. Following the safety and com -munications briengs, Senior Member Mike Carlson, who was serving as Incident Commander, was for-

mally promoted from Major to Lt. Col. by WingCommander Stan Skrabut. Congratulations!

Air and ground sorties were distributedand soon crews were busy doing the necessarypaperwork and briefings to work their mis-sions. Air crews were sent to take photos andthe ground team was tasked to work with one

aircraft to search for an overdue plane . Withnothing to go on but a ight path, both the planeand van proceeded east to Greybull.

Thank heavens for SAREXs to work the

kinks out. Effective communications were a concern for the

rst portion of the day. Once that was cleared up we weretasked to search in a certain grid. The problem then was auctuating signal that would be strong one moment and weakthe next. It was frustrating, but after about 3 hours of ightthe plane crew nally spotted the debris and marked thespot for the ground team by ying in a tight circle aroundthe area. The ground team drove as far as possible and then

hiked for 45 minutes to the sight. There was a faint signalstill emanating from the beacon and we were able to walk

maj. BJ Carl

First SAREX(of the season)


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right to it so it was a success-ful find. The cadet crew dida good job of dealing withthe frustrations during the

day but promptly fell asleep

on the way back to Cody. A

well-earned supper was thenext order of business.

Sunday began with evennicer weather than Saturdaya n d m o r e s o r t i e s w e r eassigned. Three CAP mem-

bers from Casper were able tojoin the rest of the crew andsoon everyone was busy withtheir tasks.

Lt. Col. Carlson had a missing person scenario for the ground team, which included doing an interview

of the persons wife (aptly played by Lt. Col. Carlson, beard and all). Cadet trainees were prompted to askadditional questions as Major BJCarlson conducted the interviewof Mrs. I. M. Strawman.

Following an intensive ques-tioning period the team set out

to a recreational area just northof Cody and were successful infinding I. M. Strawman tuckedaway in the rocks. The poor head-less victim was litter carried back

to the van and ceremoniouslythrown back into the van andtransported to mission base.

All in all it was a successfulSAREX, with all the crews work-ing through various missions. Everyone arrived safely back at their home base and the IC was able toclose out the training.

More SAREXs are planned for the months of May, June (and possibly July), all leading up to anAir Force evaluated SAREX at the end of August. Come and join the rest of the crowd and participate inimportant training opportunities. This is the place to make mistakes and learn from them. No one is per-

fect and everyone is able to

learn new skills or improveold ones. So come and honethose skills!!

Below are some com-ments from some of the con-tingent from Sheridan:

I thought this SAREX

was an absolutely wonder-ful experience to have as


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a cadet. I thought the bestpart of the whole entire tripwas learning and trying thepositions of a Ground Team

member , such as work-ing with DF equipment,

or operating the vehicleradios. But unfortunately Idid have one problem withthe SAREX, and that wasthe Fire Watches. Beingwoken up at 0115 in themorning after a few hours

of sleep is not an enjoyablething. But even after all that,

it was still fun to find Mr.Straw- Man in the morning.I am now looking forward tothe next SAREX, and the rest

of my experiences as a CivilAir Patrol Cadet!! - C/Amn.Gheryn Height

I thought this weekendwas good and was a verygood learning exercise for theother Cadets and somewhat

for me. Everyone got alongand we had some fun. I thinkthe ground mission and air

missions went off without ahitch but we could have done

some things a little bet-

ter and so on. Finally,

we just had a fun timeat this SAREX. - C/CMSgt. Chris Hodges

I fel t l ike I was

going to visit God whenCapt a i n M oore d i d

a 30 degree left bankturn and all of the blood

went to my feet. Beenthere done that - onceis enough. Thank you

Captain Moore. - 1stLt Juthan H

Documents

Wyoming Wing - Jun 2009