north central region - jan 2008

8/9/2019 North Central Region - Jan 2008

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North Central Region News Page 1 of 12

North Central Region NewsVolume 2008 January

Wreaths Across America

CAP Members from all of the Wings in North Central Region participated in the nation-wideWreaths Across America event on Saturday December 15th. Pictured are members of the

Kansas Wings New Century Composite Squadron honoring our nations veterans at aWreaths Across America ceremony. For more on this story please go to page 5.

In this Issue:

Wreaths Across America Feature Congresswoman honors Minnesota members for flood relief effort NCR Member Joins General Courters Staff New Unit Commanders Appointed and a New Kansas Wing Commander Sought Squadron Prepares for Radiological Scare


2/12


Commanders ColumnCol. Sean FaganCommander, North Central Region

Fellow NCR Members,

Its January and the startof a new year. In theNorth Central Region,along with Januarycomes the winterweather we all know andlove. With this nasty andcold weather comeincreased opportunitiesfor accidents, both onthe road and in are

homes, and in the air.

As the Commander of this Region, safety is one of

my top concerns. I was very disappointed to learnthat there was only a 50% overall participation in theRegions Safety Down Day. This is an unacceptablenumber for participation in such an importantprogram. It is my goal to make safety the firstpriority with every member of the North CentralRegion.

When you have a drive, either in your own personalvehicle, or in the CAP vehicle with a van loaded ofcadets, please consider the road conditions andweather before you leave. Is the risk your takingdriving in poor weather worth it?

Pilots, as we all know, weather is always a factorwith your flights. Storms and poor weather canshow up with short notice. One of the major causesof flight accidents and mishaps are overconfidencein ones capabilities and failure to maintainsituational awareness, including the awareness ofthe weather.

We must never forget that in our missions to helpothers, failure to maintain a safety oriented attitudecan lead us to become the victims instead of therescuers.

New Iowa Wing Commander Selected

Lt Col Ron Scheitzach has been selected as thenext commander of Iowa Wing. He will succeed ColRalph Tomlinson at a ceremony on January 26th atCamp Dodge presided by the Region Commander,Col Sean Fagan. NCR News will have coverage ofthe ceremony,

Nominations Sought for National/RegionAwards

A new year has begun and it is time for wings tosubmit annual awards to the North Central Regionfor person of the region and person or the year for

National competitions. A submittal in each categoryis expected from each Wing.

Five copies of each award nomination are due toRegion Headquarters by Friday February 15 th. Themailing address is HQ NCR, CAP PO Box 11755Cedar Rapids, IA 52402. This gives the reviewboard enough time to make recommendations to theRegion Commander and have the approvednominations sent to national before the deadline ofMarch 15

th.

Wings should pay attention to the criteria for eachaward in the specific regulation because often theWings give such awards for the best performanceeach year and the Region and National competitionsare based upon a lifetime of service.

There are other awards that do not need to gothrough the Region. The list of due dates posted onthe National CAP Web site should be consulted fordue dates.

Region level awards will be presented at the NorthCentral Region Conference.

Please refer to the appropriate regulation for

guidance on each of these awards.

Cadet of the Year (CAPR 39-3) Senior Member of the year (CAPR 39-3) Communicator of the Year (CAPR 100-1) Logistician of the Year (CAPR 76-1) Safety Officer of the Year (CAPR 62-1) Legislative Liaison of the Year (CAPR 39-3) National Chaplains Award (CAPR 265-1) SAR/DR Effectiveness Trophies (CAPR 55-

10) Public Affairs Awards (CAPR 190-1) Frank G. Brewer Aerospace Awards

(several categories CAPR 900-7 & CAPP15, due to NCR by 1 Feb & NHQ by 1 Mar)

Cadet Programs Officer of the Year(Sorensen Award, NHQ CC letter)


3/12


Search is on for New Kansas WingCommander

Col Barney King will becompleting his tour asKansas Wing Commanderand applications are being

sought for his successor.

To be considered forservice as a WingCommander a CAP Officermust at least hold the

grade of Major, earned the Garber Award andhave at least three years command and staffexperience at any level within a wing. There areother criteria in CAPR 35-9.

If interested, please submit an application and

supporting documents as described in CAPR35-9 to [email protected] Please make thesubject line of the e-mail KS WingCommander.

Each applicant may submit a total of threeletters of recommendation supporting his/herapplication.

Deadline for submission is 15 February. Theselection board will convene soon afterward.

Please direct any questions on this to Col TomWeston, NCR/CV at [email protected]

Marek Appointed to NationalCommanders Staff

Lt Col Mike Marek, NCRDirector of Public Affairs,has been namedCommunications TeamLeader on the CAPNational Staff by Brig Gen

Amy Courter, interimNational Commander.

In this capacity he will be coordinating theactivities of senior CAP communicators andworking on a variety of projects including thenew Communications Training Program.

Col Fagan appointed Capt Al Pabon to succeedMarek effective January 2nd.

Lakewood Squadron Gets NewCommander

Major Gary King assumed command of theLakewood Composite Squadron in Aberdeen,SD on January 1st.

King succeeds Major Dustin Shultis whostepped down due to business obligations.

Major King has been a CAP member since1995. He is a recipient of the Garber Award,and is a mission observer/scanner. He hasbeen a mission pilot and is working to regainthat rating.

Maj Shultis has been a CAP member (as acadet) since 1994 and previously was acommander of the Brookings Composite

Squadron. He is a recipient of the GroverLoening Award and is a ground team leader.

Dates for Region Staff College Set

Col Mary Donley, Director of the NCR StaffCollege has announced that the dates for thisyears event will be June 15th to the 20th atOffutt Air Force Base, NE.

Members interested in participating can contactCol Donley at [email protected] for more

information.

Region Staff College is a requirement for thecompletion of Level 4 of the Senior MemberProfessional Development Program.

http://ncr.cap.gov


4/12


Anoka County Composite Squadron members help people in a boatduring the Southeastern Minnesota flood in 2007. 2d Lt Jay Spreitzer(near river) of Andover is helping flood victims while being assistedby C/SRA Emily Tholen of Arden Hills and C/A1C Hanna Olsen (farright) of Elk River

(L-R) Captain Andy Bosshart, 2d Lt Shelly Supan, 2d Lt GeorgeSupan, C/SRA Emily Tholen and C/A1C Hanna Olsen receive Flagsthat were flown at the US Capital Building, Certificates and Civil AirPatrol Disaster Relief Ribbon with a V Device.

Congresswoman honors Minnesota Civil Air Patrol members for flood relief effort

Rep. Betty McCollum, D-MN recently honored 12 members of Minnesota Wing with the Flag of the United Statesof America and the CAP Disaster Relief Ribbon with V device for their valor and service during the recentflooding in southeastern Minnesota.

Civil Air Patrol members from Anoka and North Hennepin composite squadrons were presented with the honorsduring a ceremony held December 17 at Congresswoman McCollums office in St. Paul, Minn.

Congresswoman McCollum called from Washington, DC to say Thank You for the service rendered by eachhonoree during the flood. McCollums staff in Minnesota presented the group with a flag that was flown over theU.S. Capitol in honor of their efforts during the flooding.

The Civil Air Patrol Disaster Relief Ribbon with V device may be awarded to any member who participates in aPresidentially declared disaster.

The missions in the flood area included search and rescue, cleanup, traffic control, city street patrol, and mostimportantly, helping people who lost their business or homes.

The Civil Air Patrol members receiving the honors were Major Don Sorenson, Captain Andy Bosshart; 2d LtShelly Supan, 2d Lt Tim Frame of Ramsey; 2d Lt Terry Pittman, 2d Lt Jay Spreitzer, 2d Lt George Supan, C/TSgtPeter Mayhew, C/SSgt Matt Frame, C/SRA Emily Tholen, C/A1C Hanna Olsen and C/CMSgt Ben Hartley.


5/12


Fifteen years ago a New England wreath maker visited Arlington National Cemetery across thePotomac River with a dream to place a wreath on every tombstone. On Saturday, December

15th 2007, this dream was shared when thousands of wreaths were presented duringceremonies at over 260 veteran cemeteries across the nation.

This feature looks at some of those ceremonies in North Central Region.

Mandan, ND: -- The North Dakota Wing conductedthe Wreaths Across America ceremony. Theceremony was held at the North Dakota Veteran'sCemetery in Mandan. Seven wreaths werepresented to different services honoring those whogave their lives to our country.

Captain Connie Nikiforoff says it means a lot to the

veterans and their families and the active membersof duty to have this ceremony. Major SeanJohnson, said that it was a privilege and honor tohost the event. "It's a wonderful way for us to giveback to our community and honor other men andwomen in uniform who are serving their country.

"It represents the honoring of those veterans,especially those who didnt come home. Those of uswho were able to come home. Were very fortunate.Some families are still probably grieving over theloss of a loved one," says Maj. Darrel Pittman.

Springfield, MO: -- With the joint efforts of theVeteran Memorial Team of Springfield, MO area andthe Springfield Regional Composite Civil Air PatrolSquadron, seven wreaths were laid at theSpringfield National Cemetery in honor of the past,present, and future sacrifices our Veterans (and theirfamilies) make for this country.

1st

Lt Rahn Hamilton of the Springfield RegionalComposite Civil Air Patrol Squadron was thehonored speaker while the Civil Air Patrol CadetHonor Guard presented the colors. The VeteranMemorial Team not only laid the wreaths at the PearlHarbor Survivor Association Monument, butperformed a 21 gun salute and taps presentation.

In addition to the Springfield National Cemetery,Missouri presentations were conducted at JeffersonBarracks National Cemetery, Jefferson City NationalCemetery, State Veteran Cemetery in Bloomfield,State Veteran Cemetery in Jackson, St. James

Missouri Veteran Cemetery, State Veteran Cemeteryin Springfield and State Veteran Cemetery inHigginsville.

Leavenworth, KS: -- With temperatures in the mid-20's, wind blowing and snow falling over 60 peoplegathered at the Leavenworth National Cemetery tohonor our nation's veterans with the laying of holidaywreaths.

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6/12


Continued from Page 6.

The Leavenworth ceremony attended by membersof the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion,Kansas Patriot Guard, Civil Air Patrol New CenturyComposite Squadron and the public wascoordinated by Major Ronald Behm, with theassistance of William A. Owensby, Jr., Director of

the Leavenworth National Cemetery.

CAP cadets escorted Army Major Richard Fornili,Navy Lt Cmdr Frank Shelley, Marine Major ScottJohnson, Air Force Major Christopher Budde, Mr.Edward Menard of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary,Raymond Calore, VFW KS Chair for POW/MIAAffairs in the placement of the wreaths.

The CAP Cadet Color Guard posted the colors.James Timmons and Justin Wilmeth closed theceremony with Taps.

Minneapolis, MN: -- Members from five MinnesotaWing squadrons and wing headquarters gatheredat Fort Snelling National Cemetery on to participatein Wreaths Across America, the nationwideobservance honoring all former and currentmembers of the military -- especially those who havedied while preserving Americans' freedom.

During the memorial service an Honor Guard ofMinnesota Wing cadets laid wreaths on gravesrepresenting each of the branches of the military.

Minnesotas Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau spoke on themilitary's important role in securing Americas safetyand thanked the Civil Air Patrol for providing theopportunity to honor the nation's heroes.

Representing wing headquarters was Maj. JerryRosendahl, MN Wing Chief of Staff for MissionOperations. He highlighted the mission of Wreaths

Across America to remember the fallen, to honorthose who have served and are serving, and toteach America's youth the value of freedom.

After the service, hundreds of additional wreathswere placed on graves by those in attendance whilemembers of the Patriot Guard stood watch, eachwith a U.S. flag by his side.

Sioux Falls, SD: -- Sioux Falls Composite Squadronpresented a special veteran's tribute this Saturday,December 15th at Hills of Rest Cemetary's indoormasoleum facility. Lt Col Tim Steppan led the event

in which representatives of all uniformed serviceswere on hand to lay wreaths in honor of eachservice's fallen. The ceremony concluded with aCAP Officer playing taps.

Washington DC: -- Kansas City CompositeSquadron won the Wreaths Across America TopSquadron competition. Squadron Commander CaptChuck Wright and 1st Lt Catherine Metcalf were atArlington National Cemetary to attend a wreathlaying on the Tomb of the Unknown Solder with BrigGen Amy Courter, CAP Interim NationalCommander.

Special thanks to Major Kathleen Wiley, MO Wing,Maj Jerry Rosendahl , MN Wing, Kirsty McKraken,MN Wing Administrator, 1

stLt Joshua Rivera, ND

Wing, Major Ronald Behm, KS Wing, 2d Lt ShawnAnderson, SD Wing, and Maj Dan Metcalf, KS Wingfor their contributions to this feature.


7/12


Cadet Second Lieutenant Jeff Dvorak passes the squadron flag toCadet Master Sergeant Jessica Stone as the new cadetcommander of the St. Cloud Composite Squadron while MajorRyan Brovold, squadron commander looks on.

New Cadet Commander for St. CloudComposite Squadron

Cadet Master Sergeant Jessica Stone of Becker,Minn., a cadet member of the Minnesota Wings St.Cloud Composite Squadron, was named thesquadron's new cadet commander in a change-of-command ceremony on December 17 at the St.Cloud Armory. She replaces Cadet 2nd Lt. JeffDvorak who had successfully served as cadetcommander since August 2006. Dvorak will enterthe U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in January.

Stone, 16, joined CAP in October 2006. In additionto serving as a leader and mentor to other cadets inthe squadron, shes completed a variety ofMinnesota CAP training activities including the WingEncampment where she was named FlightDistinguished Graduate, Cadet NoncommissionedOfficer School, the Ground Team Academy andFlight Academy.

Cadet Stone, who is home schooled, was therecipient of the first annual Jacob PfingstenMemorial Flight Training Scholarship Award lastJuly.

The award provides up to 30 hours of funding toassist one Flight Academy graduate who is likely tocontinue their training to ultimately obtain their FAAPrivate Pilot Certificate. Pfingsten was a long timemember of the Crow Wing Composite Squadron inBrainerd. He obtained his FAA Private PilotCertificate through the CAP. Jacob died in February2005 of natural causes while serving with the U.S.Army in Germany.

ND Wing Announces Cadet LeadershipAcademy

North Dakota Wing will be holding a LeadershipAcademy from February 15-17 at the Fargo AirNational Guard Base.

The academy is a training weekend for CadetAirmen and NCOs in the skills needed to besuccessful Phase 1 and 2 cadets. Classes will bebroken out for Airmen and NCOs.

Cadets are sought for a variety of staff positions

To apply cadets will need to complete a CAPF 31and e-mail the form to C/Capt. Trevor McDowell,Cadet Commander at [email protected]

The activity fee of $ 20.00 can be paid on arrival atthe activity. Each participant receives a LeadershipAcademy T-shirt and all meals are provided.

Questions can be directed to McDowell or to NorthDakota Wings Director of Cadet Programs Lt ColErik Ludlow at [email protected]

MN Wing Encampment Seeking SeniorMember Staff

Minnesota Wing is accepting applications for thefollowing staff for the 2008 Cadet Encampment to beheld 20-28 June 2008 at Camp Ripley:

Training Officer Senior Tactical Officer Flight Tactical Officer

For a description of each staff position, consult theMinnesota Wing Encampment Training Manual(ETM) available from the MN Wing Cadet Program'sWebsite. Applications for encampment support staffwill be opened soon.

Although there is not an official deadline for tacticalofficer staff applications, if you intend to apply for a

position, it is appreciated that you apply prior to 25January 2008.

For more information or to apply, visit the 2008Encampment website athttp://www.mncap.org/cp/10ctg/


8/12


Col. John Mais (center), Missouri Wing commander, speaks toCass County Composite Squadron members and guests whileCol. Joseph D. McMillan of North Central Region Headquartersand Capt. Melinda Berry of the Cass County squadron listen.

The Cass County Composite Squadron honored itsown recently at its Third Annual Dining-Out andAwards Banquet at the Galvez Banquet Hall in

Harrisonville.

Mess dress and service dress uniformsdistinguished many of those in attendance. SeveralVIPs were present, with special guests includingState Rep. Luke Scavuzzo; Col. Joseph McMillan,former national chief of staff, North Central Regionand Missouri Wing commander; Col. John Lehr,North Central Region Headquarters Squadroncommander and North Central Region professionaldevelopment officer; Col. John Mais, Missouri Wingcommander; Col. Burgess Rennels Jr., North CentralRegion Cadet Programs officer and past Kansas

Wing commander; Lt. Col. Troy Campbell, MissouriWing vice commander; and Maj. David Hosea,Missouri Group One commander.

Mais and Campbell presented awards andpromotions throughout the evening.

Capt. Tony Belto, the squadron's commander, waspromoted to major.

Recognized with awards were:

Red Service Ribbons -- 1st Lts. Julie Grace

and Michael Mannion, Senior Master Sgt.Jordan Hargis. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager Aerospace

Education Achievement Award -- 2nd Lt.Shaun Grace.

Wright Brothers Award -- Cadet StaffSgts. Zach Baughman and Karra Miller,Cadet Airman 1st Class Abe Kennedy.

Cadet Competition Awards -- CadetAirmen 1st Class Kyle Cass, Aaron Hooper,Austin Hooper, Abe Kennedy; Cadet Lts.Lucas Eggenberger and Kenna

Eggenberger; Cadet Airman Justin Hansen;Cadet Senior Master Sgt. Jordan Hargis;Cadet Chief Master Sgt. Josh Hargis; CadetStaff Sgt. Karra Miller; Cadet Lt. Cadet Lt.Michael Hargis, cadet competitioncommander; Capts. Melinda Berry andTammi Miller, instructors.

Veterans of Foreign Wars OutstandingNoncommissioned Officer -- Cadet StaffSgt. Karra Miller.

Veterans of Foreign Wars OutstandingOfficer -- Cadet Lt. Kenna Eggenberger.

Air Force Sergeants Association

Outstanding Noncommissioned Officers(presented by Master Sgt. Michael Muldry,representing Air Force SergeantsAssociation Chapter 804) -- Cadet ChiefMaster Sgt. Alex Mannion, Cadet SeniorMaster Sgt. Jordan Hargis.

Air Force Association OutstandingCadets (presented by Col. John J. Lehr,representing the Air Force Association) --Cadet Lt. Michael Hargis, Cadet Staff Sgt.Zach Baughman.

Air Force Sergeants Association FlightScholarship Noncommissioned Officers

(presented by Master Sgt. Michael Muldry,representing the Air Force SergeantsAssociation Chapter 804) -- Cadet ChiefMaster Sgt. Alex Mannion, Cadet Lt. KennaEggenberger.

Squadron Supports of the Year -- AirCharter (of Lee's Summit, Mo.),commissioners of Cass County.

Squadron Senior Members of the Year --1st Lt. Michael Mannion, Capt. Tammi Miller.

Squadron Noncommissioned Officers ofthe Year -- Cadet Chief Master Sgt. AlexMannion, Cadet Senior Master Sgt. Jordan

Hargis. Squadron Junior Officer of the Year --

Cadet Lt. Michael Hargis


9/12


Steven Parker (center) is promoted to the rank of Cadet Captainby Major Ryan Brovold (left), St. Cloud Composite Squadroncommander, and Captain Pat Cruze, past squadron commander.

St. Cloud Composite Squadron cadetearns Amelia Earhart Award

Cadet First Lieutenant Steven Parker, of Minnesota

Wings St. Cloud Composite Squadron, was recentlyawarded the Amelia Earhart Award and promoted tothe rank of Cadet Captain.

Cadet Captain Parker, 20, joined Civil Air Patrol inNovember 1999 while residing in Oregon. When thefamily moved to Clearwater, Minn., Cadet Parker

joined the St. Cloud Squadron where hes served ina variety of leadership positions. A certified EMT,Cadet Parker has also completed CAP GroundTeam, Radiological, and Mission Observer training.

Cadet Parker graduated from Annandale High

School in 2006, and is attending St. Cloud TechnicalCollege. Hes the son of Jonathan and Nancy Parkerof Clearwater.

Cass County Joins Harrisonville NETT inCommunity Outreach

The Cass County Composite Squadron joined forceswith the Harrisonville community anti-drugorganization NETT, Networking and Educating forToday and Tomorrow.

Harrisonville NETT is a broad-based communitygroup whose mission is to reduce the use and abuseof alcohol and other drugs through a comprehensivecommunity-wide approach.

The group consists of political leaders, businessowners, law enforcement officials, ministerialmembers and concerned individuals from thecommunity.

It meets monthly to prepare and discuss events andactivities to host throughout the community. Seniormember staff attend the monthly meetings topromote the Cass County DDR program.

C/2d Lt Lucas Eggenberger, C/CMSgt Jordan Hargis, C/1st LtKenna Eggenberger, C/TSgt Karra Miller

NETT hosted a free Parent and Community Dinnerand Program on Tuesday, December 18, 2007, andthe Cass County Honor Guard presented the colors.

Guest speakers attending the event were RustyCotton, Special Agent for the Division of Alcohol andTobacco Control; Teresa Hensley, Cass CountyProsecuting Attorney; and Joey Russell, the KeynoteSpeaker. Mr. Russell spoke on his arrest andconviction of drunk driving in 2004 due to a fatal

accident involving his friend's teenage brother.

North Central Region Newsis publishedmonthly by the

North Central Region, Civil Air Patrol

Col. Sean P. Fagan, Region CommanderCapt Al Pabon, Director of Public Affairs

Please send submissions by the 10th of each

month to: [email protected]


10/12


Major Brent Halweg (L) and Major Ronn Winkler (R) of EdenPrairie transfer the command of Viking Squadron

Vikings Change Command

Many might think that the change of commandsignifies a replacement of the old with the new, butfor Minnesota Wings Viking Composite Squadronthis is far from the truth. Viking Squadrons resourcepool of highly experienced Senior Officers providesCadet and Senior Members a wide range ofactivities, training, and leadership opportunities.

On December 18th, Viking Squadrons CommanderMajor Ronn Winkler relinquished his command toMajor Brent Halweg.

Major Winkler, a member since 2002, has been

active with Flight Operations, Emergency Services,and Professional Development.

Major Halweg, a member since 2003, has beenactive with Cadet Programs, Flight Operations, andAerospace Education.

Honor Guard Hits It Big With KansasCity Chiefs

After two years of waiting, the Cass CountyComposite Squadrons Honor Guard was given thegreen light to present the colors at the Kansas CityChiefs game on Sunday, December 16, 2007.

The Kansas City Chiefs played the TennesseeTitans at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO.

C/A1C Josh Goodman, C/SrA Blake Goodman,C/SSgt Aaron Hooper, C/SSgt Austin Hooperproudly presented the colors although the frigidweather hovered around twenty degrees for thegame. Several inches of snow surrounded theoutdoor football arena.

The weather did not keep the 74,976 fans fromattending, with the Titans clenching the win over theChiefs, 26-17.

CAP Members Re-Enlist in the U.S. Air Force

Tara and Randall Borton, of Rapid City, SD, have both reenlisted in the United States Air Force. The husbandand wife are also active in the Civil Air Patrols (CAP) South Dakota Wing.

SSgt Tara Borton, USAF, reenlisted November 28. Her ceremony was held in the 28th Bomb Wing CommandPost at Ellsworth AFB. Major Douglas Bodine, USAF, administered the reenlistment oath.

Exactly one month later, on December 28, TSgt Randall Borton, USAF, reenlisted in the Air Force. Also held inthe Command Post, Lt Colonel Mike Beason, USAF (Ret), administered the reenlistment oath.

Randall Borton is a Major in CAP and is the commander of the Rushmore Composite Squadron in Rapid City,SD and Tara Borton is a CAP 1st Lt and serves as the squadrons Public Affairs Officer. Maj Bodine is theRushmore Squadron's Deputy Commander for Seniors and Mike Beason is a CAP Colonel and the SouthDakota Wing Commander.


11/12


Lt Col Paul Thompson, Lt Col Barney Uhlig, & Major RonnWinkler review the squadron Emergency Services communicationexercise

Communications ExerciseRoger Wilco

When the call came out for full squadronparticipation for the ES communication trainingexercise, the overall response was wilco (i.e.message received, will comply). Viking Squadrontakes its training seriously, and tonight was noexception.

An overwhelming squadron turnout helped to makethis Emergency Services communication trainingexercise a great success. Cadet and Seniormembers participated in different communicationgroups to efficiently work at passing on critical mock

emergency messages. A highly stressfulenvironment was created to test even the mostexperienced radio operators nerves and abilities.

Outstanding Senior Officer planning combined with aformal squadron briefing helped to inform thesquadron members of the overall exerciserequirements. The goals of the exercise were tobuild each individual members confidence, sharpenmembers skills, reinforce radio communicationprotocol, challenge squadron members within astressful environment, and overall execution as ateam to accomplish a very difficult and complexmission.

Communication is an essential part of the Civil AirPatrol Search & Rescue and Emergency Servicesmissions. Because of this, all new CAP membersshould qualify for a Radio Operators AuthorizationCard. Viking Squadron offers classes are offered ona regular basis.

Principles for Emergency Services andMember RetentionCol Joe CaslerNCR Director of Emergency Services

There are approximately 60,000 members of Civil AirPatrol, almost 4,100 of those members call NorthCentral Region home. They all joined for a variety ofreasons. They stay for a variety of reasons also.Just as they join and stay for a variety of reasons,they leave for a variety of reasons.

I do not intend to go into any of those reasons in thisarticle. I am going to discuss four principles I feelshould be applied in the emergency services arenato keep our members interest and to better assistour customers, the victims of natural disasters,aircraft accidents or other incidents that we arecalled upon to assist with by AFRCC , AFNSEP orlocal agencies.

I may drift a bit during this discussion, but hopefullyeven the drifting will be somewhat relevant. Theseprinciples are not going to be discussed in anyparticular order so please dont attach any impliedpriority to them.

The first principle is Service. Service is whatwe are providing to our customers, the Departmentof Defense, our country and, on occasion, ourselves.Service includes doing our best during a mission. Itmeans applying our training in the most effectivemanner in order to give an accident victim the bestpossible chance of survival. It means answering thecall even when the mission isnt high profile or whenthere wont be a lot of media attention.

As an Incident Commander one of my tasks is toassemble the best qualified personnel for a givenmission. I have had members tell me, No I canthelp, because this is only an ELT mission. Or Itstoo hot. No glory, uncomfortable these arentreally the standards of service we want in CAP.Have I turned down missions? Yes.

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12/12


Continued from Page 11

My reason was that I had been up all night the nightbefore and into that day running a mission myself. Iwas/would have been unsafe.

Once again, not the standard of service we want.Unsafe due to distracting personal issues or unsafe

due to fatigued staff members who are not able tomaintain the standards we like to maintain duringour missions. Service is getting the training neededto maintain a high level of proficiency in your missionskills. Even though training is not alwaysglamorous, exciting or `what you want to do thatparticular weekend or meeting. It is necessary tomaintain your proficiency, and who knows you maylearn something new or have an old learned conceptreinforced. Do a job because it needs to be done,dont ask Whats in it for me?

Number two is Dignity. We all like to be treatedwith dignity.

There is no reason any member cannot treat otherswith dignity. Our customers and employingagencies need to come away from a mission withthe feeling and thought that they were treated withdignity and were not belittled in any manner.

In CISM, it is imperative that CISM providers providean atmosphere of respect for those we are providingassistance. We learn early in our training that anystatements that in essence say that real pilots dontneed CISM help or It was meant to be usuallyaggravate the situation for the person being helped.Why? It takes away their dignity and adds to theirfeeling of frustration or despair.

We can show dignity to our trainees.

Ridiculing someone because their 24 hour pack isnt

the same as yours, or because they didnt attend thesame training course or have the same instructorsthat youve had is not maintaining the dignity of yourtarget or even yourself.

Spreading rumors about people or takinganonymous pot shots at them personally orprofessionally damages their sense of dignity and isless than professional of the anonymous sender.During a mission, members of the search of thevictims family often show up at mission base. Weall need to stop and think of the ramifications if they

happen to overhear a CAP member make commentsabout the victim or other CAP members.

It is an assault on everyones dignity when thathappens. How would we feel if we were the targetof inappropriate remarks?

Three is Stewardship. Taking care of CAP

property and funds is what stewardship is all about.The Air Force and Americans tax payers expect usto operate our aircraft and vehicles safely andresponsibly.

Too many times in the past, and currently, ourequipment has been treated as if it was rentalequipment with hardly any thought to properpreventative maintenance, cleanliness, or drivingpractices.

How many members do you know who have goneon a mission and then called their spouse to meetthem at a certain gas station so they could fill two

vehicles on the Air Forces dime? Plenty of rumorsyou say? I agree.

Ive heard rumors of that too. As stewards of taxpayer and Air Force funds we need to avoid eventhe perception of impropriety.

Stewardship involves trust. When we lose the trustof the Air Force, we stand a very good chance oflosing anything to have stewardship over.

Last principle for this article, but notnecessarily last in importance is Excellence.

This is covered quite well when we discuss the CAPCore Values (Excellence in all we do).

Striving for the very best. Training to exceedstandards rather than just meet them.

Taking the new ICS courses rather than beingsatisfied with the older G193, etc courses.

Doing a Lessons Learned session after eachmission/activity even if its by yourself.

How could you have done your job better?

Get commercial and instrument ratings/licenses, notonly because you can fly more missions/taskings forthe Air Force or ROTC, but because it will make youa better pilot. Go to ICISF CISM courses beyond thebasic course because it will help you help othersbetter, not because it will look good on your resume.

north central region - jan 2008

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