Fall-Winter - Minnesota Wing

GROUND TEAM ACADEMY
Minnesota Wing members prepared for
search and rescue, anytime, anyplace
Major Richard Sprouse
Public Affairs Officer, Group 2
BACKGROUND PHOTO:
Cadets take the high ground
to pick up an ELT signal
during the 2009 Minnesota
Wing Ground Team
Academy. Photo courtesy
of Capt. Richard Sprouse,
Minnesota Group 2 PAO
A couple of your friends have decided to
spend the weekend hiking. It’s a remote area with
plenty of trails and waterways, and you expect
your friends will have a great time. Suddenly those
thoughts are shattered when you receive a call that
your friends are missing. Your mind starts racing
and your heart is pounding. Where are they What
if they’re injured What do you do
If you were among the 80 cadets and senior
officers who recently attended Minnesota
Wing’s annual Ground Team Academy you
possess the skills to perform search and resc
u e o p e r a t i o n s , a n y t i m e , a n y p l a c e .
“There are so many things that can go wrong in
any search and rescue mission. You never know
what you may encounter. That is the reason
C/Capt David Johnson of Red Wing Squadron, a GTA instructor, provides
some map orienteering instruction to GTM1 candidates during the 2009
Minnesota Wing Ground Team Academy. Photo courtesy of Capt. Richard
Sprouse, Minnesota Group 2 PAO
why Civil Air Patrol invests so much time and
effort in properly training its members when
the call comes,” said Lt. Col. Chet Wilberg,
Minnesota Wing’s Director of Emergency
Services, and Ground Team Academy Commander.
After some classroom instruction on land navigation,
tracking ELTs, conducting a line search,
working with search dogs and first aid training,
the cadets and senior officers spent several days
in the recesses of Camp Ripley’s 53,000 acres
honing their newly acquired skills under a variety
of search and rescue scenarios.
Wilberg said the goal of the Ground Team
Academy (GTA) is to get everyone attending to complete
one level of CAP Emergency Services training.
“Ground Team Academy is an intensive event
designed to help prepare our members
mentally, physically and technically to
deal with life threatening emergencies.”
Last year, Minnesota Wing logged
103 actual or training missions totaling
a whopping 14,929 personnel hours,
593 air sorties and 9,120 air hours.
“We teach our members to be proactive
and think well ahead in a search and
rescue situation so they can effectively
operate in an ever-changing environment,”
Wilberg said. “The best way
to improve life saving skills is to train
harder and work smarter. No two rescues
are ever alike and CAP members should
never take any rescue for granted.”
Looking back, C/A1C Katie Jents of St.
Croix Squadron attributes Ground Team
Academy to finding her niche in Civil
Air Patrol. “This program (Ground Team
Academy) is so addicting that I want to
come every year just because it is always
so fun and enjoyable. GTA was where
I first learned a lot about Emergency
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