MART Vol. II MO/MP - NESA - Civil Air Patrol

go. The pilot may repeat this maneuver until the ground team responds or untilanother means of communication is established.Second, you may pinpoint an area for investigation by circling above the area,continuing to do so until the ground team reaches the area and begins the search.The better the communication from ground-to-air and air-to-ground, the morecoordinated the search will be and the greater the chances for success.Figure 2-62.2.3 Air-to-ground team coordinationThe basic plan for a combined air and ground team search is that the aircrewlocates the objective and then guides the ground team to the objective. It soundssimple, but there are several factors to consider.As an aircrew member, it is important to understand that you have theadvantage of perspective; the long-range visibility that is inherent to flying isabsent from the ground. You can see over the hills, trees, and other obstaclesthat are blocking the ground team member's sight, so you may have to explain thesituation to the ground pounder in painstaking detail.Another perspective problem is time: time seems to pass very slowly whilewaiting for a ground team, and it is easy to get impatient and leave stationprematurely.Naturally, the best means of working with a ground team is to use the radio.However, communications difficulties are par for the course. This gives youadditional incentive to practice directing and working with ground teams.Sometimes the ground team member (non-CAP, of course) may notunderstand radio jargon, so use plain English. For example, if you wanted aground team to take a left at the next intersection, what would you say? Howabout “Ground Team 1, CAP 4239, turn left at the next intersection, over.” Mostoften the plain English answer is the correct way to say it in radioese, anyway.Someone in the aircrew (often the back seat scanner) should continuouslyhave his or her eyes on the ground team; this frees the pilot to fly the aircraft and31