GIVING BACK

Harmon heaped praise on Cindy Sweitzer, the
Suwannee Valley squadron’s deputy commander for
cadets. “She was on top of everything,” she said.
“1st Lt. Cindy Sweitzer was the real leader of this
effort, and I think she deserves some special recognition,”
said Lt. Col. Fred Swearingen, Group 2’s deputy
commander-west, who is recommending a Unit Citation
for the Suwannee Valley squadron, which Mark and
Cindy Sweitzer helped start about a year ago.
“I think this shows how CAP working with the community
can have a positive impact,” Swearingen said,
“and our willingness to use our resources to help resolve
what could have been a much more dangerous situation.”
Swearingen also was able to participate in the relief
efforts as he traveled with the group several times during
their deliveries to the forward staging area.
The firefighters at Station 40 appreciated CAP’s support.
More than 800 firefighters and personnel worked
out of the station’s forward staging area at the height of
the emergency.
Other Civil Air Patrol members in Florida and
Georgia provided aerial support for the nearly twomonth
firefighting effort.
Lt. Col. Doug Kelley, commander of Florida Wing’s
Group 1, which covers the panhandle of Florida from
just west of Tallahassee to Pensacola, provided aerial surveillance
photos to those on the ground.
The Civil Air Patrol has an agreement with Eglin Air
Force Base in northwest Florida to fly daily sorties for
fire spotting, according to Florida Wing Commander
Col. Patrick O’Key. Those flights, made by Kelley and
other members of Group 1, were especially important in
tracking the wildfires.
“This is pretty severe,” Kelley said. “We use the airplanes
to tell where they break out.”
Kelley said CAP’s communication equipment also
expedites the firefighting efforts. “Our communications
equipment allows us to talk to firefighters on the
ground,” he said. “We’re also able to provide real-time
photos that tell them exactly what’s happening.”
Even when Civil Air Patrol personnel were not
involved as members, some, like Capt. Bryan Smith of
the Gainesville Composite Squadron, were able to help
out as part of their regular job. While not flying for
CAP, Smith’s job as a helicopter pilot for the Gainesville
Photo by Lt. Col. Doug Kelley, Florida Wing
U.S. Civil Air Patrol aircraft in
northern Florida provided
instant aerial feedback to
firefighters on the ground.
U. S. Civil Air Patrol Volunteer 21 July-August 2007