Abraham Louisiana

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Southeast
Exercise brings cadets into decision-making process
FLORIDA — Preparations for a U.S. Air Force-graded search and
rescue evaluation found more than 50 Florida Wing members
participating in an exercise with a twist. This time, qualified cadets
were assigned to assist in decision-making duty positions. The
search and rescue exercise expanded the traditional emergency
services training program by assigning qualified cadets to duty
positions that allowed them to shadow key decision-makers. That
provided “a unique opportunity for cadets to be integrated with
senior members assigned to the mission base staff,” said Cadet
Col. Troy Odierno of the Coral Springs Cadet Squadron. Working
on the mission staff allowed cadets to “get a big-picture view of the
steps involved with running a mission,” he said.
Aircraft were based at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport, and the
command post was placed at a nearby National Guard armory.
Second Lt. Robert Rector of Florida Wing Group 3
Headquarters discusses critical incident stress
management with Cadet Staff Sgt. Yoannis
DeLaTorre of the Homestead Air Reserve Base
Cadet Squadron during a search and rescue
exercise.
Aircrews conducted visual and electronic target searches in addition to photo reconnaissance sorties. Ground
operations included electronic search, disaster response reconnaissance and communications relay. Wing staff
members said the training exercise helped define the wing’s emergency services’ learning curve. Several directors
stressed the goal was to avoid reliance on an “A-team” mission base staff and to focus efforts instead on
developing a deeper pool of well-qualified, mission-ready resources.
Civil Air Patrol wings participate in annual evaluated training exercises designed to evaluate the complete
functional capability of a CAP mission base using the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Incident
Management System. The Air Force observes and evaluates each wing on how well it coordinates, integrates,
supports and employs CAP assets. >> Capt. Jeff Carlson
Photo by Capt. Jeff Carlson, Florida Wing
Southwest
Pilots provide Teacher Orientation Program Flights
TEXAS — Civil Air Patrol’s Teacher Orientation Program Flights were in full
swing at the Space Exploration Educators Conference at Space Center
Houston, with Texas Wing pilots keeping up to five CAP Cessna 172s aloft,
giving rides to some 200 teachers from across the country. The planes
took off from Ellington Field’s Air National Guard Center under the direction
of the wing’s director of space education, Maj. Bjorn Sundet; Capt. Stuart
Hagedorn, Ellington Composite Squadron commander; and Capt. Steve
Hudson, Texas Wing Group II deputy commander, who served as air
operations branch director.
Photo by Maj. Robert Brecount, Texas Wing
Through the TOP Flight program, educators enrolled as CAP aerospace
education members are able to experience what flight in a small plane feels
and sounds like — impressions they can pass along to their students while
generating enthusiasm in the classroom. The teachers’ reactions were
uniformly enthusiastic. Asked what they thought after their rides, the most
frequent answer was, “Wow!”
Ellington Composite Squadron
Commander Capt. Stuart
Hagedorn poses with Texas
educators Aretha White, left, and
Maureen Adams.
Teacher Maureen Adams of Killeen, Texas, declared, “I want to go again.” Similar comments were heard all
afternoon as the excited participants voiced their appreciation for the CAP flights. >> Maj. Robert Brecount
Civil Air Patrol Volunteer 56 April-June 2010