north central region - apr 2007

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North Central Region NewsVolume 2007 April

Minnesota Wing Squadrons Merge

US Representative, Minnesota legislators becomeCAP members

St. Cloud Minnesota’s North Star Cadet Squadron and St. CloudSenior Squadron joined forces during a ceremony April 9 at the localarmory to become the St. Cloud Composite Squadron.

Civil Air Patrol squadrons across the country have moved to a com-posite format to better share resources and centralize operations. TheNorth Star Cadet Squadron was one of the last of its type in Minnesota.

The newly formed St. Cloud Composite Squadron will consist of 46senior officers and 24 cadets.

Also during the event, US Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann,

Minnesota State Senator Taryl Clark, and Minnesota State Representa-tives Larry Hosch and Sondra Erickson received their Civil Air Patrolmembership certificates.

Honored guests and speakers at the event included Colonel SteveMiller, Minnesota Wing Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Tom Kettell,Minnesota Wing Vice Commander; and Major Alan Matson, MinnesotaWing Group 2 Commander. Group 2 includes CAP squadrons in St.Cloud, Brainerd, Hutchinson and Willmar. Also attending the eventwere Minnesota State Representatives Dan Severson (a CAP member)and Steve Gottwalt (CAP application pending).

State Representative Larry Hosch (St.Joseph, MN) and Minnesota Wing Commander, Colonel Steve Miller

In This Issue:

Commander's Column..........................Page 2

Life Saving Award......................... ....... Page 2

Units Conduct Training.........................Page 3Missouri ELT Search............................Page 4

Iowa Wing Color Calendar................... Page 5

Donley Earns Wilson Award.................Page 5

Sioux Falls Community Events............ Page 6

St. Cloud Planetarium Visit...................Page 6

Photo Essay:

Ground Team Training.................... Page 7

Iowa Wing Searches forMissing College Student

Iowa Wing was requested to supportthe search for amissing IowaState University

Student. Nine-teen year old,Abel Bolanos,right, an ISU stu-dent from RollingHills, IL, was lastseen leaving aparty off campuson an early Satur-day morning. Iowa CAP was request-ed to provide trained ground searchers,aircrews, communications personnel,and mission managers.

Iowa CAP flew low-level searchesover the search area on the followingMonday to try to determine whether Abel was in some of the remote fieldsand forests that surround the IowaState University Campus.

Trained CAP ground search teamscanvassed fields, woods, and urban

(Continued Page 4)



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North Central Region News

Cass County ConductsGround Team Training

Cass County Composite Squadrontrained in Emergency Services recent-ly at the squadron headquarters.

Fourteen cadets and two senior members participated in the day’sevents, led by the Deputy Comman-der, Captain Melinda Berry. Topicscovered were packing the 24-hour and72-hour pack, calling on the alert ros-ter, determining compass bearings,and following an azimuth.

Participants traveled to CampReeder in Harrisonville, Missouri, totest on the use of a compass. Lt. MarkEggenberger tested the cadets on thecompass course. C/MSgt. Jordan Har-gis said after the day, “I feel more se-cure knowing that I can use a com-pass by following bearings. It is veryimportant to be patient and prepared.”

The following cadets and senior

members contributed to the events of the day: Zach Bartlett, Kyle Cass,Kenna Eggenberger, Lucas Eggen-berger, Blake Goodman, Josh Good-man, Justin Hansen, Jordan Hargis,Josh Hargis, Michael Hargis, AaronHooper, Austin Hooper, AbrumKennedy, Karra Miller, Shaun Grace,and Tammi Miller.

Omaha Squadrons Complete First Aid Class

On March 17, the Offutt Composite Squadron hosted the First Aidclass required to become a search and rescue ground team member.Cadets from both Offutt Composite and Omaha Composite Squadrons

attended. The course was taught by Captain Christopher Havran, thehealth services officer for Offutt Composite and the North Central Re-gion.

Ground team members are responsible for rural terrain searchesand could be outin the field for aslong as 72 hoursif needed, de-pending on their level of experi-ence. Learningwhat to do andhow to react

when injuriesand illnesses oc-cur – is extreme-ly important. In-

jury is a leadingcause of deathin the UnitedStates and con-tinues to occur every day and inevery state of our nation. The

rates are not declining. The threat is magnified with the consideration of unexpected natural and man-made incidents.

● Traumatic injuries are estimated to be responsible for over 161,000 deaths each year and for an estimated death rate of 5.9 for every 100,000 persons.

● Children account for 25 percent of all traumatic injuries. Injuryhas been the leading cause of death for children and youth for decades.

● Trauma is the leading cause of death for Americans 35 years of age and younger.

● For all U.S. residents, unintentional injury ranks as the fifthmost common cause of death.

According to Captain Havran, "The cadets and officers, who attend-

ed the American Heart Association's Heartsaver First Aid Course exem-plified all of the great characteristics of today's and tomorrow's leaders.Throughout the course, the students posed many excellent questionsand hypothetical 'what-if...' scenarios. Every single student was totally'keyed-into' this training! It was absolutely wonderful to see every, sin-gle, student utilizing their critical thinking skills during the 'hands-on'portions of the class. I really enjoy providing this training and seeinghow others react - positively - to the realization of knowing that theyhave what it takes to provide care to someone in-need!"



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Missouri Wing Group IIConducts Successful ELTSearch

Recent Finds highlight training,dedication

Two members of Missouri WingGroup II's Mid Rivers Senior Squadron are credited with a non-distress Find on April 5.

Responding to Air Force RescueCoordination Center mission 07-MO495, a urban direction findingground team consisting of Lt. Col.John Otradovec and 1Lt. Jack Gray(who had just returned home from asquadron meeting and was still in

uniform) located an emergency lo-cator transmitter in a Cessna 170 atCreve Coeur Airport, a general avia-tion airport in northwest St. LouisCounty.

Lt. Cols. Gene Rugh and CarolynRice served as the incident com-mander and ground branch director,respectively.

This is the second successfulnon-distress find for Group II withinthe last week.

"Our two recent successful ELT

missions are due to the outstandingtraining and dedication of our mem-bers. My thanks, and that of our communities', go out to them." saidMaj. David Miller, Group II Com-mander.

College Student Search(Continued from Page 1)

areas Monday along with the local STAR1Search and Rescue team's trained

searchers to locate signs of Abel's where-abouts. Monday afternoon CAP officerslead teams of student volunteers on a door-to-door search to canvas the area with fly-ers and ask residents to check the buildingson their property for him.

On Tuesday, search managers decidedto enlist the help of the public tin thesearch. Teams of spontaneous volunteerssearched many areas in detail along withtrained CAP search team leaders and lead-ers from other trained search teams.

CAP personnel worked in the command post in the planning section

and communications section to help plan and coordinate the search withother authorities. They were able to integrate seamlessly into the incidentcommand system and help make the search as productive as possible.

"CAP worked closely with local authoritiesto help augment their search efforts and worktogether to try and locate Mr. Bolanos asquickly as possible," said Major DougJansen, Iowa Wing director of public affairs."Iowa Wing was activated under the IowaMandatory Leave of Absence Bill grantingour officers and cadets the ability to leavework without prejudice."

The Mandatory Leave of Absence Law al-lows CAP officers and cadets to leave their

jobs when called to duty for actual responseswithout fear of losing their job or having their vacation time reduced. The law was passed

last year by the Iowa Legislature to help make it easier for CAP personnelto deploy for real-world emergencies when needed.

Iowa CAPresponded toa similar mis-sion this fallin Grinnell,Iowa for amissing stu-dent there,

exercisingthe Leave of Absence Lawfor the firsttime. CAPsearchedalongside lo-

cal officials for several days until the search was called off. Thesubject of that search has not been found.

Senior Program Datesto Remember

Here are some of the key 2007Professional Development academiccourses for senior members:

✔

NCR Staff College, 24-29 June,Offutt AFB, registration $75.

✔ National PAO Academy, 7-8August, Atlanta.

✔ National Board, 9-11 August,Atlanta.

✔ National Staff College, 13-20October 2007, Maxwell AFB, AL.



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Missouri Squadron helps withParents University

The Missouri Wing’s Cass CountyComposite Squadron partnered with the

Child Abuse Prevention Association to setup a Drug Demand Reduction booth at aParents University, held at the WilliamChrisman High School in Independence,Missouri.

Parents University helps parents learnwhat signs to look for in their children andhow to talk to them concerning gangs,drug, alcohol, and tobacco. Severalgroups had booths for the parents to visitbetween seminars. MSgt. Michael Mudryand Capt. Tony Belto manned the CassCounty Composite Squadron’s DDR

booth with the drug paraphernalia displayand passed out flyers on Civil Air Patrol.“We really appreciate Civil Air Patrol

for taking part in this event,” said KarenCosta of the Child Abuse Prevention As-sociation.

Iowa Wing Produces Calendar

To commemorate it's 66th year of service, Iowa Wing produced afull-color calendar for 2007 and distributed it to members. The cal-endar records key Civil Air Patrol events. The upper half of eachmonth's calendar includes photography and information highlightingIowa Wing's squadrons as well as the Iowa Wing Training Assem-bly, Emergency Service's Academy, Officer Training School, andWing Conference.

Missouri Wing Group IIFinds Difficult ELT

Multiple signals confoundsearch efforts

Responding to Air Force Rescue Coordination Center mission 07M0453, members of Missouri Wing’s GroupII located an ELT in an aircraft at Smartt Field in St. Charles, Missouri, after a complicated search.

The UDF ground crew consisted of Maj. Ed Main, Capt. Leah Fugate, and Sr. Mbr. Rickie Sexton.The aircrew consisted of Capt. Brian Thompson, 1Lt. Mike Smith, and 1Lt. Jack Gray. Lt. Col. Gene Rugh

served as Incident Commander.“This was a challenging mission and at times it appeared two ELTs were pinging. The aircraft was inside a

large metal hangar, bouncing signal leaking through breaks in the metal structure made this one a difficult find,”said Lt. Col. Carolyn Rice, air operations branch director for the mission.

MSgt Michael Mudry at DDR booth

Donley Receives

Wilson Award

Former South Dakota Wing Com-mander Col. Mary Donley has re-ceived the Gill Robb Wilson Award,the highest training award for adultsin the Civil Air Patrol.

Donley now serves as SouthDakota Wing vice commander, pro-fessional development officer, andRegion Staff College director.



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Sioux Falls Squadron Supports

Air National Guard Families

The Sioux Falls Composite Squadron continued it’ssupport of the South Dakota Air National Guard by assist-ing at the SDANG's family program's annual Easter EggHunt at the Air National Guard base in Sioux Falls.

The Sioux Falls Composite Squadron provided sup-port, with (pictured above) Cadets Dylan Hillestad, JordanBrown, Justin Lazarewicz, Tyler Bauer and MatthewKruger, along with 1Lt Jordan Hall (AE Officer). Also in

the photo is Master of Ceremonies, SSgt Jeff Den Otter,114th Maintenance Squadron (yellow shirt), Mrs. RachelVanderzee, 114 FW Family Readiness Program Volun-teer Coordinator, and SMSgt Bruce Anderson, 114th Op-erations Group, also a Family Program volunteer.

Over 160 children of SDANG members attended theevent, which featured games and prizes such as bikes,donated by SDANG members. As part of the Air Forceteam, Sioux Falls CAP is proud to assist with numerousBase and Family Program events, such as Family Day,Airshow 06, Mock deployments and welcoming events.

Sioux Falls Squadron Participates in St.

Patrick's Day Parade

Cadets from the Sioux Falls CompositeSquadron joined in the annual St. Patrick’s Day Pa-rade in Sioux Falls, SD. They started their day withdrill practice at the parade site in the historic down-town. As the huge parade started, the CAP cadetsled the military section, followed by the NationalGuard. The contingent of cadets conducted its drillsthroughout the parade route, often to the cheers of the patriotic South Dakota crowd.

The cadets of the Sioux Falls CompositeSquadron did a commendable job of representingand promoting Civil Air Patrol. Plans are already un-

derway to participate in the Cinco De Mayo paradein Sioux Falls.

Sioux Falls Squadron Active inCommunity Events

St. Cloud CAP Members haveFar Out Experience

About 30 cadets and senior officers in St. Cloud had afar out experience, nearby, during a recent visit to the St.Cloud State University Planetarium

Captain Russ Portele organized the visit, as planetarium director, David Williams, above, provided a constel-lation tour of the sky. Multi-media and group participation are incorporated into an exciting learning experience.Following the presentation, cadets braved the cold night to utilize telescopes for viewing actual celestial objects.



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Photo Essay: Ground Team Training

The St. Cloud Composite Squadron held a ground team training ex-ercise at the St. Cloud Airport on March 17. Cadets and adult officers

got training in the use of ELT direction finding equipment, compassreading, communications, basic first aid and litter carrying. After an in-troduction to the use of direction finding equipment in locating emer-gency beacons, the group broke up into two teams and began search-ing for a practice beacon, which both teams successfully located. Fol-lowing the training, pizza was served, and everyone was invited to tour the airport facility and St. Cloud Regional Airport Fire & Rescue vehicle.

“When people think of Civil Air Patrol they don't think of groups of people on the ground, but often a CAP ground teamis the first to arrive at the scene of a downed aircraft,” saidCaptain Ryan Brovold, commander of the North Star CadetSquadron in St. Cloud. “Yes, we're an aviation-oriented orga-nization, but a lot of training is provided in direction finding, ba-

sic woodland search skills, and electronic search techniqueson the ground.

“You don't have to be a pilot to have a long, satisfying CAPcareer. Most members are not pilots, they are aviation enthusi-asts who wish to serve on the ground rather than in the air,”Brovold said.

north central region - apr 2007

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