north central region - oct 2007

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More than Meets the Skies

North Central Region NewsVolume 2007 October

National CAP Website Features South Dakota Wing Photo

The National US Civil AirPatrol website now featuresa photograph of the CAPaircraft over Mount Rush-

more, taken on a specialmission sortie by SouthDakota Wing.

"The photo missioncame about when we keptseeing pictures of CAP air-craft over the Statue of Lib-erty," said Col. Mike Bea-son, South Dakota wingcommander. "I felt weneeded a CAP photo of aplane near another nation-ally recognized monument.I set the stage for the photoby talking to our nationalstaff while at the summerNational Board meeting.

They agreed this was a photo they'd like to see. Our national Executive Director was enthused and said he'dapprove a flight request for this purpose."

"When I saw the original shot, I thought it was every bit as stirring as the Statue of Liberty shot we did herein New York two years ago," said Col. Rick Greenhut, national director of marketing for CAP. "It speaks vol-umes when a CAP aircraft is photographed in close proximity to a national monument. It reminds people (CAPmembers and non-members alike) in a dramatic way about what we do for our nation as volunteers."

The photo was taken by a South Dakota Wing mem-ber who is a professional photographer, Capt. Rick Go-eringer. Goeringer is squadron commander of LookoutMountain Composite Squadron in Spearfish, SD. Bea-

son, a former USAF fighter pilot, flew the photo aircraftwhile Capt. "Buck" DeWeese, also an airline pilot, flewthe target aircraft.

The photo appears on the CAP.GOV website, accord-ing to Greenhut, because "it reminds all who see it thatCAP volunteers serve our nation and represent the val-ues of America. You can be sure that I printed a copy formyself, and it hangs next to the Statue of Liberty shot inmy office."

In This Issue:

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

Missouri Mourns Two Members..................................Page 2

Fogarty Presented Spaatz Award.......................... ..... Page 3

15 Year Old Cadet Solos in Glider..............................Page 3

CAP Supports St. Louis Air Show...............................Page 4

MNWG Academy Attendees put Skills to Work.......... Page 5

Kansas Schedules Winter Encampment.....................Page 6

MIO Academy Scheduled............................................Page 78


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North Central Region News

Commander'sCall

byCol. Sean P. Fagan

Fellow NCR Members,

As I am sure you are allaware, there have beensome drastic changes withthe leadership of the CivilAir Patrol this month. Inthe wake of the decision bythe Board of Governors to remove General Pineda, GeneralAmy Courter has been tasked with the Command of the CAP.

In the words of General Courter, We all need to pause andtake stock in the many good works of the former Commander,

as we set upon our course for the future. These past fewmonths have been a difficult time for the Civil Air Patrol, howev-er the dedication and patience of all the members has seen usthrough.

With a new Command, there will be new changes. Many ofwhich have already started. General Courter's positive cando attitude has been a strong influence to the current leader-ship throughout all the regions. The new Civil Air Patrol mar-keting plan as well as several other programs will ensure agreat future for the organization.

Although many members feel some apprehension, which iscommon with change, I want to assure you all that the missionsof the CAP have not changed. We in the North Central Regionwill continue to move forward, as always with the dedicationand focus that has always made this region one of the best.

Once again in the words of are new Commander, Newpaths of opportunity await us; we need to explore and chartthem, embrace them together, and take international steps for-ward toward a future that is brighter then ever before.

Respectfully in Service,Colonel Sean FaganCC/NCR

The North Central Region News is published

monthly by North Central Region, Civil Air

Patrol, Lt.Col. Mike Marek, editor andNCR/PAO; Col. Sean P. Fagan, Region

Commander.

Please send submissions by the 10th of eachmonth to:

[email protected]

Missouri MournsValued Members

Within the span of three days, MissouriWing lost two members representing the fullspectrum of CAP membership: a youngcadet and an experienced commander.

Cadet 1st Lt. Waylon Kirtley, of the PonyExpress Composite Squadron, diedSeptember 2 in a non-Civil Air Patrol flighttraining accident. He was 17 years-old.

Cadet Kirtley was a home-schooled ju-nior in high school. He was the formercadet commander of the Pony ExpressComposite Squadron and had considered

joining the armed services with thoughts ofbeing a helicopter pilot or serving in specialforces. He was named the 2005 JuniorCadet Officer of the Year for the MissouriWing.

Two days later, Lt. Col. John E.Otradovec, a former squadron and group

commander in both the Florida and MissouriWings and mentor to many CAP members,died on September 5, after a brief illness.He had served for many years as the Mis-souri Wings aircraft maintenance officer.He was 71 years-old.

A fifty year member of the Civil Air Pa-trol, Lt. Col. Otradovec commanded theMerritt Island Composite Squadron andthen Group 6 of the Florida Wing from 1965to 1971. Moving to Missouri , he command-ed the St. Charles Composite Squadronand then Group II from 1975 to 1988. He

also served at Missouri Wing Headquartersas Wing Flight Operations Officer.

An electrical engineer who retired fromBoeing, Co., after 42 years, having joinedthen McDonnell Aircraft, Co., in 1957, Lt.Col. Otradovec worked on the F-4H Phan-tom and F-101 Voodoo aircraft; and was amember of the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo,and Skylab space programs.


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Fogarty PresentedSpaatz Award

Cadet Colonel Francesca Fogarty,of South Dakota Wing, has receivedthe General Carl A. Spaatz Award.

C/Col Fogarty is only the ninthSpaatz Cadet in South Dakota Winghistory. She joined CAP in MinnesotaWing and is a member of Sioux FallsComposite Squadron, completing therequirements for the award at age 15.

C/Col Fogarty also received theSioux Falls Composite Squadronaward of Cadet of Year. She has dis-tinguished herself with her outstand-ing dedication and professionalism asthe Squadron's Cadet Commander,working side by side with squadron

Deputy Commander for Cadets, 2LtDan Thibault. She is at all times ashining example of what a Civil AirPatrol Member, whether Cadet or Of-ficer, should be. The Sioux Falls

Composite Squadron, Commanded by Lt Col Rick Larson, is proud and honored to count C/ColFogarty among it's members.

Brig Gen David Holman, Chief of Staff, SD Air National Guard; C/ColFrancesca Fogarty; Col Mary F. Donley, vice commander South DakotaWing, and Brig Gen (Ret) Ron Mielke, SD assistant adjutant general for

Air (Rte) and SFCS CAP member

Lucas Solos in CAP GliderRyan Lucas, a Civil Air Patrol

cadet not even old enough to havehis drivers license, took to the

skies in his first solo flight in aBlanik Glider on Saturday, Septem-ber 22nd.

I was excited when the instruc-tor got out of the glider, put hishand on my shoulder and said,Now you go up alone,' said Lucas.It was an amazing experience, be-ing up in the air alone and havingto land the glider by myself for thefirst time.

Lucas is a member of the RedWing Composite Squadron and a15 year old sophomore in LakeCity, MN. He spent a week in Julylearning how to fly the glider at aCivil Air Patrol Flight Academy in Mankato, MN. The opportunity to solo came after two flights with a certifiedglider instructor, Lt. Col. Roger Brogren.

Another Red Wing Squadron member, 1Lt David Carlstrom of Red Wing was Cadet Lucass tow pilot. CadetLucas flew three more solo flights the same day and is looking forward to continuing work towards his Glider pi-lots license.

The Red Wing Composite Squadron is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year and hosted an open houseon September 27.


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Graduates of Minnesota Wings first Ground Team Academyput skills to work during recent flooding

U.S. Civil Air Patrol Second Lieutenant George Ramler and his son, Cadet Senior Airman Charlie Ramler ofSt. Cloud Composite Squadron, had just unpacked their gear after completing the Minnesota Wings first

Ground Team Academy when they were asked to grab theirequipment again and put their new skills to work during therecent flooding in southeast Minnesota.

From August 16-19 we had been studying land naviga-tion, shelter building, and working with search and rescuedogs as part of being Ground Team 2 qualified, LieutenantRamler said, The specific training didn't apply directly tothe flooding situation, but the indirect training definitelyhelped.

Early on August 20, the Ramlers found themselves 230miles southeast of St. Cloud in flood ravaged LaCrescent,Minn., where Pine Creek had become a roaring river nearly20 feet deep.

The Ramlers were among the nearly 200 Civil Air Patrol(CAP) members to participate in the overall flood recoveryefforts in the area. Ramler said what they learned at the

Ground Team Academy helped them to perform their mission in LaCrescent, a small town located across theMississippi River from LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

The Ground Team Academy let us see the bigger picture of being a part of a natural disaster responseteam, and how our skills could be best put to use, Ramler said. He and his son were sent to different searchand recovery teams. The elder Ramlers team was tasked with finding a missing person.

The search area was away from the road and somewhat difficult to find, so we used a map and our recentlypracticed land navigation skills to search the area, Ramler said. The Ground Team Academy emphasized theimportance of being self-sufficient on a real mission, so we were prepared for any adversity. We were also ea-

ger to help. As it turned out another team found the miss-ing person, alive.

The Ground Team Academy was created to standard-

ize ground team training across Minnesota Wing, said Ma-jor Chet Wilberg, the Ground Team Academy commander.

He said the goal of the Ground Team Academy was toget each of the nearly 50 people attending to complete onelevel of CAP Emergency Services training by the end of theweekend.

We just didnt expect graduates of the academy to beput to the ultimate test in the same weekend, said Wilberg,who also served as CAP incident commander during theflood recovery efforts, but there were ready for the task athand.

Wilberg got about 50 Minnesota Wing members togetherat the LaCrescent fire station and began assigning teams to

various tasks. A team of six from St. Cloud, including theRamlers, was deployed with 20 others to clean up debris in a mobile home park.Members of squadrons from the Minnesota and Wisconsin wings assisted with mandatory evacuations, road

closure assistance, security, traffic control, road repair and cleanup of debris in the wake of flooding in southernMinnesota, combining for more than 5,600 man-hours of support from Aug. 19-22. The St. Cloud CompositeSquadron members are among the Minnesota Wing members to receive the prestigious Civil Air Patrol DisasterRelief Ribbon with "V" Device.

Civil Air Patrol members take great pride in being a part of the local community or state they live in, Ramlersaid. Anything we can do to help our neighbors, well do.


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Kansas SchedulesWinter Encampment

Kansas Wing will hold it's 2007

Winter Encampment December 26-31 at Kansas Wing Headquarters,Salina, KS.

The cost of the encampment, in-cluding billeting, meals and the useof the facility, is $100 for bothcadets and adult officers. Thedeadline for registration is Decem-ber 19. Applications must include: CAPF-31, with unit CC's signa-

ture CAPF-60, emergency notifica-

tion data

A check payable to KSWGWinter Encampment CAP

If SSGT or above, a letter ofapplication for staff position

The address is: Burgess W.Rennels Jr., Encampment Com-mander, 2039 Kentucky Ave.,Lawrence, KS 66046

St. Cloud Compos-ite Squadron cadetspresent colors at

Minnesota Twinsgame

The St. Cloud Com-posite Squadron traveledto Minneapolis onSeptember 22 to presentthe colors at a baseballgame between the Min-nesota Twins and theirAmerican League CentralDivision rivals the ChicagoWhite Sox. The color

guard consisted of C/SrADerek Cash, C/SrAMitchell Fuchs, C/SrACharlie Ramler and C/SSgt Lydia Stone. Following the presentation of thecolors the cadets joined nearly 32,000 fans as the Twins lost 8-3.

NCR Online Calendar ReturnsAn updated North Central Region Calendar has made it's return to the

web. It can be viewed by following the Calendar of Events link from thencr.cap.gov website, or directly at: ncrpao.org/calendar.htm

"The Region Calendaris provided so all mem-

bers of the region have anidea of what is happeningand we all have good datato plan for participation inevents and activities," saidCapt Al Pabon, RegionDeputy PAO.

Data for the calen-dar came from a variety ofsources including thewings, the region staff andNational HQ. Wings andRegion Staff can submit events and updates to the calendar vi an e-mail to

[email protected] In addition to the regular web page version of the cal-endar, a downloadable PDF version is also available.Events that will be listed include national/region events, wing confer-

ences, wing level ES training, senior member professional developmentactivities, wing level cadet activities such as encampments, leadershipschools, color guard/drill team competitions and other events such as in-spections, exercises and the like.

The next step in the development of the calendar will be to add links toe-mail project officers or to event websites (as this is provided).

CAP By the Numbers

Number of aircraft in CAP: 535 Average flight time per aircraft in

FY07 by CAP: 189 Total hours flown in FY07 by

CAP: 104,907 Total search hours flown in FY07

by CAP: 6,707 Total search training flown in

FY07 by CAP: 17,465 Number of Wings in CAP: 52 Number of Regions: 8 Number of members in CAP:

over 56,000 Lives saved by CAP in 2006:

58

Steve Fossett search stats: Number of aircraft used: 25+ Number of flights: 629 Number of flight hours: 1,774 Number of man-hours, ground

and air: more than 17,000 Area searched: over 20,000

square miles


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