Sarex: Part of your balanced breakfast

The Gear Corner

2007-09-20T20:35:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but never found the time to do so. Lucky for you fine people I somehow found it tonight and we're in dire need of an update. I figure I'll say my piece on SureFire. Please feel free to comment on this, because shockingly, I can't seem to find anyone with a similar experience.

First and foremost, the G2 and 6P that I currently own are certainly fine pieces of illumination technology, especially with the P61 lamp (120 lumen lamp for these models). It certainly drowns out my 4D MagLed at short distances and is a lot more compact. However, these are the only good points I can find about a $30 and $60 flashlight.

Now, I certainly don't abuse equipment, but 3 hours after I bought the G2 it stopped working, then started working, then stopped...so on. A few light taps in my hand seemed to make it work. When asking a friend who has the same one, he said it never happened. Figured I got a lemon until one night while refueling a Global Express, it slipped out of my hand, rolled down the wing and stopped working all together. A drop of MAYBE 6 feet killed this thing. So I went and bought a 6P. It was metal, made better but basically the same for more.

The red lens assembly also shattered into a million pieces. So here was $50 down the drain altogether. (I used the red lens at night on the ramp because most GA aircraft are painted white and the light without it was causing a very intense glare).

In the meantime, I called customer service to ask about the guarantee. The gentleman I spoke with was very friendly, listened to my concerns and helped me the best he could. He called me back 10 minutes later to tell me SureFire was going to send me a new lamp assembly and he needed to verify my address. So, their customer service is outstanding.

I kept the 6P in the cupholder of my Wrangler only using it to see under shelving in the store hangar (the highbay as we call it) because it is not lighted and gets pretty dark in there...hard to see small part numbers. Somehow...amazingly...THE 6P DID THE SAME THING! Not only that, but another short drop, this time maybe 4 feet...shattered the Pyrex lens. Now I have the only 6P in the nation with a G2 lens. Luckily it fit.

So this so called "best in the world" flashlight is now serving me to see where the Palmetto Bug ran behind the couch so I can squash it with my Doc Martens.

And my official opinion of Surefire....Well, I've never managed to brake a Maglite....even getting pissed and throwing it against a tarmac ramp. Food for thought.

Comments please.

Captain Christopher Bishop
Currently on "extended leave" from CAP

Search Update

2007-07-07T11:47:00.000-05:00

Word just came in that they found the man we were looking for. He was found expired in the river. More info to come.

No Joy, I repeat No Joy

2007-07-02T12:12:00.001-05:00

This last weekend was marked by a missing person search in the area. My stomach dropped after I read the OPOrder sent to me by my G3 in the Guard. 73 year old male, advanced alzheimers, diabetes.....missing for 2 days already. For any of you who haven't been to SC in summertime, it can be hard for a young fit person to deal with the heat and humidity, much less an elderly diabetic male. Instantly the term "Recovery Mission" came to mind as I began prepping my gear for our 0600 deployment the next morning. Just today was my last day of a 8 week archaeological field school for my major in Anthropology. After 8 weeks of 6am mornings and working outside for 8 hours a day digging holes, I was looking forward to tomorrow as one of my first days to sleep in and heading to my parents' place a couple hours away from some R&R. So much for that, time to gear up and play. The next day was marked with sun, heat and few promising leads.
We deployed from a church nearby the man's last known position and were assigned to small task force teams of State Guardsmen and Search Dog agency members. Few moments of promising scent trails surfaced but the midday heat hindered the tracking ability of the dogs. Finally the dog nosed down and took off into the woods near the marsh and our pace quickened. I posted outside the woods while my SGT, Mike, went in with the dog team. Anxious minutes passed, "Dog tracking further down to the water, over" squawked the radio voice of my SGT. Whats going on? Where are you guys? Any signs? These questions all ran through my mind and demanded to be told over the radio but I knew I should keep my curiosity down and the radio clear and resolved to adjust the gear on my back. Finally my curiosity grabbed hold and I called Mike "Sierra Golf 02, Status report over". "Negative contact so far 03, hold position over". Great, more waiting I thought as I kicked at the dirt and garbage along the road at my feet and watched the dust settle on my boots.
The radio squawked again shaking me from my dusty reverie. "03 this is 02, return to rally point....no joy, I repeat no joy over". My heart sank, this guy is still out here somewhere and our team had resolved that we, being the youngest most high-speed guardsmen teamed with the best dog handler the agency could provide would find him. I furrowed my brow as I humped it back to the rally point; hadn't the previous search teams mentioned they had lost the scent at this location? Had he managed to hitch a ride somewhere? My thoughts grew conflicted; if he had gotten a ride at least that meant there was the possibility he was OK somewhere else, but then again where? That vastly increased search area and in turn would make our search run longer, which was time this man didn't have.
"Game over man, Game over" I said quoting PVT Hudson from the Aliens movie as Mike came into view around the corner.
Mike chuckled and said "Load up in the truck, I'm radioing the TOC that we're about to RTB".
I wandered over to the truck while slurping on my camelback. It was 95 with heat index of 107, if I was this hot surely the man....I pushed the morbid thoughts out of my mind and plopped myself on the tailgate of the K9 handlers truck that served as our transport. Mike loaded up next to me, the truck itself was so full with the k9, its crate gear and other stuff that the only place we could ride was off the back of the tailgate with our boots dangling inches over the road. I put my head back on the crate as we drove back to the TOC. It was 1350 and we had been on two continuous search patrols since 0620. I was ready for a break, chow and some AC. I closed my eyes and let the fresh moving air wash over me.
"Hooah Corporal" the captain in charge of the operation said to me as I dropped my gear to the floor in the church's gathering hall. I waved halfheartedly at the CPT and continued to strip down to my T-Shirt, which at this point might as well have looked as though I had just gone swimming in it. Just then I felt something cold poke against the back of my hand. I looked down to see Wolf, the K9 who had been part of our team looking happily up at me as I pet him. "Congratulations, you've made a friend for life. These dogs remember who they search with" Wolf's handler said to me as she smiled at her dog. I frowned as I realized that in the 30 seconds he had been near me Wolf had managed to make a pool of drool roughly the size of Lake Michigan on and around my boot. I sighed and continued petting the aptly named Wolf.
We took 30 minutes while we waited for the rest of the teams to RTB and await out next tasking. Luckily we being the younger guys we recharged faster and ran longer than most of the other troops, a fact our command often knew and took advantage of.
"Whats the word Pete?" I asked First Sergeant Peters as he sat looking at our current search areas on his laptop. Pete as we called him had been 173 Airborne in Vietnam as a dog scout and now worked both as a guardsman and a k9 rescuer but his age didn't show one bit.
"Nothing right now, just sit tight I think we're having formation soon" Pete said to me without looking away from his screen.
Ten minutes later after a small debrief and a detachment "Hooah!" we were dismissed to go home. Apparently with the approaching summer storm and heat the searching had been halted due to lack of scent. As I loaded my gear back into my car I noticed someone standing a few feet back from me. I looked at the middle-aged black woman who identified herself as a member of the missing man's family. She had just wanted to take a moment to thank us for looking for her uncle. I had told her that it was my pleasure and job and wished her well before we parted ways. I closed the hatchback on my car and moved back inside to help Mike with some of his gear and tell the rest of the guys to take it easy. I walked back once more out into the sun and heat. Oh yeah it was Saturday, time to take some nice time off and head back down to visit the parents and enjoy some free food, better times and some semblance of a summer vacation.

How NOT to Handle a Mission

2007-04-30T16:24:00.000-05:00

Just got word, however it may be a rumor, that the Piper Tomahawk that went down in Georgia last week could have in fact been a save.

We know for a fact that the gentleman that went down exited the aircraft and got into a sleeping bag, meaning he WAS in fact alive post crash. There were several GT's available to be dispatched, however the Wing in question (State in which he was found) was too busy doing a training exercise to change gears and look for a real world emergency.

While no one is wild about night ops, when someone's life may hang in the balance, who cares what time of day it is? Shouldn't every available resource been dispatched?

We train to SAVE people's lives, not wait until we are with a wing exercise and then go look for them. IF and only IF this rumor that we've come across is in fact true, this rests on the conscience of whoever dragged their feet.

-1stLT Chris Bishop (AVGASPASSER)

I cannot but wholeheartedly echo Chris' sentiments. If this rumor is true I am deeply saddened and disgusted that a life that could have been saved was relegated away because of someone's schedule. We may be volunteers but we are tasked with a specific mission, one we are expected to fulfill to the best of our abilities. If the wing is question could truly not respond they had merely to make a phone call to the SC wing, all of which were on alert ready to be deployed, myself included.

-TFO Andrew Beckham (SAREX)

AAR: Small SAREX

2007-04-22T22:42:00.000-05:00

Not a bad day of training. We all agree that it's best to make mistakes as you're training so you can iron them out before the big game. Below is the washdown:

Repeater and radio coverage from the MB is and always has been great. It benefits the ground pounders and AC to have a MRO and at least an assistant at the MB at all times. We found ourselves doing command post work while we were out in the field: which wasted time.....a LOT of time.

The laptop/ DeLorme/ HT GPS/ Dashmount GPS worked absolutely perfectly. Would have worked beyond better than that had we not had a wrong GPS coord. from the AC, which may have been due to bad VHF reception.

The best vehicle for a UDF/GT is the CAP van in our instance. My Jeep is not that great for it as we found out. My wife's Jeep may be better, but it's full of pink baby gear for my little girl....... and would just look odd. CAP van it is. If we ever have to tear off through a swamp, we'll just go back and get the Wrangler.

That's the skinny version. Like I said, it was an official UNofficial SAREX that was mainly to train AC and the UDF member that was with me all day. I think it went well, but once we iron the wrinkles out, it'll run like clockwork.

Small SARCAP 21 Apr 2007

2007-04-21T01:10:00.000-05:00

We have an official unofficial SAREX today. AAR to follow shortly, but the details are as posted:

Originally this stared as a aircrew training exercise with a (me) certified MRO as dispatch, but evolved into a joint AC/GT exercise. I'm unaware of the exact number of GT we will have but I know for sure it will be at least a UDF with myself and another SQ member. (I had 3 loads of Jet and Avgas to offload at the local FBO today and was unable to be near the phone for most of the day hence the unknown portion of this section).

Morning will consist of AC training on a Route Survey, with communications support/ training for the UDF as MRO's and MB Staff. AC will then switch to an ELT DF coordinated with the UDF after the survey is completed.

We (the UDF/GT) will be fielding a few new technologies such as a in-vehicle laptop and Delorme Topo based GPS system coordinated with a few handheld and dash-mounted vehicle GPS units. We will also be testing out the new handheld DF unit our SQ recieved back in Feb, along with working out some body blocking with air band and WB handheld scanner radios.

OK....Now I'm P!$$&D

2007-04-02T23:43:00.000-05:00

Figured tonight I'd order say, a certain......NAMETAPE from Vanguard.

$1.50 (rounded price) for the tape.

$7.00 !%*&*$@! DOLLARS FOR SHIPPING????

HOOAH NB! You guys ROCK!

Homeland Security Bill

2007-03-14T15:35:00.000-05:00

SAREX here with the email and Bill in its entirety per AVGAS's received requests.

"I wanted to inform all of you that the Civil Air Patrol Homeland Security Support Bill was introduced today. The Bill number is HR 1333. It had 34 co-sponsors. I've attached a final text version of the bill. I've also attached a list of the co-sponsors. The next phase for us will be to follow up with the co-sponsors and let them know that we appreciate their support and that we are available to answer any questions about our capabilities. The next phase will be to hit all the members on the Homeland Security Committee and ask for their support of the bill. I would approach this from a national level but also ask the wing commanders of those representatives to approach from the state level as well. The last phase would be to have a very steady stream of emails and phone calls to all house members concerning the bill and that we would appreciate their support.

John Swain and I will be working the companion bill on the Senate side with Senator Harkin. This will help out tremendously in keeping this a bi-partisan bill."

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary to
enter into an agreement with the Secretary of the Air Force to use
Civil Air Patrol personnel and resources to support homeland security
missions.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. DENT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on
A BILL
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct
the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the Secretary
of the Air Force to use Civil Air Patrol personnel
and resources to support homeland security missions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civil Air Patrol Home- 4
land Security Support Act of 2007.’’ 5
H.L.C.
SEC. 2. CIVIL AIR PATROL SUPPORT OF HOMELAND SECU- 1
RITY MISSIONS. 2
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle H of title VIII of the 3
Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by adding at 4
the end the following new section: 5
‘‘SEC. 890A. CIVIL AIR PATROL SUPPORT OF HOMELAND SE- 6
CURITY MISSIONS. 7
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall seek to enter 8
into memoranda of understanding or other agreements 9
with the Secretary of Defense to use Civil Air Patrol per- 10
sonnel and resources to support homeland security mis- 11
sions in accordance with this section. 12
‘‘(b) USE OF ASSETS.—Pursuant to a memorandum 13
of understanding or other agreement entered into under 14
subsection (a), the Secretary may consider the use of Civil 15
Air Patrol personnel and resources for— 16
‘‘(1) providing aerial reconnaissance or commu- 17
nications capabilities to the Border Patrol to protect 18
against illegal entry and trafficking in goods, cur- 19
rency, people, and other substances; 20
‘‘(2) providing capabilities to respond to an act 21
of terrorism, natural disaster, or other man-made 22
event, by assisting in damage assessment and situa- 23
tional awareness, conducting search and rescue oper- 24
ations, assisting in evacuations, transporting time- 25
sensitive medical or other materials; or 26
3
H.L.C.
‘‘(3) such other activities as the Secretary may 1
determine in coordination with the Secretary of De- 2
fense. 3
‘‘(c) INCLUSION IN NATIONAL PLANNING ACTIVI- 4
TIES.—Pursuant to a memorandum of understanding or 5
other agreement entered into under subsection (a), the 6
Secretary shall consider the Civil Air Patrol as an avail- 7
able resource for purposes of national preparedness and 8
response planning activities, including the National Re- 9
sponse Plan. 10
‘‘(d) REIMBURSEMENT.—A memorandum of under- 11
standing or other agreement entered into under subsection 12
(a) shall include a provision addressing the manner in 13
which the Department of Defense is to be reimbursed for 14
costs associated with the use of Civil Air Patrol personnel 15
or resources for homeland security purposes.’’. 16
(b) REPORT.—Not later than six months after the 17
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home- 18
land Security and the Secretary of Defense shall submit 19
to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 20
Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 21
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on the 22
status of any memorandum of understanding or other 23
agreement authorized under section 890A of the Home- 24
land Security Act, as added by subsection (a). 25
4
H.L.C.
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 1
in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by adding at the 2
end of the items relating to such subtitle the following: 3
‘‘Sec. 890A. Civil Air Patrol support of homeland security missions.’’.

Information on Homeland Security Bill

2007-03-09T00:07:00.002-05:00

*Thanks to Sarex for posting that last entry. Unfortunately my laptop for some reason would not allow me log in earlier this week when I was out of state.*

I don't have the text as is that was attached to the e-mail, but the basic just of it is....the feds are considering expanding our HS involvement considerably ie: border patrols.

The only thing I can provide (due to technical difficulties on my part) is a link to a Pennsylvania news feed about the proposed bill. It covers the basics, and perhaps my comrade in arms can post the bill as it was received by us.

http://www.pennlive.com/expresstimes/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1172552862203590.xml&coll=2

AVGASPASSER From Afar!

2007-03-07T00:25:00.000-05:00

My partner in crime Avgas is currently out of state and has asked me to post for him. So without further adieu....Avgaspasser from afar!

NB meetings usually spur quite a bit of discussion in our respective
community.  However, the recent NB meeting seems to have generated
signifigantly more traffic on our sister sites.  Plus, another
VEEEERRRRYYYYY interesting piece of news that just flew across my
desktop.
(But we'll get to that in a minute).

So, yes...we have yet another change to 39-1.  While I personally don't
mind the addition of "US" to our nametapes, I have read many many
comments in the few past few days ranging from "I think it's a
good idea" to "WHAT THE H#LL IS NB THINKING??!?!!!" to "Gen.
Pineda pushed this through so the members would have to
buy new nametapes because he gets a kickback from Vanguard
everytime we buy something from them".

While it's not a bad change, most of us wonder why they
didn't change it to US AIR FORCE AUX (which for the
10,000th time has fewer letters).
Perhaps the AF just isn't ready for that.

Well, whatever your beliefs, it looks like
another salute and execute.
I'll probably wait to the mandatory wear date,
just like the grade on the BDU covers. 
I'm putting on Capt. the same month anyways.


NOW FOR THE JUICY STUFF!

As of 2030 this evening I learned this: 
(e-mail from Marc Huchette
Director of Program Development
Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters)

I wanted to inform all of you that the Civil Air Patrol
Homeland Security Support Bill was introduced today.  The
Bill number is HR 1333.  It had 34 co-sponsors.  I've attached
a final text version of the bill.  I've also attached a
list of the co-sponsors.  The next phase for us will be to
follow up with the co-sponsors and let them know that we
appreciate their support and that we are available to answer
any questions about our capabilities.
The next phase will be to hit all the members on the Homeland
Security Committee and ask for their support of the bill.  I
would approach this from a national level but also ask the
wing commanders of those representatives to approach from the
state level as well.  The last phase would be to
have a very steady stream of emails and phone calls to all
house members concerning the bill and that we would
appreciate their support. John Swain and I will be working
the companion bill on the Senate side with Senator Harkin. 
This will help out tremendously in keeping this a
bi-partisan bill.

Keep an eye on this one........we may be making good on
that promise of "MISSIONS FOR AMERICA"  very shortly.

Uniform for Augmentation

2007-02-22T00:03:00.000-05:00

Recently at CAPTalk a debate has arised on the issue of what kind of uniform CAP should and would wear in the event of base augmentation.
It appears three major options have been given:
1) Normal CAP Air Force Styled Uniform
2) Air Force Styled uniform stripped of rank
3) Corporate uniform

Personally I see no need to wear anything but our normal USAF Style uniforms. I honestly dont think that anyone would be confused enough to think that a CAP officer is in command authority of active troops, the blue name tapes help the issue alot. Some would say however that "We already get saluted while on base, that already shows the confusion we would cause if augmenting!"
Lordmonar summed it up the best;
"There is a big difference than saluting a possible officer and obey their commands.

If I am walking down the road...and see a strange uniform (say a member of the RAF) and it looks sort of officerish...I'm going to whip out a salute and say good morning sir! He he steps into my office and starts giving me orders....well....that's a completely different thing."

Agreed 100% Capt!

A Bad Call

2007-02-20T19:57:00.000-05:00

Not more than 15 minutes ago, I received a phone call from a high school classmate of mine that is stationed here in Charleston. The reason for the call was to inform me that one of our other classmates was nearly killed in the latest helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

As of now, details are pretty sketchy, but what I do know is he is in very critical condition and is not able to be evac-ed yet. More to come, but please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Back again

2007-02-14T21:55:00.000-05:00

Been a while since Ive been able to post, too busy recently.
In an attempt to further our ES capabilities I decided it might be a good idea to branch out to other entities. So, you re now looking at the newest CPL of the SC State Guard. Its interesting to compare the operations (my MOS) with those of CAP. I think in time the two can learn a lot from each other and really create a great relationship. I encourage any CAP members in states with SDF's to branch out; having the state military on your side can sure have its benefits.
That's all for now, carry on.

SAREX

A good read.

2007-01-08T13:46:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to take a moment to promote a book a I recently picked up.
In The Company of Heroes is a novel by Michael J Durant , CW4 (ret) detailing his capture in Somalia during Task Force Ranger. The book also goes into his past and how he came to join the 160th Night Stalkers; some pretty interesting stuff about the inner workings of SF groups in there.
So, if you have the chance I reccomend everyone pick up a copy, its a truly harrowing story. Thank you Chief Durant for your service.

Rest in Peace Sir

2006-12-27T20:18:00.000-05:00

"Former President Gerald R. Ford, who gently led the United States out of the tumultuous Watergate era but who lost his own bid for election after pardoning President Richard M. Nixon, died at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif."

Rest in peace sir.

Roll Tape!

2006-12-04T14:19:00.000-05:00

Well...not that kind of tape.
Recently there has been talk of moving to change our name tape colors when the AF adopts the ABU. The reasoning behind this that once the AF goes full ABU it would in effect leave the BDU as a CAP distinctive uniform, giving more leeway to make adjustments. It should be noted that we have ultra-marine blue tapes because we originally shared that color with the AF when we both sported OD Greens. However when the AF switched to BDU's and subdued, we stuck with the blue. Many ideas have been tossed about in regards to nape tape coloring, and below is a representation that was made by DNall off CAPTalk. As Tedda says "Peel, Eat, Enjoy"
I personally think that dark blue with white would be the best compromise even though OD with white would look better.
As DNall points out
"White on OD seems like it may be too far... yet every time I start thinking that I see SDF, JROTC, ACA all with subdued tapes exactly in the style of their parent orgs."

Very true.

There was also a slight debate as to the role of CAP vs SDF.
From my experience, although SDF's are "Military", I have not seen their training anymore intensive or comprehensive than that offered by a good CAP FTX and likewise their emergency services roles, since the majority of SDF's are unarmed like CAP, have seem no more involved.
I would point out however that my experience with SDF's is restricted to those in my area.

-SAREX

2006-11-30T15:41:00.000-05:00

Ok, so it's been a while since I have last posted. But here's my new complaint.

CAP is allowing us to be lazier and less formal on radios. What next, 10-Codes?

With the new release of CAPR 100-3, which by the way is available to the general public on CAP's Publications page (what happened to //FOUO//, OPSEC, and ~~Big Brother Tony~~...), we can now adopt lesser professionalism on the radio.

As quoted from page 4-5 of CAPR 100-3:

a. Abbreviated Procedures. This regulation contains a number of areas where abbreviated procedures may be used. Abbreviated procedures are appropriate to use under satisfactory communication conditions, light operator loads and when their use does not compromise the mission. However, there are certain elements of CAP communications procedures that must not be omitted or modified under any circumstances:
(1) Call signs. Properly issued Air Force Voice Call Signs (AFVCS, commonly called “Tactical call signs”) or Functional designators must be used in accordance with the rules established in CAPR 100-1 and paragraph 1-8 and 1-9 below. All communications must clearly state the station call sign or designator at some point in a series of transmissions, normally at the beginning. Note that paragraph 1-9 f. prescribes the minimum required station identification using the AFVCS.
(2) Calling Procedure. All initial calls will use the procedure [Called party Callsign] THIS IS [Calling party call sign] – example: “Charter Oak Four THIS IS Charter Oak Five One, Over”. Once communications are established, the call signs and/or the proword THIS IS may be omitted as appropriate.
(3) Phonetic Alphabet. CAP uses the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Phonetic Alphabet exclusively. If liaison communications are conducted with an agency that does not use the ICAO phonetic alphabet, operators may use the other agency's system as required for accurate communications and for one time liaison communication only.
(4) Numbers should be transmitted using the CAP standard as presented in paragraph 2-3, either “Full” or abbreviated, noting that call signs, grid/latitude/longitude references, Date-Time-Groups in formal messages and authentication must be transmitted using “Full” digit-by-digit pronunciation, with the exception of CAPFlight call signs noted in paragraph 1-8.
(5) Prowords. Proper use of prowords significantly enhances accuracy and clarity of communications when all operators understand their use. While it is permissible under satisfactory communication conditions to omit certain prowords, care must be taken not to substitute other words or phrases in their place. Since proper proword use requires practice, operators are encouraged to fully utilize them when possible.
(a) Prowords that may be omitted (but not substituted) are:
CAPR 100-3 3 NOVEMBER 2006 5
“OVER” under circumstances where “end of transmission” is clear to all operators.
“THIS IS” after initial call and when omission would not cause confusion.
“THIS IS A FREE NET” when every operator on frequency understands the situation.
“WAIT” and “WAIT OUT” when unnecessary and if dealing with untrained operators.
(b) All other prowords should be used where appropriate, including liaison nets. Since CAP Authorized prowords are “plain speech," they will be understood by operators from other agencies, however, CAP operators should be aware that these other agencies might have their own prowords (or might not use consistent prowords at all).
(6) Net Procedures. This Regulation does not require any fixed level of “formality” for nets beyond the initial call, however Net Control Stations (NCS) and managers should be prepared to establish and maintain an appropriate level of formality for nets when conditions and/or taskings require it.
b. Formal Messages. There are times when the use of formal messages is important to reliability of communications. When communicating the following between the Incident Command Post (ICP) and other bases such as advanced or staging bases, formal messages should be used in place of informal communications.
(1) Receiving or giving work assignments.
(2) Requests for support or additional resources.
(3) Reporting progress of assigned tasks.
(4) Whenever record communication is desirable.

That's some food for thought. We now have 2 message procedures to make things "simpler".

Yup, that makes a hell of a lot of no sense -- NHQ/DBASS (Thinker) must be at it again...

Monopoly

2006-11-28T14:02:00.000-05:00

Apparently 1800nametape (AKA Spur) will no longer be able to sell CAP tapes for our uniforms. Upon visiting their site the follow message is displayed:
"From the National Headquarters Civil Air Patrol United States Air Force Auxiliary, we don't have the "exclusive right to name, insignia, copyrights, emblems, badges, marks and words" the corporation adopts.

So, we no longer offer C.A.P. items. "

WTF?

How many more poor decisions can this excuse for a leadership under the "command" of Maj General Pinhead make? I follow Midway 6 in calling Bullshit.

As Midway puts it so well in his blog:

"I don't give a damn that legally CAP is a corporation, and they have a right to enforce their copyright...

CAP's, "name, insignia, copyrights, emblems, badges, marks and words" belong to us, the Officers & Cadets who wear the uniform. Always have, always will."

Amen, you can only push those volunteers so far. I live right next to the Coast Guard station, maybe its time to look into being a different kind of Auxie.

On a different note...

I have been noticing major flaws with incorrect drill being taught after attending my wing's cadet training weekend. The two largest mistakes I have seen were as follows:

When the commander gives an incorrect command the flight informs him by saying "As you were sir"

Uh....What? No where in the drill manual does it mention this, as you were is only given by the command to rescind a prepatory command. The entire concept of speaking without prompt while marching or at attention is just moronic and flies in the face of military bearing. In the event of an incorrectly called command you are to execute the command to the best of your ability.

The second problem I noticed is when a commander tells the flight to eyeball him, the flight responds with "Eyes Click Sir!" Again this has no basis what-so-ever in CAP or Air Force drill and ceremonies. Somewhere along the line I suppose someone created it and it got popular but every time I hear it I simply gag.

I suggest everyone re-read the CAP Myths page as it address these and many more incorrect practices that are commonly observed such as "permission to touch".

CAP MYTHS

-SAREX

NCSA Applications

2006-11-01T15:10:00.000-05:00

Remember that today, November 1 is the first day that you can submit your NCSA applications online. The NCSA menu is located in E-Services on the left hand menu bar. Follow instructions here for how to properly submit your NCSA. A reminder, this includes events such as NBB, IACE, COS etc.

Update: The application is having problems right now at the medical section, currently applications are suspended till after 1600 Central Nov 1, 2006.

Evacuate!

2006-11-01T15:06:00.000-05:00

Well it seems that with the recent closure of CAPortal the online CAP community is search for a new place to sound ideas off each other. Currently it seems that many former Portal members have migrated over to CAPTalk.net, so surf on over and continue your CAP talks!

RIP CAPortal

2006-10-31T14:07:00.000-05:00

Its with a heavy heart that I found out yesterday that one of my favorite sites on the web has closed down. CAPortal was always on the cutting edge of CAP news, from the Iowa plan to latest photoID info, I hope those of us in the online CAP community can continue to carry the torch. This was Tedd's post on CAPTalk.net regarding its closure.

" First of all, thank you all for your membership.

My decision to remove Civil Air Portal from the online CAP community was not without much consideration, which I might add, went on for several weeks.

Although I did not discuss it with NIN last night, it is a fact that I will be taking on increased responsibilities as a Coast Guard Auxiliarist. In particular, I will be assisting an active duty Coast Guard Sector with revamping and maintaining it's website. Although I will enjoy serving the Coast Guard a lot, this has not been a factor in the closing of CAPortal. What has been, however, is my CAP duties at the squadron and even more so at the wing level. Like so many CAP officers, I wear several hats. To my credit, or misfortune, (depending how you look at it) some of these hats feel like the ten-gallon kind and I only have so much CAP time in a week to devote to them.

For those who admonish me for closing the site, I say how dare you! It is more than likely that you have been the problem rather than the answer. The mods I selected did a fine job policing the site without overstepping their boundaries. A real problem, however, is that a great many officers have refused to police themselves. Being a part of all the CAPolitical punditry has grown very tiresome, and has been surpassed only by witnessing the same in others.

Civil Air Portal has gone over it's allotted bandwidth for many months and costs me considerably. To those who have contributed much of their time there and are left feeling troubled, I share your feelings. I assure you I take no joy from closing CAPortal and I encourage you to use this site, as well as CAPblog to share your ideas and develop yourselves as officers.

Theodore J. Agnello, Maj CAP
Director of Information Technology
Wisconsin Wing"

Thank you Ted for all the time and effort you put into the site, it will be sorely missed, portal-people and all.

-Becks/SAREX

Ballistic Recovery Systems (BRS) Danger

2006-10-12T23:34:00.000-05:00

*Thanks to Wikipedia.com for the images.

Throughout the decades, aerospace firms have sought to make their respective companie's airframes more reliable, easier to fly and paramount: safer. Thus enter the Ballistic Recovery System (BRS) that is more commonly fit to small single engine piston aircraft such as the Cirrus SR-22 you see above.

A Ballistic Recovery System is a sort of "last resort" for the unfortunate pilot in an emergency. Upon (in Cirrus' case) pulling a red lever on the inside roof of the aircraft, explosive charges will force a parachute from the airframe, thus slowing the descent of the aircraft. (Which in the proper case, the aircraft will land vertically on it's landing gear as you can see in the set of pictures).

You may ask, "What does this mean for me?" Well, it means quite a bit say you happen on a crashed SR-22 as a result of a REDCAP.

My sources at the local FBO and several Cirrus pilots have stated on several occasions, however that I have not been able to confirm, the typical BRS has the explosive power of a hand grenade. Should you happen on the wreckage of an aircraft that is equipped with a BRS, the best policy would to be to stand clear. Notify the IC via any means possible. This could perhaps result in a call in to the local bomb squad to dis-arm the system, which WILL operate sans electrical power from the aircraft.

Let's remember: Look before you leap.

First Lieutenant Christopher Bishop
Communications Officer SC-056

A new bird in the air?

2006-10-05T02:32:00.000-05:00

Received this email from a fellow wing member, given that I live in SC maybe I'll get to see some overhead sooner than I had hoped.

PRESS RELEASE -- Secretary of the Air Force, Office of Public Affairs

Release No. 021006
October 4,2006

Air Force proposes Initial Joint Strike Fighter locations

ARLINGTON, Va. - Plans for initiating environmental analyses for proposed locations of the Air Force's newest fighter, the F-35A Lightning II, were announced by Air Force officials today.

The initial Joint Strike Fighter locations include Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. for primary maintenance and flight training; Nellis AFB, Nev. and Edwards AFB, Calif. for flight-testing; and Hill AFB, Utah, Kadena Air Base, Japan, and Shaw AFB/McEntire ANGB, S.C. for operational squadrons. Both stateside operational bases will combine active duty and Reserve Component personnel to maximize flexibility and combat capability.

An officer is an officer?

2006-09-28T13:30:00.000-05:00

If you head over to CivilAirPortal and check out the thread about the members' college degrees you'll find something interesting. 1st Lt Al Sayre said it the best

"You know we've got close seven pages of people just on the portal wth some kind of college degree, yet we have another thread lamenting that most of us aren't qualified to be Officers by Air Force standards. Makes you go hmmm..."

Linky

Of TDY's and Oaths

2006-09-19T13:08:00.000-05:00

TDY at the local AF base? I have to say I like the way our fellow members are thinking. Both CAP blog and the Portal are abuzz with the idea of using CAP members to help out on base. And why not? I know plenty of CAP members at my squadron alone who have civilian job skills that would be an asset anywhere. Lets also think of another problem that plagues CAP: the fact that a lot of USAF personnel don't even know that we exist. Provided our members conducted themselves in a manner that reflected well on CAP, I think the increased exposure on base would be wonderful.

On another note I would like to thank Midway 6 for his updates on his recent trip to our nations capital, sounds like it was a great experience Midway. I like Midway was surprised to find that we have had CAP officers sworn in, and I for one fully support the idea that upon reaching a certain rank, a members must as Midway said " stand them up in front of a flag...raise their right hand and take the Oath". I always find it interesting to read the talkback sections on blogs, for instance on this post on CAPBlog regarding the Oath the responses were varied, ranging from satirical to supportive.

And on a final note: You may find updates will be more spaced apart than they were back in August when I first started; simply a matter of not having as much time as I did a month ago, but I assure you the posts will continue.

Psalm 91 (The Soldier's Psalm)

2006-09-11T01:51:00.000-05:00

You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.’
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence;
he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night,
or the arrow that flies by day,
or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
or the destruction that wastes at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
the Most High your dwelling-place,
no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honour them.
With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.

Comfort O Lord thy servants who died or lost in innocence. With thy grace, strenghten our hearts so we may fulfill thy promise of everlasting life, in thy name.

First Lieutenant Christopher Bishop
Communications Officer SC-056

Look to the past...

2006-09-05T13:16:00.000-05:00

Our old pals in the CAP community have posted their photos from their experiences with Hurricane Katrina. I must say, these photos are amazing, some have never been seen before. I would like to personally thank the ILWG for sharing these pictures with us, and to thank them for their job well done in the time of crisis.

group22.net/katrina

On a related note, hurricane season continues to chug along. Ernesto rolled through SC, leaving us in Charleston with little more than some wet feet before passing into NC. Currently it also looks like another storm, TS Florence is headed SC's way. Will we luck out again? I dont know, but my gear is sitting ready regardless of what happens.

10 or So Things Your Comm Station Should Have

2006-08-27T00:16:00.000-05:00

Let's face it... Being a CAP Comm Geek, I'm biased when I say this, but however you operate, quick, decisive and efficient communication is the key to a successful mission. How quickly just one operator can keep the information flowing can mean the difference between life and death for some unfortunate downed pilot.

Here's a list of things I've compiled over the past few years that work very well to not only keep that information flowing between the IC and the field, but are not too terribly expensive. So without any further rambling......here we go (in no order of importance).

1. Generator and a TON of fresh batteries

Now I know that bugging your CC or Finance Officer for moneys to go buy a generator may not be at the top of everyone's list, but once you're running a comm station during a thunderstorm and the lights go *poof*, you'll thank yourself for having that degree of backup. Even if it's just a small one that can only run one VHF, it saves you from the trouble of having to run outside in a storm and work an aircraft and two GT's with nothing more than a handheld. Rummage around in a local pawn shop and price a used one in good condition...Generally around $300, but it can be kept for 10 years with regular MXT. Keep plenty of batteries on hand too. Home Depot had a huge sale last week where I picked up 28 AA's and 8 D's for $11.

2. Computer with internet access

That one for me was a PITA to get going, but now that I have it, I don't know how we ran OPS without it. You can keep your comm inventory, check CEMS and NTC for information, keep tabs on the weather where your GT's and aircraft are, E-mail the IC's if HF conditions are saturated/ or are too good for the telephone.....the list goes on and on and on....... Put Google Earth on it and play around with it.

3. Scanner

You may ask why you might even think you would need a scanner in the comm center, but hear me out on this one. I have around 6-7 various scanners, one I deligated to the comm desk at the SQ. Simply run a 1/8" to 1/8" stereo cable (may require a mono adapter for the scanner) into the LINE IN jack on the computer. Then download one of the many *FREE* scanner recorders available on the web. Set one scanner bank to monitor the repeater input and output only and BINGO! You now have an instant voice recorder that only writes audio when the recorder's squelch is opened. Once you have this up and running, you can even save the file with a mission #, burn the file to a CD and keep an audio file along with the logs. It might require some tweaking to get good sound quality, but let me tell you...when I send the IC an audio file of the mission radio traffic that was just run, the response has always been....WOW! You can also program in ATC, local police/fire/EMS.
Keep a few handhelds around for GT's to use for body blocking a signal if necessary.

4. Zip ties of various colors

Have 5-6 antenna feed lines like me? Take two zip ties, zip one on the feed line and one on the antenna jack. Makes for quick and easy ID of what cable goes where. You wouldn't want to hook up the VHF to the HF antenna now would you? (Yes I've done that, accidentally of course).

5. Clipboards

Get out the nails and make room on the wall to hang them. Keeps them up off the desk and within easy reach. I have 5 I use for my HF log, VHF log, Comm Capability Confidence Checklist, one with blank paper and the other with the mission sign in roster.

6. TAC board

Well, that's what I call it (tactical board). I took an old dry erase board, cleaned it with some yellow cleaner stuff we have (will take paint off a car, I won't tell you the nickname we have for it) and partitioned it off with electrical tape. We have space for the following: Date, Mission Number, Type of Mission, 6 hr Weather Forecast, Comm Plan, Aircrew section with: Crew Roster, Wheels Up time, Next Checkin, OVERDUE, Taskings, Ground Team section with: Crew Roster (with callsigns as needed) Depart, Next Checkin, OVERDUE and taskings. When I train new MRO's, I usually have them assist in keeping the logs as well as keeping the information on the board up to date. Plus, our cadets think it's cool to update the information on the board that the IC and OPS branch is going to come in and see.

7. Copy of the WG Comm Plan

We filled up a 3 ring binder with not only the Wing's Comm Plan, but made a supplement to overview the operations in the Charleston area as well. We update it every year along with the WG CP, and keep emergency procedures for losing contact with an aircraft/ GT, lightening strike (had one last week actually at the FBO...blew a 3" deep hole in the concrete THROUGH the wing of a Gulfstream IV....scary stuff) , failure of VHF or HF and power failures. When any of these happen, the operator is to open the book and skip to the tab with the procedure. Makes for safe and idiot proof operation of the station.

8. Tool Box. (With tools of course). No further explination is needed. You'll use it....trust me.

9. Bag of spare connectors, soldering GUN (not iron) and cable.

I can't count the times I've made a beautifully cut piece of coax only to drive to Radio Shack to buy a PL259-SO236 adapter. (That's UHF connectors for those that don't know). Speaking of the cable, I have a 1000' spool of RG-6 and RG-8. Nice insurance policy I think just in case the WX calls for something nasty (ie: hurricane)

10. A well trained and practiced operator

Let's face it, an awesome tactical comm center like what I've set up at SC-056 (I think it's awesome in my own mind haha) is ONLY as good as the officer or cadet at the microphone. Use down time to plan things out, think "How can I make this station better?"

One final note that I'm not going to place on the list is to hold a class with ALL of your ES team to go over comm plans, what channel does that FM radio in the aircraft need to be on for what, the effective range of the repeater and how to relay messages using the aircraft. This, you'll thank yourself for doing when your team saves someone's life.

I'm going to close this article with a little phrase I make everyone in the SQ remember: God knows where you are and what you're up to at all times, but if your mission base comm team does NOT know where you are and what you're doing.....you'd better be on good terms with God.

First Lieutenant Christopher Bishop
Comm Officer- SC-056

Some of column A, some of column B....

2006-08-24T01:42:00.000-05:00

Here's an article I found, rather interesting. Taken from AVweb.com . I'd like to keep an eye on this as it develops, as it could prove to be pretty interesting.

"Where there are hydrocarbons, there can be jet fuel, and the Air Force is looking at an 85-year-old technology to solve a modern problem. Jet fuel is made from oil, some of which must be purchased from other countries (and occasionally expended in the defense of and acquisition of same, according to some). The Air Force wants a guaranteed supply of fuel to meet its objectives and is looking at the work two German scientists did in the 1920s for answers. Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch figured out how to make a diesel-like (or JP-8-like) liquid fuel from natural gas, coal and even oil-refinery byproducts. Using iron or cobalt as a catalyst, the process takes the carbon monoxide and hydrogen from a controlled burn of the raw material and creates liquid hydrocarbons of various grades, from the synthetic fuel, to lubricants, to wax. Coal-rich but petroleum-poor Germany had 25 plants producing a total of 124,000 barrels a day by the end of the Second World War. The U.S. has vast reserves of coal, natural gas and oil shale capable of guaranteeing a domestic supply of strategic fuel for hundreds of years, say some estimates."

The AF has apparently already created a test unit for the syn-fuel, A B-52 from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota has been selected to be the first to try out the new fuel. Two out of the eight engines will run off a blend of JP-8 and the new synthetic fuel. '"The recent rise in cost of fuel has brought us to where many think we are now at the break-even point," Maj. Timothy Schulteis, the Air Force's propulsion program element monitor, said in May when the program was announced.'

It NEVER Fails....

2006-08-24T01:38:00.000-05:00

Well...for me at least. I arrive home from work around 2230, plop down in my recliner, pop open a ice cold soda and flip it to the History Channel. Five minutes later (just when I'm getting into the program), I hear the very distinct noise of my cell phone screaming at the top of it's voice. (After a few "colorful metaphors")... "Cooridnates? Dual 21-5 and 243? Roger Ma'am, 3926 will be up in 10 minutes with SL410 online in 5 via HF and channel 1/6 victor ." I kiss my wife goodnight and run out the door. (She's in CAP too....she understands).

There goes a quiet evening....Then comes the "self-interrorgation"...Is this an actual downed aircraft? Was it an absent minded mechanic acidentally bumping the switch? Is it a result of the thunderstorms that rolled through earlier? I work at an FBO....OH GOD! DID I TRIGGER IT !!!???!?!?!! (Thankfully hasn't happened yet!)

For many of us, this is what happens when AFRCC comes calling. We never know when or where, so the best medicine we've discovered here in the Lowcountry is to expect the unexpected, prepare for the worst. Hopefully, this will serve as a "guide" of sorts to help you sharpen your response time and get you out there in the field searching as soon as possible.

So, how does one go about doing as such...expecting the unexpected? For starters, talk to your SQ Alerting Officer. Have none? Talk to the IC's at your WG HQ. Give them your name, E-Mail address and telephone number(s). List your ES quals and request that you be placed on the alerting roster for your SQ. If you have a cell phone...take the loudest ring tone you can find and make it so when anyone related to CAP calls or text-messages you, your neighbor 3 blocks down will know you're on a REDCAP. Why you ask? Something has to wake you up to be activated at 0300 now doesn't it?

Now you're ready to save the country from the terrors of that little orange box. Or are you?

You can't just run out the door on a REDCAP with no gear. In fact, all that GT/UDF training might go out the door when you arrive at mission base in nothing more than a green suit. The IC tells you to take a mission base assistant position, or worse....sends you home. All because you didn't have the required gear for the type mission. Yes, I have seen this happen. Granted the IC or your Team Leader might not be as strict as to send you home, but if you go out with no equipment, it's like spitting into the wind. Not much point in that is there?

If you have not a copy of the GT/UDF Manual, my strong advice is to obtain one as soon as possible. This is practically the bible of CAP ground operations. Listed near the front are all the required items for 24 and 72 hour packs. Buying all the items at once can be rather pricey to say the least, so if your budget does not allow for such a purchase, buy the most important items (first aide kit, flashlight, compass, notepads/pens) first, then add to the pack as your budget allows. Soon enough, you'll have a 24/72 up there along the lines of people that have been doing this for years. Or at minimum, some cadet that has a well to do parental unit.

So what to keep all this stuff in? Check the Yellow Pages for local surplus stores, maybe even a pawn shop or two. They're an EXCELLENT source of cheap, very high quality gear. These shops are usually packed wall to wall with old ALICE packs, which will hold everything you need and then some. Be sure to pick up a web belt while you're there...there's 1001 uses to hang gear on these rather comfortably (they look good too). Many of us choose to use mil surplus duly stated to the fact that with normal use, it is nearly indestructable, or pretty darn close. Rummage around in the local shop and see what you can find, then find a way to adapt it to your use. Rifle tripod holders for web belts make an excellent 4D MagLite holder, ammo cans (.30 and .50 cals) are great to store radios (you can fit 10 ISR's in a .30 can), batteries etc...and are pretty water resistant too. A few web belt .223 ammo pouches work just fine to clip a first aide kit, small flashlight, insect repellant handheld GPS receiver in a ziploc bag, nomex gloves.....the list can go on and on.

However, there is not a single reg stating that your equipment has to be anything to the extent of the Itailan CFP2002 that I personally carry. If you learn one thing from my little article here, it is by all means...DO WHAT IS COMFORTABLE AND QUICK FOR YOU! Use the Nike backpack you carried last year in school or the old duffel bag in the closet. Ask a family member who hunts or camps for an old (make sure it's not worn out) hiking pack. Be inventive and think outside the box. Just last week a newly qualified GT3 cadet showed me his 24 hour pack in a medium sized "fanny pack thing" and his 72 on a hiker's backpack his father gave him. It was clean, neat, comfortable for him, and he had every piece of equipment required in the manual at an arms reach.

Speaking of being creative...compact discs make for a great signal mirror... (Thanks to LTC Morris for that one).

Once you have everything, and I can't state this enough...CHECK IT ON A REGULAR BASIS!!! Don't want to be called out into the field with a dead flashlight or a rotten energy bar now. On our team, we have a monthly mandatory equipment check where we open everything and just check it. If something is broken or needs to be replaced, we do as such. Remember your 4R's. Rest, refit, replenish and repair. (I forget the order of precidence here, but you get the idea). Throw a few MRE's in there from the surplus store as well. They'll be a life saver when you're on those long missions or SAREX'es. They have a halflife similar to Uranium so they'll last. Trust me.

Now, and only now are you ready to go. Keep that pack at an arm's reach at any time. Keep it in the trunk of your car, or in a locker at the SQ. If your parental unit or spouse allows, near the door (not as a doorstop). You will then officially be a SAR warrior, sitting in your recliner, drinking ice cold soda and watching the History Channel when out of nowhere.....................

(/insert colorful metaphor)

First Lieutenant Christopher Bishop
Comm Officer- SC-056

Tail Spin

2006-08-22T15:36:00.000-05:00

The word about the change of the tail markings on CAP airplanes from USAF-Aux to Civil Air Patrol is old news by now amongst the blog/forum community (if its over 3 days old, its old news). However a glaring example of this has been right in front of our noses and was brought to my attention by a member at CAPblog who commented on Midway Six's original post. Just go to the National website and look at the nice photo-chop work on the front page. Nice Tail-markings guys...

This constant distancing from the AF continues to disturb me. Do we represent the Air Force well? Perhaps at times, but obviously not as well as we could (IE Berry Board incident). The answer is however not to go on our own, but repair the ties to our parent organization. Make them proud to have us in their family, not the odd child out. Its not news that something needs to be done to salvage our relationship with big-brother, all the CAP forums have multiple threads devoted to the issue. I really think that if this wall continues to be built between our two organizations CAP will suffer massive membership issues, moreso than we already have.

SC FTX comes to a close

2006-08-21T10:13:00.000-05:00

Above: Students in a simulated line-search

Note: Click pictures to enlarge!

This weekend the Coastal Charleston Composite Squadron (my home squadron) held their state-wide FTX. Students were trained by Charleston Staff members to achieve their GTM3 and 2 in the Fancis Marrion National Forest. Most classes took place at the mission base where students received briefing on how to use a compass, orient a map, and other tasks required for their Ground team rating. The weekend culminated with both ELT DF'ing and a simulated line search for clues and a downed pilot who then was required to be litter carried out.
Above:Mission Base

Above: 1lt Bishop teaches Communication tasks

Above: The students and instructors (your author is in there somewhere!)

Preach it brother!

2006-08-14T10:01:00.000-05:00

I hesitate to simply link to other blogs, or make comments about what another blogger is saying because frankly it makes me feel lazy. However sometimes there are issues brought up by my fellow CAP blog community members that I do feel need to be spread. One such issue was brought up by Midway-Six on his site, CAPBlog. The article, which can be found perma-linked here, is as follows.

Taken from CAPBlog:

Stop Screwing the Medics

Here's one of the many things I'm pissed off about these days...

See this picture? It's a picture of a CAP Ground Team member checking on the health of one the littlest survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

Our Teams were the first uniformed responders that 80% of the people we encountered had seen after the storm.

This particular GMT has a Paramedic License. He gets to wear a badge on his uniform that identifiers him as a medical professional.

So what medical direction is he operating under in this picture? What liability coverage does he have?

None of this was cleared up over the last year or so. The Health Services issues were once again tabled at this week's National Board meeting, reportedly due to, "concerns about medical malpractice."

Give me a break.

I've heard people say that, "We don't train EMTs in CAP." Well I've got news for them, we don't train pilots either! But we equip pilots, and we insure pilots, but we do not train them to be pilots.

So let's treat the medical professionals on the ground the same way.

We need to take the rescue part of Search And Rescue (SAR) seriously... just as seriously as the flying part. That means taking care of the boots on the ground."

Amen. Id love to say more than that, but Midway took words I've been saying for quite a while directly out of my head, I couldn't agree more.

Berets strike back?

2006-08-14T09:30:00.000-05:00

According to info that has been posted on both Cadetstuff and Civil Air Portal, it would seem the NBB graduates will once again be able to wear their berets at unit activities. This info supposedly comes from a seminar on uniform updates at the national conference. Call me crazy, but didnt we already see what happened the first time we allowed these distinct covers at unit activities? I like the idea of what the beret represents, but more often then not it simply breeds elitism into the corps.

Below is a more complete list of the supposed uniform changes and subjects discussed: (taken from Civil Air Portal)

"On the Corporate Blues:
Up to four CAP badges may be worn. Two above the ribbons, one on the left breast pocket, one on the right breast pocket. A sdqn or group commander may wear the command badge above the nameplate instead of one of the other badges.
Military ribbons may be worn on the corporate blues IF the granting service allows ribbons to be worn on civilian clothing. Military badges may NOT be worn on the corporate blues. This applies to the shirt and service dress versions. This does not apply to the corporate greys. As had been guessed, the specs on wearing the insignia on the flight cap with this uniform came from the Navy, as did the black windbreaker, which - without grade insignia - may be worn with any corporate uniform, and with grade insignia, may only be worn with the corporate blues.
Currently, no raingear or heavy outerwear is listed, so any civilian coats will do for these, but that may change.
The service cap is the AF service cap with a ‘grey’ band instead of black. Vanguard is stocking these bands already. They will also have CAP screw post buttons to hold the band on, however, these are not yet available.

On the bdu:
CAP has submitted an official request to the AF to obtain permission to wear the Goretex jacket with the bdu, using a blue slide on the tab. The slide will have “CAP” and full color grade insignia embroidered on it for seniors and “CAP” with a spot for grade insignia for cadets. This had gone through CAP-USAF, AU, and AETC, and is at the Air Staff at this time. Ms. Parker thinks the AF will approve it.
Berets – Apparently, the NB has approved blue berets for wear by graduates of NBB and Hawk at their units after the activity. It seems they have taken the step to prevent wing and unit commanders from changing this. This change was made yesterday. Ms. Parker didn’t have much information on it.
The national HSO has approached the AF about wearing a solid color boonie hat. The AF was receptive to this and they next step is for the NB/NEC to officially run it through CAP-USAF.
CAP has also submitted for approval, SM's wearing grade insignia on bdu caps.

On the AF flightsuit:
CAP has requested permission to use embroidered grade insignia for seniors. The proposed insignia are to be full color on green fabric. They would be an option to the plastic encased insignia currently used, not a replacement.
The new black leather jacket IS NOT authorized for this uniform."

Senior member grade on BDU caps? Im very on the fence about this one. While it would be nice to be able to have one's grade on the cap, I think this just opens up even more room for uniform violations. If there will be grade on the cap I think it needs to be like the cadets; cloth. If for some reason they decide to use pin on metal grade I think youre just opening yourself up for a world of bad AF-CAP relations. Berry-Boards anyone?

In regards to the flight-suit insignia: I for one find the plastic encased insignia much easier to swap out in the case of promotion through the use of velcro, but I suppose given the rate of promotion after Capt, youre not really looking at that much sewing to deal with in the first place. At least the insignia would be uniform with our BDU's.

ES Objectives

2006-08-14T09:16:00.000-05:00

Last night I conversed with the Operations and ES Officers for about two hours, or the greater part of the meeting, the entire time except for inspection and commanders call.

We discussed the overall training plans and cycle for the squadron and have narrowed down to some objectives.

Primary Objectives:
1.) Cross Train All Personnel In: Mission Radio Operator, Mission Staff Assistant, Urban Direction Find Team

2.) Take Inventory of All Equipment to Create Plan For Rapid-Long Term-Deployments, And Kits For Unit Deployment (Medical, UDF, Planning, Coordination)

Secondary Objectives:
1.) Subtrain All MSAs In Planning Section

2.) Create Loadouts For: Interim Deployment, Long-Term Deployment, Cold/Wet Weather Deployment

Now, some of you may wonder why; the answers are simple.

We deploy at random, not necessarily for simple ELT missions, but rather CAPs image is changing. We have changed from a SAR agency to a Secondary-Search Agency in most plaaces. By 1 Feb 09, 121.5/243 beacons will be phased out. The AFRCC has released their statement at: http://www.acc.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=3723.

Furthermore, CAPs image has turned to possess a massive face in Disaster Relief. This is not a well known thing in all communities, but our presence has been made.

The idea of Go-Kits is to allow faster deployment with gear that should be present, and to ensure that it is. Most gear shake-downs only take place once, for Task O-0003, that's it. If units perform shake-downs at other times, it's normally a rolling thing and isn't done truly accurately.

Wisconsin has, shall we say, interesting weather, don't like the weather, wait five minutes, it'll change. To compensate for this Cold-Weather deployment gear is being arranged. This consists of ECWCS (Extreme Cold Weather Clothing System) Parkas and Pants. Both of which contain Gore-Tex. We do have available, for colder-weather the original ECWCS with is a down-parka which performs in sub-zero climates with no troubles, without the necessary liners of the Gore-Tex. Also in the kit will be the original: Mickey Mouse Boots. What and why? What, the boots are ECWCS boots, designed for standing on a guard duty. The why is simple, if you stand in place and wiggle your toes, your feet will sweat, and they will remain warm. An actual fact of these boots is that you can put cold water in them, walk for about 10 minutes, and the water will be warm.

On to: Interim and Long-Term Deployment Gear. Moreless, the unit would assume the tasking of acquiring all equipment for the 72-Hour setion of O-0003. Also, in addition to this, the unit would undertake additional responsibilities to acquire gear which would outfit for 1-2 weeks of deployment, minimum. The reason for a longer duration is because the unit, or certain members of, go onto Standby yearly for hurricane season. Furthermore, members are trained with the WIWG Mobile Command Center-Orca, which has, and will deploy for large-scale hurricanes. Orca rotations are 1-2 Weeks without restock.

Did I say, sub-train in Planning Section? Yes, I did. MESS (Milwaukee ES Squadron) was known for their Planning Section Chiefs and ICs. TiCS (Timmerman Comp. Squadon) now contains those members for the interim of 3-years. We would like to train all of the MSAs to know what Planning does and how to assist the PSC. In addition, a sub-goal of this is to train and make a presence in Logistics. Why Logistics, well, traditionally, Logistics sucks. Why should we take it? Because, we can do good, it's as simple as that. Carrying on from MESS is the ability to cross train in Ground Team, Aircrew, AND Mission Staff.

Matt Kopp, C/2d Lt, CAP
WI-002, C/DOS

Welcome!

2006-08-09T14:00:00.000-05:00

"NEW YORK, August 09, 2006 --

Finger Lakes Group of the Civil Air Patrol has announced that one of its local state legislators is now a member of New York Wing's Legislative Squadron.

Assemblyman Dan Burling, who represents the 147th Assembly District, was named a member of the Legislative Squadron and honored with the rank of major. Burling accepted the honor from New York Wing Commander Col. Austyn Granville at a ceremony in Albany.

"I am very honored to be a member of this excellent organization. As a private pilot, I have long known the value of the Civil Air Patrol and am proud to be counted among their ranks," Burling said. "Whether performing homeland security missions or mentoring our youth, CAP is an outstanding volunteer organization with a long and distinguished history."

"Assemblyman Burling is a true friend to this organization and the community it serves. We look forward to working with him in the future, as we perform our missions for the American people," Finger Lakes Group Commander Lt. Col. Diane Wojtowicz said.

In addition to serving in the state assembly, Burling is a registered pharmacist with a store in Corfu, a U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam War combat veteran, a private pilot, a licensed aircraft mechanic, and a lieutenant colonel in the New York National Guard."

My, those sure are some credentials. Its nice to see a member of state assembly getting involved in CAP, if anything it can only work to help highlight what we do well and what we could use help on for those outside CAP in the Govt, even if it is just State assembly. I think alot of good would actually come from inviting you local representative to your squadron to allow them to see what CAP is all about. Who knows you may end up with another member and some support up above.

Bueller....? Bueller.....?

2006-08-09T09:50:00.001-05:00

Continuing with my never ending searches of CAP related material I decided to revisit a section of E-Services that I haven't bothered to view in quite some time, this being the Committee Minutes section. I began to peruse the Recruiting and Retention minutes (April 2005) and came across this passage:

Lt. Col. Cramer asked the group if anyone had ideas about why members leave CAP.
Some of the reasons discussed were:
Cadets have too many activities
Cost prohibitive for a lot of parents, especially single parents
Difficulty with written tests for cadets and even some seniors

Now I can agree with the first two, in fact in just the past two weeks I have watch a couple cadets leave the program because they had too many activities outside CAP that took precedence. That's fine, if you have something that takes priority over CAP by all means go do that instead. On the second point I have found there are usually two subsections of these parents. The first is the parent who is fully capable to support their cadet but instead shirk all responsibility off onto those in charge of the cadet program. I've seen first hand parents drop their child off in their BMW, but simply cant be bothered to buy their child uniform materials or help out monitarily in any way for CAP. The truly sad part is often these cadets do want to be at meetings and simply get no support from home.
Conversely you also have the cadets who are motivated, and parents who are motivated; yet the cash just simply isn't there, fortunately there are good members who will go far out of their way to help these cadets; driving them to meetings and helping them buy uniforms.

On the note of the tests: Too hard? According to who?
Sure a cadet or two may fail a test and miss a promotion, but I'm pretty the sure the majority do pass or else we wouldn't have standardized tests for the CP. I've worked closely with cadets and with our TCO and the majority of the problem is that often the ones who fail just cant be bothered with studying. Now that is not to say there are not cadets who truly do need help, and mentoring can be given to help them pass as well as tests correct up to a certain percent by the TCO. But how much of this is just this generation of cadets not wanting to try? How much is simply an extension of the "ritalin generation"? Kid wont study? Oh they must be ADD. Nope, it couldn't be that they just don't care or never had restrictions placed on them to study or repercussion for not studying. The answer is not "Oh its too hard, lets dumb it down and stuff some pills in their mouth". Again, there are true cases of ADD and ADHD, and I do not mean to belittle their disability, I just believe it has been seriously over diagnosed and often was chosen as the easy-way out. In this case the easy way is apparently quitting the CP. If at first you don't succeed, oh well quit doing it. [/rant]

Now in the case of the seniors, if I recall the first written test taken is the ECI13. In my opinion this test should be challenging, if not hard. Becoming a Capt should not be a sure thing in CAP. We already give 2d LT automatically after you watch a couple videos and are a warm body for 6 months. Again I don't think the answer is to dumb down things just for the sake of making everyone pass and feel good about themselves as they sew the railroad tracks on. You're taking an advanced rank within the organization and therefore had better be up to serving as that rank. Is it nice to progress in rank, absolutely it gives you something to work forward to. But if not making Capt because you failed ECI13 is enough to make you quit CAP, well then frankly you may have needed to reevaluate your reasons for joining in the first place. Alot of talk has been cycling boards about creating a new officer training course for CAP or restructuring the requirements to advance in grade. I for one fully support the idea. Some great ideas have been popping up over at Civil Air Portal that you can read here.

A matter of time...?

2006-08-08T12:20:00.000-05:00

Recently here in my home wing of SC, we started our Wing Hurricane exercise...a Hurrex if you will. Training has been stepped up in lieu of recent events like Katrina, and frankly I'm glad to see the bit of extra motivation.
The most recent evolution of the exercise is as follows:
"Hurricane Cole has now strengthened to a Category Four storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. This is an extremely dangerous storm and is now almost certainly on course for a South Carolina landfall. The storm has begun to move a little more rapidly to the northwest, and therefore a Sunday evening landfall now appears more likely than a Monday strike. The center of the strike cone is now has the storm making landfall closer to Georgetown, but there are still an awful lot of minor course changes that could happen and change the landfall dramatically. Additionally, Cole is a very large and powerful storm, so no matter where the strike is there are going to be adverse effects all along the coast and possibly well inland."

Currently we have aircrews tasked to flying evac routes while the ground team is simulating going door to door and informing residents of a mandatory evacuation as well as assisting in the evacuation of special needs people.

We've been lucky in the past few years here in SC in regards to hurricanes. It seems that the majority have either veered north to NC at the last moment, or plowed through Florida to the south.

NOAA NHC lists Hurricane direct hits on the mainland U.S. coastline and for individual states 1851-2004 on their site. South Carolina comes in as follows:
19 Cat 1's, 6 Cat 2's, 4 Cat 3's, 2 Cat 4's and 0 Cat 5's. That totals 31 storms with only 6 being major (between Cat 3-5). Hugo, which hit in 1989 as a Cat 4 did an estimated $7,000,000,000 in damage, but since then not much has really come our way. These recent exercises at wing lead me to wonder, how long can our luck last?

New kid on the block.

2006-08-08T11:19:00.000-05:00

Well welcome to my new blog. As the description states this is pretty much a blog devoted to Civil Air Patrol, the Air Force, and basically whatever else I feel like posting. You may noticed that although the posts are all under the same username, the name signed to the bottom may change. This is largely due to the fact that I may allow other people to also post, so check the name at the bottom of the entries to be sure who it is you're reading. I will attempt to update this blog on a weekly basis, depending on the amount of views; more views-> more updates. Feel free to leave comments about the entries but do try to be respectful of others, no need for a cyber battle-royale. I'm going to go ahead and suggest if you're viewing this to also look at some other sites related to CAP with great blogs. The first is Midway Six's CAPBlog, a great site with alot of info. I would also suggest looking at Civil Air Portal, also a great site with blog and forums. CAPTalk is another forum I would suggest, my name on both forums is Becks, feel free to find me. You can find all these site and more on the right side of the page in the "Links" Section.