Wyoming Wings

October 2011

Wyoming Wing glider orientation

instruction of instruments and cockpit protocol.

Wyoming Wings
The Wyoming Wings is an authorized magazine published three times a year in the interest of the members of Wyoming Wing, Civil Air Patrol. The printers are a private firm in no way connected with the Department of the Air Force or Civil Air Patrol. Opinions expressed by the publishers and writers are their own and not to be considered official expression by Civil Air Patrol or the Air Force. The appearance of advertisements in this publication, including supplements and inserts, does not constitute an endorsement by Civil Air Patrol or the Department of the Air Force of products and services advertised.

Commanders Corner
John E. mitchell, Col., CAP, Wyoming Wing Commander
4 september 2011 An infamous date comes in exactly one week from the day I write this column 9/11. Except perhaps for the youngest cadets, each of us can remember what we were doing on that fateful Tuesday morning. I was at work, getting ready to meet with a graduate student about her upcoming dissertation defense. Needless to say, our lives were profoundly changed by the acts of terrorism that took place that day. Less than 24 hours later, I found myself piloting a UHCol. John E. Mitchell, Wyoming Wing CC 60 to armories in Douglas, Casper, Rock Springs, Afton, Evanston, and Laramie, carrying weapons and ammunition. For the first time since the 1973 Yom Kippur war, the U.S. Armed Forces had gone to DEFCON 3 one level below war readiness, and the National Guard had to quickly assume this level of alert. The Civil Air Patrols emergency services mission has also been altered by the events of 9/11. We now spend as much time training for homeland security assignments as we devote to search and rescue. In Wyoming, our Wing moved from the Transportation to the Military Department, in part to support this expanded role. The Wyoming Office of Homeland Security was established to coordinate state and federal resources to assist communities in managing and recovering from disasters caused by natural, manmade and technological dangers, as well as hazardous materials releases, civil disorders and terrorism. WOHS is now one of the Wings primary customers, filling mission
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H HEADQUARTERS H
Wyoming Wing Civil Air Patrol Bldg. 233 Warren AFB (307) 773-4519 Fax (303) 302-1530

H MAiling ADDRESS H
Wyoming Wing Civil Air Patrol P. O. Box 9507 Cheyenne, WY 82003-9507 Wing Commander Colonel John E. mitchell Editor Diane Walbeck For information on advertising rates and space, please call 1-800-635-6036

Wyoming Wing Conducts Multi-State Encampment

By Col. stan skrabut, CAP Commander, Laramie Valley Composite squadron Thirty-nine members from Colorado, South Carolina, and Wyoming, Civil Air Patrol (CAP) took part in a week-long encampment at Camp Guernsey, Wyo. from 24 June through 3 July 2011. An encampment is a week-long camp that closely resembles the Air Forces Basic Military Training School. New cadets learned how to work as part of a team. They focused on drill and ceremonies, customs and courtesies, and wear of the uniform. Additionally, they participated in a myriad of classes that focused on aviation related disciplines. These cadets were also provided with a number of flying opportunities. More experienced cadets formed the cadre that guided the new cadets through the weeklong training. These cadets learned how to lead and manage groups of individuals from diverse backgrounds. The following members completed the encampment: GRADE Col. Lt. Col. Lt. Col. 1st Lt. Capt. Col. NAME POSITION SKRABUT, Stanley CARLSON, Beverly (BJ) CARLSON, Michael OWEN, Marvin SADLER, Dee J. MITCHELL, John Commander Deputy Commander, Administrative Officer Tactical Officer Chaplain Safety Officer Safety Officer

Encampment Flights and Staff 2011. 3 3

Encampment Alpha Flight 2011.

Lt. Col. Major Captain Captain

FAWCETT, Rick CHIZEVER, Gary LITTLE, James FERRELL, James

Logistics Officer Medical Officer Medical Officer Asst. Admin. Officer Cadet Commander First Sergeant A Flight Commander A Flight Sergeant B Flight Commander B Flight Sergeant Administration NCOIC Logistics NCOIC Public Affairs Officer

CADET STAFF C/Captain HOUSE, Ezekiel C/CMSgt. STROZIER, Hunter C/SMSgt. TOMAN, Tyler C/MSgt. HUBENTHAL, Isaac C/CMSgt. KIRKMAN, Joshua C/MSgt. CUSSEN, Patrick C/SrA MILLER, Brent C/Amn DURAN, Brittni C/1st Lt. BARELLA, Jonathan

IN FLIGHT CADETS C/A1C CHIZEVER, Jeremy C/AB CORNETT, Trevor A. C/A1C ELLBOGEN, Michael P. C/Amn GARVIN, Cory D. C/Amn GRAHAM, Michaela A. C/Amn HANDGEN, Mark E. C/Amn HARRIET, Tyler T. C/A1C JOHNSTON, Zack P. C/Amn JONES, Ryan V. C/MSgt. KREUTZER, Trace R. C/CMSgt. LALIBERTE, Chad M. C/Amn MACIAS, Elena A. C/SSgt. MACIAS, Alana A. C/A1C MERTENS, Derek A. C/Amn MUSSER, Quinten C. C/SrA SANDOVAL, Arthur I. C/Amn SHANNON, Ryan E. C/A1C TUCKER, Daniel W.

Take a moment to look at the pictures: http://www.facebook.com/WYWGEncampment. They did a great job.
Encampment Bravo Flight 2011.

Commanders Corner
Continued from page 1. . .

requests that come through the National Guards Joint Operations Center. This year has been eventful, to say the least. Wyoming Wing acted as the reconnaissance element for WOHS during the spring floods. Collectively, we flew 41 sorties between 16 May and 19 July that totaled 65 flight hours and more than 325 manhours of volunteer service. Mission observers took more than 750 photos, many of which were used to support critical decisions concerning allocation of resources. Each of you who supported the flood mission deserve a well done. August was a busy month from beginning to end. Lt. Col. Ed Binkley and I traveled to Riverton on  August to perform a fly-over for Military Appreciation Night at the Freemont County Fair and Rodeo. We made some new friends and laid the groundwork for a possible future CAP presence in the Riverton area. You never can tell. Every four years, a wing undergoes a Compliance Inspection (CI), given by CAPUSAF. At a CI, the wing staff is evaluated for organizational readiness, efficiency, and effectiveness, as well as for compliance with regulations and policies. Wyoming Wing was inspected during the first weekend in August. As a result of diligence and hard work by your Wing staff members, we received a grade of Successful. A Successful recognizes performance that meets all mission requirements, procedures and activities that are effectively carried out, and resources and programs that are efficiently managed. Congratulations to everyone who helped us achieve the Successful rating. I particularly want to thank three staff members who salvaged programs that had been allowed to languish Lt. Col. Mike Wilkinson (Transportation), Lt. Col. Ed Binkley (Safety), Lt. Col. Jeff Johnson (Chaplain) and Col. Stan Skrabut, who stepped in for someone who couldnt make the CI at the last minute. Immediately following the CAP National Conference and Summer Board Meeting, held at Louisville, KY, the Wing received its biennial Operations Evaluation (OPSEVAL), formerly called SAREVAL. The OPSEVAL lasted through7

out the week of 22-28 August. CAP-USAF developed an evaluation scenario that centered on a disaster relief situation, a homeland security event, and air and ground search and rescue efforts. Our goal was to show proficiency in all CAP missions except the counterdrug program. Again, thanks to many hours of preparation and excellent performance by incident command staff members, Wyoming Wing received an overall grade of Successful. Several staff members went above and beyond when it came to dedication to duty. In particular, C/2nd Lt. Jonathan Barella took on the PAO job with no advance notice, and received a grade of Excellent (performance exceeds mission requirements; procedures and activities are carried out in a superior manner). He received special recognition and was awarded a challenge coin by Lt. Col. Brad Oliver, the USAF Evaluation Chief! Wing Conference takes place in less than two weeks from now. By the time you read this column, it will be over. Lt. Col. Susan McDonald has an excellent program planned; one that is well worth your attendance, so I am hoping to see many H of you there.

2011 Annual CAP Conference Report

Col. John E. mitchell, CAP The 2011 Annual Conference and National Board meeting was held in Louisville, KY, during the week of 16-20 August. The conference marked the start of the 70th Anniversary of Civil Air Patrol. On Tuesday and Wednesday, early attendees could participate in one of several courses that included CISM Team, IG Senior Level, GIIEP, G1000 Ground School, and Property Management/ORMS. The ORMS course was informative and well-led. Several National Board business items may be of interest to you. First, our National Vice Commander, Brig. Gen. Chuck Carr was elected National Commander, succeeding Maj. Gen. Amy Courter. Col. Joe Vazquez was elected to National Vice Commander. Col. Vazquez had commanded the Middle East Region. There was an extended discussion of the safety education compliance interval some wanted to extend it to three months; however, the Board voted to keep the safety education program as is for a year, while trend data is collected, before making any changes. A proposed $5/glider flight charge for glider maintenance was also voted down. A Strategic Planning report was presented to the National Board for review. The report identified several priority goals relating to different programs. They included: (1) Adequate funding and more diverse sources of external funding; (2) recruiting and retention; (3) customer focus under emergency services; (4) better ES training; and (5) consistent executive leadership. The highest overall priority was deemed to be funding. CAP does a first-rate job of defending its appropriated funding, but the organization falls short when it comes to obtaining outside funding. The Membership Committee report is discussed elsewhere in this newsletter. The Uniform Committee reported upon a process for making changes to CAP uniforms, which should be published soon. A move to reinstate the doublebreasted Corporate Service uniform failed; however, there was unanimous support for keeping the blazer uniform (blue blazer, gray slacks) as an equivalent to the Air Force service dress and mess dress uniforms. Numerous learning labs were offered to all Conference participants on Friday and Saturday. Subjects included CAP Model Aircraft Control (MARC) Program, AFRCC SAR issues update, operating in the next generation of HF radio: automatic link establishment (ALE), eServices mission-based applications, vehicle management, aircraft management, introduction to mishap investigations, managing your budget, Wreaths Across America, personal cyber safety, CIS update, cadets at school, and remote sensing/satellite imagery. In all, more than 60 subjects were presented during six concurrent sessions. If you want to attend the 2013 Annual Conference, mark your calendar for 22-25 August 2012, and make plans to travel to Baltimore, MD.

Support our Cadets . . . They are our Future!!!

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REPORT TO NATIONAL BOARD FROM MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

Col. John E. mitchell, CAP The Membership Committee reported on a task, given them in March, to consider a new category of membership into which CAP members can transfer when they are unable to maintain the currency requirements of an active member. Their recommendation came after consulting with NHQ staff, the Cadet Program, and National Board members. The Committee concluded that, for several reasons, it would be difficult to create a new membership category. They proposed that CAP modify the current category of Patron by renaming it, Reserve Member/ Patron. National Headquarters will create an online method for transfers in lieu of the current CAPF 2a if the revised category is approved. Members being transferred would be notified before it happened, and they could request that their status not be changed. At that time they would have 90 days to complete any outstanding mandatory training. To simplify the training process, the Committee requested that relevant CAP regulations be modified to conform to the 90-day window given above. They suggested that members have access to a single box in eServices that contains links to all mandatory training, and that mandatory training items be listed on the CAPF 0 in lieu of developing multiple reports. If a member changes status to a Reserve Member/Patron, his or her training records will remain in eServices. Cadet-specific training issues have already been addressed by the National Executive Committee via a recommendation from the Cadet Advisory Committee. The Membership Committee made two longer-term recommendations: (1) Additional mandatory training should be avoided, and (2) any future training that involves cadets and senior members should be written by Professional Development and Cadet Programs instead of the staff area proposing the training. Some National Board members felt that transferring members who are deployed in the Armed Forces might be insulting to them. Others disagreed. One member commented that most soldiers, sailors, and airmen serving overseas have access to the internet and can usually keep up with required CAP training available on-line if they are so inclined. In summary, the revised membership category resolves the training conflicts ongoing in SUIs and CIs. It gives commanders the ability to track members who have become inactive for one of any number of reasons, and it provides a way for them to become active again. Lastly, the new process ensures that members not meeting mandatory training requirements are easily identified through training listed on their 101 card. I expect the Reserve Member/Patron to be implemented soon.





How Technology Helped our Air Force Operations Evaluation

By Col. stan skrabut, CAP Commander, Laramie Valley Composite squadron Wyoming Wing just completed its 2011 Air Force Operations Evaluation, and received an overall rating of Successful. This rating was in part to the successful use of technology throughout the exercise. Here is what we used and how it helped. Skype - Starting on the first day of the exercise, we used Skype to conduct our evening meetings. Skype is a program where you can conduct conference calls through your computer. With a paid membership, you can get your own telephone number and call telephone numbers. With Skype, we were able to conduct a conference call each evening and stay abreast of the various scenarios we were tracking. You can download Skype from skype.com. Dropbox - The second program we leveraged heavily during the evaluation was Dropbox. Dropbox is a virtual storage drive that has residence in the cloud. We provided access to this shared drive to our entire team. The team could then add documents they needed during the evaluation. These documents varied from various forms for the Incident Action Plan (IAP) to Google Earth overlays. In the event of a power outage, Dropbox was still available on the local computers. Changes to files were automatically synced with the other computers. You can get a Dropbox account from dropbox.com. google Earth - Google Earth was the most recent addition to our arsenal. With Google Earth, we were able to create various overlays to aid in mission planning. These overlays included infrastructure like dams, bridges, and power plants, which were used as targets throughout the week. We were able to create an overlay showing all airports in Wyoming. When we received flood and missing aircraft scenarios, we built overlays to show affected areas, routes of flight, weather, and proposed search areas. With Google Earth,
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we were able to rapidly measure distance from one point to another; this helped us determine our time on target times. You can get Google Earth from earth.google.com. SPOT - SPOT is a GPS transmitter that allows us to keep track of our aircraft and ground teams while they are away from mission base. Approximately every 0 minutes the transmitter sends out a signal. The result of the signal is reflected on a Web site that shows the location of each device and its travel path. In the event we lose contact with one of aircraft or ground teams, we have a set of grid coordinates where we can start looking. You can get SPOT from findmespot.com. Assorted other programs - During the week, we also used a number of other programs to help us achieve our mission. We used Microsoft Excel to plan mission times, calculate our finances, and track target lists. We used a special spreadsheet developed by the Lubbock Fire Department to build our IAP (http://firedept.ci.lubbock.tx.us/ ICSFormsWkbk.aspx). This spreadsheet has saved me countless hours because of its updating capabilities. I use PDF Split and Merge (http://www. pdfsam.org/) to merge a series of PDF documents into one PDF file. We also use a number of Civil Air Patrol specific programs from WMIRS and e-services to the IMU program. IMU allows us to cleanly create lists of personnel, vehicles, and aircraft assigned to the mission base. IMU can be downloaded from http://wmu.nat.cap.gov/. With a wing as small as Wyoming, it is imperative to gain whatever advantage possible. Technology allows us to gain an advantage especially when short staffed. Each new technology we have used has helped make mission planning and execution easier.

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Where is your recruiter ribbon?

By Col. stan skrabut, CAP Commander, Laramie Valley Composite squadron As the cadets in our wing well know, I will challenge them when I do not see them wearing a recruiter ribbon. You may ask why I think this is important. The primary reason this is important is our membership in Wyoming is in decline. To earn a cadet recruiter ribbon, a cadet must recruit two new members. Imagine if each cadet recruited one new member each year, our membership would grow by 78 members. If each of our present cadets recruited two members during the next twelve months, enough to earn a recruiter ribbon, our membership would grow to almost 400 members. I realize recruiting members is a touchy thing to do, however, it is doable. During my time in CAP, I have recruited over thirty members. This is one member per year. What is my secret you may ask? Simply, I ask people to come and check us out. However, before I ask people to come and visit, I assess the prospective member to see if they can meet the needs of the organization. I dont ask everyone I meet. I want the new member to succeed and stay with CAP. I have a short story that I would like to share with you. In 1999, I traveled to Texas for some Air Force business. During my visits to various parts of the country, I like to visit friends. On this trip I visited my friend, Lisa, who I had gone to high school with. After graduating high school, Lisa had gone to the Naval Academy and did quite well. While talking with her, I let her know that I was still in CAP and we discussed it a bit. During the conversation, she asked be a very pointed question why had we never asked her to visit our CAP program? I realized from our discussion that she would have made an excellent member, but she was never invited. Naturally, I quickly made up for our error and asked her to join. I would like to challenge all of our members to invite some one new to an upcoming meeting. I would especially like to challenge cadets to earn the cadet recruiter ribbon.
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Letter From . . .
GARY HAVERT
20 May 2011 Wyoming Wing, For 19 years I have had the privilege and honor of working with the finest volunteer organization in the world and, without a doubt, some of its very best volunteers. You guys are awesome in the time, money, and total dedication that you contribute to America on a daily basis, year after year. My hat is off to each and every one of you. Thank you for your service! I want to thank all wing members and especially Jackie Floyd, John Mitchell and Lucinda for my retirement party on Saturday, 16 Apr 11. The party was awesome!! It was great having so many old friends there to help me celebrate my retirement. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of the Wing for the gifts presented to me. Thank you all so much. Finally, all good things must come to an end. Thanks and God bless you all. Gary Havert WY State Director (Ret)

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Reprinted from SAFETY BEACON NEWSLETTER, October 2011

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Dont Sump Your Tanks in the Hangar!

Col. John E. mitchell Monday morning, 17 May 2010, was a beautiful day to fly. I was to be PIC on an ARCHER mission supporting a U.S. Geological Survey project that was studying relationships between climate and vegetation. We were mapping two locations with ARCHER, one in southwestern Denver and one between BJC and Rocky Flats, just northwest of Denver, multiple times during that spring, summer, and fall. The other pilot had promised to arrive at COS early and preflight the GA8 because I had a longer drive to the airport. As I drove up to Hangar 119, where Colorado Wing HQ was based, I was puzzled to see the GA8 on the ramp, surrounded by fire trucks and emergency personnel. After parking and strolling out to the ramp, the cause for

Sump valve from right wing of gA8, n610CP.

Firemen responding to fuel leak in gA8 at Peterson AFB, 17 May 2010. 20 20

alarm became evident fuel was streaming from the right wing sump drain! Even though he knew better, the other pilot had decided to sump the GA8s fuel tanks inside the hangar. The hangar contained four other airplanes, including two Peterson AFB Aero Club twins and a CAP C-182 G1000. As you have probably deduced by now, the right fuel sump drain had stuck in the open position. No one else was nearby when it happened! My colleague started yelling for help. The chief pilot for the Aero Club came running into the hangar, saw what was happening, and quickly returned with an empty 5-gallon bucket. They had to contain the leaking fuel while simultaneously getting the airplane out of the hangar, which was no easy task. Meanwhile, someone had dialed 911 and the Air Force airfield fire trucks arrived almost immediately with help to push the airplane outside and control the leak. At first, the only solution seemed to be to allow all of the fuel to drain from the right wing tank. However, after a short discussion, the Aero Club chief pilot went off to look for another sump valve. When he returned with one, we removed and replaced the leaking valve. The culprit was found to be a wire-like piece of solder. Needless to say, the Air Force was not happy after finding out that someone had taken a fuel sample in one of their hangars! They (and nearly everyone else) have a strict policy against doing so for very good and obvious reasons. The risks and danger level associated with a fuel leak in a hangar far out21

weighs the risks for an aircraft parked on the ramp. For the same reasons, no one ever fuels an airplane in a hangar. So, even if its cold outside, never sump a fuel H tank while the airplane is in a hangar.

Fuel leaking from a stuck sump valve in a Citabria. The airplane had been pulled from its hangar at Fnl before the fuel sample was taken, so there was little danger to the hangar or other aircraft. in this case, the pilots only recourse was to allow all the fuel to drain from the tank into multiple buckets. April 2004. 21

How to Prepare for and Conduct an Open House

By Col. stan skrabut, CAP Commander, Laramie Valley Composite squadron According to CAPR 52-16 para 3-1a, All cadet units must conduct at least one recruiting campaign or open house each year. Units that conduct an open house similar to what is suggested in CAPP 52-9, Cadet Great Start, satisfy this requirement. The Laramie Valley Composite Squadron is about to conduct its third open house for 2011. In January, we started out with 10 cadets and 9 senior members. Using a plan I ran across on cadetstuff.org, we presently have 21 cadets and 12 senior members. This has been an increase of 14 members in 8 months. I have used this plan for three separate units and each time the results have been the same. For each open house, we are able to pull in 25-30 people to view our presentation. This has typically resulted in 5-7 members joining. I would like to share our process with you. The open house was for the Laramie Valley Composite Squadron which is located in Laramie, WY. The population is roughly 28,000. In preparing for the open house, we basically followed the plan listed on this site: http://www.cadetstuff.org/archives/000113.html#000113 Naturally, it was adjusted to meet our situation. Our main focuses for getting the word out: 1). We printed and distributed 150 11x17 posters. Cadets went door to door downtown Laramie and spoke with business owners. Business owners placed the posters in the windows. 2). We culled lists for non-profit organizations. We sent letters along with a letter size poster and a brochure. In total, we sent 210 letters. The addresses were culled from the Internet; we did a search on Google for organizations and Laramie. I used addresses from this list: http://www.nonprofitlist.org/WY/Laramie.html 3). We ensured that we left brochures at hairdressers and barber shops. That is where the moms are ;-) 4). Members were given brochures and strongly encouraged to fully distribute them. 5). There was a constant Twitter message sent roughly every two days announcing the event. It was automated with Twaitter.com. 6). Finally, I sent out a message to my Facebook friends announcing the event.
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7). We also targeted two home school organizations in the area. 8). PSAs were sent to 10 radio stations, and 4 newspapers. 9). Packets were prepared and distributed to 13 schools. The packets contained: - Letter to principal - 5 morning announcements - 5 small posters - brochure All lists were culled to spreadsheets for subsequent mail merge. At the open house, we followed this schedule: 1800 - Set up displays 1830 - Doors open for guests 1850 - Briefing on CAP 1910 - Guests were invited to view displays, and ask questions 2020 - Break down displays and cleaned up facility Here are the posters and brochure that we are using for this campaign. http://www.capwyhq.org/docs/openhouse2011letter_blue.pdf http://www.capwyhq.org/docs/Brochure.pdf http://www.capwyhq.org/docs/openhouse2011letter_Black.pdf Costs: 120 Posters 8.5 x 11 150 Posters 11 x 17 1000 brochures (folded) Postage

$70 $147 $180 $70

In the future, we will need to print more smaller posters, less larger posters, and less brochures. We will be tweaking our plan based on what we have learned. It takes a lot of work and persistence to conduct an effective open house. Each time we conduct one, we learn how to do it better. It is a priority for our unit. We are shooting for 30 cadets by the end of the year, and we expect to reach our goal. H

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Why So Many Requirements...

Why does CAP have so darned many requirements? That is a question I am often asked. People join CAP for a lot of different reasons. Some just want access to aircraft to fly. Some want to work with young people in the cadet program. Still others want to teach aerospace. And there are as many other reasons are there are members in CAP. We each have some particular focus which drew us to Civil Air Patrol, and where we want to spend our time. But then CAP imposes on us with a myriad of requirements which do not seem relevant to our personal interests. Lets begin by reviewing some of these mandatory requirements. All new members must complete the Foundations program, which consists of five different elements. First they must sign up for eServices and complete a course in Operational Security (OPSEC). Then they must complete the Introduction to Safety for New Members. The third step, for those 18 years of age or older, is the Cadet Protection Program. Next comes the Equal Opportunity course. And finally they must complete the Foundations Module which covers the history, purpose and organization of Civil Air Patrol. Even long-time members must now go back and do OPSEC and Introduction to Safety for New Members. And the Equal Opportunity Policy must be reviewed every single year. Once all this is done, members must complete a safety education requirement every month. There are a variety of ways to satisfy this requirement at unit meetings, online or by attending any CAP or non-CAP program which provides safety education. Members who have not completed all of these requirements are ineligible to participate in any CAP activity. They also expose the unit to which they belong to compliance inspection findings, which can have adverse consequences for the unit. There are also new requirements for taking Operational Risk Management (ORM) courses and performing ORM analyses for every kind of activity from flying to encampments to professional development courses to unit meetings. In order to hold most unit staff positions, members must enroll in the related Professional Development Specialty Track. And in order to participate in any Emergency Services activity, members must obtain the General Emergency Services Achievement, which consists of tasks and exams related to the emergency services program and the national Incident Command System. These are the basic requirements to even participate in CAP activities, and of course there are additional requirements for performing more advanced tasks and holding higher office. Altogether it is a pretty imposing list, and causes many members to either leave CAP altogether or to become inactive. So it is legitimate to ask why there are so many darned requirements. The answer can be summed up in two words: safety and professionalism. Safety is a paramount consideration in CAP. The most important fact to know about safety is that accidents can be prevented. In fact, accident is a very misleading term, implying an event over which we have no control. The whole point of the CAP safety program is to show that we have considerable control over accidents, and to provide the hands-on tools to effectively exercise that control. Many of the tasks that we perform are inherently hazardous flying at low level, demanding physical activity for our cadets, entering disaster areas, etc. It takes knowledge and skill to perform these tasks with acceptable levels of risk. The CAP Safety Program is not about boring speeches or exhortations to be safe. It is about learning and practicing concrete tools designed to allow us to safely carry out our demanding mission. Can you imagine a nuclear plant which did not train its technicians in the procedures, equipment and awareness needed to operate in an explosive, high-radiation environment? Or a fire department which did not have initial and recurrent safety training for people walking into burning buildings? Well Civil Air Patrol simply cannot allow
Continued on page 31 . . . 27

27 Reprinted from nevada Wing CAP silver Wings over nevada, summer 2011

Aerospace Education, a Rally Point for Civil Air Patrol

maj. Dave goude, CAP Director of Aerospace Education One of the original goals of the Civil Air free booth space in return for our assistance, why Patrol was to educate the public about aviation not incorporate a public awareness section into and its advances during and after World War II, that booth and give an added level of service to the and to educate the nation about the importance air show organizers? This could be as simple as a of maintaining air supremacy. Additionally, flier giving historical information on the air show three of the five stated purposes of the Civil Air itself or a list of recent aerospace achievements, Patrol expressed in U.S. Congressional Charter to as complex as having a short presentation or 36, Chapter 403, directly relate to Aerospace PowerPoint show about air superiority. Having Education. Most of us choose to volunteer with the a hands-on display as well as reading material is Civil Air Patrol because we are interested in some a great way to encourage a wide variety of indiaspect of aviation, and as a diverse group of people, viduals to stop and see what you are presenting. each of us brings a slightly different perspective to More people equal more opportunity for public the organization. exposure. Aerospace Education Your participation in prois important to all of us, viding TOP Flights to teachers Aerospace Education is and is something we need in the Aerospace Education important to all of us and is the to recognize as being Member program, and with the glue that holds us school presentations is what glue that holds us together. together. Consider this. external Aerospace Education Every squadron meetis all about. National ing has some aviation or Aerospace week is September Aerospace Education component to it, whether it 11 through 17, 2011. This would be a great time is an actual Aerospace Education topic, or even to give an Aerospace Education presentation at discussing or learning about aviation weather, a local school. Private, charter, and home school aircraft maintenance, search grids, rocketry, or groups are often easy to approach and welcome discussing one of the cadet modules. Aviation and outside assistance. Aerospace Education are everywhere we look, and Another idea revolves around the rich and in everything we do in Civil Air Patrol. With this diverse history of aerospace accomplishments we in mind, what can we do to spread the word about have in each of our own communities. Consider the advances in aviation and the need to keep a scheduling an annual squadron function focusing strong Air Force? Here are a few ideas. on the historical aerospace contributions that took We participate in many air shows throughout place in your area. Southern California especially the wing, providing support for aviation enthusiasts has a rich aerospace and aviation history waiting to and enabling them to put on interesting air shows be explored. Guest speakers would be a great way for the public and other like-minded aviation to provide a perspective outside our own. A trip to enthusiasts. In return, we receive opportunities for a local aviation museum or aviation related manupublic exposure and an opportunity to recruit new facturing facility would be fun and educational. members. Since the organizers provide us with Exploring our own aviation history can
29 Reprinted from California Wing CAP Bear Facts, summer 2011 29

Aerospace Education
Continued . . .

Requirements
Continued from page 27 . . .

inspire our members to be an active participant in aviation and instill greater pride in our shared organizational heritage. This could evolve into a wing-wide sharing of history at wing conference or at a special Aerospace Education activity. All of this would enhance the already wellestablished cadet Aerospace Education function, and be an added benefit to the senior members as well, rounding out the internal side of our Aerospace Education mission. In Emergency Services, we deal with all kinds of aviation and aerospace technology, from new technologies for aircrews and ground teams, to weather forecasting and planning. It is also important to keep educated about new equipment and processes, as well as the capabilities of our counterparts on any particular Emergency Services mission. This can be the focus of training within the squadron as you prepare for your role in Civil Air Patrols Emergency Services mission. Public awareness is also vital to our mission. Hosting a squadron open house is a good way for every squadron to show off its capabilities and expertise in Aerospace Education, Cadet Programs, and Emergency Services. Do not forget to invite community leaders and those we interface with in the state and local governments. Volunteering to speak at the Elks, Rotary, or other community based groups also improves our aerospace exposure. Cadets, pilots, educators, ground teams, or just interested individuals can make an impact and provide information to members of your local community. Who better to provide this information than the experts that we are? As you can see, Aerospace Education is a vital part of the overall mission of the Civil Air Patrol, and our efforts are needed to keep it a vibrant and healthy element of our existence. It could be said that Aerospace Education is the wind beneath the wings that makes Civil Air Patrol flight possible. H

members who are not proficient in the safety skills needed for our mission to participate in any way. The second key word underlying CAPs extensive requirements is professionalism. The Marines use the slogan A Few Good Men. It is not for everyone it is for the real pros only. The same is true of Civil Air Patrol. The days when a bunch of good old boys simply went flying are long gone. Today we participate in multi-agency operations where CAP members are expected to know and adhere to nationally mandated procedures which are designed to allow disparate organizations to interoperate in a seamless fashion. The recent Deepwater Horizon mission to mitigate the Gulf oil spill was a classic case in point. This was a Federal mission involving FEMA, the Coast Guard, state and local law enforcement, industry experts and others. CAP was activated precisely because we utilize the Incident Command System, have standardized procedures, safety awareness and training, and especially because we are known to Federal authorities as a highly professional organization. There was no place for good old boys doing things their own way at Deepwater Horizon. Civil Air Patrol is a volunteer organization. Our members have limited time to devote to CAP, and they want to use that time carefully focusing on the core reasons they joined CAP. At the same time, CAP is committed to safety and professionalism and that does not come cheap. Every effort has been made to strike a reasonable balance between actual field service and preparatory training requirements. But any expectation that CAP members can function without extensive training is a misplaced expectation. And training is not a one-time event. Why does CAP have so many darned requirements? The question is legitimate, because those requirements consume precious volunteer time. But the answer is simple safety and professionalism. What do we do about the many members who either leave or become inactive? We express our gratitude to the few good men and women who make CAP the success that it is. H
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The Subordinate Unit Inspection Why Are They Picking on Us Again?

Lt. Col. stephen Huss, CAP CAWg inspector general
In my first article on the Inspector General program, I discussed the What and Why of CAPs Inspector General program, and I included some history of the issues that gave birth to the IG program. That article dealt mainly with CAPR 123-1, Inspector General Program. In this article, I will explain the How of the most visible part of the IG program that many of us see, but probably do not fully understand or appreciate - The Subordinate Unit Inspection (SUI). The guidance for this is CAPR 1233, Civil Air Patrol Compliance Assessment Program. It is available online, and it is free. The Civil Air Patrol receives funding from Congress to the tune of more than $25 million each year. We receive it as a part of the Air Force budget, but it is exclusively ours. That is a lot of public money and how we spend that money is defined by federal law. Congress gives us that money to help us carry out the three Congressional missions mandated for the Civil Air Patrol: Aerospace Education, Cadet Programs, and Emergency Services. The Compliance Assessment program is the method we, and the Air Force, use to determine how well we are accomplishing our missions. In my first article, I discussed some of the problems CAP experienced prior to the implementation of the current Inspector General system. I talked about the Air Forces lassez faire attitude toward CAP and the abuse of the system by some that called our relationship into question, caused major upheaval in the program, and found a few people going to jail. CAPR 123-3 requires periodic compliance assessments of all levels of the organization, right down to Squadrons and Flights. Wings are assessed every 4 years. CAWG will be inspected again in January 2012. Groups and Squadrons must be inspected every 36 months and conduct a Self-Assessment in the non-inspected years. Okay, so now what? How does knowing this help my unit? Well, for starters, there are no surprises. The current SUI Guide is available from the CAP NHQ website in the Inspector General section. The SUI Guide covers everything that will be inspected during the SUI and everything a unit commander needs to cover in their annual Self-Assessment. The detailed tabs for each function, i.e., Aerospace Education, Cadet Programs, etc., are guidelines, not checklists. Simply printing out the section and answering yes or no does not work. The tabs tell everyone what supporting documentation the inspection team will expect. Make sure that the documentation is available. It is recommended that the unit also prepare a CD or other electronic copy of each tab of the Assessment Book. The Guide also serves as a roadmap for everyone to follow to fulfill his or her responsibilities in making the unit function. The Guide is the basis for the Assessment Book (or the Continuity Book as it once was known). Members who are newly assigned to a staff position in a unit frequently ask, What am I supposed to do now? While the Assessment Book is required for the SUI, it also serves as an excellent guide for each new unit staff officer. By maintaining the book, staff officers actually are guiding themselves through the details of their specific staff assignments. Additionally, if everyone is maintaining an Assessment Book, then the unit always is ready for inspection, thus avoiding last minute SUI panic. Documentation of activities and programs is important. If it isnt in writing, it didnt happen is the mantra. Copies of required briefings and the associated attendance lists should be included. For example, the Safety Officer must show evidence of an ongoing safety program. This could include posters around the unit meeting spaces, e-mail safety messages sent to all members, a safety newsletter, or videotaped live safety briefings. Copies of these items should be in the Assessment Book. Maintaining an up-to-date unit Assessment Book may seem difficult, however, once started it makes the day-to-day running of the unit a piece of cake. If you would like more information, or tips on ensuring your unit passes its next SUI with excellence, feel free to contact me. After all, Im the IG and Im here to help you! 33

33 Reprinted from California Wing CAP Bear Facts, summer 2011

Wyoming Wing OPSEVAL 2011

The Wyoming Wing OPSEVAL occurred August 22 28 in Casper, Wyoming. All Wyoming Wing Squadrons participated in making this exercise a success. The OPSEVAL was a joint effort with the CAP/ USAF evaluation team, which was comprised of six USAF members and three CAP members. The CAP Members were experienced Region Staff that brought valuable subject matter expertise to the evaluation team. While the Wyoming Wing received a Successful grade for the OPSEVAL, C/2nd Lt. Jonathon Barella received an Excellent for his performance as the Public lt. Col. (CAP) Rick Fawcett, Commander, 492 ES Composite Information Officer (PIO) during the event. Cadet Barella recently Squadron, accepts an RMlR coin on behalf of Cadet Barella (Exceptional Performance) at the WY Wing 2011 OPSEVAl. graduated from the National Presenting the coin is lt. Col. Brad Oliver, CAP-USAF, Emergency Services Academy, RMlR/DO. PIO course, just three weeks prior to the evaluation. Cadet Barellas performance during the OPSEVAL earned the PIO section an Excellent grade, and Cadet Barella received an RMLR coin for Exceptional Performance.

lt. Col. Brad Oliver (RMlR DO), Evaluation Team Chief, watches Cadet Barella brief the Media during WY Wings 2011 OPSEVAl.

lt. Col. Brad Oliver, RMlR/DO, congratulates Col. John Mitchell, WY Wing CC, on Successful OPSEVAl. 35 35

Wyoming Wing Glider Weekend

instruction of instruments and cockpit protocol.

Cadets and Officers from around Wyoming gather in Wheatland, WY for the Wing Glider Orientation Weekend. Twenty-four cadets par-

ticipated in this event. Bob Lynn, Jer Eberhard, Carl Keil, and Bob Daniels of the Glider Center of Excellence from Colorado provided the gliders

and tow planes. There were two Wyoming Cessna 182 aircraft from Jackson and Cody Squadrons that augmented the fun with powered flights.

Planes and glider. 37 37

People began arriving late Friday afternoon with instruction for the gliders beginning early Saturday morning. Cadets were divided into groups to work with specific gliders. The meals were provided by the Wyoming Wing Cadet Programs and overseen by Lt. Col. BJ Carlson, wing DCP. The Town of Wheatland allowed the participants to bunk out at the airport property. A Big Wyoming CAP Thank You goes to our good friends at the Wheatland Municipal Town Hall for that adventure. Lt. Col. Susan McDonald, interviewed several participants and reports: Cadet AB Bowen Stovall, a 7th grader at Torrington Middle School and who has been a member for 2 days with the Wheatland Composite Squadron, summed up the whole weekend with his comment regarding what he thought of his very first CAP event: Awesome! Cadet Terrence Schmidt, an 8th grader from Cody, was asked which he preferred, Glider

Placing wing.

or powered flight and what he liked best about CAP: The Glider, its quieter and that he liked The opportunities available, like this weekend. Captain DJ Sadler from Sheridan rated this event as a 10 out of 10 when compared to other events of similar nature. He stated that Cadets learned a lot about teamwork and situ-

ational awareness, safety, and getting along with others. Bob Lynn a member of the Glider Excellence Team stated, Excellent! when asked to compare the glider event to other events he had brought his gliders to. He also stated that he looks forward to a return trip to the Wheatland Airport next spring.

Aiming for the dolly to move glider to launch area. 39 39

Removing dolly.

Powered preflight.

glider launch. 40

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