CTWG: The passing of CT & MN CAP Member Irvin Mitchell

Irvin Mitchell, 76, died July 7, 2010, at St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth, Minn.

Mr. Mitchell grew up in Stamford and was a volunteer firefighter at the Belltown Fire Department for 19 years.

He served stateside in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.

Mr and Mrs (Lois) Mitchell belonged to the Civil Air Patrol in Connecticut and Minnesota for 16 years.

In addition to his wife of 44 years, Mr. Mitchell is survived two sons, David, of New Milford, and Douglas, and his wife, Amy, of Luck, Wis.; a grandson, Teran; and extended family and friends.

Memorials may be made to St. Luke's Foundation, 1000 East 1st St., Duluth, MN 55805-2297.

CTWG: Live Press Press Release for 2010 NER Exercise "Hurrican Hailey"

LIVE PRESS RELEASE on NER Hurricane Exercise

30 July, 2010
Connecticut Wing Headquarters, Civil Air Patrol
United States Air Force Auxiliary
Public Affairs Office
Middletown, CT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Middletown, CT — Connecticut’s Civil Air Patrol participates in nine states hurricane disaster drill

Connecticut’s thirteen all volunteer Civil Air Patrol squadrons will combine to practice hurricane disaster response this weekend.

Connecticut’s CAP Incident Command Center, covering all of the state, is already actively engaged with the nine states North East Area Command Center, located on Long Island, New York.

In this simulation, CAP began watching the development of a simulated hurricane named “Hailey”, last week. As the simulated catastrophe level 4 hurricane approached the north east, they set into place plans to deploy. Throughout the drill, CAP will be testing many aspects of the region wide incident command system. Regional and state command centers will be activated and Air Crew and Ground Teams will be deployed.

To attain a realistic feel, some aspects of the drill will be pre-scheduled and others will come as a complete surprise. This will require the Connecticut Incident Commander, Major Philip Hirons of the Connecticut Wing and the various forces in the field to adapt to ever changing circumstances, preparing CAP for any future real life events.

The Civil Air Patrol is a multi-capability organization. Some storm related missions they may undertake include, but are not be limited to, air and ground search and rescue, disaster center services, searching for stranded survivors, monitoring of evacuation routes, digital imagery assessments of storm related flooding and critical infrastructure impacts, transportation of critical personnel, materials and supplies, and location of safe landing zones for other rescue aircraft.

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U. S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 59,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and saves an average of 80 lives per year. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the nearly 24,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 69 years. For more information on CAP, visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com, or the Connecticut Wing and it’s over 700 members, at www.ctwg.cap.gov.

THIS IS ONLY AN EXERCISE

Robert Johnson
Public Affairs Officer/Exercise PIO
CT Wing Headquarters
Middletown, CT
Civil Air Patrol – USAF Auxiliary

CAP: CBS News Gulf Report

Aero: NE Space Museum, Space & Aviation Day

I would like to inform you about this year’s Space and Aviation Day coming up on Saturday, August 14, from 9:00 to 4:00.

This is a free annual family event with proceeds from food sales, the road race, and donations going directly to the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford, CT. It is a fun family day with unique opportunities to partake in activities at the CT Air National Guard, the New England Air Museum, and the CT Fire Academy. More information can be found at www.spaceandaviationday.org or the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp website www.holeinthewallgang.org under Support an event hosted by other organizations.

Come and enjoy!

Caroline d'Otreppe
Director of Educational Programs
New England Air Museum
(860) 623-3305 ext.13

CTWG: Paul E. Garber Award at CTWG HQ

Attached is a picture of Maj John Lesick receiving his Paul E. Garber award on 21 July 2010 at the Wing staff call, Connecticut Wing Headquarters. The award was presented to Maj Lesick by Lt Col Tony Vallillo, Chief of Staff, Connecticut Wing.

Photo by Maj Christopher J Kelling

CTWG: Passing of Lt Col Irvin Mitchell

It is with sad news that I inform you of the passing of Lt Col Irvin Mitchell. Lt Col Mitchell was our Wing PA during the command of Colonel Sturges. Lt Col Irvin Mitchell and his wife, Lt Col Lois Mitchell, were with CAP and the CTWG for many years.

Thank you.

Col Cassandra Huchko
CTWG CC

CTWG: 801st SARX

New Fairfield Citizen News

The New Fairfield Fire Department (NFFD) and the local Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Squadron conducted a joint Emergency Services exercise near Squantz Pond State Park, simulating the Search and Rescue techniques that would be used in the event of an aircraft crashing deep in the woods. This was the first joint CAP-Fire Department exercise in New Fairfield and gave the two organizations an opportunity to coordinate operations with each focusing on their area of expertise.

The Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX) began with the simulated report of a distress signal emanating from the Candlewood Lake area that was reported to be from a missing single-engine aircraft with 3 passengers. Upon receiving the alert, a Civil Air Patrol aircraft was launched from the Danbury Municipal Airport to pinpoint the location of the crash using technologies in the aircraft that allow for a sophisticated search and the ability to locate at distress signal from a downed airplane. Captain John Freeman, a New Fairfield resident, was among the pilots that flew the four flights needed to conduct the search “from the air.”

Once the CAP aircraft had located the area of the simulated crash, the CAP Ground Team, using vehicle and handheld devices that tracked the distress signal, was able to locate the site of the crash deep in the woods. Upon securing the crash site, the CAP Ground Team notified the New Fairfield Fire Department (NFFD) which dispatched a fire truck, an ambulance and a customized Gator (ATV) to perform a deep woods medical evacuation. When the Fire Department (FD) got on scene, they found the victims, who were portrayed by CAP cadets, each with a different simulated injury. The Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT’s) triaged and prepared the “casualties” for evacuation, starting with the most critical. The EMT’s transferred the patients to the Gator (ATV), which shuttled the patients through the woods to the ambulance that was waiting on the main road. It took less than twenty minutes to get all three “casualties” evacuated.

Both NFFD Company A Captain Mike Skelly and CAP Major Ken Chapman agreed that the Joint Search and Rescue exercise was a success. The exercise met its goal of demonstrating the capabilities of both the Civil Air Patrol and the local Fire Department to work together in a joint Emergency Services capacity in the event of a search and rescue situation that required aerial search/surveillance or that involved a distress signal emanating from an airplane, a boat or a missing hiker.

Submitted by Maj Ken Chapman
New Fairfield 801st Cadet Squadron, Commander

CTWG: Stratford Eagles at NER Cadet Comp

As many of you know, our Color Guard (Stratford Eagles, CT022) performed this past Memorial Day weekend at the Northeast Region Cadet Competition at Westover ARB in Massachusetts. For the last three years, we have had the honor of representing the CT Wing at this event and this year was our best ever.

The Stratford cadets worked extremely hard, practicing week after week for 4 to 5 hours at a time. C/CMSgt. Sean Decker is the Color Guard Commander and did an outstanding job of leading the team with confidence and enthusiasm. C/TSgt. Michael Rak is second in command and was accompanied by C/SSgt. Liam Decker and C/SrA John Riccio on rifles. C/TSgt. Michael Purcell and C/A1c Esra Jensen were alternates and also participated in the Mile Run and the Written Exam, both of their scores were critical in winning 1st place in the Mile Run. I want to thank Major Burrows for accompanying us on the trip; we could not have been as successful without his help at practice and stepping in as an escort for the trip itself.

All of their hard work and dedication paid off, Chief Decker and his team took 1st place in the Mile Run, 2nd Place in the Indoor Practical and 3rd Place in the Outdoor Practical. These cadets spent a lot of time and energy preparing for this, and I could not be more proud of their results. Our Region Commander, Colonel Hayden was on hand to present these awards.

Also during this weekend, Colonel Brian Cooper of NER staff assisted us in promoting Cadet Riccio to rank of Senior Airman, Cadet S. Decker received his Goddard award and Cadet L. Decker received his first milestone award and was promoted to Staff Sergeant for the Wright Brothers award. Congratulations to all those promoted, you certainly earned it.

Capt. Ian M. Schermann
Deputy Commander for Cadets
Stratford Eagles Squadron - CTWG

Morale: Memorial Day

Today, we honor those who choose to act in service to others before fulfilling the needs of self. Today, we remember those who fell and are reminded that those who have served and continue to serve have earned our respect.

Henry V

CTWG: Cadet turned Senior Gives High School Grad Presentation about Joining CAP

SM Kyle Johnson & Lt Col Carl Stidsen, Project Mentor

SM Kyle Johnson, a Public Affairs Staff Assistant assigned to Connecticut Wing Headquarters, recently presented his capstone graduation project to the Town of Bolton. His professional level project had three simultaneous goals, document the process of becoming a CAP Senior Member Flight Officer, a Public Affairs Officer and work toward a rating as an Air Crew Mission Scanner. His project is substantially complete on all levels. His final presentation was regarded as highly successful by CAP members and Bolton natives alike.

Johnson joined the CT Wing as a 17 year old cadet, the only and possibly first cadet ever assigned to Wing staff. It was recognized, because of his advanced age (17 1/2) and the short September to May project time period his introduction to CAP and eventual development into a senior member Flight Officer would not fit into the normal cadet program. He was given a slot as a staff assistant in Public Affairs while the particulars were worked out.

To maximize available resources and meet the tight time frame, Wing PA proposed that his project be coupled with a conceptual school recruiting project developing a presentation that would target advanced age high school students. The target audience, the normally hard to reach students age 17-18 whom often do not have an interest in the cadet program due to their age. However, to graduate high school these students are required to perform some sort of community service and often have a strong personal interest in building up professional level experience for inclusion on college applications and future job resumes. PA framed the service before self concept into a single question, “If you have to do community service anyway, would you rather do it raking leaves or by being an active part of a 700 member team helping to watch over and protect 3.5 million of your neighbors, friends and family?”

The concept of tapping into a potential pool of “Professional Flight Officer Staff Assistants” was considered. This concept was aimed at attracting new members that would be available to CAP’s wing and squadron staffs, helping existing senior members get more done while minimizing the chances of “senior member burn out”. An additional point was considered, if new senior members were aggressively sought after in the 17-18 year age bracket, would this early indoctrination increase senior member retention over the longer term? All good questions to consider.

After receiving an OK to kick off the project (staying within regulations) from Connecticut Wing Commander, Col Cassandra Huchko, (then CT Wing Chief of Staff), Lt Col Carl Stidsen volunteered as the official project mentor. Lt Col Stidsen, a pilot and the CT Wing Inspector General carefully monitored cadet Johnson’s progression through the Curry Basics, taught him drill and after attaining age 18, Senior Member Level 1 and Mission Scanner basics.

At Wing Headquarters Johnson patiently waited for his 18th birthday while remaining ranked as a cadet basic. During this time he served as an “intern” and trained in basic PAO responsibilities. He actively wrote and blogged articles and practiced event and aerial photography. As a senior member, he continues to serve in this role today while he progresses toward full APAO status and completes his Mission Scanner training flights. He has completed Senior Member Level 1 and is waiting out his time in grade before promotion to SM Flight Officer. Of great importance to the overall success of his project, the entire CT Wing staff treated him as an adult and as a professional from day one on.

Assessing the possible long term outcomes of his project, SM Johnson believes that every late age high school student in America represents an enormous “senior member” marketing target for CAP. Simply put, everyone wins in a conceptual “Flight Officer Training” scenario. The trainees receive and surpass their required community service hours while they simultaneously build up real life, professional job experience targeted at their areas of career interest. The school gets credit for all the community service hours and will graduate students better prepared to engage new challenges. CAP takes advantage of a potentially massive pool of previously untapped work resources and encourages long term membership. Lastly, America benefits through the efforts of highly motivated young adults that understand the meaning and the responsibilities associated with concept of “Service before self”.

Addendum 1: Connecticut Department of Education (similar to 22 other states)

“The Capstone Experience is a culminating activity that provides a way for students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they acquired during their secondary school years of education. It engages students in a project/experience that focuses on an interest, career path or academic pursuit that synthesizes classroom study and real world perspective. High school students are asked to demonstrate their ability to apply key knowledge and skills by planning, completing and presenting a culminating project linked to one or more area of personal interest and the individual's Student Success Plan.

The capstone experience may include an in-depth project, reflective portfolio, community service and/or internship. As part of the experience, the student will demonstrate research, communication and technology skills including additional relevant 21st century skills.

CTWG: Silver City O Flights

Article to follow....

CTWG: Southington Awards Photos

Some shots from Connecticut's Southington Squadron awards.

Morale: Its almost Airshow Season!

CTWG: Past 169th Cadet Commander Deploys

Former cadet commander of the 169th Composite Squadron, 1Lt Alison Gawlinski USAF has recently deployed to Iraq. Allison is a graduate of the U. S. Air Force Academy, class of 2007.

Attached are pictures are of her final training in Wyoming.

Post courtesy of Maj Chris Kelling, CTWG and her father, Edward Gawlinski

Curr Events: Real Car bomb in Times Square

Recently we were all reminded by CAP we live in a target rich environment for terrorism. Reminder two... CBS video here...

Police said an SUV found parked on 45th Street was loaded with explosives, smoking and moments from blowing up when an alert t-shirt vendor noticed something wasn't right and alerted a mounted police officer.

That officer evacuated the block and called for reinforcements.

"We avoided what could have been a very deadly event," Mayor Bloomberg said.

"Firefighters, emergency service officers and the bomb squad responded and the bomb squad confirmed that the suspicious vehicle did indeed contain an explosive device," Bloomberg said.

Packed inside the dark green Nissan Pathfinder were three propane tanks, consumer-grade fireworks, two full five-gallon gasoline containers, two clocks, some electrical wire, and a metal gun locker.

The vehicle was abandoned with its engine on and hazard lights flashing, but police don't yet know who was driving it.

"We're in the process of identifying additional cameras which may have captured images of the vehicle and more important, people seen driving or leaving the vehicle," said NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly.

Police immediately shut down Times Square, canceled Broadway shows, evacuated the Marriott Marquis, and ushered thousands of people outside the barriers.

Bloomberg said the bomb scare is another reminder that New York is a terrorist target and everyone has to be vigilant.

"Message, New Yorkers, is what we've been saying for an awful long time. Terrorists around the world who feel threatened by the freedoms that we have in this country and want to take those freedoms away from us always focus on the symbol of those freedoms, and that is New York City," Bloomberg said.

Aero: Apache in Iraq

A new friend of CTWG PA (adopted through Soldiers Angels) and past CAP 1Lt pilot from AZ sends these photos of life in Iraq as a Crew Chief on an Apache Longbow Crew.