Duluth Squadron - Jul 2010

8/2/2019 Duluth Squadron - Jul 2010

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Above: U.S. Congressman James Oberstar presents the Amelia

Earnhardt Award to C/Capt. Kristin Young. Right: Dale Klapmeier,

co-founder of Cirrus Aircraft, explains how and why they first

developed the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System.


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2

Our Newest Members

Senior Members

Mitch Pitoscia

Aaron Wedge

Date(s) Event

1/27 Awards Banquet (See article on pg. 7)

3/4 Squadron Change of Command

4/164/18 April Encampment Preparatory School (EPS)CIAmn Young attended EPS at Camp Ripley, CICapt Yo

and Capt. Freseman served as staff to help prepare the cadets for upcoming encampment. (See photo page 5)

4/22 Cirrus Aircraft Tour

A handful of senior members took a tour of the Cirrus Ai

facility, (See photo on pg. 5)

4/30 - 5/2 Wing Conference (See article on pg. 6)

5/16 - 5/18 SAR Eval

Although our squadron was unable to provide an

aircrew for Saturday; Lt Col Bischoff and Capt. Lawler fle

Mankato on Sun morning to teach ES

qualifications to aircrews.

5/21 - 5/23 May Encampment Preparatory School (EPS)

CIAmn McDonell attended EPS at Camp Ripley, Capt.Freseman was the EPS Commander (see photo page 5)

5/29 National Check Pilot Standardization Course

The annual MNWG's NCPSC was held at the Viking Squ

ron hangar. Maj Gary Lemasters, Lt Col Bischoff and Ca

Lawler attended the course.

5/31 Memorial Day Parade

Lt Col Bischoff and cadets represented our squadron in

years Memorial Day Parade in West Duluth.

6/9 CAF Open House

6/12 AFA Awards (See article on pg 4)

Squadron Wrap-up

Duluth Composite SquadronContact Information

Squadron CommanderPat [email protected]

Deputy Commander for SeniorsDerek [email protected]

Deputy Commander for CadetsBrian [email protected]

Cadet CommanderOutgoing (7/8/10)C/Maj Kristin [email protected]

Incoming (7/8/10)

C/CMSgt Jacob Jones

[email protected]

Public Affairs OfficerAmy [email protected]

www.duluth.mncap.org

Volunteers Needed!

Toprovideemergencyservices,theCivilAirPatrolneedspersonneltohelpinareassuchas:

Administration,Communications,Education,Logistics,Organization,PublicRelations,SearchTeams,andmanymore

Noexperiencenecessary,wewilltrainyou!Wealsohaveaneedforprofessionallytrainedmembersinthemedical,legal,andclergyfields,aswellasprivatepilots.

Formoreinformationemail:[email protected]

Date(s) Event

7/5 - 7/12 Canadian Border Zone Mapping Exercise

7/8 Cadet Change of Command/Awards Ceremony

7/10 - 7/17 MNWG Encampment

7/17 - 7/18 Duluth Airshow

7/23 - 7/25 Group One SAREX Hosted in Duluth

8/14 Minnesota Twins Trip

8/20 - 8/22 Group Two SAREX (Flying Cloud)

Upcoming Events


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Commanders Corner by Pat Lawle

If you havent been in the squadrons

headquarters in the past few months, you a

in for quite a shock. Our building received

much needed furniture upgrade this past

March from items provided by the 148th FW

Many squadron volunteers came together

during non-meeting times to throw out the

and make room for the new, which include

many new desk units, chairs, filing cabinets

whiteboards, bookshelves, tables, a podium

and even a small couch. It is still a work in

progress and day by day we are getting alittle more organized.

Although the furniture may be classified

as nearly-new, it is all in excellent conditio

and is a vast improvement over the many

archaic pieces of furniture that it replaced.

The squadron is greatly appreciative for the

Duluth Air National Guard base to have

provided such a generous donation of item

to the unit.

With this being the inaugural

issue of the squadron

newsletter, it is a great

opportunity for me to say a

few words about the recent

Change of Command. On

Thursday March 4th, 2010 at a ceremony presidedover by the Group One Commander, Keith

Bischoff, I was given the distinct honor of

becoming the Commander of the Duluth

Composite Squadron. Enough cannot be said for

my predecessor, Maj. Ken Wallace, who when

asked to take over a squadron that was struggling

o barely keep its head above water, did so without

hesitation and within three years not only turned

he squadron around, but with his leadership made

t one of the most effective squadrons in the MN

Wing.

However, Maj. Wallace didnt do it unilaterally;

he was only able to do what he did because of the

squadrons volunteers that routinely put the needs

of the community ahead of their own. In 2009

alone, these dedicated members served their

community and country by performing in excess of

8,000 hours of unpaid volunteer service. Inaddition to running the squadron, developing our

youth, fund-raising, and conducting training

classes they participated in eight major search-and

-rescue training exercises and multiple emergency

missions; which included, deploying an aircraft and

aircrew to Grand Forks, ND for three days to

conduct low-level aerial photography of flood

stricken properties; as well as an aircraft and

aircrew to Beltrami Country, MN to assess flood

damage. More recently, this past November, the

Duluth Composite squadron provided an aircraft

and personnel every single day for four days to

in the search for Andrew Lindberg, the missing

Lakeville, MN pilot. Although the days were

extremely long, cold and uncomfortable, there

were always an abundance of volunteers devo

to finding that missing airman.

It is a great honor to be the commander of agroup of volunteers that are willing to serve the

community in so many different ways. Develop

our youth into the leaders of tomorrow, providin

aerospace education to our local citizens and

being on call 24-hours a day to search for a

missing aircraft, provide support during a natur

disaster or help out a family that is displaced by

fire.

My future goals for the squadron are for it to

(Contnued on pa

New Furniture!

Members from the Mississippi, Alabama and

Florida wings are launching daily aerial damage

assessment flights from their station in the Mobile

Convention Center, one of several incident

command posts set up for the Gulf Coast oil spill

response.

In addition to the CAP volunteers, hundreds of

other disaster assistance personnel are

participating in Deepwater Horizon Response, an

operation coordinated by the unified command

made up of representatives from the U.S. Coast

Guard; BP; the states of Mississippi, Alabama and

Florida; the Environmental Protection Agency; and

the Department of the Interior. The unified

command is working with agencies such as NASA,

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration and CAP to provide data to thedifferent groups working to clean up the spill.

CAPs critical missions in support of Deepwater

Horizon Response have included flying VIPs over

coastal waters to get a look at the integrity of oil

containment barriers, transporting vital mission

equipment, collecting data and flying coastline

photo reconnaissance missions.

The most important task the CAP aircrews

perform is making daily flights over 700 miles of

coastline from Louisiana to Florida and taking

digital images of the oil containment barriers and

adjacent land area near the shoreline.

In 13 days of flying missions, 26 volunteers

have expended 2,128 man-hours making 73 flights

in 12 CAP aircraft, for a total of 197 hours in the air

over the waters along the Gulf Coast.

On an average day, the aircrews take from

2,400 to 3,600 digital images. The images

represent critical information that planners are

using to help determine their response to the spill,

which began April 20 following an explosion at the

BP-operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

Whether it is performing duties as an aircrew

member, mission base or support staff, the

opportunity to serve with Civil Air Patrol inresponse to this incident is an honor, said Maj.

Keith Riddle, inspector general for the Mississippi

Wing.

Maj. John Neil, the initial CAP incident

commander at the Mobile command post, spent

nine days away from his civilian job to serve. If I

did not have to make a living, I would continue to

serve as the IC until the mission is completed, he

said.

CAP Members Fly Critical Missions in Gulf

Oil Spill Response from Volunteer Magazine


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4

Former Duluth Composite Squadron Cadet

Althea Johnston successfully completed the United

States Air Force Academy (USAFA) in Colorado

Springs, CO this past May. Althea graduated with a

Bachelor of Science degree in Geospatial Science

with a minor in Spanish. She had USAFA

assignments in Tokyo, Portugal, Czech Republic,

and an exchange semester at the Spanish Air Force

Academy. Altheas Academy leadership roles

included becoming a glider instructor pilot trainer,

USAFA Airfield Flight Commander, Ring Dance

Coordinator, as well as various positions within her

squadron.

Althea served with the Duluth Squadron from

2003 to 2005 where she earned the General Billy

Mitchell Award attaining the rank of Cadet Second

Lieutenant. In addition to her position as Cadet

Aerospace Officer, Althea was very active in the

CAPs Emergency Services and flying programs.

While a cadet, Althea also earned her private pilots

license with CAP flight instructor Major Gary

Lemasters.

Altheas plans for the summer are to spend time

with her family, travel, which includes flying a small

airplane to Alaska, and various construction

projects. Althea will begin Undergraduate Pilot

Training in Columbus, Mississippi in the fall.

Duluth CAP Cadet Graduates from USAFAby Pat Lawler

Six Duluth Composite Squadron cadets received

he newly formed Keith M. Bischoff Scholarship

Award from the Richard I Bong Chapter of the Air

Force Association (A FA) at their quarterly awards

banquet on June 12th, 2010 held at the

Commemorative Air Force hangar and museum

ocated on the Duluth Airport.

C/SMSgt Jones, C/SSgt. Carlson, C/SrA Mlinar,

C/Amn McDonell, and C/Amn Young were all

formally presented with checks in the amount of one

half of their tuition cost to attend this year's summer

encampment. Also receiving the award was Cadet

Commander C/Maj Young. Several of the cadets

also performed as the color guard for the evening's

ceremonies and staffed a recruiting booth along with

senior members Maj. Culbert, Capt. Freseman andLt. Pitoscia.

In addition to being one of the founding

members of the local AFA chapter, the scholarship's

namesake, Keith M. Bischoff, is an active member in

many other volunteer organizations including the

Minnesota Civil Air Patrol (CAP), where he has

served in multiple capacities throughout his many

years in the organization and is currently assigned

as the Group One Commander overseeing five

Northern Minnesota CAP Squadrons. According to

the AF A chapter president, Carol Wolosz, it is their

desire to make this an annual award for the cadets

of the Duluth Composite Squadron.

AFAs Keith Bischoff Scholarship Award

presented to Duluth CAP Cadets by Pat Lawler

Volunteer Spotligh

Maj. Gary Lemasters

The Civil Air Patrol is

made up of many

members that can be only

be labeled as "uber-

volunteers", and our first

ever member beinghighlighted is one of those

volunteers.

Gary has actively served in the Minnesota Civil A

Patrol for23 years, as well as many other volunteer

organizations including the Experimental Aircraft

Association, Lions Club, and Air Force Association

providing our area with hundreds of hours of commun

service each year.

Along with being a Search and Rescue (SAR) mis

pilot, he is also a certified flight instructorconducting

numerous hours offlight instruction annually to our ca

and seniormembers. Gary has also earned the FAA

Gold Seal Flight Instructor Certificate.

During the countless SAR missions that Gary has

been involved with, he has been awarded three Find

Ribbons and a Life Saving Ribbon. Along with flying,

currently serves the Duluth Composite Squadron as b

the Finance and Operations Officers. He has also se

the squadron as the Deputy Commander for Seniors

the Administrative Officer.

Gary spent much of his childhood in the Los AngCA area but moved to Proctor in 1971 with his family

where he graduated from high school. He currently

resides in Cloquet, MN and is the father offour grown

children (3 boys and 1 girl). He is employed by St Lou

County as a Heavy Equipment Operator and also wo

as a freelance Certified Flight Instructor. After high sc

Gary attended UMD's Advanced Aviation program an

since then has accumulated over 4,500 flight hours.

Gary is also an avid outdoorsman that enjoys bot

hunting and fishing. He enjoys competitive shooting

Pictured left to right C/Arm McDonell, C/Maj Young, C/SMSgt

Jones and C/Amn Young. (Not pictured C/SSgt Carlson and C/

SrA Mlinar).

The CAP Mission Statement

To serve America by developing our Na

tions youth; accomplishing local, state and

national emergency and humanitarian missi

and educating our citizens on the impact o

aviation and space.


5/8

Pictured left to right: C/Maj Young, C/CMSgt Jones and C/A1C Young after

heir recent promotion on June 17th.

Father and son members, SM Jay Jones and C/CMSgt Jones at the Fa

Day fly-in pancake breakfast hosted by the Grand Rapids Squadron.

Above: C/Amn Young arriving at the April EPS.

Right: C/Amn McDonell receives his completion

certificate from EPS Commander Capt. Brian Freseman

during the May school.

Pictured above left to right: Senior Members Pat Lawler, Matt Werner, D

Olson, Jaime Bird, and Keith Bischoff with Cirrus representative Gary B

front of The Jet during a tour of the Cirrus facility on April 22nd.

Pictured below from left to right: C/SMSgt Jones, C/CMSgt Vondy, C/2d Lt

Vondy, and C/SSgt Carlson prepare to lead the 2010 Memorial Day parade in

West Duluth. Right: C/SrA Mlinar and C/A1C Semaan join the ranks to begin

he march

Group One Commander Lt Col Keith Bischoff (left) and MN Wing Commander

Col Tom Theis (middle) greet U.S. Congressman James Oberstar during the

Duluth squadrons annual awards banquet held January 27th at the Proctor

Blackwoods.

1Lt Derek Olson (Right) being promoted by

Squadron Commander Pat Lawler ion March 25th

Photo Gallery

Local Businesses that Support our Squadron!


6/8

6

Squadron to Host Training Exercise by Pat Lawler

Approximately one dozen red white and blue

aircraft and numerous volunteers are scheduled

to descend upon the Duluth Airport on July 24th

to conduct simulated emergency missions all

over the Northland. Training will include search-

ing for objects such as crashed aircraft, missing

hunters, and even stranded boaters. In addition,they will practice homeland security and disaster

relief flights conducting aerial reconnaissance

and photography of prepositioned targets.

In support of this event, Cirrus Aircraft is

providing the space for aircraft parking and the

squadrons base of operations where the entire

exercise will be coordinated and managed. The

operation is designed to emulate an actual

emergency situation providing real world scenar-

ios to hone the skills of the members.

In addition to the Duluth Composite Squad-

rons volunteers, there are more than 1,200 Civil

Air Patrol Members statewide in Minnesota that

are on call 24-hours a day ready to respond at a

moments notice; not to mention the nearly

60,000 nationwide. Rest assured, if a large

disaster were to occur near Duluth, we could

literally have scores of volunteers helping out in

a matter of hours.

become more embedded with the surroundin

area, to give more assistance in times of nee

and to provide more community service. To

accomplish these goals the squadron needs

increase its awareness in the public view andgrow in numbers of volunteers.

I look forward to serving the members of

squadron in this capacity over the next few ye

and again I truly appreciate the opportunity to

a part of an organization with so many who g

back tirelessly to their community.

Commanders Corner

(Contnued from page 3)

Cadet Second Lieutenants Marshall and

Chandler Vondy of Esko have both earned

the prestigious General Billy Mitchell award.

The formal ceremony will take place July 8,

2010 at Monaco Air. The Mitchell awards will

be presented to the cadets by the MN Group

One Commander, Lt. Col Keith Bischoff.

Receiving this award marks the end of the

enlisted phase of the cadet program and the

beginning of the Cadet Officer phase.

Marshall has been involved with the CAP for

three years and is currently the Deputy Cadet

Commander for the Duluth Composite Squadron

of the CAP. Marshall has completed the CAP

basic encampment and graduated from the level

two and three courses of the MN CAP Ground

Team Academy. Last year, he attended the FAA

Aviation Career Education Camp. During his three

years with the Duluth Composite Squadron,

Marshall has served as an element leader, Flight

Sergeant and First Sergeant. Marshall plans on

attending Grace College in Winona Lake, IN this

fall and joining the Air Force Reserves as security

personnel.

Chandler, a Cadet Flight Commander for the

Duluth Squadron, has also been a part of the CAP

cadet program for three years. He has also

served as the Cadet Admin Officer and Flight

Sergeant. He accompanied his brother to Wing

Encampment in 2008 and has attended the MN

Ground Team Academy. He completed the

Minnesota Leadership Academys Basic OfficerCourse last fall. During a recent Group Two

Search and Rescue Exercise he served as both a

Flight Line Marshaller and a Ground Team

Member. Chandlers plan after high school is to

attend medical school through the Air National

Guard or Air Force Reserve.

Additionally, Lewis Vondy, Marshall and

Chandlers father, received many achievements in

the Civil Air Patrol as well, including the coveted

Mitchell award.

The award honors the late General Billy

Mitchell, former Deputy Chief of theArmy Air

Service and military aviation visionary. Since

1964, Civil Air Patrol cadets have had the chance

to earn this exceptional award by passing a series

of leadership, aerospace and physical fitness

tests. In addition, cadets must attend moral

leadership training and complete a military style

encampment. On average, only 15% of Civil Air

Patrol cadets will ever attain this achievement.

Esko Brothers Earn the General Billy

Mitchell Award by Amy Houde

C/2d Lt Chandler (left) and C/2d Lt Marshall (right) Vondy.

The 2010 Minnesota Wing Conference w

held on April 30 May 2nd at Sugar Lake Lo

near Grand Rapids. For many Seniors and

Cadets, this was the first wing conference we

attended and it certainly wont be the last. T

opening ceremony included several keynote

speakers as well as updates from the staff at

Wing. In addition to meeting many other

members face-to-face for the first time, there

were several break out sessions that memb

could choose to attend. Many of these sess

focused on areas that our members special

in such as recruiting, operations, safety, logis

just to name a few. These were very inform

on keeping us up to date on upcoming chang

and improvements that will be made going

forward.

On Saturday night, there was the formal

banquet followed by a dance. Again, this wa

great opportunity for us to visit with individuafrom all over Minnesota Wing that we haven

had the chance to meet with.

For any members who have not yet atten

a Wing Conference, I would highly recomme

doing so. This was my first, and I plan on be

at them on an annual basis from now on. Th

knowledge you gain over a weekend like this

invaluable.

Wing Conferenceby Derek Olso
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Air_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Air_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Air_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Air_Service


7/8

Approximately 80 members and guests

attended the Annual Awards Banquet of the Duluth

Composite Squadron of the Minnesota CAP on

January 28, 2010 at Blackwoods, Proctor, MN.

The event featured U.S. House of RepresentativesJames Oberstar as the keynote speaker along with

Cirrus Design co-Founder, Mr. Dale Klapmeier.

The annual dinner recognizes and celebrates

he thousands of hours of volunteer service that

he members of the Duluth Composite Squadron

provide to their community. The banquet is also a

ime for the squadron to honor those in the

community who through both financial and in-kind

donations greatly support the squadron.

Congressman Oberstar shared his perspectiveand commitment to general aviation legislation and

he critical service provided by the CAP to the

general aviation community. He also gave a

irsthand experience of the recent Haitian

earthquake tragedy.

Mr. Klapmeier shared several light-hearted and

anecdotal experiences from the development and

esting that occurred in the process of registering

he uniquely designed aircraft that is

headquartered in Duluth and has grown to be the

leading producer of general aviation aircraft

worldwide. Being a former CAP cadet, Mr.

Klapmeier has many fond memories and strong

loyalties to the mission of the CAP.

CAP member awards included:

Air Force Sergeants Associations Certific

of Recognition presented by Mr. Mark

Wasserbuaer to C/SMSgt Jacob Jones.

Air Force Associations Certificate of

Recognition presented by Ms Carol Wol

to C/Capt. Kristin Young.

Civil Air Patrols Amelia Earhardt Award -

presented by Congressman Oberstar to C

Capt Kristen Young.

Commanders Commendation presented

Maj Ken Wallace to Lt. John Feth for his

outstanding leadership and service to the

squadron as Deputy Commander for Cadets.

In addition to the CAP member Awards, bo

Monaco Air Duluth and the Duluth Airport Auth

were recognized for their generous support of t

Duluth Composite Squadron and the MN CAP.

Accepting the Community Awards for each we

Don Monaco, CEO of Monaco Air Duluth and B

Grefe, Operations Manager for the Duluth Airp

Authority (himself a former CAP cadet).

Congressman Oberstar Keynotes Squadrons Annual

Awards banquet by Ken Wallac

The Duluth Squadron in

conjunction with CAP

squadrons located in Grand

Rapids and Walker will conduct

communications testing within

the Canadian Border Zone from

July 5th 12th. The Canadian

Border Zone (depicted in

figure 1) is an area identified where certain radio

transmissions may interfere with Canadian radio

frequencies . The CAP is restricted from transmitting on

the majority of their emergency services frequencies

within the zone. Those communications that are allowed

in zone are limited to maximum altitude and power

output.

The objective of this testing is to determine how the

CAP can effectively communicate within the border zone

in the event of an actual emergency situation without

violating the communications constraints. The process

will include a mobile airborne repeater preposition

outside of the border zone at an altitude of approxim

10,000. Other aircraft will fly simulated search missi

at different locations inside of the restricted area

attempting to communicate with base stations located

Walker, Grand Rapids and Duluth via the airborne

repeater.

Procedures for communicating within the Canad

Border Zone and communications coverage map of t

area will be published and disseminated for use in ac

and training missions.

Duluth Squadron PlansCanadian Border Zone Testing by Pat Lawle

Figure 1: The Canadian Border Zone is the area north of Line A to the Canadian Border.

U.S. Congressman James Oberstar presents the Keynote address

for the squadrons annual awards banquet.

Mr. Mark Wasserbauer (left) presents C/SMSgt Jacob Jones (right)

with a Citation from the Air Force Sergeants Association.

Picture right, Maj. Ken Wallace presents Monaco Air CEO, Don

Monaco with Squadron Appreciation Award.


8/8

For more information on joining the Civil Air Patrol

Email: [email protected]

Duluth Squadron - Jul 2010

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