Wyoming Wings Magazine, March 2007

8/14/2019 Wyoming Wings Magazine, March 2007

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WYOMING

WINGS

WYOMING

WINGS

See cover story on page 31 . . .

March 2007


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Wyoming Wings

The Wyoming Wings is an autho-

rized 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. Opin-

ions expressed by the publishers

and writers are their own and not

to be considered official expres-sion by Civil Air Patrol or the Air

Force. The appearance of adver-

tisements in this publication, in-

cluding supplements and inserts,

does not constitute an endorse-

ment by Civil Air Patrol or the De-

partment of the Air Force of prod-

ucts and services advertised.

HEADQUARTERS

Wyoming Wing

Civil Air Patrol

Bldg. 233

Warr en AFB

(307) 773-4519

Fax (307) 773-4783

MAILING ADDRESS

Wyoming Wing

Civil Air Patrol

P. O. Box 9507

Cheyenne, WY 82003-9507

Wing Commander:

Colonel Robert Cook

Editor:

2d Lt Jeanne S tone-Hunter

For information on

advertising rates and space,

please call

1-800-635-6036

Continued on page 7 . . .

Commanders Corner

1

Colonel Cook assumed

command of Wyoming

Wing last fall. He was

gracious enough to subject him-

self to a long list of questions.

His answers give us an idea of

who he is and what he would

like to accomplish with our help.

Wyoming Wings Magazine:Where were you born and

raised?Colonel Cook: I was born in

Binghamton, New York andwas raised in New York State.

WW : What is notable aboutyour high school career?

CC : Most notable was the factthat I graduated.

WW : Did you attend college?CC : I started my college career

at the Univ. of Maryland,Extension Division in Englandand in Greece. I attended theSUNY at Binghamton, NY andgraduated in Electrical Tech-nology. I attended the Univ. ofDenver and graduated with aBSEE Electrical Engineering.I attended the Univ. of Phoenixand graduated with an MA in

An Interview With the New Wing

CommanderColonel Robert CookManagement Sciences. I didpos t -graduate s tudies inMechanical Engineering at theUniv. of Colorado at Boulder, CO.

WW : What are your notableaccomplishments, personal orprofessional?

CC : I married Alberta Hills in acivil ceremony at Brackley,Northhants, England. I served

5 years active duty with 3rdAir Force with a specialty inCryptology. I was posted to anRAF Base in Croughton, Englandand at the US Embassy inAthens, Greece. I later wasemployed by IBM and servedin numerous management andengineering positions.

WW : How long have you beenmarried?

CC: We celebrated our 50th wed-ding anniversary this past year.

WW: Children and grandchildren?CC : We have three children.

Our son is a Major in the USArmy stationed at Fort Meade,Maryland. Our youngestdaughter lives in Costa Rica


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As reported in the Novem-ber 2006 Wyoming Wingsmagazine, last fall the LaramiePeak Squadron successfullylaunched a balloon carrying apayload. On board was a Hobodata logger with pressure, inter-nal and external temperature andrelative humidity sensors. Thepayload also included an ELTtransmitter beacon with lithium

By

2d Lt Jeanne Stone-Hunter

Laramie PeakSquadron

Balloon LaunchFollow-up

battery and a 1.3 MP digitalcamera with added timer circuit.Total weight with batteries andparachute was less than 350grams and it was launched on aKamont 300g balloon inflated to48 inches in diameter. Although

the squadron tried valiantly tolocate the payload the day of thelaunch, they were unable to find it.

Preparing for such an even-tuality, the payload was welllabeled with the squadronsaddress and phone number and


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contained Priority Mail postageinside. The launch team hopedwhoever found it would returnthe payload to the Squadron.

In late November the squad-ron received a very pleasant sur-

prise in the mail. A citizen inAlbin, WY had found the payload.It had eventually landed in thesmall community nearly 110 miles

east of Laramie. The payload had accomplished itsmission providing a wealth of data and some amazingpictures, including these.

The squadron plans another launch in the nearfuture, weather permitting.

For more information on the NASA grant thatfunded the launch and starting your own programcontact Maj Mark Carlson.


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Editors Comments

By 2d Lt Jeanne M. Stone-Hunter

This is my second edition and I hope youve enjoyed reading the magazine as much as Ive

enjoyed putting it together. Its fascinating to learn what all of you are doing and it makes me proud

to call myself a member of this outstanding organization.

I want to thank everyone who submitted articles this month. We had a nice variety of informa-

tion about cadets, squadrons and the Wing. We even have one very good article written by a cadet. I

know how busy everyone is and cant thank you all enough for taking the time and effort to write

these articles on top of all your other Civil Air Patrol, personal and professional responsibilities.

Please keep sending the good news in!

Many of our members are

new to Civil Air Patrol. Thisguidance is provided by yourWing to assist all Seniors andCadets as they progress in train-ing from Level I through LevelV as the finest group of volun-teer members augmenting theUnited States Air Force in Aero-space Education, Search andRescue, Cadet Programs, andSpecial Operations. As all of us

have come into the 21st Centurythe United States Air Force pro-vides most of the funding forCivil Air Patrol in differentways. The United States AirForce expects all of us as CivilAir Patrol volunteer members toprogress in training and be asproficient as possible for allMissions assigned to us no mat-ter what Specialty Track we

chose for our volunteer careerservice. CAP Regulation 50-17spells out the specific require-ments for completing each level

DIRECTOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTTRAINING AND GUIDANCE

By Maj Steven L. Ellis/Wyoming Wing HQ/DPD

of training and there is a chart

Attachment I, CAP SeniorMember Professional Develop-ment Program Progression andAwards which briefly explainswhat is required for a member tomove from Level I to Level Vand the time requirements forthat progression. All SeniorMembers are encouraged toenroll in Specialty Track 215,Aerospace Education. Complet-

ing this Specialty Track willgive you the background tobecome the Aerospace Educa-tion Officer for your Squadronor the Wing. As Senior Mem-bers in the United States AirForce Auxiliary AFIADL Cor-respondence courses are avail-able to enhance your career pro-gression and training require-ment. This is the same training

Active Duty, Guard, and ReserveMilitary members are mandatedto complete within (1) year ofenrollment to maintain their

military career fields. All of the

Specialty Tracts are listed inCAP Pamphlet 15 for careertrack you decide to choose andcomplete. Every Senior memberis required to be enrolled in aSpecialty Track even if yourinterest is specifically Searchand Rescue. This area has Pilot,Scanner, Observer to includeSlow Scan, and Ground Search.All of this training is to be docu-

mented in your Senior MemberMaster Training Record on theCAP Form 45b. If you are aSquadron Member i t is theResponsibility of the SquadronCommander to see that theserecords are kept up to date andthat an Awards Program isactive in each Squadron. TheCadet program is in CAPR 52-16.

Civil Air Patrol is the finest

volunteer organization and thebest kept secret; learn moreabout it at www.cap.gov. Pleasecontact me with any questions!

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and owns a Bed and Breakfast.Our older daughter is marriedwith two children and works asa commercial real estate devel-

oper. Her most recent projectis the extension to the DenverArt Museum.

WW : Do you have other volun-teer activities besides CAP?

CC : I have served in numerouspositions with severalHomeowners Associations andas a property manager andfinancial officer for non-profitcorporations.

WW : Do you have any hobbies?CC : I like to rock and ice climb.

I like to mountain bike, ski,hike, boat, and snorkel.

WW : What is your favoritememory?

CC : Meeting my bride atSouthhampton, England just asshe arrived from the US on theHMS QE to marry me.

WW : What is the best advice

youve ever received?CC : My father once told me that

you can lead a horse to water,but until you can get him tofloat on his back you have notdone much.

WW: What is your life philosophy?CC : You must be truthful in all

matters. If you are not, youwill loose the trust of thosewho mean the most to you.You have to maintain integrityin what you say and in whatyou do. Be loyal to thosewhom you regard.

WW: How long have you beenwith Civil Air Patrol?

CC : I joined CAP in January1990 with the Vance BrandComposite Squadron.

WW : Why did you join CAP?CC : I was getting ready to retire

and I wanted to find somethingthat I could make a contribu-

tion to and give me an interestI could focus on.

WW: What positions have you held?CC : I was an Admin Officer at

the squadron level; I was thePersonnel Officer, Cadet Pro-grams Officer, and RecruitingOfficer at Group level. I was asquadron commander for theTimber Ridge CompositeSquadron; I was the Profes-

sional Development, Chief ofStaff and Region Vice Com-mander. I have served on theNational Professional Devel-opment Committee.

WW : What schools have youattended?

CC : SLS, CLC, RSC, NSCand I have served on staff atnumerous RSCs.

WW : What commendations

have you received?CC : I have received the Com-

manders Commendation at theWing, region and national lev-els. I have numerous Meritori-ous Service and ExceptionalService Awards.

WW : What made you accept thechallenge of Wing Com-mander?

CC : I did not say no enoughtimes.

WW: What do you think the Wingsstrengths are? Weaknesses?

CC : The strengths of the Winglie in its members. The weak-ness of the Wing lies in theability of command to definethe direction and maintain thefocus of the Wing in accom-

plishing the goals of the Wing.WW : What does the future hold

for the Wing?CC : I feel the future for the

Wing lies in what the seniormembers and cadets want thatfuture to be. If there is a direc-tion and focus that is shared byall then there is nothing thatwill hold the membership backfrom making this Wing whatthey want it to be. The futurelies in us.

WW : What is next after thiscommand? Do you see your-

self involved at the Regionlevel again or higher (orlower)?

CC : I serve at the pleasure ofthe Region and National com-manders. When this assign-ment is successfully concludedI am sure there will be otheroppor tuni t ies to make animpact regardless at what level.

WW : What is your favorite

CAP related story?CC : I received the Gil Robb

Wilson Award at the NSC ban-quet by the National Com-mander, Brig Gen JamesBobick. This was especiallyimportant to me since GenBobick had been my WingCommander, my region com-mander and the national com-mander and it was the lastopportunity for him to makethis presentation to me.

WW : What is your most memo-rable CAP event?

CC : The most memorable eventwas the search for the missingA-10 based out of Davis-Monthane AFB in Tucson,

An Interview with Col CookContinued from page 1 . . .

Continued . . .

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AZ. The aircraft had beentracked to the Vail area ofColorado. Brig Gen Runningof the 12th Air Force held a

briefing after we had searchedfor 21 days for this aircraft. Heshowed pictures of what hethought was wreckage of theaircraft and handed the photosaround. When I saw one pic-ture I said Bingo. Gen Run-ning asked me to explain. Ipointed out that the rock stick-ing out of the snow in thephoto looked odd in that it had

a checkered square marking onit and that the only thing Iknew to have that marking wasthe very top portion of the ver-tical stabilizer on the A-10slocated at DM. He agreed, butswore us to secrecy until hecould confirm the wreckage bythe serial numbers from therecovered parts.

WW : What do you want people

to know about your manage-ment style?

CC : CAP is a corporation and asa Wing Commander I have tomake decisions based on theneeds of the Wing, but makeno mistake, as a corporateofficer I have to be fiscallyresponsible to CAP, Inc. Mym a n a g e m e n t s t y l e i s t oempower the staff and thengive them the support andencouragement to succeed.

WW : What is the most valuablepiece of advice youve everreceived regarding CAP?

CC : CAP will ask you for allyou can give and then comeback and ask for more. Youhave to decide just how much

you can give.WW: What is the one piece of

advice youd like to impart toour Wing members?

CC : If you are called to take ona task and you agree, you havean obligation to carry that taskto completion. If you find thatyou are unable to do so, youalso have an obligation to saythat you find you cannot com-plete the task. This is no reflec-tion on you as a person; it is just that other things haveentered into play. The soonest

you inform your supervisormakes it easier to find some-one else who can carry on yourwork with minimal disruptionto the unit.

WW : Are there any misconcep-tions you feel need to becleared up about CAP, theWing, etc.?

CC : CAP is in the very seriousbusiness of saving lives. The

work that we do has someinherent risk to its memberswho perform the missionsacross the country. We are pro-fessionals in these tasks just aswe are professionals in thecareers that we make our live-lihoods at. The missions weperform for CAP must beaccomplished in the safestmanner possible. This isequally true for the Wing. If wedo not project ourselves in thebest professional manner, thenwe will be seen as somethingother than who we really are.The choice is ours.

WW : Thank you, sir, for takingthe time to share with us.

An Interview with Col CookContinued . . .

During the past year and

half, I have had a need to contactmembers of Wyoming Wing,and on a regular basis, I run intobad addresses, telephone num-bers and e-mail addresses. Thiscauses an undue burden on theWyoming Wing staff and yoursquadron staff. Please take amoment to update your informa-tion in either e-services, orby contacting your personnel

officer.If you want to do it yourself,

here is how you do it: First ofall, go to e-services and log on.Here is the URL: https://www.capnhq.gov/. In the centercolumn, c l i ck on the l ink Review/Edit My MemberInfo. If successful, you canthen cl ick on the l inks forAddress Information, ContactInformation, and Personal Char-acteristics. Within each of theseareas, you can add, edit, ordelete information.

We use this information tocontact you, please take amoment to ensure it is correct oryou may miss out on an invita-tion or other important events.

Help usout!

By Lt Col Stan Skrabut

UPDATE YOURADDRESS AND

CONTACTINFORMATIONwww.capnhq.gov

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In order to accomplish allthat I am tasked to in Civil AirPatrol, it is imperative that Ieffectively leverage technology.I use a number of web-basedtools to manage my activities aswell as collaborate with others.Here is a list of Web-basedapplications that I feel are essen-

tial as well as detailed explana-tion of how to use them: Gmail,Del.icio.us, Skype, GoogleCalendar, Writeboard, andCampfire.Gmail

I consider Gmail the mostimportant tool I have in mytoolbox. Without e-mail, Iwould not be able to effectivelyoperate in todays information

rich world. More and more isbeing accomplished throughe-mail, this is also true in CivilAir Patrol; It is imperative youhave a good e-mail program, andI consider Gmail one of the best.

In order to keep my personallife separate from my Civil AirPatrol life, I created a separateaccount strictly for CAP activi-ties. If you want to create aGmail account, you can go tohttp://gmail.google.com/.

To be most effective, youshould live by the empty inboxrule. Gmail can help youachieve this state. First of all, ifyou dont need to read it now, itshould not be in your inbox.Having labels (a term Gmail

Harnessing technology toimproving unit operations

By Lt Col Stan Skrabut

uses) established will help youorganize your email. I haveseparate labels created for all thesquadrons, and all the functionalstaff areas. When an emailcomes in, I have a filter thatautomatically labels the email; Isimply need to archive the mes-sage. Messages that are not

automatically labeled will showup in your inbox. If you alreadyresponded to an email message,it should not be in your inbox.Ensure that you message has alabel on it, and archive the mes-sage. Schedule time to reviewyour e-mail, and do not becomea slave to it. I used to respond toevery message as it arrived. Inow schedule different times in

my day to respond to messages,this actually saves me time inmy day. Here is more informa-tion on the same topic: http://www.downloadsquad.com/ 2006/11/15/five-simple-rules-for-keeping-an-empty-inbox/del.icio.us

I am going to use del.icio.ushelp to explain what is.

del.icio.us is a socialbookmarking website the pri-mary use of del.icio.us is tostore your bookmarks online,which allows you to access thesame bookmarks from any com-puter and add bookmarks fromanywhere, too. On del.icio.us,you can use tags to organize andremember your bookmarks,

which is a much more flexiblesystem than folders.

You can also use del.icio.usto see the interesting links thatyour friends and other peoplebookmark, and share links withthem in return. You can evenbrowse and search del.icio.us todiscover the cool and useful

bookmarks that everyone elsehas saved which is made easywith tags.

I use del.icio.us to save all ofmy favorite Web sites. There-fore, anywhere in the world, Ican access my favorite Websites. I use del.icio.us to storepersonal Web sites, school Websites, and CAP Web sites. Hereis my del.icio.us site: http://

del.icio.us/skrabut/. I also net-work to friends who have thesame interests so that I can ben-efit from their research; often,we benefit from each other.Skype

Skype is a little piece ofsoftware that lets you talk overthe Internet to anyone, any-where in the world for free ifthey are also using Skype. It isimportant that you are using ahighspeed Internet connection.With Skype, you can also makeregular calls, but it will cost you;however, if your intended partyis using Skype, the call is free.One of the added benefits is thatyou can make conference calls

Continued . . .

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to up to four people.Google Calendar

We recently changed the

calendar on the Wyoming WingWeb site to a google calendar.You can see the change at http://w w w . c a p w y h q . o r g / calendar.asp. This new calendarprovides a number of benefits, ifyou subscribe, to include:Calendar Sharing: Set up a cal-endar for your unit, and share itwith the whole roster. Or sharewith friends and family so you

can view each others schedulesside by side. You can also createa unit calendar and a personalcalendar. If you subscribe to theWyoming Wing calendar, youcan then see all your calendarsside by side.Invitations: Create event invita-tions, send them to friends, andkeep track of peoples responsesand comments, all in one place.

Your friends can receive yourinvitation and post responseseven if they dont use GoogleCalendar themselves.Quick Add: Click anywhere onyour calendar where an eventbelongs (or use the Quick Addlink), and start typing. GoogleCalendar understands wholephrases like SAREX at Casper7am on Saturday, and will popnew events right into youragenda.Gmail Integration: Add yourunits open house to your calen-dar without ever leaving yourGmail inbox. Gmail now recog-nizes events mentioned inemails.Search: Find the date of the

encampment (you knew it wassometime this summer). Or,search public calendars to dis-

cover new events youre inter-ested in and add them to yourown calendar.Mobile Access: Receive eventreminders and notifications onyour mobile phone or email.Writeboard

Writeboard is a collabora-tive writing tool. You can useWriteboard to put together adocument that needs to be

worked on by many people.Unlike a Word document thatsstored at your office on onecomputer, you can get to yourwriteboards from any computerin the world with an internetconnection and a modern webbrowser. Sharing writeboards iseasy simply enter someonesemail address and theyll get aninvitation with a link to view

and edit the writeboard.Every time you save an edit

a new version is created andlinked in the sidebar. Thisallows you to write without fearof deleting something, overwrit-ing something, or losing a betterversion of the document fromlast week. Writeboard encour-ages you to explore ideaswherever they may lead.Dont like what you wrote?Just click a previous versionand youre back to the wayyou had it before.

Ever want to know whatchanged between two versionsof a writeboard? Simple. Justcheck off two versions and clickthe compare button. Everything

that was deleted will be grey andstruck, everything thats newwill be highlighted green. This

is especially useful when youare collaborating with multiplepeople on a writeboard. Nowyou can see what others havechanged or added to their ver-sions of the writeboard.Campfire

Campfire is a web-basedgroup chat tool that lets you setup password-protected chatrooms in just seconds. With

Campfire, you can invite a a fel-low CAP member to chat, col-laborate, and make decisions.Everything is done in real timelike instant messaging. Instantmessaging is great for one-on-one chats, but its not ideal forgroups of three or more. Instantmessaging is also networkdependent if you are on AIM,and your co-worker is on MSN

or Skype, you cant instant mes-sage. Campfire is network-agnostic, optimized for groups,and only requires a webbrowser. Campfire also main-tains a transcript that you canrefer to later. Campfire is greatfor coordinating without havingto get folks together at the sametable; deal for Wyoming.

These are the tools I use andthey keep my life sane. If youare having problems coordinat-ing, scheduling, and organizing,I then recommend using thesetools. If you have questions onhow to use any of these tools,please drop me a line [email protected].

Improving Unit OperationsContinued . . .

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The reason most people never reach their goals is that they dont define them, or ever seriously con-

sider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to doalong the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.

Denis Watley

Where are we heading?By Lt Col Stan Skrabut

I dont know about you, but I like to be part ofa winning organization. Throughout my life I havebeen part of one, and I like the feeling. Whetheryou want to accept it or not, Wyoming Wing notonly performs life saving missions, but we are alsoin competition with other wings both in and out-side our region. The units are in competition

between themselves. In order to be success-ful we need to raise our standard and achievevarious goals.

By the time you read this, the Wyoming Winggoals should be finalized, published, and distrib-uted to all the units. These goals were createdthrough the collaboration of the entire WyomingWing staff and, based on our experiences, we feelthey are achievable. However, to achieve them,they will require the support of the entire wing.The goals encompass a number of significant areas

to include membership, aerospace education, cadetprograms, emergency services, professional devel-opment, and flight operations. The goals coveryears 2007-2010.

When the units receive these goals, we recom-mend that you establish unit goals based on thewing goals. In other words, what can you or yourteams do to help achieve these goals. Additionally,squadron of the year will be based on these goalsand which unit best helps the wing achieve thesegoals. Each quarter, a report will come out show-ing where each unit is in relation to each goal, andwhere the wing is as a whole.

In the area of membership, the wing is lookingto increase its membership by recruiting moremembers and retaining members we already have.What can you do? Simply be active in your unitand try to build the best program possible. Thiswill encourage others to stay and to join.

Each year, we turn in an annual report on

aerospace education to the region. These reportsare graded and a regional winner in aerospace edu-cation is announced. I cannot remember whenWyoming Wing was announced as a winner in thisarea. We would like to change this. Here are theareas where we have set goals: Aerospace Educa-tion Program for Senior Members (AEPSM),

Aerospace Education Officers (AEO), AerospaceEducation Members (AEM), Aerospace Excel-lence Program (AEX), and aerospace educationawards. What can you do? As a unit, you can getinvolved in the AEX program, submit annual aero-space education awards like the Crossfield andBrewer awards, and encourage members to partici-pate in the other programs. As an officer, you canpursue the AEO specialty track and complete theAEPSM Yeager Award program.

The cadet program is on the right track; how-

ever, we still have a number of goals to achieve.We need to improve encampment participation,special activity participation, and establish a colorguard and/or drill team to compete against theother wings. We also need more involvement withwing-sponsored activities to include the CadetAdvisory Council. Finally, we need to see moreprogression through the cadet milestone awards.What can you do? Get involved and advance inthe program.

Emergency Services this is WyomingWings bread and butter program. We are alreadydoing a lot of positive things in this program,but we can do better. We have set goals inadvancement in emergency service specialtyachievements, 100% general emergency servicescompletion, expending all training funds in thefiscal year, conducting both a ground and airoperations school. Also, we would like to see more

Continued . . .

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17

involvement by cadets in the emergency serviceprogram. What can you do? Ensure that you are

current in your qualifications and advance in thevarious achievements. Additionally, ensure thatyou have completed the most recent GES trainingand examination.

In professional development, we are havingmixed results. Some units are doing well whileothers are lagging behind. We have set goals inprofessional development course attendance, e.g.,squadron leadership school, corporate learningcourse, and unit commanders course. We wouldalso like to see advancement in the professional

development levels. We would like to see 100%completion in Level I training. Finally, we wouldlike all officers to be enrolled and advancing in aspecialty track. What can you do? First of all,ensure that you are enrolled in a specialty trackand advancing in it. Next we would like you to getout and attend course that you have not yetattended. Finally, we would like you to completethe requirements necessary to advance through theprofessional development levels.

Finally, we have goals established in flight

operations. First of all, we have goals establishedto increase the numbers of hours flown on eachaircraft. We would like to have more orientationflights flown, both cadet and AFROTC. We havegoals established around the FAA Wings program;we would like to see more participation in this pro-gram. We would also like to see more advance-ment in the various pilot qualification programs.Another goal that we have established is to create aglider program in Wyoming Wing. How can youhelp? Get out and fly, fly, fly. Lets use thetraining funds provided, and fly the wings offthese aircraft.

Does this sound pretty ambitious, it does if youare trying to do it alone; however with the supportof the entire wing, it is certainly achievable. Itwould be great a year from now to report that wehave met all our goals; wouldnt it be nice for youto individually look back and show how youhelped to achieve these goals?

Where are we heading?Continued . . .

The Wyoming Wing of Civil Air Patrol crews

responded to two separate reports of missing air-craft January 18, 2007.

The Wyoming Wing received a report from theAir Force Rescue Coordination Center in ColoradoSprings at 11:05 p.m. the 17th of satellite hits inthe southwestern part of Natrona County. Lt ColJim Henderson of the Casper Squadron notified anaircrew to prepare for a morning takeoff. At 7 a.m.the Natrona County Sheriffs received another re-port from a federal agency about an emergency lo-cator sending signals from that area. At 9:10 an

aircraft was launched. Using electronic reconnais-sance, the CAP crew located the plane betweenRiverton and Casper at 9:35 a.m.

The plane, owned by American IndustrialLaundry, Inc. had left Lander and was headed toGillette. The crash victims were identified as DavidHinkle of Lander and Kyle Moser of Gillette.

The pilot and a passenger did not survive thecrash of the Cessna 182R

In Carbon County, crews were dispatched toBrowns Peak, where a plane headed from Califor-nia to Nebraska with three people on boardcrashed after refueling in Rock Springs. DenverFlight Service had a lost signal on the plane at10:18 p.m. Wednesday the 17th. Again, the Wyo-ming Wing responded and caught a faint signal butcouldnt pinpoint the crash from the air. Fridaymorning, ground crews finally located the plane.One US and Israeli dual citizen, Jared Harel, and twoIsraelis, Itay Mizrahi and Michel Balak died in the crash.

Wyoming WingParticipates in

Two Search andRescue MissionsAlmostSimultaneously

Credit Casper Star-Tribune for plagiarized copy.

By 2d Lt Jeanne Stone-Hunter


12/22

WANTEDPILOTS & AIRCREWS

REQUIREMENTS: Become a Member

Desire to contribute Time and Talent BENEFITS: Pride in Supporting your Country and

your Community

Flying Opportunities in: Search and Rescue Homeland Security

Cadet Orientation Rides Emergency Services

CONTACT WYOMING CIVIL AIR PATROL

1-800-FLY-2338 http://www.capwyhq.org

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What the Heck is SUI?Written & picture taken by Major Mike Carlson

(Major Carlson was part of the inspection team

that visited four of the Squadrons)

What the heck is this SUI stuff? Is it a new TV show like CSI orNCIS? Or, is it a funky acronym we see on the Internet? Well, SUIstarted to get noticed when the WY Wing had its Unit CommandersCourse (UCC) late August in Casper. A lot of us just thought it wasanother program from national, which meant more paperwork. By

the Wing conference, in Sep-tember, the seriousness of theSUI hit everyone like the punch thrown by Muhammad Ali (CassiusClay) against George Foreman in the 1974 boxing match, Rumblein the Jungle.

SUI Stands for Subordinate Unit Inspection. These are Inspec-

tions previously required by CAPR 60-2. Its all stated in CAPR 123-3 Civil Air Patrol Compliance Assessment Program which Im surewe have all read. The CAP National Board approved a new CAPR123-3 in August 2004. They said that these inspections had to be allconducted no later than 24 months. If not done then a complete shut-down of CAP activities would prevail until units complied. That meantno CAP flying, no CAP meetings, no cadet programs, etc. As stated:

A. AEROSPACE EDUCATION

B. CADET PROGRAMSC. EMERGENCY SERVICES1. Emergency Services2. Counter Drug3. Operations4. Aircraft Management5. Aircraft Shipping & Receiv-

ing6. Aircraft Inspection7. Communications

D. MISSION SUPPORT

1. Professional Development2. Chaplin3. Finance4. Administration5. Personnel6. Public Affairs7. Supply8. Transportation & Vehicle

Inspection9. Drug Demand Reduction

E. COMMAND

1. Command2. Safety

Each area is looked at, as allSquadron Commanders havebeen finding out, and given arating on how well the unit isdoing.

Continued . . .

Basically inspections (SUIs) are conducted by region, wing or group headquarters on units subordi-nate to their headquarters. A wing may conduct an SUI on a group, squadron or flight within the wing.Likewise, a group headquarters may conduct an SUI on a squadron or flight within the group. Well, wedont have a Group any more in Wyoming so that means that the Wing must perform the inspections oneach Squadron. That means 12 inspections will have to be completed within a 2 month period. The in-spection team looks at a bunch of different areas that Squadrons should be doing for CAPs mission ca-pability. These areas are:

CAPR 123-3 11. b. SUIs are to be conducted on an approximate 24-month cycle with thepurpose of improving both safety and regulatory compliance. Any excess interval between SUIsbeyond 24 months will be subtracted in computing the next SUI due date. Any unit that exceeds27 months without a completed SUI will be prohibited from participating in any CAP activities

until an SUI is completed. Waivers to exceed the 27-month maximum without restrictions beingplaced on the unit must be approved by the CAP/IG and the CAP-USAF/IG.

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Outstanding: Performance or operation far exceeds mission requirements. Procedures and activitiesare carried out in a far superior manner. Resources and programs are very efficiently managed and areof exceptional merit. Few, if any, deficiencies exist.

Excellent: Performance or operation exceeds mission requirements. Procedures and activities arecarried out in a superior manner. Resources and programs are very efficiently managed and relativelyfree of deficiencies.

Successful: Performance or operation meets mission requirements. Procedures and activities arecarried out in an effective and competent manner. Resources and programs are efficiently managed.Minor deficiencies may exist, but do not impede or limit mission accomplishment.

Marginal: Performance or operation does not meet some mission requirements. Procedures andactivities are not carried out in an efficient manner. Resources and programs are not efficiently man-aged. Deficiencies exist that impede or limit mission accomplishment.

Unsatisfactory: Performance or operation does not meet mission requirements. Procedures andactivities are not carried out in an adequate manner. Resources and programs are not adequatelymanaged. Significant deficiencies exist that preclude or seriously limit mission accomplishment, orendanger personnel or resources.

Then there are some observation categories that point to good and possible bad practices.

Benchmark CandidateThe best of the best processes observed and researched to date by theassessment team to be considered for emulation by other units.

Commendable ItemA highly effective concept, technique, or management practice not observed in

other units or significantly better than those found in other units.

ObservationA minor deficiency documented to place emphasis on the need for resolution before itdevelops into a more serious problem, to provide cross feed to other units or to act as an indicator ofoverall unit health.

FindingA significant deficiency that requires specific answers to CAP-USAF on actions taken tocorrect the deficiency. In the report, a finding is identified by either a single asterisk (*) or, if potential forFraud, Waste and Abuse (FWA) exists, a double asterisk (**). Units must answer findings with enoughdetail to permit the HQ CAP and CAP-USAF staffs to determine the adequacy of corrective actions andprovide assistance as required. See CAPR 123-3 and CAP-USAFI 90-201 details.

Repeat FindingA finding reported in the units previous IG inspection report or recent audit agencyreport, which was subsequently closed, which exists again during the current assessment. Repeatfindings are normally answerable findings.

Open ItemAn answerable finding from a prior assessment in which the unit or higher headquarterscorrective actions are incomplete and NHQ and CAP-USAF has not closed the item. Corrective actionprogress is evaluated and documented in the report. If corrective actions were complete, but notreported, and the inspector determined the problem or deficiency solved, the open item is closed,indicating that no further actions required. If corrective actions are incomplete or inadequate, the itemremains open. Open items are not repeat write-ups. Continued . . .

What the Heck is SUI?Continued . . .

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missions. So all things have tobe inspected, like the van is in-spected from top to bottom, andif the unit has a CAP plane itgets inspected also from prop totail along with all its paper-work. In the picture we see the

Cody Cadet Squadron being in-spected by Lt Col Stan Skrabut(right). Captain Stan Strike (topleft), Aerospace Officer for theunit, and Major BJ Carlson (bot-tom left), Squadron Com-mander, discuss the AerospaceEducation portion of the inspec-tion.

How long does it take to per-form one of these audit/inspec-tions?? Well, lets just say thatits best not to schedule any-thing that day. It depends howmany folks from both sides at-tend the inspection, how manyassets have to be inspected, etc.;but plan on at least 4 hrs of yourtime and make sure there are a

few hours open on the other end.So the next questions is

What happens after the inspec-tion? Well, Ive got to believethat some looooong sighs comefrom both sides. By that I meansighs of relief that its over. TheInspection team has to travel

back home, and in Wyomingthat can mean traveling long dis-tances, to write-up the find-ings. At the unit level it meanspacking all those documentsback to their filed spots, andthen spend the rest of the daytrying to get rid of the headache.

For some of you that havebeen around CAP a long timeyou know about this stuff, but

those of us newcomers, whohave never experienced this be-fore, find it quite awesome. Itsure gives a good hard look atwhat the whole CAP program isall about and whether we arefulfilling the mission.

So a report is published onthe good and not so good pointsof what the unit has been doing.Its a good gauge for the unit tolook at what needs improvementand then, hopefully, make someplans on how to remedy the situ-ation. Because, in another 20months or less, the unit willhave to go through the wholething again.

What the Heck is SUI?Continued . . .

So what happens at anSUI?? First, a team of inspectorsis put together by the Wing IG(thats the Inspector General).Then a schedule is arranged forthe team to visit each and everyunit. During the time before the

visit each unit should be makingsure that each area is up to snuff.Hopefully the unit commanderhas appointed people to each ofthe areas to do the job. If theydont then the unit commanderhas a lot of work to do. On theday of the inspection the unithauls all its records to the meet-ing spot agreed upon. They allsit down and go over the param-eters, like I wrote above, andthen go at it. Each inspector hasa list of questions they ask foreach subject area, and its up tothe unit to reflect the informa-tion (verbally and documented)of what they are doing, withinthe area, to accomplish CAPs

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17/22

27

I have been involved withmodel rockets from a young ageand as a result I have decided topursue a career in aerospaceengineering. CAP has given mean opportunity to share my

knowledge of rocketry withother people that have similarinterests as me.

When my mother asked mewhat I wanted for my seventhbirthday I told her, All want isa rocket. I had seen a rocket kitat Wal-Mart that took picturesfrom the sky, and decided Iwanted it for my birthday. Idont remember anything else I

got that year except for thatrocket. I fell instantly in lovewith rockets and I decided Iwould grow up and become ARocket Scientist.

Many young kids love rock-ets but they usually grow out ofit, however, I still love rocketsand I still build and launch them.When I first started I couldhardly get a ready to flyrocket to work properly. Therewere many crashes and lostrockets, but, as I progressed, Ilearned tricks to successfulflights until each rocket flewperfectly. Every time I got onething right I would move on tothe next thing until I had thatdown too. I was never satisfied

Written by C/SrA Andy Crawford

Pictures by Major Michael Carlson, Cody Cadet Squadron

with where I was. I got tired ofbuilding kit rockets; I wanted todesign my own. Before long Iwas building clusters and twostage rockets and even makingthem fly. My rocket collection

exceeded forty rockets at onepoint. However, rockets do notalways fly on course and I lostmany rockets. I also lost rocketsdue to malfunctions and stupidmistakes.

The worst case of a rocketmalfunction involved my mostbeloved rocket, The Mirage. Ireceived this rocket forChristmas in 1998 but was too

scared to launch it. The Miragewas 7' 7" tall with a 4" diameterand i t s power plant was aGW- 35 rocket motor. You see,most rockets operate on Athrough C rocket motors, eachletter representing twice thepower of the one before it. Thisrocket was four times morepowerful than anything I hadlaunched before. I decided tolaunch it on my 18th birthday in2006 and it was spectacular.When I pressed the red button,that GW-35 Aero-tech motorcame alive and it was loud! Itlifted off slowly but it quicklygained speed and before I knewit my rocket was at its apogee.Now I have to tell you, when

you launch an $85.00 rocket,check everything twice. I dontknow what went wrong, but Iremember saying repeatedly,Any minute now it will deployits parachutes, however, it didnot. It just arched over andpointed its nose to the ground,almost like shooting an arrowinto the air. I heard it whistlingas it hit the ground roughly 50yards away, and landed in thehorse pasture. My seven-footrocket had shrunk to three. Itwas a sad . . . sad day.

When I was seventeen I

Ground - Troposphere - Stratosphere Mesosphere - Thermosphere Exosphere

and Beyondfrom Dreams to Reality for this Wyoming Cadet

C/SrA Andy Crawford showingthe Saturn V.

Continued . . .


18/22

joined the Cody Cadet Squad-

ron, CAP, and soon after webegan the rocketry program forour aerospace education. I wasvery excited! When I firststarted building rockets I mademany mistakes, but I had tolearn the hard way. In CAP I canshare my knowledge of rocketsand help other cadets avoid

making the same mistakes Imade in the past. The CAP rock-etry program requires us to buildseveral rockets, including a two-stage rocket, and a rocket from

aerospace history. I had alreadybuilt these rockets before, so Ibrought in two examples to oneof our aerospace educationmeetings to show them to theother cadets.

The aerospace history rocketis a replica of the infamous Sat-urn V, which was the powerfulrocket that took man to themoon. I picked this kit up inTexas when I was about elevenyears old, however, when Istarted assembling it, it provedto be too advanced for me tobuild. I put it back in the box. Acouple of years later I brought itback out and finished it. Thisrocket looks like a fragile plasticmodel, but it actually does fly. It

flies with D9-6 rocket motorsand does quite well.

The other rocket I took is atwo-stage rocket that I namedthe Tallon. I designed this

rocket using a wrapping papertube for the airframe, balsawood I got from the local hobbystore for the fins, and a nosecone I spun on a lathe. TheTallon operates on a C6-0 andC6-7 rocket motors. I estimate itto fly around 2500 feet. It wasthe first two-stage rocket I evergot to operate correctly.

Rocketry had sparked myinterest in aerospace even beforeI found CAP, however, CAP hasencouraged me to pursue mydreams in aerospace and hastaught me self discipline andother values that will help meattain my goals.

C/SrA Andy Crawford showing the Tallon.

Saturn V

Dreams toReality . . .Continued . . .

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Majors B.J. Carlson and Mike Carlson havecombined their love of CAP with their loveof llamas to introduce a new generation to

this native South American animal.The adventure began when the Wyoming Wings

Cody Cadet Squadron was started a few years ago.Since some of the 12 to 13-year-old cadets weighedonly 80 pounds; they were unable to carry a 60-pound,72-hour pack up the Wyoming mountains during theground team operations on emergency service mis-sions. Thats when the llamas came into the picture.

The Carlsons, who own the Wayfaring TravelerLlama Ranch near Cody, Wyo., taught the squadronmembers how to pack with llamas during a specialencampment. The training led nine cadets and four

senior members to earn a Junior Llama Wranglersrating from the Wayfaring Ranch.

During a wilderness pack trip that followed, asearch and rescue exercise with an emergency locatortransmitter location test was conducted.

For these young cadets, who weighed 100 poundsor less, carrying packs of 40-60 pounds can be a toughhaul, said Major Mike Carlson. With llamas carryingthe weight, the cadets could cover more ground withoutthe exhaustion.

Former cadet commander 2d Lt Krystina Betty, 15,was one of the cadets on the trip who enjoyed having a

By Lenore Vickrey, CAP Volunteer Magazine

llama carry her equipment. They are gentle animals,she said. They dont do much to humans, but they cankill a wolf, so they are good protection as well.

Major Mike Carlson points to the natural moun-taineering ability of the llama, which is a member ofthe camel family. Llamas have long been hired in the

Andes to be beasts of burden and they are able to coverthe roughest terrain with remarkable surefootedness,carrying loads up to 100 pounds, he said.

He describes llamas as strong and gentle, quietand agile, which makes them the perfect trail com-panion with no more impact on the ecology than a deer,and they can be easily led by those with no previousexperience handling pack stock.

They also can have their stubborn moments,according to Beatty. They can stop and lie down and ittakes 10 or 15 minutes to get them back up again, shesaid. But with some nudging and pulling real hard,

they can be persuaded to resume the journey.Since the initial llama pack training, the squadron

has had a retraining event, and while they have notbeen called on to perform an actual search and rescueground operation, they will be ready when that hap-pens, said Major B.J. Carlson, squadron commander.

The Cody squadron remains unique among all1,500-plus units in this country, as the only one thatuses llamas for emergency services. Theres nothingsimilar to this, said Beatty.

Innovative Game Plan Empowers Cadets

LlamaWranglers

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On 23 January, 2007, theCody Cadet Squadronconducted several pro-

motions following a Moral

Leadership lesson. Whatseemed a long time since some-one was promoted (maybe dueto the holiday schedule andfinals testing for the highschool), nearly half the squad-ron was either promoted orreceived E/S ribbons or com-mendation awards.Those promoted were: C/SSgt Joseph Bernavich to

C/TSgt C/A1C Andy Crawford to

C/SrA C/Basic Kyle Dewey to C/Amn C/CMSgt Corey Zubik received

the Armstrong Award. Nowjust one final step to the cov-eted Mitchell Award andbeing an Officer!!

Those receiving other awardswere: C/2d Lt Jeremiah Longo who

received the coveted GroundTeam Badge for completingGTM phases 3,2,1. CadetLongo also received theSearch & Rescue ribbonfor the sorties he partici-pated in at the 2006 NationalBlue Beret.

Cody Cadet Squadron

Article written by Maj Mike Carlson

Major Mike Carlson receivedthe Search & Rescue ribbonwith Bronze Prop for thesorties he participated induring the 2006 NationalBlue Bere t and WY andCO Wings SARs. He alsoreceived the Find ribbon

Those being promoted R/L: Cadets Dewey, Crawford, Bernavich, andZubik. Maj BJ Carlson is Commander of the Cody Cadet Squadron.Photograph taken by Lt Col Raymond Carpenter

PromotionsPromotionsPromotionsPromotionsPromotions

Promotions

Promotions

Promotions

Promotions

for the number of findswhile at NBB. Maj Carlsonreceived 2 Bronze Proppins for receiving a NationalCommanders Award while at2006 NBB and for partici-pating in WY Wings 2006Encampment.

Promotions

PromotPromotPromotPromotPromotionsionsionsionsions

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AAAAAerererererospaceospaceospaceospaceospacein the Classrin the Classrin the Classrin the Classrin the Classroomoomoomoomoom

AAAAAerererererospaceospaceospaceospaceospace

In October 2006, we visitedthe 5th and 6th grade combina-tion classroom of Terri Pollard.We talked about the need to stayoff drugs and remain in school.We learned about careers inaviation, and about the fourforces of flight. Each studentconstructed the balsa planegiven to them courtesy of the

Wing DDR program.Students and faculty haveinvited us back for quarterlyactivities in aerospace educa-tion. They want to learn aboutthe Shuttle program and the ISSusing hands-on activities pro-vided by the AEX program.

Prairie Wind Composite Squadron presents:

The students of Wheatland Middle School havethe opportunity to grow and learn from the programprovided by CAP. Prairie Wind Composite Squadronhas stepped up to the plate to provide an after schoolprogram at the request of the school principal.

Wheatland Middle School Flight beginsThis program is a regular part of the squadron

differing only in the location of meetings. Thesecadets will participate in all aspects of the CAPprogram and are especially excited to get their firstorientation flight. The applications and dues arebeing turned in this month.

They are learning the basic drill movementsand assimilating the Curry chapter. They have hadtheir first taste of a safety meeting, Core Valuesclass, uniform class, Cadet Oath and the chain ofcommand. We have already begun to raise moneywith the help of the school to help each cadetreceive a complete set of BDUs. Our first fund-raiser is a raffle of a kite modeled after the WrightBrothers Flyer. We will also be manning the schoolconcession for the Basketball Tournament in late Feb-ruary. The group is small but determined to succeed.


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(Wheatland, WY)ThursdayDecember 14th, members ofPrairie Wind Composite Squad-ron gathered with VFW mem-bers, VFW Ladies Auxiliarymembers, community members,ve t e r ans , ac t i ve du t y andNational Guard personnel to lay

wreaths honoring our fallenheroes and those still servingour country. The Platte Countyactivity was part of the annualWreaths Across America Cer-emony tha t t akes p lace a tArlington National Cemeteryand numerous other locationsnationwide.

VFW Post #3558 providedthe Color Guard and the Navy,

Army, Air Force and Marineflags for the ceremony. TheVFW Pos t #3558 Ladies

Submitted by Lt Col Sue McDonald

Prairie Wind Composite Squadron, Wyoming Wing, Civil Air Patrol

Auxiliary served coffee and piefor refreshments. Arlene Birkle,Auxiliary state president, pro-vided help with advertisingfunds and arranged the donationof a Coast Guard flag. Mrs.Birkle also photographed theevent. The Coast Guard Enlisted

Association of Ketchikan,Alaska donated the Coast Guardflag. 2d Lt Kyle McDonald,Civil Air Patrol, provided themusic and video slide presenta-tion and Jeff Billings of thePlatte County Fair Board gener-ously allowed the squadron touse the 4-H building.

Wreath laying personnelincluded: 1Sgt Bill Motley,

Wyoming Army NationalGuard, representing theArmy; HM1 Jeffery Williams,

Cheyenne Navy recrui t ingoffice, representing the Marinesand Navy; Joanne Rice, parentof a prior service Marine andcurrent Coast Guard member,representing the Coast Guard;Captain Dennis Cornell, CAP,represented the Air Force; and

Neil Neupel of the PatriotGuard Riders represented thePOW/MIAs.

The squadron would like topublicly acknowledge theWorchester Wreath Companyfor their generous donation ofwreaths and for their continuedsupport of this event. MajorsMerrill and Murray of the CivilAir Patrol provided logistical

expertise to the Prairie Windsquadron.

Name ____________________________________________________________________________

Address __________________________________________________________________________

City ________________________________________ State ________________ Zip ____________

If you desire more information on the

WYOMING CIVIL AIR PATROL,please complete this form and mail to:

Wyoming Wing, Civil Air Patrol

P. O. Box 9507, Cheyenne, WY 82003-9507

Wreaths Across America

Prairie Wind Composite SquadronParticipates in . . .

Wyoming Wings Magazine, March 2007

Documents

Transcript of Wyoming Wings Magazine, March 2007