8/2/2019 Duluth Squadron - Jul 2010
1/8
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.
8/2/2019 Duluth Squadron - Jul 2010
2/8
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
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
8/2/2019 Duluth Squadron - Jul 2010
3/8
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
8/2/2019 Duluth Squadron - Jul 2010
4/8
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.
8/2/2019 Duluth Squadron - Jul 2010
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!
8/2/2019 Duluth Squadron - Jul 2010
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_Service8/2/2019 Duluth Squadron - Jul 2010
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.
8/2/2019 Duluth Squadron - Jul 2010
8/8
For more information on joining the Civil Air Patrol
Email: [email protected]
Top Related