new york wing - jun 2009

8/9/2019 New York Wing - Jun 2009

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1 Wheels Up!

Vol. 7, No. 3

SUMMER 2009

AIR SHOWS

AND CAP GO

TOGETHER


2/28

Wheels Up! 2

Wheels Up!SUMMER 2009

New York WingCivil Air Patrol

U.S. Air Force Auxiliary

Commander

Col. Kenneth Andreu

Vice Commander

Lt. Col. Mark CaielloChief of Staff

Lt. Col. Tom Carello

Editor/PAO

1st Lt. Robert Stronach

[email protected]

Wing PA DirectorCapt. James A. Ridley Sr.

Wing Headquarters

Westchester County Airport

24 Loop Road, Bldg 1

White Plains, NY 10604-1218

Phone: 914-683-1000

Fax: 914-683-10056www.nywg.cap.gov

Col. KENNETH ANDREU

In the Left SeatBE EXTRA VIGILANT

Ah...Summer is here! From the sweltering heat and eveningcultural events in the cities, to the ocean breezes at the bestbeaches, to cool nights in the lush, forested mountain villages inthe wilderness parks..nothing beats it.

Summer always means an intense increase in activity goingback to the origin of the species. Which, of course, translatesinto increased opportunities for things to go wrong.

We have multiple NY Wing encampments happening in paral-lel, and activities in fast succession throughout the Region andnationally. One incident can create a domino effect that has animpact on the resources available for the next activity.

Hopefully and with good presence of mind you have success-fully negotiated all the activities on your Summer 2009 wish listwithout mishap. Andyou have assisted others in smoothly ac-complishing their tasks without incident, as well.

Mishaps are an entropic force, as air creates drag on an airfoil,acting to diminish efficiency and ultimately negate the achieve-

ment of your objective.Watch your airspeed and dont let the wing stall. Use

safety briefings and follow your checklists. Be aware of the

hazards you may face in the field before you get to them and

have a plan to surmount them.

The five Ps are a good mantra.Prior Planning PreventsPoor Performance. That should include listing obstacles, limi-

tations (emotional, mental, physical and mechanical), and the as-sessment of unique variables of the specific activity. That wouldinclude in summer flying, altitude, humidity, temperature andrunway length, and at an encampment, properly tying your com-fortable boots before a run and flexing your knees in formation.

Pack your summer with a plethora of activities and new chal-lenges. Remember the Summer of 2009 as the time you incor-

porated heightened awareness into your tasking skills, overcamecomplacency and sidestepped entropic mishaps.


3/28

3 Wheels Up!

4 Wing Gets Outstanding Evaluation 5 Color Guard Team Grabs National Title

6 LI CAP & Thunderbirds at NY Air Show

9 Sussey Squadrons Picks Up for Earth Week10 Central NY Group at Ft. Drum Air Show

12 Teachers Take to the Air in NY Wing

14Emotional 3 Weeks for CNY Squadrons

16 Busy Holiday for LIG Squadron

17 WWII Member Catches Up on CAP

18 Canadian Cadets Join in ELT Search

19 Squadron Gets 1st Woman Commander

20 Marine Aviators Host CAP

21 CAP Important to His Career, AF Pilot Says

23 NY Places 3rd in Northeast SARCOMP

25 Special Honors for Cadet & Commander

26 Wing Conference Theme: NY Has Heart

28 Cadet Heads to Air Force Academy

Contents

COVER:

Air Shows and CAPWhere theres an air show,

chances are Civil Air Patrol

cadets and senior mem-

bers are there providing

support, and getting an

upclose view of a myriad

of aircraft -- such as these

three cadets standing in

the mouth of the nose

doors of a C-5 Galaxy at

the Fort Drum Mountain-

fest Air Show. The cadets

are, from left, Joseph Maierof Syracuse Cadet Squad-

ron, Cayla Askew of Rome

City School District Cadet

Squadron, and Schuyler

Strough of Utica Cadet

Squadron. See Pages 6 &

10 for more on air shows.Photo by

1st Lt Robert Stronach


4/28

Wheels Up! 4

WING EARNS HIGH PRAISE FROM AF EVALUATORS

By Capt. JAMES RIDLEY, SR.

HOLBROOK, NY -- The U.S.Air Force conducted a week-

long evaulation of New York

Wings mission capabilities

in June, and rated the wing as

outstanding.

The evaluation exercise

simulated homeland security,

search-and-rescue and disaster

relief missions that are critical

for proper response to natural or

man-made disasters. Practice

searches were conducted from

the air and on the ground allacross the wing. The exercise

included air-to-ground com-

munications, ground-to-ground

communications, and flight

planning and ground team op-

erations.

Mission base for the exercisewas Long Island Group Head-

quarters at Long Island Islip

MacArthur Airport, with Group

Commander Lt Col Jack Ozer

serving as the incident com-

mander. The South East Groupwas designated as the secondary

mission base; and, at one point,

when the AF evaluators shut

down communications at LIG,

SEG seamlessly took over com-

munications, which impressed

the evaluators along with thewings other efforts.

When the evaluation ended,

the staff at the Long Island base,

along with New York Wing

Commander Col Ken Andreu,awaited the Air Force evalua-

tors findings and they werent

disappointed with the results.

The wing received an Out-

standing score in every cat-

egory with the exception of two

areas which received an excel-lent rating. Overall the wing

received an Outstanding score

for the entire evaluation and was

described as a benchmark for

other wings to emulate.Colonel Andreu and Lt Colo-

nel Ozer said they were very

proud of the results.

The staff worked very hard

to achieve this success and it

shows the level of training that

we are accomplishing in theNew York Wing, said Ozer.

c/SSgt Matthew

Merlino, c/2d

Lt Kory Gatley,c/SSgt Raymond

MacQuill and

c/SMSgt Ryan

Calviello man

the communica-

tions center.

Capt Joe Pizzo

(second from left)

and members

of his flight line

crew meet be-

fore marshalling

aircraft at the

evaluation.


5/28

5 Wheels Up!

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!

NY Wings Color Guard Team from Academy Cadet Squadron in New

York City Group, during the outdoor practical event at the national com-

petition in July. The team represented the NorthEast Region and took

the national title as well.

By Capt. JAMES

RIDLEY, SR.

McMINNVILLE,

OR They came close

the last two years,

but the third times a

charm as the NorthEast

Regions Color Guard

team took first place

overall at the Civil Air

Patrols National Cadet

Competition held at

Linfield College and

the Evergreen Aviation& Space Museum in

McMinnville, OR.

The 2009 NER color

guard champions, who

hail from New York

Wings Academy Cadet

Squadron (NY-147) inNew York City Group,

competed against teams

from seven other re-

gions. Events included

an inspection, mile run

and both indoor andoutdoor events such as

posting and retrieving

of the colors. The NER

region commander, Col

Robert Diduch, was

present at the awards

banquet July 12 whenthe winners were an-

nounced.

The team took first

in many categories,

said Colonel Diduch,

and number one over-

all in the competition.Were very proud of

them.

The national cadet

competition is held

annually after teams

compete at both the

wing and region levelsbefore earning the right

to compete nationally.

Some even begin the

journey by competing

in a group-level com-

petition.

The day showcasedsome of the best teams

in both the color guard

and drill team catego-

ries from around the

nation. Every team

worked and practiced

hard to get this far andfor the next year, at

least, the NER Color

Guard team can lay

claim to being the very

best.

The team includes:

Junior Rifleman:C/SSgt Albaro Pillco.

Senior Flag Bearer:

C/SMSgt Thomas Ma-

crini.

Junior Flag Bearer:

C/A1C Jason Chan.

Senior Rifleman:C/MSgt Zin Han.


6/28

Wheels Up! 6

LENDING A HAND TO THE NATIONS BEST PILOTS

LIG UNIT ASSISTS THUNDERBIRDS, EARNS THANKS FROM A NATIVE SON

By 1st Lt. WILLIAM J. MCGEE

For so many members of the

Civil Air Patrol, the desire to

serve often starts with a young

persons desire to fly. It turns

out this is as true for some of

the very best fighter pilots inthe country as it is for CAP

cadets.

This past Memorial Day

weekend, nearly half a million

visitors attended the 2009 Beth-

page Federal Credit Union New

York Air Show at Jones Beachon Long Island. The performers

this year included the New York

Air National Guard Search and

Rescue Team, the U.S. Army

Golden Knights parachute

team, and the Canadian Forces

Snowbirds. But theres noquestion the highlight was the

Thunderbirds, known officially

as the U.S. Air Force Air Dem-

onstration Squadron.

As the crowds scanned the

skies, the Thunderbirds red-

white-and-blue Lockheed Mar-

tin F-16 fighter jets engaged

in such acrobatic displays as

the Delta Roll, the Arrowhead

Loop, the Opposing Knife

Edge, and their signature

Bomb Burst. But what veryfew of those air show attendees

knew was that once again

members of the Long Island

Senior Squadron (NY-207)

were unobtrusively providing

security and logistical assis-

tance behind the scenes.

Quiet But Critical SupportSince 2004, both the Thun-

derbirds and the U.S. Navy

Blue Angels have participated

on an alternating basis in the

New York Air Show. And for

the fourth consecutive year, the

Long Island Senior Squadron

participated as well, by provid-

ing quiet but critical security

and support for aircraft and

personnel staging at nearby Re-

public Airport, the facility that

serves as the squadrons homebase in Farmingdale.

This year, more than 20

members of the Long Island

Senior Squadron reported for

duty, including 1st. Lt. Bill Dre-

schler, who has been serving his

country since he enlisted during

World War II and spent several

years with the 78th FighterGroup in Europe. Members of

other squadrons in Long Island

Group joined them, swelling

the ranks to 48 seniors and 21

cadets.

For the CAP personnel, this

mission was comprised of a

variety of tasks, ranging from

flightline support to crowd

control, as well as security both

inside and outside the terminal

and hangar facilities and along

the airports perimeter. In fact,CAP assisted with directing vis-

itors, escorting VIPs, briefing

Thunderbirds on the tarmac.


7/28

7 Wheels Up!

journalists on media tours, and

even providing bottled water for

the Thunderbirds. In total, CAP

provided 552 hours of service.

Laying the groundwork for

such an operation requires

months of interaction with a

host of federal, state, local, and

airport authorities, including

representatives from the Air

Force and FEMA. Over time,

however, the role of the Long

Island Senior Squadron became

clearly defined.

This is one of the highlights

of our year, said Capt. Joseph

Pizzo, Squadron Commander.

Were a busy squadron and weperform a lot of missions, but

working with the Thunderbirds

and the Blue Angels is some-

thing pretty special. Im really

proud of how our members

always step up and do such a

good job. The proof is in howwe keep getting invited back,

year after year.

Home Is the Fighter PilotThe Thunderbirds refer to

themselves as Americas Am-

bassadors in Blue, and likemost diplomats, they spend

much of their time away from

home. Currently in its 56th year,

the Air Demonstration Squadron

is an Air Combat Command unit

composed of 12 officers and 120

enlisted personnel performing in

more than 30 career specialties;

this year, the team welcomed itsfirst pilots from the Air Force

Reserve and the Air National

Guard. The schedule for 2009

calls for performances at more

than 73 shows: They launched

back in February with Super

Bowl XLIII in Tampa, and aftera Far East Tour in September and

October, will finish the follow-

ing month with a finale at their

home at Nellis Air Force Base in

Nevada.

A key member of the team

is Maj. John Baum, who hasflown the No. 2 jet as the Left

Wing of the Thunderbirds since

January. For those attending

the Memorial Day show, seeing

him perform in the skies over

Jones Beach signified a reunion

of sorts: Baum is a Long Island

native who grew up in nearby

Lake Ronkonkoma, just a fewaerial Diamond Rolls from

the air show site. Among the

distinctive achievements in his

14-year service career are serv-

ing as an F-16 instructor at the

USAF Weapons School, logging

more than 1,750 hours as an AirForce pilot, and compiling 265

hours of combat experience.

Before the first air show per-

formance on Saturday morning,

Baum hosted more than 30 local

relatives and friends, and in a

touching but private ceremony,the other Thunderbirds lined up

on the flightline for greetings,

photos, and autographs with all

those in Baums party. Every

show is a thrill, said Baum,

whose call sign is Slick. But to

have everyone come out here at

home is very special.

Capt. Joseph Pizzo and Capt. Chuck Montague on flightline.


8/28

Wheels Up! 8

Chief among the visitors wasJohn Baum Sr., the pilots fa-

ther, who said, How do you put

it into words? He grew up here

and went to school here and

learned to fly here...I couldnt

be prouder. Im blessed to

have him. That pride has beenevident all year, as the elder

Baum has traveled to various

air showsas many as I can

affordto cheer on his son. He

laughed and said, I am THE

Thunderbirds groupie. They call

me Papa Slick now.Interestingly, the 33-year-old

pilot entered the Air Force as an

enlisted member in 1993 at age

17, before earning his commis-

sion from Embry-Riddle Aero-

nautical University in 1999.

Baum acknowledged that its

rare these days for a senior offi-

cer to have served in the enlistedranks: I took advantage of the

benefits of the G.I. Bill. I started

at Embry-Riddle on active duty

and then took a 16-month break

from service in the inactive re-

serves.

Those four and a half yearsBaum spent as an enlisted man

are not lost on the Thunderbirds

team, which is comprised of

ten enlisted members for every

one officer. When asked about

Baums service record, one non-

commissioned officer workingthe flightline at Republic Airport

smiled and said, He was one of

us first.

However, his rapid career

ascent began quite literally back

on Long Island, when his father

provided his first flight lesson

on the boys 16th birthday. The

Thunderbird smiled when he re-

called going up in a Cessna 152

at Long Islands MacArthur Air-

port, where CAPs Long Island

Group is headquartered. Forsomeone who always wanted to

be a pilot, its clear that Baum

relishes serving in the Thunder-

birds. Its just neat, he said.

One of our missions is to rep-

resent all the men and women

of the United States Air Force.

Many of these people who

come to see us have children or

grandchildren serving overseas

and they never get to see them

do their jobs. So we give them

some sense of what they do.

Thunderbirds Tip CapsLike other members of the

Thunderbirds, Baum expressed

thankfulness to CAP: We ap-

preciate all your assistance.

Baum was not alone.Throughout the extended week-

end, personnel from the Air

Force, Republic Airport, and the

New York State Department of

Parks (which sponsors the air

show) praised CAP. Members

even received kudos from thebystanders who came to watch

the Thunderbirds depart from

Farmingdale for test runs, media

flights, and the show itself.

Upon the conclusion of the

mission, Pizzo reflected on how

well the Long Island Senior

Squadron performed. He noted,

Capt. Paul Zuckerberg, guarding Maj. John Baums F-16 Fighter Jet.


9/28

9 Wheels Up!

Several of the Thunderbirds

thanked me personally for our

efforts. By the fourth day, the

NCOs were palling around with

our guys like they were in thesame squadron. Maj. Baum said

it really would not be possible

without us. I know they sincere-

ly appreciated our presence.

The air show itself took place

on Saturday and Sunday, but

Thunderbirds personnel were

at Republic Airport for nearly a

week, and CAP members were

on hand for several days as well.

For 1st. Lt. Linda Law of the

Long Island Senior Squadron,

the mission involved severalconsecutive days of performing

the criticalyet tedious and

sometimes downright boring

task of providing a security

detail outside the Thunderbirds

briefing room and lounge in

the airports main terminal. Butthat job was made much easier

for her just prior to the first air

show performance, when the

departing officers went out of

their way to personally offer

expressions of gratitude.

Lt. Col. Derek Routt, theNo. 7 pilot, introduced himself

and told Law to contact him

if she needed anything. Then

Baum came over and thanked

her profusely for volunteering,

to which she responded, No,

thank YOU for joining. Later,

Law recounted her reaction to

the unexpected display of appre-ciation: It just felt great to have

them recognize us.

After the Thunderbirds de-

parted, Pizzo offered thanks to

his troops as well: I dont take

this lightly, because I know

what a sacrifice this is on a holi-day weekend. The most valu-

able thing you can give anyone

is your time, because you only

have just so much of it.

Then he added, One cannot

even fully determine the fruit

that will be borne from a suc-cessful performance like this.

Perhaps this will help our re-

cruiting, or maybe someone in

the crowd will secure us a larger

role in the Emergency Services

world. I dont think Ive ever

been more proud of this squad-

ron than I am now.

1st Lt. Linda Law on the flightline.

SUSSEY CADETSDO THEIR PARTFOR EARTH WEEK

By Capt. MICHAEL KIELOCH

FULTON Cadets with F.

R. Sussey Composite Squadron

did their part for Earth Week at

Oswego County Airport on Sat-

urday, April 18.Cadets participated in a

clean-up of the airport grounds

and the surrounding areas,

picking up litter and debris that

could potentially harm aircraft.

The units efforts were a part of

a campaign run by the OswegoCounty Environmental Manage-

ment Council, encouraging the

community to pitch in during

Earth Week 2009.

Oswego County celebrates

Earth Week every year. It is a

time to acknowledge our ap-preciation for our earth and the

environmental successes that

sustain our healthy living, said

Richard Drosse, Earth Week

coordinator.

C/SMSgt Austin Zappala,

cadet public affairs NCO, coor-

dinated the efforts.

Its important that we take

care of our part of the com-

munity, said Cadet Sergeant

Zappala. Supporting Oswego

County and local aviation issimply a part of what we al-

ready do.


10/28

Wheels Up! 10

CNY GROUP OUT IN FORCE FOR FT. DRUM AIR SHOW

Pho

tos

by

1s

tLt

ROBERTSTRONACH

By 1st Lt. BOB STRONACH

WATERTOWN -- New YorkWings Central New York

Group turned out in force for

Fort Drums Mountainfest Air

Show June 27-28, setting up a

mission base and bivouac area,

providing traffic control, and

staffing a recruiting booth.The air show served as an

official welcome home cer-

emony for 1,000 solders in the

10th Mountain Division, and

featured New York Gov. David

Paterson who said he was keep-

ing a promise he made while

visiting the troops in Iraq at

Christmas.

The Civil Air Patrol (CAP)

members got to watch the mili-

tary flyovers and aerobatic acts,

and saw up close the variousaircraft in the static display ar-

eas -- from a World War II-era

B-17 that was restored to fly

as the Memphis Belle in the

movie of the same name, to a

KC10A tanker/cargo plane from

Maguire Air Force Base, to theski-equipped LC-130 Hercules,

which the New York Air Na-

tional Guard flies to the North

and South Poles.

We had 48 cadets and 11

senior members, represent-

ing all of the Groups sixsquadrons, including the newly

C/Airman Cody Rupert of Syracuse Cadet Squadron was curi-

ous about the ski-mounted LC-130 Hercules.

C/MSgt Scott Wolff and C/SA Faith Schreiber, both of Syra-

cuse Cadet Squadron, were intrigued by the Predator B, an

unmanned surveillance aircraft operated by U.S. Customs and

Border Protection.


11/28

11 Wheels Up!

formed Fort Drum-Watertown

Composite Squadron, Group

Commander Maj. Carl Anthony

said. The other participating

squadrons were: Rome CitySchool District Squadron, Utica

Cadet Squadron, Romes Mo-

hawk-Griffiss Senior Squadron,

Syracuse Cadet Squadron, and

F.R. Sussey Composite Squad-

ron from Fulton.

This was a very well-orga-

nized and executed exercise,

said Major Anthony, who

served as incident commander

with Maj. Robert Flynn as op-

erations officer. Our tasking

was to provide traffic directionin both the North and South

parking areas, provide commu-

nications for all our members,

provide a gate guard for the

Rapid Deployment Facility, and

provide a recruiting booth in the

static display area.CAP operated as a com-

pletely self-contained unit,

Major Anthony said. We set

up our own kitchen, feeding

all members three meals a day.

We brought the Wing Com-

munications Van and Generator,providing our own power and

communications.

He noted: Civil Air Patrol

has the most dedicated cadets

and senior members of any or-

ganization currently out there.

Other key staffers included:

Maj. Mark Cashin, safety of-

ficer; Maj. Gerald Marketos,

communications officer; 2nd

Lt. Robert Ormsbee, Fort Drumliaison officer; 2nd Lt. Penny

Schreiber, director of support

services, and 2nd Lt. Joanne

Parisi-Haugen, medical officer.

As evening approached on the

first day, the cadets got to play

some football, and surprisedMajor Anthonys son, Marshal,

with a birthday cake to show

their appreciation for the fact

that he was spending the week-

end cooking their meals instead

of going out with friends.

Among the air acts they got

to view, no matter where they

were stationed, were: the CF-18

Hornet flown by the Canadian

Air Force; two A-10 Thunder-bolt Warthogs flown by the Air

Combat Commands A-10 East

Demonstration Team; the Lima

Lima Flight Team flying six yel-

low T-34 Mentors from the 1950s

and 1960s; the Trojan Horsemen

flying six T-28 Trojans, alsofrom the 1950s and 60s; the Iron

Eagles bi-plane aerobatic team;

and the Gary Rower Vintage Air

Show in a 1942 Army Air Corps

Stearman PT-17.

We had a great time, Major

Anthony said, and the cadets

loved it.

Capt. Jeff Crippen and several of his Rome City School District

Cadet Squadron cadets watched an aerial act from the recruit-ing booth at Fort Drums Mountainfest Air Show. The cadets are

(from left): C/A1C Alexander Makley, C/A1C Emmanuel Ander-

son, and C/MSgt Wyatt Frazier.


12/28

Wheels Up! 12

TEACHERS TAKE TO AIR AS AERO-ED MEMBERS

By Capt. JAMES A. RIDLEY, SR.

HOLBROOK, NY It wasa picture -perfect April day for

flying, and five teachers from

three different schools took

to the air as part of Civil Air

Patrols Fly-A-Teacher Pro-

gram for Aerospace Education

Members. The teachers wereassociated with the Long Island

and Middle Eastern Groups.

The program got a kick-start

when Maj Lou Fenech of the

Long Island Group contacted

teacher Sue Ohlinger who re-

cently joined CAP as an Aero-

space Education Member. Oh-

linger learned of the program

while attending NASAs Educa-

tor Conference at the Johnson

Space Center in Houston.

I was so excited to get MajFenechs call, said Ohlinger,

and in being invited to present

to his squadron and learn about

the Fly-A-Teacher program.

Shortly after speaking with Ms.

Ohlinger, he contacted the New

York Wing project officer for

the program, Maj Tom Vree-

land, to set things in motion.

The date was selected and the

ground school and flights were

scheduled for Ohlinger and an-

other Long Island-based teach-er, Cynthia Falco. Maj Vreeland

also coordinated a flight for

three teachers from the Albany

area on the same day.

Capt John Corcacas, pilot for

the Long Island contingent, be-

gan the day with a safety brief-ing; a ground school covering

such topics as flight procedures

and take-off preparation, and

a detailed aircraft inspection.

He then took off in a Cessna

206 with teacher Ohlinger of

the Burr Intermediate School inCommack and teacher Falco of

the Emmanuel Lutheran School

in Patchogue. They spent the

next two-plus hours aloft with

one quick stop at Block Island

so that the two teachers could

switch seats. In the air Corcacascontinued their aerospace edu-

cation while at the same time

providing some sight-seeing

opportunities.

One of the best things about

this experience, said Cynthia

Falco, was that John (Corca-cas) answered every question

Capt. John Corcacas goes through a pre-flight inspection with

teachers Sue Ohlinger(left) and Cynthia Falco.


13/28

13 Wheels Up!

we asked to the fullest, and we

asked a lot of questions.

The flight path took the

teachers east along Long

Islands South shore past Mon-

tauk Point, then after the brief

stop-over, west along the North

Shore before landing back

at Islip. While in the air theyexperienced the thrill of steep

turns and of gaining altitudes of

up to 3,000 feet.

Similarly teachers from the

Mount Everett Regional School

in Massachusetts took off from

the Albany Airport in a Cessna182 with Captain Bob Ellwood

at the controls. Principal Glenn

Devoti along with the school

districts Director of Technol-

ogy Paul OBrien and teacher

Chris Thompson were Ell-woods passengers for the day.

Upon the groups return they

were given a quick briefing by

Maj Vreeland and expressed

their interest in sharing the

knowledge they gained with

their students.

This was awesome! com-

mented Mr. OBrien. I am im-

pressed with the quality of the

CAP Aerospace Education ma-terials we received and believe

that they will add significant

value to our science, technol-

ogy, engineering and math

(STEM) programs.

Principal Devoti added: I

am hoping that we can lookat whether the school-based

programs of CAP might be

appropriate for some of our

students.

Sue Ohlinger was also very

excited and impressed withCAP. This trip has enthused

me more and more and made

me more interested in learning

about the opportunities that

CAP has to offer, especially the

emergency services aspect.

Both Ohlinger and Falco

expressed interest in changing

their membership to Senior

Member status to be able to

pursue mission scanner qualifi-cations.

The Fly-a-Teacher program

is an excellent vehicle to get

the word out about CAP, said

Major Fenech.I was happy for

the opportunity to provide two

enthusiastic teachers the chanceto experience the thrill of flight.

I also appreciate the support

the program received from

Major Vreeland, the NY Wing

Project Officer, and our pilots,

Captain Corcacas and CaptainEllwood.

Teachers Chris Thompson, Paul OBrien and Glenn Devoti listen as Capt Bob Ellwood explains

facts about the aircraft they are going to fly in.


14/28

Wheels Up! 14

CADETS WELCOME HOME 2ND FALLEN MARINE

EMOTIONAL 3 WEEKS FOR CENTRAL NY SQUADRONS

Pho

toby

HEATHER

AINSWORTH/UTICADAILYNEWS


ROME, NY -- It was an

emotional three weeks for 1st

Lt. Michelle Crippen and her

Rome City School District Ca-

det Squadron, as well as for the

members of Utica Cadet Squad-ron. They helped welcome

home the body of fallen Marine

Lance Cpl. Daniel Geary on

March 26. Then on April 14,

they returned to Griffiss Inter-

national Airport to welcome

home the body of MarineLance Cpl. Blaise Oleski, who,

like Geary, was killed in action

(From left) Airmen 1st Class William Goodwin (partially obscured) and Rob Cohlbrenner, Cadet Sr.

Airman Joshua Goodwin (rear), Cadet Airman 1st Class Kayla Elmer and Cadet Staff Sgt. DennisDrake, all members of the Rome City School District Cadet Squadron, salute the casket of Marine

Lance Cpl. Blaise Oleski as it is carried into church for his funeral.

in Afghanistan. Both were 22.

Because Gearys brother,

Dillan, is one of her cadets,

Lieutenant Crippen found

herself practically camped out

at the Geary home in Rome,

helping to coordinate the wel-

come-home military honors andthe funeral. She also fielded

numerous news media calls on

behalf of the family.

Another call she took was

from Lance Cpl. Oleski, who

knew Geary and who had

grown up only ten miles awayin the Town of Floyd.

He called from Afghani-

stan, she said. He was pretty

much in the middle of combat,

and had very little time on the

phone. I could hear gunfire in

the background. He wasnt con-

cerned about himself. He want-

ed to know how the Geary fam-

ily was doing. I found out laterthat he had asked his mother to

attend the funeral.

Then, on April 8, Oleski was

killed.

It wasnt long before Rome

Mayor James Brown called

Crippen on her cell phone, ask-ing if she would work with the

family and help coordinate the


15/28

15 Wheels Up!

arrangements again.

That meant that a contingent

of Marines would escort the

body from the chartered plane

to the hearse, followed by a

procession through lines of

military personnel, 45 CAP ca-dets, veterans, police, firefight-

ers and the public. Then calling

hours at the same funeral home

and services at the same church

where Lance Cpl. Geary was

mourned. And finally a com-

mittal service and militaryhonors at Ft. Stanwix National

Pho

toby

HEATHERAINSWORTH/UTICAD

AILYNEWS

Monument, adjacent to the

church in the heart of down-

town Rome -- with Marines

and Revolutionary War re-enac-

tors lining the forts parapet.

Some 20 of her cadets took

turns working traffic con-trol and escorting over 2,000

mourners at Barry Funeral

Home, Lieutenant Crippen

noted, and then some 15 of

them showed up at St. Peters

Church the next day, on their

own, standing at attention atthe entrance and saluting as the

casket was carried in.

We are very proud of these

cadets, said Lieutenant Crip-

pen, advisor to the squadron

commander. These cadets

never cease to amaze me with

what they are capable of.The second funeral had an

overflowing crowd of 1,500 at

the church and at Fort Stanwix,

she noted.

Lance Corporal Oleski was

a phenomenal kid, she said.

Tears welled.This one hit me hard.

First Lt. Michelle Crippen wipes a tear near the casket of Marine Lance Cpl. Blaise Oleski.


16/28

Wheels Up! 16

By Capt. JAMES RIDLEY, Sr.

PATCHOGUE, NY May25, 2009. While Memo-

rial Day traditionally means a

weekend off for most people,

the members of the Col Francis

S. Gabreski Squadron do their

part to honor those who gavetheir lives in service to their

country.

On Saturday, the weekend

began with over 20 cadets and

officers, led by Maj Cheryl

Dorfman, attending to their an-

nual tradition of decorating thegraves of veterans in section

14 of the Calverton National

Cemetery. This tradition be-

gan many years ago when

Col Gabreski made a light-

hearted deal and requested the

squadrons care of his grave

on Memorial Day in exchange

for the use of his name as the

squadrons namesake. After

a flag folding ceremony at his

gravesite, the squadron as-

sembled with other membersof the Long Island Group as

the Squadron Color Guard led

the procession of flags in a me-

morial ceremony.

At the same time, some 200

miles away, another contingent

from the Gabreski Squadronled by Squadron Commander

Maj Lou Fenech was in Chi-

copee, Mass. participating

in the Northeast Regions

Search and Rescue Competi-

tion being held at Westover Air

Reserve Base. This team of

9 members included Capt.

Nate Hillard and 2Lt. Dennis

Woytowitz who commanded

the ground teams which in-

cluded six Gabreski cadets.

They were joined by members

of the Southeast Group andformed the team that took 3rd

place in the Region. Two other

Gabreski cadets worked on the

PAO staff which was tasked

with covering the competition

On Sunday the Gabres-

ki squadron color guard wasagain called to duty to present

the colors at an event led by

Capt Paul Ryan at the First

Baptist Church in Patchogue.

On Monday, Memorial Day,

the squadron members from

all three activities gathered for

the Patchogue Memorial Day

Parade and were led by their

Long Island Group champion

color guard. When the parade

was over they were told that

the squadron had won the tro-

phy for the most patriotic unitin the parade.

I am very proud of the offi-

cers and cadet members of my

squadron, commented Maj

Fenech. To do so much over

a three-day holiday period is

remarkable and a testament toour ability to get the job done.

BUSY HOLIDAY FOR LIG SQUADRON

NY Wing Ground Team (including Gabreski cadets) poses in front

of a C-5 Galaxy at Westover Air Reserve Base during NorthEast

Regions Search-and-Rescue Competition (SARCOMP).


17/28

17 Wheels Up!

By Capt. CAROLYN FILLGROVE

AKRON, NY Alice We-

hhrung-Schmidt never expected

to be reacquainted to her past

when she attended the annual

Akron Memorial Day Fly-In

Breakfast recently.The 91-year-old World War II

Civil Air Patrol member spent

most of the day reacquaint-

ing herself with CAPs current

activities, its modern-day mem-

bers, and even got one more

chance behind the yoke of aCessna.

It was just a wonderful,

wonderful day, remarked We-

hhrung-Schmidt, one of the last

to leave the airport that day.

Wehhrung-Schmidt served as

a CAP observer flying and train-ing with a squadron in Tonawa-

nda, NY from 1942 to 1946.

Squadron meetings were filled

with drill and subjects such as

radio procedures. Her war time

experience was what motivated

her to pursue the flying les-

sons she had always wanted,

enabling her to earn a private

pilots license at the age of 25.

Akrons Memorial Day Fly-

in Breakfast marked one more

time for her to fly when shewas given an orientation flight

in a private Cessna owned by

Capt. Tom Baldwin and Capt.

Diane Rothberg, both retired Air

Canada captains. She was just

amazing...She still thinks like apilot...She is very sharp, Capt.

Rothberg said.

Born and raised in Buffalo,

Alice, at a young age, told her

family that she wanted to fly

airplanes. But the dream to fly

took a back seat to formal edu-

cation. She graduated from Buf-

falo State College with a degree

in education in 1941 and began

a long career as a teacher and

administrator for the Kenmore

School District. Her service inthe CAP ended when she left

for New York City to pursue

a masters degree. We-

hhrung-Schmidt noted that

women training as pilots

during World War II were

somewhat of a novelty.

She found the flight train-

ing exhilarating, but was

ever mindful that she hadto prove herself better than

men. When she went to

Rochester to take the writ-

ten exam, others quickly

completed the test and

left while she spent six

hours taking the exam andre-checking her answers.

The extra attention paid

off; she scored a 97. Then,

when she finally got her pilots

license at the age of 25, she told

her mother. Her mother hugged

her tight and told her how proudof her she was. She was sur-

prised by this, but happy, too.

Wehhrung-Schmidts love of

flying rubbed off on her hus-

band, Carl. While she studied

in New York City, he earned a

private pilots license as well.

Then he surprised her upon

graduation by saying that he

would come to New York and

fly her home. Married for 40

years, the couple mixed aviation

with his automotive business.The couple owned ten different

airplanes through the years, to

WWII MEMBER CATCHES UP ON CAP AT FLY-IN

WAR TIME EXPERIENCE SPURRED HER TO BECOME PILOT


18/28

Wheels Up! 18

include Piper Cubs, Pacers, Tri-Pacers, and a Cherokee 180. Mr.

Wehhrung did his own mainte-

nance. They even built a hangar

at the Akron Airport themselves.

Alice and Carl personally

knew Bill Piper, Sr., owner of

Piper Aircraft Co., Lock Haven,PA. They attended a celebration

at Piper Aircraft when the com-

pany had built 320,000 planes.

Alice has flown twice to Mex-

ico in a Piper Cherokee (made

in Florida). She has flown to

Alaska and many other places.

She stopped flying in 1986

when Carl had to have open

heart surgery. Alice has 3,000

hours in her log book.

Carl Wehhring passed away

in the mid-1980s. That hasntstopped Alice. She loves life

and lives it to the fullest; living

on her own, taking care of herhome and mowing the lawn.

These days Alice owns a

home in Florida, but comes

home to Cheektowaga every

year before hurricane season

starts. The hurricanes dance

around down there, she noted,indicating she didnt like the

storms one bit!

Alice is a musician and plays

seven instruments. She speaks

English and French. Ever the

educator, she continues to work

in a child day care center, com-

bining her love of music with

humor in a little band with chil-

dren and old people.

She laughed when noting

the old people think shes

younger than they are becauseshe knows so many old people

jokes.

By 1st Lt. DOUG JUSTHAM

JAMESTOWN Even

though it isnt a meaningful oc-

currence in their own country,

which observes its own Re-

membrance Day every Nov. 11,

Mays Memorial Day weekends

in the U.S. have become special

for the Royal Canadian Air

Cadets of Kitchener-Waterloo,

Ontario.For the last 10 years, the ca-

dets have traveled south to New

York to march in the Lakewood

Memorial Day Parade. This

year, though, the visit proved

even more significant.

Maj. Ellen Maternowski,

commander of Jamestown

Composite

Squadron,

was asked to

host an elec-

tronic loca-tor transmit-

ter (ELT)

search for

the visi-

tors. Such

exercises

are routinefor Civil Air

CANADA CADETSJOIN NEW YORKCOUNTERPARTS

IN ELT SEARCH

Maj. Maternowski,

Alice Wehhrung-Schmidt poses with her late husband, Carl

Wehhrung, in front of their Piper Cherokee at Akron, NY Airport,

sometime in the 1960s. The photo was found at the airport ear-

lier this year, shoved in between some old newspapers. Nobody

at the airport knew who the couple was until Mrs. Wehhrung-

Smith identified the photo for airport management.


19/28

19 Wheels Up!

Patrol members, but not for their Canadian

counterparts.

Maternowski asked 1st Lt. Tom Joneson,

communications officer, and Capt. Marvin

Hillicker, emergency services officer andground team leader, if they would be will-

ing to arrange an ELT search with a com-

bined team of Canadian and CAP cadets.

Jumping at the chance, Joneson conducted

a one-hour training session on the reasons

and methods for an ELT search.Following the preliminary training ses-

sion, about 30 Canadian Air Cadets and

their senior mentors headed out on the

search, along with 10 Jamestown cadets

and senior members. The practice ELT was

located within 90 minutes and silenced, as

required.The squadrons public affairs officer

and safety officer, 1st Lt. Doug Justham,

helped with field-training the cadets on the

types of equipment used to track ELTs.

We use a wide variety of tracking units,

from very expensive Doppler mini-trackers

to homemade Yagi antenna units attached

to scanners and amateur radio handheld

units, Justham said.

The squadron has close to a 100 percent

success rate within 60 minutes of begin-

ning the search, he added. But today is

more education than it is practice, so weare not worried about the amount of time it

takes as long as the cadets get a good feel

for what we do.

Afterward, Maternowski pronounced the

weekend a great international success, as

the two groups got along well and enjoyed

searching, marching and just getting to

know each other.

FULTON -- 1st Lt. Jennifer T. Holdren became

the first woman commander of F.R. Sussey Com-

posite Squadron following

a change-of-command cer-

emony May 27 at Oswego

County Airport.

Lieutenant Holdren alsois the first woman to com-

mand a squadron in Central

New York Group, noted

Group Commander Maj.

Carl Anthony, who offici-

ated at the ceremony.

Sussey Squadron operatesprograms for both senior

members and cadets, and

trains for air and ground search and rescue, emer-

gency services and disaster relief.

Holdren succeeds Capt. Dale Masters as com-

mander. She joined the squadron in 2005, has

served as administrative officer and public affairs

officer, and has participated in aircraft orientations

for youth, cadet bivouacs, a missing person search

mission.

I plan to focus on three main goals, the new

commander said. First, I will work to retain the

cadet members and their interests, while buildingon the strengths of the program. Secondly, I want

to see more recognition of the squadron and Civil

Air Patrol by getting us involved in outreach activi-

ties in the community. Lastly, I intend to boost our

recruiting efforts for senior members as well as

cadets.

She resides in Fulton with her husband, EarlHoldren III, a Civil Air Patrol pilot.

HOLDREN IS FIRST WOMAN

TO COMMAND SQUADRON

IN CENTRAL NY GROUP


20/28

Wheels Up! 20

MARINE CORPS AVIATORS HOST CAPSUFFOLK CADET SQUADRON 10 MEETS 25TH REGIMENT

By 2nd Lt. ROBERT CALVIELLO

GARDEN CITY, NY - The

US Marine Corps 2nd Battalion/

25th Regiment earlier this year

hosted Suffolk Cadet Squadron

10 cadets, seniors and fam-

ily members at their NassauCounty base.

You [once] welcomed me

in your housewelcome to

ours, said Col. James Rooney,

USMCR. After brief opening

remarks, the colonel introduced

two Marines who would leadquestion-and-answer sessions

on Marine Aviation training,

experiences and careers.

Capt. Daniel M. Nolan, a

12-year Marine veteran, served

in Iraq and also in Indonesia

(Tsunami Relief) as a SeaKnight (HMM165) flying twin

rotor CH46 helicopters. Nolan

discussed the Marine aviation

pipeline and its advanced pro-

grams. He stressed the competi-

tive academics and the physical

and psychological demands ofthe training each aviator must

complete, and noted how a

candidate must be a self-starter

and self-motivated. Captain

Nolan acknowledged that

CAP activities [e.g. orientation

flights, flight-line training, and

aerospace education] will give

cadets a leg up on other candi-

datesFamiliarity with air andflight operations and communi-

cations is a plus.

Capt. Luis E. Martinez, Ad-

vertising Officer for 1st Marine

District, is a graduate of the US

Naval Academy at Annapolis,

and served in Afghanistan as aVMAQ-3 Moondog -- flying

Prowler aircraft in a Marine

Tactical Electronic Warfare

Squadron. After describing the

role of Forward Air Control-

ler (FAC) -- which requires

ground-to-air communications,map reading and navigation

skills Martinez was asked

to comment about the train-

ing CAP members receive and

execute during SAREX mis-

sions. It is expected that every

[Marine] 2nd Lieutenant can plot

a course and get to a destina-

tion.., Capt. Martinez said. It

is up to them to know how toget to an X on the map without

being told how to get there.

A martial arts demonstra-

tion was led by Sgt. Richard D.

Vergara, a Garden City native,

a Martial Arts Instructor Trainer

(MAIT) and black belt instruc-tor for the 25th Regiment. The

sergeant stressed how training is

part of continuous improvement

no matter what a Marines spe-

cialty might be. Everyone has

a role and a part to play when

fulfilling the mission, Vergarasaid. [We] work in teams and

partner on tasks.

Colonel Rooney closed

the open house by present-

ing Squadron 10 commander

Capt. Benjamin Nodar with

two framed posters of Marine

aircraft.

Col. Jim Rooney, USMCR, addresses Squadron 10.


21/28

21 Wheels Up!


WHITESBORO, NY -- Air

Force Maj. Richard Lubey

grew up in the Civil Air Patrol

ranks, in love with aviation. He

attained the rank of Cadet Lt.

Colonel and learned how to flya Cessna 172 before going off

to the U.S. Air Force Academy

to fulfill his dream of becoming

a fighter pilot, eventually flying

an F-16 in combat in Iraq.

Guest speaker at Central New

York Groups Awards and Rec-

ognition Banquet at Harts Hill

Inn on April 21, Major Lubey

related how he was only 8 years

old when he fell in love. It hap-

pened when his parents brought

him to the open house and airshow at the former Griffiss Air

Force Base, and he got to climb

up the ladder to the cockpit of

an F-106 Delta Dart fighter

interceptor. He looked inside

and smiling back at him was the

pilot.Do you believe they pay

me to fly this thing! the pilot

beamed.

The young Lubey scrambled

down the ladder and announced

to his parents, thats what he

wanted to do. Fly fighter jets.When he was able to finally

CAP IMPORTANT TO AIR FORCE CAREER

FIGHTER PILOT SPEAKS AT CENTRAL NY GROUP BANQUET

join Utica Cadet Squadron at

the age of 12, the Civil Air Pa-

trol (CAP) not only fueled his

dream, but gave him an advan-

tage, made him better prepared,

in his future Air Force career,

Major Lubey told the crowd of115 senior members, cadets and

family members representing

the Groups five squadrons.

Now, in his position as chief

of Current Operations at the

Northeast Air Defense Sector

(NEADS) at Griffiss Interna-tional Airport in Rome, NY,

site of the former Air Force

Base, Lubey said he has been

enlightened as to what CAP

does for national defense and in

disaster relief.

From providing reliable, cost-effective training alternatives

for the Air Force and Air Guard,to participating in search and

rescue operations, to assisting in

disaster relief in hurricanes and

floods, its pretty amazing.

On behalf of my bosses

at NEADS, one of two North

American Aerospace Defense(NORAD) sectors, thank you.

Thank you for your passion

for leadership, for your passion

for aviation... for your passion

for excellence.

Recalling his time as a CAP

cadet, Major Lubey said: We

didnt go on camp-outs and sing

campfire songs. We went on

bivouacs, stayed in tents, and

learned survival skills. Like

todays cadets, he also got to fly

in airplanes and was immersedin aerospace education.

The spectrum of experience

you get in CAP, youre not go-

ing to find anywhere else.

Recognizing he was a former

member of Utica Cadet Squad-

ron, the current squadron com-mander, Capt Chuck Hereth,

presented Lubey with a squad-

ron challenge coin. Prior to the

talk, Captain Hereth, who was

master of ceremonies, received

a surprise himself when Group

Commander Maj. Carl Anthonypresented him with two Group

AF Major Richard Lubey


22/28

Wheels Up! 22

awards, Senior Member of the

Yearand Cadet Orientation Pi-

lot of the Year.

Squadron of the Yearhonors

went to Rome City SchoolDistrict Cadet Squadron, com-

manded by Capt Jeff Crippen,

who also was named Cadet

Program Officer of the Year.

Captain Crippen took the op-

portunity to present an award

himself -- a special certificateof recognition for Rome City

School District, which he gave

to School Superintendent Jef-

frey Simons, for the districts

outstanding support of the CAP

cadet program.

Another special guest, Rome

Mayor James Brown, who re-

marked that the world would

be a better place if all kids

could experience CAP, got into

the act, too, awarding city me-

dallions to Captain Crippen, hiswife, First Lt Michelle Crippen,

and Air Force Master Sgt. Della

FROM LEFT: Air Force Master Sgt Della Pray, CAP Capt Jeff Crippen, and CAP 1st Lt Michelle

Crippen received accolades from Rome Mayor James Brown (right).

Capt Chuck Hereth, receiving Senior Member of Year Award from

Central New York Group Commander Maj Carl Anthony(right)

and New York Wing Vice Commander Lt Col Mark Caiello (left).

Pray of the school districtsJROTC program. Noting that

the Rome area lost two of its

own in the past month -- Lance

Cpl. Daniel Geary and Lance

Cpl. Blaise Oleski, both killed

in action in Afghanistan -- the

mayor lauded the trio for help-ing the families of the fallen

Marines.

They were with these fami-lies from day one.

Members of the Geary fam-

ily were at the banquet, and the

mayor, on behalf of a grateful

community, thanked them for

their sacrifice, prompting a

standing ovation for the fallenMarines mother, grandmother

and brother (a CAP cadet).

Pho

tos

by

1s

tLtROBERTSTRONACH


23/28

23 Wheels Up!

By Capt. JAMES RIDLEY, SR.

CHICOPEE, MA New

York Wing senior members

and cadets competed against

some of the best Emergency

Service teams the Northeast

Region (NER) has to offer at

the regions Search And RescueCompetition (SARCOMP) held

at Westover Air Reserve Base

on Memorial Day Weekend,

taking third place overall.

The 20-member New York

Wing contingent was led by

Maj Darren Cioffi, incidentcommander, and comprised a

complete Incident Command

staff, two air crews and aircraft,

and a 9-person ground team

with two vehicles. They were

tasked with many events, each

team had its own specific chal-lenges and was judged against

competition from wings such as

New Jersey, New Hampshire,Pennsylvania and composite

teams made up from other

wings. In addition, seven of the

nine-member Public Affairs

team covering the exercise were

from New York Wing.

While the air crews searchedfor targets, ground teams

searched for ELTs and per-

formed line search tasks while

the incident command staff

organized, communicated and

tracked all team activity. The

competition took place over theentire Memorial Day weekend

but the actual events began and

ended on Saturday the 23rd of

May.

This was a great exercise

for the New York Wing, said

Major Cioffi. Members went

up against some of the best

the Civil Air Patrol has to offer,

and this competition couldnthave come at a better time.

Indeed, the New York Wing

was preparing for an official Air

Force evaluation of its Emer-

gency Services capabilities and

the SARCOMP was an excel-

lent primer for that evaluation,where the wing received high

grades.

Seven cadets participated

in the competition as part of

the ground team and two other

cadets were part of the SAR-

COMPs Public Affairs team.The wing supplied numerous

staff officers and cadets that

were involved in the planning

and execution of the event such

as c/Col Natasha Cohen, who

was Aid-de-Camp to the SAR-

COMP architect and incident

commander, Lt Col Joe Abegg.

NY WING TAKES 3RD PLACE IN NER SARCOMP

C-5 Galaxy towers above CAP aircraft at Westover Air Reserve Base

Pho

toby

SUSANROBERTSON/CAP

NHQ


24/28

Wheels Up! 24

On Sunday the team learned how they fared

and was very happy with the outcome. Maj Alan

Gibbs, Operations Section chief, commented that

while the team would have liked to have come

in first or second, getting third place the firsttime we competed in this type of competition is

INCIDENT COMMAND TEAM

Gibbs, Alan Maj NER-NY-251

Cioffi, Darren Maj NER-NY-118Brana, Sharon Capt NER-NY-118

Fenech, Lou Maj NER-NY-117

Wuestman, Michele 1st Lt NER-NY-251

GROUND TEAM

Gatley, Kory CDT NER-NY-117

Grosshandler, Kevin CDT NER-NY-117Hillard, Nathan Capt NER-NY-117

Woytowitz, Alexander CDT NER-NY-117

Ozyilmaz, Zeki CDT NER-NY-117

Woytowitz, Dennis 2nd Lt NER-NY-117

Becerra, Annie CDT NER-NY-147

Pan, Willie CDT NER-NY-147

Derr, Joshua CDT NER- NY-189

AIR CREWS

Falcon, Ron Capt NER-NY-219

Silverman, Jill Capt NER-NY-219

Stern, Peter 1st Lt NER-NY-219

Cipriano, Rocky 2nd Lt NER-NY-219

Smith, Steve 2nd Lt NER-NY-219Levy, Roger 1st Lt NER-NY-379

PAO TEAM COVERING SARCOMP

Ridley, James Capt NER-NY-001

Barry, Kevin Maj NER-NY-035

Fairchild, Rick 1st Lt NER-NY-414

Lee, Michael 1st Lt NER-NY-147Ridley, James CDT NER-NY-117

SARCOMP PARTICIPANTS FROM NEW YORK WING

Lopez, Tatyana CDT NER-NY-117

Fairchild, Lydia CDT NER-NY-414

OTHER NY MEMBERS helping on SAR-

COMP staff: Lt. Col. Steve Perta, Lt. Col.

Andy Liddle, Lt. Col. Joe Goldman, Maj. Judy

Hewett, C/Col. Natasha Cohen, C/Lt. Col.Bethany Hewett.

fantastic and will only serve to make us better the

next time.

The next time might come sooner than anyone

on the team expected as the wing is tentatively

planning to hold a SARCOMP of its own in May2010.

NY Wing Cadets Tatyana Lopez and Lydia

Fairchild, shown prior to takeoff in the cockpit

of a CAP aircraft, got to view the SARCOMP

from the air as part of the PAO Team.

Pho

tobySUSANROBERTSON/

CAPNHQ


25/28

25 Wheels Up!

By Sr. Mbr. MADELEINE COHEN

WHITE PLAINS, NY Over130 area members of Civil Air

Patrol gathered to congratulate

New York States first Spaatz

Award recipient since 2005,

Cadet Col. Natasha Cohen of

Dobbs Ferry, NY, in a ceremony

at Wing Headquarters at the

Westchester County Airport

in White Plains on Friday,

May 29. Named for a former

Air Force general, the Carl A.

Spaatz award is CAPs highest

cadet honor. In a surprise an-nouncement, the evening also

celebrated the lengthy career of

Lt Col Johnnie Pantanelli and

culminated in the renaming of

North Castle Composite Squad-

ron in her honor.

Wing Commander Col. Ken-neth Andreu hosted the cer-

emony, featuring special guests

State Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer

and retired US Air Force Brig.

Gen. John F. Flanagan, a notedauthor, aviator, and business

executive, who presented the

Spaatz Award to Cadet Cohen.

Lt Colonel Pantanelli, com-

mander of the squadron since

1963, is a pioneer herself. She

served in the Marine Corps inWWII, and joined CAP in 1944,

flying aircraft as a scanner and

SPECIAL HONORS FOR CADET AND HER COMMANDER

C/Col. Cohen

A SPAATZ AWARD THAT BECAME SO MUCH MORE

Lt. Col. Pantanelli

observer before finding

her niche as squadron

commander. Her legionsof cadets have provided

outstanding service to

America; they now hold

positions of influence in

both civilian and mili-

tary careers, counting

among them graduates

of the finest universities,

as well as the various

military academies.

Lt Col Richard Debany, US

Army, who flew in from Ft

Bragg in North Carolina, tookthe podium and said: There

is no finer developer of young

adults than Lt Col Pantanelli. I

believe that I speak for all the

cadets when I say that every ca-

det whos ever walked through

the doors of North CastleSquadron is better because of

it.

By 2nd Lt. JESSICA ANDREU

Current and former cadetsand officers of the North Castle

Composite Squadron, NY-238,

came together May 29 to cel-

ebrate not only a new Spaatz

cadet, C/Col. Natasha Cohen,

but also to witness a unique

honor ceremony. Attendees

included members from South-

east Group, New York Wing,

the Northeast Region, and per-

haps one of the most importantpeople of all, Lt Col. Johnnie

Pantanelli, the North Castle

Composite Squadrons com-

mander since 1963.

The ceremony was led by

CAP 1st Lt and Air National

Guard TSgt Noah Stebbins,

himself a former cadet com-

mander under Lt. Colonel

Pantanelli, back in the 1990s.

Capt. Richard Johns assistedin reading a roll call of former

cadets and friends of North

Castle who came from near

and far to join in the festivities.

Guest speakers included New

York State Sen. Susan Oppen-

heimer and Brig. Gen. John F.

Flanagan, USAF Ret., author of


26/28

Wheels Up! 26

Vietnam Above the Treetops, who came to congratulate

C/Col. Cohen on her achievements. It seemed to be an

event that was completely dedicated to celebrating Ca-

det Cohen and first Spaatz Award earned by a NY Wingcadet since 2005.

It was during Cadet Cohens Thank You speech that

the ceremony began to shift in focus from her accom-

plishments to that of Lieutenant Colonel Pantanelli and

her decades of leadership.

Wing Commander Col. Kenneth J. Andreu, himself

a former cadet in Colonel Pantanellis old White Plainssquadron, stood and announced: Cadet Colonel Cohen

will be the first and last Spaatz cadet to come out of

North Castle Composite Squadron.

He went on to explain: This morning, North Castle

Composite Squadron ceased to exist with a key stroke.

From now on, Charter unit NY-238 will be known as

the Lieutenant Colonel Johnnie Pantanelli Squadron.The assembled crowd gasped and broke into ap-

plause.

Wing Commander Col. Ken Andreu

and Lt. Col. Johnnie Pantanelli

NEW YORK WING HAS HEARTAcknowledging the nations

economic slump, Wing Com-

mander Col. Kenneth Andreu

told attendees at Aprils Wing

Conference in Lake George that

tough times demand heart,

and if theres one thing New

York Wing has, its heart.He encouraged units to

make a difference in 2009 by

partnering with local relief mis-

sions, finding a mission that

needs us, and recruiting mem-

bers to help us help.

He went on to list the wings2008 successes, such as:

being credited with saving

three lives.

starting six new squadrons

in four different Groups.

developing and executing

new leadership training, the

New York Wing Group Com-

manders Course. flying more hours than ever

before -- 3,340 hours, ranking

New York Wing as sixth in the

nation.

flying 490 counter drug

hours and locating 65 sites with

$30 million in plants eradicated. flying volunteer hours that

alone are valued at $6.8 million

to New York State (not count-

ing the counter drug eradication

results).

offering a value to the

citizenry of New York that is

priceless!

Colonel Andreu announcedincentive awards for flying and

membership growth:

Aviation Excellence Award

to Long Island Group.

Most Cadet Orientation

Flights Award to Finger Lakes

Group. Overall Membership


27/28

27 Wheels Up!

Growth Award to Broome-

Tioga Composite Squadron

(NY-292).

Cadet Membership GrowthAward to Brooklyn Technical

Cadet Squadron 1 (NY-384).

Group Membership Growth

Award to Mid-Eastern Group

(NY-043).

Membership Retention

Award to Nassau CadetSquadron 8 (NY-288).

The wing commander and his

staff then honored outstanding

members and units. including:

Senior Member of the Year:

Lt. Col. Charles Miller, Finger

Lakes Group. Cadet of the Year: C/Maj.

Heather Nelson, Mid-Eastern

Group.

Cadet NCO of the Year:

C/SMSgt Joseph L.T. Smith,

Rochester Composite Squadron.

Cadet Programs Officer of

the Year: Capt. Ellen J. Mater-

nowski, Western NY Group.

Check Pilot of the Year:

Maj. Brian Benedict, Mid-

Eastern Group. Outstanding Emergency

Service Program: Finger Lakes

Group.

Aerospace Education Of-

ficer of the Year: Capt. Thomas

Baldwin, Western NY Group.

Sr. Chaplain of the Year:Chaplain (Capt) Douglas A.

Brock, Wing staff.

Squadron Chaplain of the

Year: Chaplain (Capt) John

E. Capen, Catskill Mountain

Group.

Character DevelopmentInstructor of the Year: Maj. An-

drew S. Berry. New York City

Group.

Inspector of the Year: Maj.

Daniel Brodsky, Central New

York Group.

Safety Officcer of the

Year: 1st Lt. Lawrence Wenz,

Catskill Mountain Group.

Logistics Officer of the

Year: Lt. Col. Anita Martin,

Mid-Eastern Group. Communicator of the Year:

1st Lt. Dwight Smith, Wing

staff.

Incident Staff Member

of the Year: Lt. Col. William

Hughes, Wing staff.

Legislative Officer of theYear: Lt. Col. Diane Wojtow-

icz, Finger Lakes Group.

NorthEast Region Govern-

ment Relations Officer of the

Year: Lt. Col. Andy Liddle,

Wing staff.

Public Affairs Officer (PAO)of the Year: Maj. Kevin Barry,


NorthEast Region PAO of

the Year: Maj. Kevin Barry,


Squadron of Merit: Condor

Composite Squadron, Finger

Lakes Group.

Group commanders and other attendees at the Wing Conference.

Photo

by

Ma

j.KEVINBARRY


28/28

Wheels Up! 28

NEW YORK WING IN ACTION

By Capt. JAMES A.

RIDLEY, SR.

CLIFTON PARK

Since she was a

young girl, Cadet Maj.Heather Nelson, the

outgoing cadet com-

mander for Mid-East-

ern Groups Vedder

Composite Squadron,

has wanted to earn an

appointment to the U.S.

Air Force Academy in

Colorado Springs, CO.

In June Cadet Nelson

saw her dream turn into

reality when she report-

ed to the academy as amember of the class of

2013.

The appointment

highlighted what has

been a short and suc-

cessful CAP cadet

career so far. Last sum-

mer Nelson saw anoth-

er goal accomplished

when she was assigned

as the Group First Ser-

geant at the 2008 New

York Wing LeadershipEncampment, then

CADET-OF-YEAR HEADS

TO AIR FORCE ACADEMY

she was promoted to

cadet commander of

her squadron, and more

recently at the New

York Wing Conference

held in Lake George inApril, she was named

the New York Wing

Cadet of the Year.

Its been awe-

some, she said. Ive

loved every minute

Ive spent in CAP. My

seniors have been great

role models and have

helped me out a lot.

Everyone who

knows Heather, knows

how much this meantto her, said her squad-

ron commander, Maj.

Adam Candib. We are

all excited for her -- a

sentiment shared by her

group commander, Lt.

Col. Anita Martin.

While at the academy

Heather will join the

fencing team. She is an

accomplished fencer

who has traveled all

over the world earningmedals. C/Maj. Heather Nelson

By 2nd Lt. ROBERT

CALVIELLO

FARMINGVILLE

Suffolk Cadet Squad-ron 10 honored the

courage and sacrifice of

veterans by participat-

ing in four Long Island

Memorial Day events.

On Saturday May 23,

cadets and senior mem-bers met at Calverton

National Cemetery

and rendered honors

by placing graveside

American flags.

Later that day Squad-

ron 10 cadets were atRepublic Airport, join-

ing other CAP units to

provide gate and flight

line security for the Air

Force Thunderbirds

and Royal Canadian

Snowbirds.

Squadron 10 attended

its first Centereach

Memorial Day parade

on Sunday. On Monday,

Squadron 10 joined

the Lake RonkonkomaMemorial Day parade.

UNIT ATTENDS

4 MEMORIALDAY ACTIVITIES

new york wing - jun 2009

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