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    North Central Region NewsVolume 2007 June

    In This Issue:

    Commander's Column.................................................Page 2

    Three Spaatz Awards in Region..................................Page 3

    Units Support Memorial Day....................................... Pages 7 & 8CAP Assists River Cleanup.........................................Page 7

    CAP Members Honored by Microsoft..........................Page 8

    Do Orientation Rides have an Impact?.................... ... Page 9

    Members Assist at Motorcycle Accident Scene.......... Page 9

    Photo Essays:

    MNWH Training Weekend...................................Page 5

    KSWG Conference..............................................Page 6

    Former NCR, National CommanderHonored by USAF

    U.S. Air ForceCol. Richard L.Anderson, formerU.S. Civil Air Pa-trol North CentralRegion and na-tional commanderand now abrigadier generalin the Air Force,has been honoredwith the Legion ofMerit.

    The awardrecognizes Ander-son's service aschief of the staffgroup in the Of-

    fice of the DeputyUnder Secretaryof the Air Force(International Af-fairs), followed byhis assignment as chief of the Asia-Pacific Division inthe same office.

    (Continued on Page 4)

    U.S. Air Force Col. Richard L.

    Anderson (right) receives the Legionof Merit from Bruce S. Lemkin,deputy undersecretary of the AirForce, in a recent ceremony at thePentagon.

    Iowa Wing Conducts TornadoDamage Assessment

    Iowa Wing responded to a call from state officialsafter a tornado struck Muscatine, Ia, on Friday, June 1.Iowa Wing was asked to conduct aerial damage as-

    sessment and photo reconnaissance. Damage as-sessment was also provided for a second tornado inNortheast Iowa, as well.

    Iowa Wing provided the damage assessment thesame weekend it was providing crowd control and linesecurity for the Quad Cities Air Show, less than twoweeks after receiving an Excellent in the wing's evalu-ated SAR,and at theend of amonth inwhich it alsoflew over 20

    hours in re-sponse tofloodingalong theNishnabotnaRiver nearRed Oak. Atright, Congressman Steve King flies with Capt. DonWood to survey flood damage in SW Iowa.

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    North Central Region News

    The North Central Region News is published

    monthly by North Central Region, Civil Air Patrol,Lt.Col. Mike Marek, editor and NCR/PAO; Col. Sean

    P. Fagan, Region Commander.

    Please send submissions by the 10th of each month

    to:

    [email protected]

    A Short Note from the Vice

    Col Fagan is out of touch at the time of this publication, so Ill try topass along a few words of wisdom in his stead.

    Lots of things are going on in our CAP business. Operationally,

    Kansas, Missouri and supporting Wings have been very active withtheir Disaster Relief duties, after the winds, tornadoes and flooding.South Dakota has been very active in the western part of the state withFire Patrol. And watching the weather, it is sure that similar activitieswill be continuing through the summer.

    Please look at your Emergency Services capabilities, both Groundand Air, to determine your true capabilities. This obviously includespeople. Daytime ES activities are pretty tough to support for most ofus day workers, especially on an urgent notice basis. I have spokenwith my boss in advance, and have been able to set up an urgent needabsence agreement if such a situation would occur. I suggest thatthose who can approach their boss for a similar discussion. Often theboss is very amenable to the idea if it is set up in advance. Also, find

    out who of your members are shift workers, or work weekends withweekdays off, or are retired and might be your first choice for urgentmissions.

    Summer is the time for many training activities, especially Cadetactivities. Encampments, Leadership Schools and Flight Academiesare all coming up. I applaud all of the Cadet attendees who take timefrom their summer vacations to participate, and commend all the offi-cers who arrange for and support these activities. Many of you takehard earned money and vacation to attend these activities in supportof our Cadets, and you deserve high praise. Thank you.

    Its been said lots of times, but bears repeating. Thank you all forall the hard work you do, often in less than desirable environments andconditions. I remember a time during the flooding in North Dakota in1997 when I was manning the CAP desk in the ND Emergency Opera-tions Center. I was speaking with a National Guard Lt. Col., and wewere talking about having to get off work to support the operation. Hewas amazed when I shared with him that not only did I have to takevacation time, but did not get paid for the time spent!! Not to takeaway anything from our partners in what we do, but you are the TRUEvolunteers.

    Semper VigilansTom Weston, Col, CAPNCR/CV

    South Dakota Wing SupportsNational Guard

    South Dakota Wing aircraft is playingthe role of spy planes during the JointThunder training exercise, led by theSouth Dakota National Guard.

    South Dakota Army Guard units trainin the Black Hills each summer, livingunder field conditions. The CAP aerialphotography, which continues through

    June 22, is used by the Guard intelli-gence units as part of their daily briefin-gs.

    The South Dakota wing aircraft usedthe SDIS system, to return photos whilethe aircraft was still in flight, as well asdelivering CDs with compiled photogra-phy to the Joint Thunder intelligenceteam.

    Above, CAP cameras observed apower generating plant on the west sideof Rapid City, SD.

    Missouri Wing AdministratorSelected

    After a lengthy interview process, anew Missouri Wing Administrator hasbeen selected.

    Todd Kirkendall, USAF Retired, ac-cepted the position and started April30.

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    Kansas Cadet Receives Spaatz, MultipleAwards

    Cadet Daniel Metcalf received the General Carl A.Spaatz award as well as the Academic ExcellenceAward, the VFW Officer of the Year Award, a RecruitingAward, and the Eaker awards during Kansas City Com-posite Squadrons awards and charter ceremony in May.

    Metcalf is only the second Kansas cadet to earn thegrade of Cadet Colonel in 14 years. Presenting theaward to Cadet Colonel Metcalf was Maj. General

    Steven R. McCamy.Cadet Metcalf joined Civil Air Patrol at the age of 11

    as a Cadet Basic Airman and worked his way to CadetColonel less than five years. Cadet Metcalf enjoys thethree elements of Civil Air Patrol, which are Cadet Pro-grams, Aerospace, and Search and Rescue.

    Minnesota Air National Guard Chief ofStaff Presents Spaatz Awards

    Brigadier General William Schuessler, Chief ofStaff of the Minnesota Air National Guard, presentedCadet Captains Joshua Waddell, Viking CompositeSquadron and Nathan Wozniak, Northland Compos-ite Squadron, with the General Carl A. Spaatz awardduring Minnesota Wings recent annual conference.The award, Civil Air Patrols highest cadet honor, ispresented to cadets who have demonstrated excel-lence in leadership, character, fitness, andaerospace education.

    The Spaatz Award is the final milestone in a CAPcadet's career. It is earned after completing a rigor-ous four-part exam consisting of a challenging physi-

    cal fitness test, an essay exam testing their moralreasoning, a comprehensive written exam on leader-ship, and a comprehensive written exam onaerospace education. Since the awards inception in1964, Civil Air Patrol has presented the SpaatzAward to just 45 Minnesota cadets.

    CAP Bill Awaits Missouri Governor's Signature

    A bill awaits Missouri Governor Matt Blunts signature that would recognize Missouri Wing members as stateemployees when performing state-funded missions, specifically for workers compensation and liability coverage.The Missouri Senate passed the bill 34-0 and the House had earlier approved the measure 157-1. CAP mem-bers are already covered by similar federal statutes when participating in federally-funded missions.

    This has been a herculean task requiring many hours of work by the Committee over the last year, said Maj.David A. Miller, chairman of the wings Legislative Committee and the wings Group II commander. I am indebt-ed to each and every member of the Committee for their perseverance and hard work on behalf of our bill andthe people of Missouri. It has been an honor to work with them. They have truly shown me what this wing is ca-pable of.

    Along with Miller, the Missouri Wings Legislative Committee consists of Col. Emmit Williams, wing chief ofstaff; Lt. Cols. Ted Forester of the Central Missouri Composite Squadron, Randy Fuller of Wing Headquartersand Gene Rugh of the Wentzville Composite Squadron; Maj. David Plum of Missouri Wing Group I Headquar-ters; Capt. James Williams of North Missouri Flight; 1st Lt. Michael Smith of the Mid Rivers Senior Squadron;and 2nd Lt. Matthew Copple of the Northland Composite Squadron.

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    North Central Region News

    Senior Program Dates to RememberHere are some of the key 2007 Professional Development academic courses for adult members:

    NCR Staff College, 24-29 June, Offutt AFB, registration $75.

    National PAO Academy, 7-8 August, Atlanta.

    National Board, 9-11 August, Atlanta.

    National Staff College, 13-20 October 2007, Maxwell AFB, AL.

    Minnesota Training Day a Resounding Success

    The Minnesota Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) geared up foranother busy summer season with a search and rescue exercise

    (SAREX) held May 18-20 in Willmar, Minn.The hands-on exercise allowed CAP air and ground compo-nents to train together in a variety of search and rescue missions.CAP is sometimes called upon by local, state and national authori-ties to assist during crises.

    This training exercise provided a cooperative environment forboth CAP ground and air crews that met at the Willmar Airport,said Major Chet Wilberg, SAREX incident commander. The train-ing scenarios challenged participants to react to potentially reallife situations.

    CAP members participating in the exercise ranged from 12-year-old cadets to adult members using electronic direction find-ing, scene management and land navigation skills developed andpracticed throughout the year as part of learning the fundamentals

    of search and rescue.Minnesota CAP aircraft flew 70 air sorties in the Willmar area

    while ground teams responded to another eight calls for assis-tance during the exercise. Up to 10 aircraft and nearly 50 CAPmembers participated daily.

    Each response component is highly qualified and has variedexpertise when it comes to responding to a request, Wilberg said.Bringing all of that expertise together in a setting like this allowsfor a free flow of information and it strengthens our response ca-pabilities. This exercise was a resounding success.

    Anderson Award(Continued from Page 1)

    In the latter capacity, Anderson led adozen Air Force officers responsible to thesecretary of the Air Force for building andsustaining relationships with the air forcesof 43 countries in the Asia-Pacific Theaterof Operations.

    Anderson now serves in the Office ofthe Secretary of Defense as military assis-

    tant to the deputy under secretary of de-fense (Technology Security and NationalDisclosure).

    As a CAP member, he serves on theNational Headquarters staff as deputy chiefof staff for strategic missions, overseeingCAP national missions in Homeland Securi-ty, Border Patrol, Counter Drug, Air De-fense Support, Advanced Technology, Fed-eral Liaison and the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency.

    ELT Located in Missouri Wing

    Responding to Air Force Rescue Coordi-nation Center mission 07M0910, membersof Missouri Wing's Group II located an ELT

    in a Cessna 140 at Creve Coeur airport inCreve Coeur, Missouri, on 2 June 2007.The aircraft had just completed its annualthe day before, including an ELT check.

    The ground team consisted of Lt. Col.John Otradovec and 2nd Lt. Tim Dexter ofMid Rivers Senior Squadron, and 2nd Lt.Scott Schwab of Gateway Senior Squadron.Air crew on standby were Maj. FrankSzachta and Lt. Col. Thomas (Gene) Rondof Gateway Senior Squadron. Lt. Col. Car-olyn Rice, Group II and Group IV emergen-cy services officer, served as incident com-

    mander.

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    The Minnesota Wing SARMay 18-20

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    North Central Region News

    Elk River man MNWGSenior Member of the Year

    Captain Andrew Bosshart of ElkRiver, a member of the AnokaCounty Composite Squadron of theCivil Air Patrol (CAP), is the Min-nesota Wings Senior Member ofthe Year.

    Through his outstanding effortsthe Anoka Squadron Color GuardTeam won the Minnesota Wingcompetition and the North CentralRegion competition, and the teamcompeted at National Cadet Com-petition in Washington, DC in2006, said Col. Steve Miller, wingcommander. He also raised funds,arranged tours in Washington, andrecruited a chaperon to make the

    trip a success for the cadets.Capt Bosshart obtained the do-

    nation of an $800 aircraft radio forthe Anoka Squadron van, andequipped the van with a public ad-dress system, light bar, and a radiorack, to make the van more emer-gency services capable. He hasalso trained 12 new ground teammembers to assist with search andrescue (SAR) missions.

    Bosshart has participated inmany SAR missions and has

    achieved his Ground Team Leader,as well as aircraft Scanner, andObserver ratings.

    Captain Bossharts accomplish-ments are indicative of his drive, aswell as his high level of commit-ment, dedication and unselfish de-sire to serve the people of his com-munity, state and nation, Millersaid.

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    Kansas Wing

    Conference

    Above, Col Roger Donlon(ret), Medal of Honor Winner

    Above, Justin Trisler Cadet

    NCO of the Year; left, SquadronCommander of Year Ron Schle-sener; below, Rick Franz, Logis-tics Officer of the year

    Above, Levi Lap-

    ping Cadet of theYear; right, Squadronof Merit, EmporiaComposite Squadron;left, the POW MIA Re-membrance Ceremo-ny.

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    Cass County Squadron Assists River Cleanup

    Twelve cadets and senior mem-bers from Missouri's Cass CountyComposite Squadron assisted in the

    17th annual Project Blue River Res-cue, throughout the Kansas CityMetro area.

    Close to 350 volunteers through-out the metro area helped clean theriver which crosses ten cities andthree counties. The Kansas City Starreported about 600 tires, a kitchencounter, containers of used oil, a ho-tel key and a gun were a few itemscollected throughout the day. Themost common articles of trash weremilk jugs, water bottles, liquor bottles

    and convenience store cups. Lake-side Nature Center sponsors theevent with the cooperation of several companies and government agencies.

    Cadets and senior members participating were: Josh Hargis, Kyle Cass, EJ Wilson, Karra Miller, Josh Good-man, Blake Goodman, Austin Hooper, Aaron Hooper, Michael Hargis, Melinda Berry, Tony Belto, and TammiMiller.

    Pictured above are Josh Hargis, Melinda Berry, Kyle Cass, Aaron Hooper, and Josh Goodman.

    Valley Composite Squadron Supports Two Memorial Day Ceremonies

    Valley Composite Squadron of MinnesotaWing participated in two Memorial Day cele-brations, one in Burnsville, and the other in

    Apple Valley. The Valley Squadron ColorGuard presented the colors to open theBurnsville Ceremony at the Bi-CentennialPark. Members of the Color Guard then laid awreath at the Blue Star Memorial marker inthe park.

    Since the end of World War II, the BlueStar Memorial markers have served as asymbol for All to See, Lest we forget, Thosewho help to keep us free.

    The Valley contingent then moved to theApple Valley American Legion Post 1776.There, Cadet DiCosimo participated in the

    POW/MIA table presentation, and CadetMark Albrecht did a reading of Ragged OldFlag, as a member of the delegation to BoysState from Apple Valley High School.

    Valley Squadron members who participat-ed in the days events included Capt. JanelleGates, 1Lt Richard Geis, 1Lt Paul Butche,

    1Lt Norine Olson, 2d Lt Russ Olson, Cadets Mark Albrecht, Tim Blesi, Sam DiCosimo, Paul Estes, ConorLoerzel, and Kaelyn Olson.

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    North Central Region News

    CAP Members honored byMicrosoft for Volunteer Efforts

    Two North Dakota Wing members, Lt. Col. Erik Ludlow,Director of Cadet Programs, and Maj Jay Manley, Red Riv-

    er Valley Senior Squadron Commander, were recognizedat the Microsoft All-Hands Fargo company meeting for theircommitment of time CAP. Microsoft noted that the com-bined time Ludlow and Manley spent on CAP totaled 25%ofalltime entered forallFargo-based employees.

    Across all Fargo employees of Microsoft, 5000 hourswere recorded, Manley said, so its pretty easy to seehow much impact Erik and I have had to that number withboth of us entering over 1000 hours each. Since Microsoftgives us $17/hour of donated time, you can see how this greatly affects our squadrons. The squadrons haveused the funds to defray the costs of equipment, provide additional training, and allow us to provide services andprograms for our members that we were unable to do before. Microsoft has donated close to $25,000 to CivilAir Patrol squadrons on behalf of Maj Manley and Lt. Col. Ludlow since the programs inception in October,

    2005.Maj Manley and Lt. Col. Ludlow gave a token of their appreciation to Microsoft, on behalf of North Dakota

    Wing by presenting Doug Burgum and Don Morton an plaque from the local squadrons. Microsoft Money hasgone to enhance search and rescue efforts in North Dakota by allowing the squadrons to purchase state of theart GPS systems for air and ground, computers, software, paying for local practice missions, and allowing thesquadrons to sponsor cadets when they wanted to attend summer programs like space camp, encampment,flight encampment, national cadet competition and many other activities cadets could not have otherwise attend-

    ed.

    Minnesota Wing Helps Remember Heroes

    On a day as bright as peace, as breezy as lib-erty, more than 4,200 veterans came from all overMinnesota and from all over the world Saturday,June 9 to dedicate the states World War IIMemorial in St. Paul. Members of MinnesotaWing were there to help.

    "It was a great day and we were proud to be apart of it," said Capt Andy Bosshart, a member ofthe Anoka County Composite Squadron, whosemembers marshaled vintage WWII aircraft as partof a fly over of the state Capitol.

    More than 326,000 Minnesotans served in thearmed forces of the United States during World War II. Only about 47,000 veterans of the war remain in thestate today, and as they reach their 80s and 90s the casualty rate is high. More than 6,000 Minnesotans gavetheir lives during the war, and their names were read aloud during a roll call of heroes.

    Everything we enjoy today --- security, prosperity and the ability to enjoy freedom --- was bought with theprice of their service, Gov. Tim Pawlenty told a crowd estimated at 22,000. They set aside their dreams so we

    could live ours.During the event, 18 vintage bombers and fighters roared overhead to the delight of the crowd. The planes

    made their way there from the nearby Anoka Airport.Likely we will never have that many of that type of aircraft in one place, much less in the air at one time,

    Bosshart said. To have CAP provide the marshaling was the ultimate compliment to say the least. The cadetmarshaling was flawless. Im so proud of them.

    CAP members joined veterans, families and friends to inspect the $1 million memorial whose panels tracedthe early years of the war to the eventual victory. Standing sentry at the memorial is the gun from the U.S.S.Ward, the ship manned largely by sailors from St. Paul that fired America's first shot in World War II -- at aJapanese mini-submarine trying to sneak into Pearl Harbor before the attack.

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    Do Orientation Rides have an Impact?

    Several cadets from the Springfield Regional Com-posite squadron experienced their first O-rides recently,thanks to Lt. Raun Hamilton. Here, in her own words, is

    an essay from one of those cadets.

    Weightlessby Cadet A1C Lauren Faulkner

    This previous weekend I (along with Cadet Cunning-ham and Cadet Schwartz) got to experience an officialO-Ride in a Cessna 172. I will never forget how nervousI was, afraid that I would accidentally do something thatwould endanger the lives of the three other peopleaboard. However, I did not have anything to fear. Lt.Hamilton walked me through step-by-step to show mewhat to do before takeoff, while in the air, and so on. I

    was a little upset about having to get up at six o'clockon a Saturday, but I was to have the experience of alifetime! I remember looking over the pre-flight checklist, wondering what this meant and what this did. Lt.Hamilton did an excellent job of explaining everything.

    Finally, the moment came. We heard him talking tothe tower, requesting permission to take off. One mo-ment, we were taxiing and the next, we were in the sky!I remember looking down and seeing the Springfield/Branson Airport dropping away from us at an amazingrate. We flew over Springfield, and then took a little de-tour so we could look around the Branson area. I wasso happy to think just how lucky I was to get to experi-ence this, and to learn first hand! After our detour, wecontinued on to Point Lookout Airport. The landing wasprobably the best part for me because of the way it jos-tled my insides. It reminded me of a roller-coaster.There, we (Cadets Cunningham, Schwartz, and my-self) were allowed to look around as long as wechecked in with our Senior Members every once in awhile.

    At the air show, we saw the equivalent of home-made planes. It was so remarkable how much time andeffort people would put into something to benefit them-selves and others in the long run. (Not to mention a lotof fun!) I find it funny how I can't work a toaster correct-ly and yet people have the discipline and the knowledge

    to assemble a working airplane.While we were looking around, we met Cadet

    Stephan and continued on with our expedition with himexplaining what this was, what that material was, andso on. I think how amazing it is that we have the powerto master almost anything when we put our minds to it.I will never forget how amazing the sensation was,soaring through the air, not having a care in the world,as if I was completely weightless.

    Missouri Wing MembersAssist Injured Motorcyclist

    Returning from a weekend training event, membersof the Missouri Wing Headquarters and Trail of Tears

    Composite Squadron were the first to arrive at a mo-torcycle accident and cared for the injured rider untilEMS personnel arrived.

    The alert driver of CAP the van, 1st Lt. KlausMueller, identified the accident as a motorcycle off theroad in a culvert. Without hesitation, he slowed thevan and parked safely on the highway shoulder.

    Mueller, Lt. Col. Cindy Bleichroth and 1st Lt. TimBleichroth grabbed the vans first aid gear and headedacross the highway leaving 1st Lt. Sarah Bohnert incharge of the van and six cadets from the Trail ofTears Composite Squadron.

    Lt. Bleichroth assessed the condition of the injured

    rider. Lt. Col. Bleichroth secured the gasoline leakingfrom the overturned motorcycle and turned the engineoff. All three officers turned their attention to the riderwho was initially confused and dazed by the accident.Cervical spine stabilization was initiated with help froma passing EMT who stopped to assist. An obviouslydeformed and painful wrist was splinted and immobi-lized as a probable fracture. A nose injury and faciallacerations were cleaned and dressed. Although com-plaints of chest and back pain revealed a history of re-cent open heart surgery, the rider was otherwise sta-ble and made comfortable.

    EMS personnel arrived about 25 minutes later. In

    light of the victims heart surgery and chest pain com-plaints, he was airlifted via helicopter to a Springfieldhospital where orthopedic and cardiology specialistswere available. While waiting for the helicopter to ar-rive, Lt. Mueller assisted the police in reconstructingthe accident using his CAP trained observation skills.

    The cadets established the helicopters landingsite. All six cadets had attended NESA and were fullyground team member trained.

    Being in uniform, others stopping to help looked tous for instruction and reassurance, and though initiallymistaken for 'the Army,' our blue badges were ulti-mately recognized as Civil Air Patrol, said Lt. Col. Ble-ichroth. The first responders and police on the scenewere appreciative and respectful of our assistance. Itwas a rewarding experience for us, and reinforced thatour work and training are paying off.

    Other Trail of Tears Composite Squadron cadetsassisting included: cadet 1st Lt. Sam Reihn; cadet 2ndLt. Nathan Harmon; cadet CMSgts. Arielle Bohnert,Larry Hohman, and David Uptmor; and cadet MSgt.Kaleb Standridge.