north central region - may 2007

8/7/2019 North Central Region - May 2007

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North Central Region NewsVolume 2007 May

In This Issue:

Commander's Column Page 2

Silver Medal of Valor Page 2

Iowa Responds to Floods Page 3

Iowa Cadet Received Mitchell Page 3ND Cadets Attend AE Event Page 5

Minnesota Cadet of the Year Page 6

Tuskegee Airman Presents Award Page 7

Cadets Busy Page 8

MOWG Finds Downed Plane Page 10

Photo Essay:

NEWG Conference Page 9

Kansas Wing Responds to Tornadoes

In the wake oftornadoes that toreapart one Kansastown May 4 andtouched down in

dozens of otherparts of the state,Kansas Wing flewdamage assess-ment missions us-ing CAPs ad-vanced satellite-transmitted digitalimaging systemtechnology,launched aircraft to search for distressed motorists and residents andsupported communication needs across several counties, volunteeringmore than 300 hours to the disaster relief effort.

At the request of the Kansas Department of Emergency Manage-

ment, CAP aircrews in four Cessna aircraft flew along tornado paths for20 hours to report areas of severe damage to CAPs ground searchand rescue teams, to send digital photos of damage to the statesEmergency Operations Center and to call in requests for emergencymedical assistance.

CAP ground teams also served an additional 40 hours. Maj. DennisPearson, CAP incident commander, said four ground teams were de-ployed in CAP vans to assist with regional communications.

In addition, members volunteered more than 240 hours at wingheadquarters, manning radios to coordinate communications amongair, ground and command staff as well as other agencies, such as theKansas Air National Guard. Members there also worked on flight lines,directing and parking aircraft.

More than 45 wing members took part in the combined effort.Maj. Gen. Antonio J. Pineda, CAP national commander, applauded

the effort: The work our volunteers performed in Kansas exemplifiesthe dedication and love of country of CAP members across Americawho help their communities in times of peace but especially duringcrises. It also highlights the capabilities of CAP to use advanced tech-nology like satellite-transmitted digital imaging to take airborne photog-raphy of damaged areas and immediately send these via e-mail toemergency managers."

Nebraska and South DakotaCadet Teams Represent NCR

Teams of cadets from NebraskaWing and South Dakota Wing will rep-resent North Central Region at the Na-tional Cadet Competition in June. The

region competition was held April 28-29 in Rapid City, SD.The competition at both Region and

National is divided into two categories,Color Guard and Drill Team.

In the Color Guard competition, Ne-braska Wing took first place followedby Iowa Wing, second place, and Min-nesota Wing, third. The Male FleetFoot award went to Cadet Danielsonof ND with a time of 5:37, and the Fe-male Fleet Foot award was earned byCadet Moore of NE with 7:25. TheHighest Test Score was earned by

Cadet Joshua Wood of NE (48/50). ASpecial Team Award was given toSouth Dakota and the OutstandingCadet was Casey Weston of IowaWing.

(Continued on page 4)


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North Central Region News

The North Central Region News ispublished 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]

Commander's Callby Col. Sean P. Fagan

April certainly was a very

busy month for the North Cen-tral Region. North Dakota,South Dakota and Minnesotaeach had their Wing Confer-ences, along with Nebraskahosting the North Central Re-gion Chaplains College.

I was able to attend each ofthese events and was over-whelmed with the hospitalitythat I received from all the members of the Region. Each of theseWing Conferences was interesting and informative. All of them hadnumerous workshops covering each and every activity available inboth the Officer and Cadet programs. The enthusiasm of the mem-bers was obvious as they participated in the conferences and sharedin the fellowship of being together to celebrate the success of their in-dividual Wings. I would like to personally thank each of these Wingsfor allowing me to be a part of their conferences and allowing me toboth learn and have fun with these events.

As I mentioned, I also attended the North Central Region ChaplainsCollege. I was very proud to be a part of this event, realizing how trulyblessed the North Central Region is to have so many talented, faithfulchaplains serving its membership.

I am still learning this new job of being a Region Commander. Ican tell you however that the Wing leadership and the North CentralRegion members have made transition both an enjoyable and reward-ing for me. I look forward to seeing this Region continue in its success

and look forward to meeting each and every member.Remember that this is an important job we all have, however that

does not mean that we cant have fun while we are doing it! Onceagain, thank you all for your service.

Former Mo. Cadet ReceivesSilver Medal of Valor

Former Missouri Wing member andSpaatz Award recipient Capt. Sean

Fuller was awarded the Civil Air Patrol'sSilver Medal of Valor at this year'sTexas Wing Conference. He is the sonof Lt.Cols. Mary Fuller, Wing Adminis-tration Officer, and Randy Fuller, WingEmergency Services Officer.

Last year, while on his way to workat NASA's Johnson Space Center inHouston, he witnessed a one vehicleauto accident. The vehicle had left theroadway and struck several objects be-fore coming to rest and bursting intoflames. He immediately stopped his ve-

hicle and ran to the driver's aid, pullinghim from the burning vehicle. The driv-er, the only occupant, suffered lifethreatening burns and died about amonth later. NASA has also recognizedSean for his efforts.

Although he has not been a memberof the Missouri Wing since leaving forcollege in 1992, he has continued hisCAP membership and participation. Heis the former cadet commander of theRiver City Composite Squadron and re-ceived Spaatz Award #1078. As a

member of the Daytona Beach, Florida,squadron, he participated in the recov-ery efforts following Hurricane Andrewas well as several search missions.Sean is a member of the EllingtonComposite Squadron, Texas Wing, andholds the duty position of Squadron Op-erations Officer with the rank of Cap-tain.

After graduating from Embry RiddleAeronautical University with a degree inEngineering Physics, he joined Rock-well International as a contract engi-neer assigned to NASA and worked onthe International Space Station (ISS)project. Since then he has become a di-rect NASA employee and now holdsthe position of International Liaison withoutside agencies for the ISS project, toinclude the U.S. Congress.

He and his wife, Eva, are expectingtheir second child in mid-May.


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Iowa Wing Responds to Floods

Rain is noth-ing new in Iowa,but two weeks

ago WesternIowa saw quite abit of it. TheNishnabotnaRiver came outof its banks andstarted floodingsmall townsalong its path.Iowa CAP re-ceived taskingfrom IowaHomeland Security and Emergency Management Division to sup-

port local and state authorities in impact assessment from theflooding that has hurt SW Iowa.

Since then Iowa CAP has flown over 20 flight hours and sever-al officials to survey the damage to help aid in the response to theflooding. The photos from our photo recon have been most helpfulto local and state agencies to help determine the types of needsthey will have to support. It has also been helpful to the local offi-cials to see where flooding will occur for future planning and re-sponse. Iowa Wing aircrews have worked hard to get good photosand accommodate the requests of local officials for impact as-sessment flights so that the local officials can get a birds eye viewof the areas they are responsible for.

Congressman Steve King flys with CAP Capt. Don Wood tosurvey flood damage

Brewer Receives Mitchell

Iowa Cadet Lieutenant Jared Brewerwas awarded the General Billy MitchellAward on May 3.

"Cadet Lieutenant Brewer has clearly il-lustrated his leadership skills within oursquadron and is a fine mentor to ouryounger cadets," said Lieutenant Betty Kel-ly, squadron commander. Brewer is afounding member of CAP's Des MoinesMetro Cadet Squadron along with currentCadet Commander, Major Matthew Kelly.Brewer is in line to succeed Kelly when Kel-ly leaves for college in the fall.

Retired Air Force Reserve LieutenantColonel Jeb Brewer, Cadet Brewer's father,was on hand to present the award in a for-mal ceremony in front of the squadron. Theaward recognizes completion of the firstphase of the CAP youth program and is amajor milestone in the program.

In addition to his duties with the Civil AirPatrol, Cadet Brewer is actively involved inhis church youth group and mission trips.He is also a member of Teenpact which isan organization that focuses on leadershipin civics and government campaigns.

CAP Cadet Lieutenant Jared Brewer is presented theGeneral Billy Mitchell Award by his father, Lt.Col. JebBrewer, USAF Retired.(Photo by Christopher Colvin)

Kansas Squadron assists American Legion in Flag Retirement CeremonyCadet and senior members of the Lawrence Composite Squadron recently assisted American Legion Post

#14 with a flag retirement ceremony as several dozen U.S. flags were retired after lengthy and honorable ser-vice. The Legion collects the flags from the community and annually holds a formal retirement ceremony.

After the ceremony, members were treated first to a cookout by the Legion Axillary and then to an afternoonat the local Fellowship of Police's outdoor target range, where they received a gun safety presentation.

Members had the opportunity to fire a number of different weapons, including the Springfield Model 1903-A2rifles used by the Legion post's Honor Guard.


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Region Encampment Deadline Approaching!

Cadets attending the 2007 NCR /encampment in Rapid City, SD,have until May 28 to register at the $100 rate. After that, the cost of at-tending increases to $125. Encampment plans include obstacle cours-

es, repelling towers, leadership activities, physical fitness, and moralleadership. Complete information can be found at:

http://cadets.ndcap.org/JDCLE

MNWG Offers IG SeniorLevel Training

A Civil Air Patrol Inspector Gen-eral Senior Level Training Courseis scheduled for 16-17 June 2007.The training is scheduled at theTwin Cities Air Reserve Base onthe Minneapolis-St Paul Airport.

Students should plan to arrive onFriday, 15 June. Sign-in will beSaturday morning at 0800 hours atthe class site. Classes will be allday Saturday and will be releasedby 1700 on Sunday.

Cost:$10.00 to cover miscellaneous

class materials, snacks and bever-ages. Students will be responsiblefor paying for their own transporta-tion, lodging and incidentals.

Billeting:Billeting is available on base

at the North Country Lodge.Room charges are $33. Reser-vations can be made atwww.minneapolis.afrc.af.mil.Telephone number is 612-726-9440. Reference Group number(pending) when making reserva-tions. A block of 10 rooms havebeen reserved. Rooms will be re-leased 6PM 15 June.

Directions:I35E head West onto High-

way 110, to Crosstown 62(crossing the Mendota Bridge to-ward Historic Fort Snelling) exit-ing onto 34th Avenue. I35W,head East onto the Crosstown62. exit on 34th Avenue. Baseentrance is on 34th Avenue,

North side of the Minneapolis StPaul International Airport.

Student Requirements:Space is limited. All applicants

must be current members of CivilAir Patrol. Applications will be ac-cepted in the following priority:

1. Applicants assigned asGroup, Wing or Region InspectorsGeneral or assistants.

2. Applicants assigned asGroup, Wing or Region Comman-ders.

3. Applicants assigned asGroup, Wing or Region Vice-Com-manders or Chiefs of Staff.

4. Applicants assigned asLegal Officers.

5. Other interested memberswith the approval of the NCR/IG.

6. Members of North CentralRegion will have priority over all

others.

Uniform Requirements:Short or long sleeve Air Force

style uniform as prescribed byCAPM 39-1 (Please be sure hair-cuts are within regulation whenwearing this uniform. Thosechoosing to wear a long-sleeveuniform must wear a tie/tab withit.). Or, Aviator shirt combination asprescribed by CAPM 39-1 (remem-ber to wear black shoes and black

socks).Hats are required outdoors

when wearing the Air Force styleuniform.

Application Procedures:E-mail or call Gerry Rosen-

zweig at: [email protected](334) 953-1922

NCR Cadet Competition

(Continued from Page 3)

The South Dakota Wing drill team

took top honors in the Drill Team cate-gory.

An award for Outstanding DrillTeam Cadet went to Cadet MajorHalvorson, the North Dakota teamcommander, for his attitude and workethic. The Team Spirit Award went toNorth Dakota Wing, the Fleet Foot Fe-male award went to Cadet JessicaGussiass with a time of 7:42, and theFleet Foot Male award was earned byCadet Chris Halvorson with 5:50. TheHighest Written Exam Award was

earned by Cadet Francesa Fogarty ofSouth Dakota Wing.

"Having the competition atEllsworth AFB was a great opportunityfor the cadets for travel, camraderie,and the competition experience, saidLt.Col. Regena M. Aye, region cadetstaff member. We greatly appreciateSouth Dakota being willing to step upand host at the last minute. They did awonderful job."

The National Cadet Competitionwill be held at Wright Patterson Air

Force Base.

Senior Program Datesto Remember

Here are some of the key 2007Professional Development academiccourses for senior members:

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

National PAO Academy, 7-8August, Atlanta.

National Board, 9-11 August,Atlanta.

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


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North Dakota Cadets attend University AE Event

Thirteen cadets and four adult officers fromRoughrider Squadron in Dickinson, ND, attended the4-H Aerospace Event in Grand Forks, ND, April 15-16,

sponsored by the University of North Dakota and NorthDakota State University.

Youth attending learned about many aspects of theprinciples of flight, aerospace science, including air traf-fic control and career opportunities. They also took thecontrols in an aircraft simulator.

The cadets received hands-on experience in theaerospace field by visiting the John D. Odegard Schoolof Aerospace Sciences on the University of NorthDakota campus.

The program, which was designed to meet youths'growing demand for science and technology education,was sponsored by the North Dakota 4-H Foundation in

cooperation with NDSU Extension Service, Center for4-H Youth Development and UND Aerospace."Our cadets really enjoyed using the aircraft simula-

tors, and hands on experiences with the air traffic con-trol simulators," said 2Lt. Kim Hetzel, RoughriderSquadron deputy commander for cadets. "They builtrockets Sunday evening, and launched them Mondaymorning before heading home. They were the only CAPcadets present, and drew a lot of positive attention tothe CAP cadet program. Both youth and adults ques-tioned them about CAP. As we waited for the programto begin Sunday afternoon c/CMST Angela Kuntz ranthe flight through a series of drills. Then the cadets'played' their favorite game of 'Sargent Says.'"

The Roughrider Composite Squadron cadets fromNorth Dakota who attended were: c/SSgt Sydney Mar-tin, Airman Sierra Cooksey, c/Sgt Jamie Hetzel, A1CAshley Ehret, basic Jessica Rustan, Airman Alexis Rustan, Airman Jesse Erickson, Sgt Daniel Miasek, AirmanDominic Hoffart, Airman Crystal Rapp, c/CMST Angela Kuntz, AIC Miranda Decker, and c/CMST Marie Hetzel.Adult chaperones included 2Lt Kim Hetzel, DCC for Roughrider Squadron; 2Lt Sheila Martin, Cadet Programs;1Lt Gabrielle Rustan, Aerospace Officer; and Betty Randall, Cadet Sponsor.


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Anoka County Composite Squadron, MNWG,conducted a cadet change of command on April24, 2007. C/2LT Andy Haus (left) accepts theguidon from LtCol Adrian Sanchez DeputyCommander of Cadets while C/SSgt CoryBosshart (guidon bearer) looks on. (Photosubmitted by Capt Rich Sprouse)

St. Cloud cadet isMinnesota cadet of the year

Laura Broker is the type of cadet every Civil Air Patrolsquadron wishes they had more of in their ranks: bright,self-motivated, immaculate in appearance, physically fit,respectful of superiors, peers and subordinates alike,sharp. It was no surprise to those that know her well, oreven not so well within the Minnesota Wing, whenCadet/Lieutenant Colonel Laura Broker was named theWings Cadet of the Year during the wing conference at

Breezy Point Resort near Pequot Lakes, Minn., on April 21.Broker joined St. Clouds North Star Cadet Squadron in2003 because her best friend was a member, and her latefather was a cadet when he was her age. Her mother, PegiBroker-Relph credits CAP with enhancing her daughtersconfidence, self-discipline and time management, amongother skills

CAP has helped her to learn how to work with othersand has given her a sense of pride through her manyachievements within the organization. It has also providedcareer awareness, Broker-Relph said. I also feel CAPhas provided her with the inner motivation and commitmentto meet any life goal she sets for herself.

Cadet Broker also credits much of her personal andacademic success to Civil Air Patrol.

I value the leadership training more than any technicaltraining in CAP; it has been so useful both at school andwork, Broker said. Those skills will likely help me get intograduate school and hold a great job someday.

Cadet Broker is the daughter of Jerry Relph and PegiBroker-Relph of St. Cloud, and the late John Broker. She isthe granddaughter of Mrs. Lois Broker and Mrs. MaryRoop, also of St. Cloud.

MNWG Plans Ground Team Academy

Minnesota Wing Emergency Services is plan-ning a Ground Team Academy to be held over fourdays in August.

The academy, at Camp Ripley, will focus onproviding quality training and standardization for alllevels of ground team from start to end. Thecourse will start at approximately 1900 hours onThursday 9 August 2007 and run until 1200 hourson Sunday 12 August 2007.

According the Maj. Chet Wilberg, MNWGground team training officer, Ground Team Mem-ber Level 3 training will focus on Basic Communi-cations User Training, First Aid, Equipment,Hot/Cold Weather Injuries, Fatigue, Compass Use,

Phone Alerts, ELT Search, Basic Map Reading andNatural Hazards. Ground Team Member Level 2will cover Advanced Communications User Train-ing, Shelter Building, Survival, Land Navigation,and Canine Operations. Ground Team MemberLevel 1/Ground Team Leader will deal with ICS,Team Management, Field Leadership, Scene Man-agement, Communications, Map Reading/LandNavigation, ELT Searches, CISM, & Paperwork.


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Former Tuskegee Airman, Col. Kenneth Wofford(USAF ret.), recently visited the Anoka County Com-posite Squadron to present the Benjamin O. Davis Jr.

Award to Capt Andy Bosshart.The Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. Award is given to CAP

members who complete Level Two of the SeniorMember Professional Development Program. It recog-nizes those members who have dedicated themselvesto leadership and personal development in the CAP.

As the member progresses through the program,he or she completes five increasingly complex traininglevels. Each level requires the member to becomemore involved in CAP activities, master skills in one of23 technical areas, and develop leadership ability. Ashe or she completes these levels, the member re-ceives awards, chances for promotion, and selection

for more important roles within CAP. The second mile-stone is the Davis Award.Col. Wofford, who lives in Golden Valley, Minn.,

served under Gen. Davis, one of his heroes. Gen.Davis commanded the Tuskegee Airmen during WorldWar II and later became the first African-Americangeneral in the U.S. Air Force. During the presentation,Col. Wofford gave a 15-minute talk on the TuskegeeAirmen.

The Tuskegee Airmen were 1,000 young African-Americans, who over the objections of much of themilitary establishment of that period, trained as ArmyAir Corps fighter pilots at an air base in Tuskegee,Ala. They eventually were sent to fight in the air warover Europe, providing fighter escort to bombers. Ini-tially scorned, their marvelous combat record provedthem to be highly effective air warriors. Col. Wofforddid not fly in Europe, but was poised for action inJapan under the command of Gen. Davis, when thewar ended.

Col. Wofford is a Minnesota Aviation Hall of Famemember, active in the US Air Force Association, andextremely active in the community working with kids.Wofford is a friend of the Anoka Squadron and a fre-quent guest over the years, telling the Tuskegee sto-ry. He has also established a scholarship fund forcadets of the squadron.

Surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen re-cently received the Congressional Gold Medal, thecountry's highest civilian award, during a ceremony atthe Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C.

During the ceremony President Bush saluted theairmen, stating that he offered the gesture to helpatone for all the unreturned salutes and unforgivableindignities they endured while they fought for Ameri-ca.

Tuskegee Airman presents Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Award to MNWG member

South Dakota Holds Evaluated SAREX

Bad weather kept South Dakota Wing aircraft onthe ground during an evaluated SAREX May 5,

We probably would have received an Excellent ifthe weather had cooperated and they could haveseen our flying operation, said Col. Mike Beason,wing commander. Without that, it was tough forthem to give that grade. But, what they did see, theyliked.

The wing received an Outstanding in Logisticsand Excellents in Ground Branch, Communication,CISM and Public Affairs.

Above, an SDIS photo of Pactola Dam in theBlack Hills, taken during mission operations earlier inthe week.

(L-R) Lt.Col. Tom Kettell, Minnesota Wing vicecommander, Col. (Ret) Kenneth Wofford, Maj DonSorenson, Anoka County Composite Squadroncommander


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Valley CompositeSquadron PresentsColors at NaturalizationCeremony

Thirteen hundred immigrantsfrom over 100 countries alongwith their families and friendsconverged on the MinneapolisConvention Center to participatein a naturalization ceremony.The ceremony began with a pre-sentation of colors by the colorguard of Valley CompositeSquadron, Minnesota Wing. Par-ticipating were Cadets Mark Al-

brecht, Tim Blesi, Brian Kiser,and Kaelyn Olson. Senior Mem-bers present were 1 Lt.s RichardGeis and Norine Olson. Theevent was the first of a series ofnaturalization ceremonies thatMinnesota Wing is being askedto present the colors for thisyear.

Offutt Color Guard has a busy two weeks

Three color guard performances in two weeksJust another couple ofweeks for the General Curtis E. LeMay Offutt Composite Squadron ColorGuard Team.

The busy scheduled started with the team presenting the colors for the an-nual Omaha Area Coast Guard Auxiliary awards dinner. The Coast GuardAuxiliary is the Coast Guards version of Civil Air Patrol, but without the cadet

program. In the past couple of years, the color guard from Offutt has been re-peatedly requested by the Coast Guard Auxiliary for their functions and eachtime they are impressed with the color guards performance.

Next up was the North Central Region Chaplain Staff College graduationbanquet. The banquet was held on a Thursday evening, the same night thatthe cadets normally have their squadron meeting. The team presented thecolors in front of the chaplains and the Region Commander, Colonel Sean P.Fagan. Afterwards, Colonel Fagan thanked the team for their great job andtold them how important it was personally for Civil Air Patrol members to havethe colors presented.

Just two days later, the color guard was once again presenting the colors.This time it was in front of almost 5,000 people at Saturday nights OmahaBeef football game. The Omaha Beef are members of the United IndoorFootball Association. The large crowd did nothing to make the cadets ner-vous as they had previously presented the colors at an Omaha AksarbenKnights Hockey game in front of almost 5,000 people. The Knights are theAmerican Hockey League team for the Calgary Flames of the National Hock-ey League. An unexpected treat for the cadets was getting to meet theteams mascot, Sir Loin, who they found out afterwards was a former CivilAir Patrol cadet in the New York wing. The color guard was given very littleinstruction ahead of time as to how they were to setup for the performance,making this one of their most difficult performances yet. Still, their perfor-mance was outstanding.

Offutt Composite Squadron Color Guard team members stand withthe Omaha Beef football team mascot, Sir Loin.


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Photo Essay:Nebraska Wing Conference


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Missouri Wing MembersFind Downed Plane

Two Missouri Wing Group II ground teams, assist-ed by aircrew from Central Missouri Composite

Squadron in Columbia, Missouri, found a crashed sin-gle-engine aircraft in hilly and densely wooded terrainnear Viburnum, Missouri, on April 14.

The pilot, his wife and their 10-year-old son weretraveling from their home in Iowa to Alabama. Afterspending the night in Jefferson City, Missouri, they de-parted early on the morning of April 14th. A short timelater, the pilot reported that he had zero visibility andwas fighting a strong head wind. Communication wassubsequently lost and the plane dropped off radarabout 9 a.m. Local weather at that time was poor withfog, low clouds, and occasional freezing rain.

At the same time that morning, four ground teams

comprised of students and staff of the annual MissouriWing Group II Search and Rescue Academy werecompleting a multi-jurisdictional disaster drill in Anto-nia, Missouri, less than 90 miles from Viburnum.

When the mission came in from AFRCC, two expe-rienced ground teams lead by Majs. Robert Stusse,Group II Assistant Emergency Services Officer, andCynthia Bleichroth, Missouri Wing Drug Demand Re-duction Officer, were quickly assembled, briefed anddeployed. Knowing the possibility for fatalities, cadetson these teams were instructed not to approach thecrash site if found.

Enroute to their target plot of GPS coordinates, the

ground teams encountered a witness who indicatedwhere he thought the plane had crashed. Followinghis instructions, the ground teams were able to spotdebris on a hill near a small church and gravel road,with the aircrew verifying it as the crash site. Arriving

at the site without cadets, Maj. Stusse confirmed thedebris as airplane pieces too small to identify a tailnumber but matching the known color scheme. Therewere no survivors.

Critical incident stress management counseling

was made available to all ground team members upontheir return to the Group II Search and Rescue Acade-my training site.

When I arrived, the Fire Chief gave me a radar plotthat had been forwarded by the FAA which confirmedthe last known point. My role was to coordinate ouraircrew with the State Highway Patrol and NationalGuard helicopters so air searches did not conflict,said Lt. Col. Carolyn Rice of Gateway SeniorSquadron, mission ground branch and air operationsbranch director.

The Wings response to this mission was outstand-ing. Ground and air assets from as far away asSpringfield, Columbia and St. Louis were ready to as-sist. The wet weather, cold temperatures, and hillycountryside made this a challenging mission oftenhampering communications and severely limiting theavailability of aircrew. Although this was a tragic acci-dent, we can be proud of our training and the dedica-tion of our members to the needs of our communities,noted Maj. David A. Miller, Missouri Wing Group IICommander.

Ground team members included: Majs. Bleichrothand Stusse, Capts. Steve Brust and Cheryl Wycoff,1Lt. Sarah Bohnert; and cadets Arielle Bohnert, RoyceBohnert, Anamaria Gaitan, Lindsey Johnson, VictoriaMeister, Nicholas Rueve, Lesley Smith, and David

Uptmor. Aircrew consisted of Lt. Col. Ted Forester,and 1Lts. Carl Jantz, and Louis Ed Werner. Lt. Col.Carolyn Rice served as mission ground and air opera-tions branch director. Lt. Col. Gene Rugh served as in-cident commander.

Minnesota Wing joins search of MississippiRiver for Four Missing in Minn.

Minnesota Wing members were involved in the search this weekendfor four people missing after their fishing boat capsized May 12 who dis-appeared in the swirling water near a dam on the Mississippi River nearDresbach in Winona County.

With all the searching weve done we would have found them (ifthey were alive), Winona County Sheriff Dave Brand told the Associat-ed Press. The missing people are reported to be a family from St. Paul.

A witness told AP that a fishing line or anchor rope appeared to havetangled in the boat's propeller, and the people in the other boat hadbeen unable to restart the motor. The current drew the boat into theconcrete wall of the dam structure. He the boat sank before other boatscould affect a rescue. The aluminum boat was recovered but the victimshad not been found at press time.

ncr.cap.gov

north central region - may 2007

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