pell city squadron - may 2013

8/13/2019 Pell City Squadron - May 2013

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From Our Commander . . .

light LogC iv i l A i r P a t ro l

P e l l C i ty Compos i te

Squadron AL -118

Newsletter Editor and

PAO

Lt Elizabeth Shurbutt

[email protected]

Inside this issue:

From the

Commander

1

Calendar 2

Safety Corner 3-5

Did You Know 6

WESS Graduates 7

Cadet Corner 8

Aerospace HI 9

Promotions 10

Cadet

Recognition

11

Cadet

Opportunities

12

Volume 4, Issue 5May 2013

Once again we have successfully jumped one of

the hurdles that is on our course. We have

completed our SUI. The Subordinate Unit

Inspection is completed every two years. All

aspects of the Squadron are evaluated. We were

given an initial grade of "Successful". We will

receive more details when the final report is

completed. So many of our members have worked

very hard to allow us to have a successful SUI. I

would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to

everyone that has worked so hard to make this

possible.

The weather is definitely improving. It is starting to get warm enough for us

begin to start our outside activities. Remember to Be Safe in all of your

activities. Complete an ORM for your planned activities. Now is also a great

time to get out our Task Guides and review our Mission Skills. It only takes a

short review to get back up to speed. If you have any doubts, get with one of

our many instructors to refresh your Ground Team or Air Crew skills. We are

also in our Tornado season, be sure to get a good weather briefing and watch

for changes in the weather while outside.

As we venture outside, remember to be watchful for outside pest. Wasps,

spiders, scorpions and snakes will become more active as the temperatures

become warmer.

Be Careful:

Watch where you step.

Watch where you reach.

Jim Gosnell

Commander


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313131

CAMP WAIDSpringville Camp 17-19


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Congratulations, Ron Harlan, on Wing Safety Officer of the Year!

Safety Corner . . .

Reminder: Read the newsletter and receive a Safety Briefing Credit.

Please email Ron Harlan at - [email protected]

Safety Beacon -Official Safety Newsletter

of the

Civil Air PatrolApril Issue

Click on the link below to see the latest copy of this newsletter:

http://www.capmembers.com/safety/safety-newsletters-2248/


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Safety Corner . . .

A few days ago, April 27, 2013, we remembered the tragic events two years ago when 29 separate

tornadoes ripped their way through Central Alabama and 62 total charged across the entire state. Across

Alabama, these tornadoes took the lives of 249 of our neighbors and friends. Some of our own CAP members

were severely impacted by the extreme weather events of that day and have spent months upon months

trying to recover from that damage. If there is a silver lining to extreme tragedy, we are thankful that none ofour members lost their lifes or were severely injured.

I was extremely fortunate in that, my house and my sons house were not damaged by these events and we

suffered only short power outages as well. So, when we were trying to put together an aircrew to respond to

this event, I was able and willing to participate the next day as was Jim House. The base of operations was

the Bessemer airport and we were there as soon as the weather cleared. Unfortunately, the CAP response

was great but FEMA hadnt yet decided anything, so we sat on the ground for some time. Then, the Alabama

Emergency Response team took the bull by the horns and started our disaster reconnaissance sorties for the

day. Surprisingly, the other aircrew that reported that day was from Tuscaloosa and we all know how much

devastation occurred there.

We were assigned to track a tornado that sweep through Calhoun County and, as we later determined,

stayed on the ground well into Georgia. In all, this one tornado covered over 85 nm on the ground. Amazing,

but only typical of nearly all of the other tornadoes that day. We certainly thought , and were fully prepared

to track and document many of the other tornadoes that caused so much damage , but we were sent home

early that day. The next day, we reported again to EKY expecting to track more tornadoes but, FEMA had

still not stepped up to the plate and the Alabama team must have been running out of funds. Our duties that

day, since many high-speed internet connections were out of service, consisted of flying CDs of the damage

down to Maxwell Air Force Base where the CAP and AL team were piecing together the pictures that we and

other CAP aircrews had taken. I have no idea if fully utilizing our CAP resources would have helped any of

our suffering Alabamians or not but, I know for sure that CAP was much more ready to provide services than

our federal and state organizations were ready to utilize them.

But dont despair! If we were under-utilized in the aftermath of April 27, 2011, it was certainly made up for

in our involvement with the BP Oil Spill. Some of our units were deployed to the Gulf for a month at a time.

The total CAP flying time for our commitment to this spill was greater than any single event since WWII!

So, what can we do? I know that our wing leadership is marketing our capabilities as vigorously as possible.

But, word of mouth byyou to any local emergency response personnel, county law enforcement, or state law

or emergency response teams can be invaluable! Dont be afraid to brag about our capabilities! In most cases

we will meet or exceed everyones expectations! If you are qualified member of an aircrew or ground team

that can assist in an emergency, be ready and willingto volunteer. And.. be sure to tell themthat we know

how to do it SAFELY!

Stay Safe!

Ron Harlan, 118 Safety Officer


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VOLUNTEER Magazine Now Online

Volunteer Magazine . . .

Civil Air Patrols Volunteer magazine for April thru June is now

available online! http://www.capvolunteernow.com/cap_volunteer/

AprilJune 2013 CAP Volunteer

Features

New Flight Plan

CAP Eyes Future With 2013-

2014 Strategic Plan

Bell-Ringing Brigade

Members Make Noise At New York Stock Exchange

On The Rise

CAP Focusing More On Air Defense Missions

CyberPatriot V

CAP Well Represented In National Finals

Doug Roach

First Spaatz Recipient Led Full Life Of Public Service

Inauguration

National Capital Wing Works Behind Scenes

Former Cadet In Congress

Representative Says CAPs Impact Was Significant

Adopt-A-Pilot

Former Cadet Gives Back Through Airlines Program

Cadets At School

Program Allows Students To Participate In CAP

Control Tower Squadron

Ohio Unit Calls Historic Airport Structure Home

Going Digital History

Program Streamlined To Modernize Archives

Mrs. Alaska

Aviation-Minded Beauty Is Female Cadet Role Model

VANGUARD COUPON

10% Online

Discount Code

Please use the following coupon

code to receive your discount:

NWMAY13

This coupon is available for online orders only; coupon cannot be redeemed over the

phone.

Not valid for wholesale or government accounts. Code valid for the Month of May, 2013

and can be used only 3 times per customer.

Code vanth of May,013. Coupon code can be used 3 times per customer.


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Did You Know? . . .

Did you know that there is an organization that helps

people like you and me in times of emergency? Its

called the Federal Emergency Management Agency

(FEMA). I know, you are thinking about now that

EVERYBODY knows about FEMA. We all have to take

those online courses to qualify for emergency services.

What some of you may not know is that they have a website that helps people get ready

for emergencies before they happen? You did? How many of you have gone to the site

to see what is on it. Be honest. Me neither. That is until today. I found out some really

good stuff. For instance, they have a section on natural disasters. Some of those

mentioned are floods, wildfire, tornadoes and even volcanoes.

Lets look at flooding for instance. FEMA tells you about what to do before a flood. They

discuss such things as flood maps, insurance, and not to drive into water. It also tells you

what to do during and after a flood. Did you know that pumping water out of a flooded

basement might do more harm than good? FEMA can tell you why. They can tell you

about your risk for flooding and what you need to do to prepare a kit to help you in times

of emergency. You might be surprised to find that you already have many of the items in

your home.

What would you do if the city water or your well has been contaminated by the flooding?Did you know that a water heater is a good source of fresh drinking water? But, you have

to turn off the water supply first, so that you dont contaminate the tank. Once your house

is safe, you can boil water if you still have power or gas for a stove. At least until the all

clear is given by the health department.

There is a lot more information at FEMA, about what you can do to help yourself and to

volunteer to help others during times of emergency. As a matter of fact, they have a list

of organizations that have people just like you and me that train and volunteer. One of

them was an organization called the Civil Air Patrol. Imagine that. The site is,

http://www.ready.gov/ And now you know.

Eddie Shurbutt, Capt.

Civil Air Patrol

SER-AL-118, Pell City, AL


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MISSION AIRCREW SCHOOL1st Graduating Class

W.E.S.S. Training . . .

Congratulations to the 1st Graduating Class

of Mission Aircrew School. Our own Jay

Gamblin was part of this class. (4th from the

right in the photo) If you are interested in

participating in the school for the 2013-2014

Cycle, watch the newsletter for further

information. The first session will be in

October 2013.


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Cadet Corner . . .

Ok, last month we challenged you cadets to work on your next advancement

and since that time I know we have had one promotion. Congratulations to C/

MSgt Jessica Lucy for her advancement from C/TSgt to C/MSgt. We also get to

say goodbye to her. April 25thwas her last meeting as a CAP Cadet. She has to

report to Parris Island for boot camp in early May. We wish her well and issue an

invitation for her to come back and see us as soon as she can. Just a reminderfor our cadets that many of you have only one or two items to complete for your

next advancement, so I am encouraging you to get them done.

Congratulations to the Alabama Wing Drill Team at the SER competition held

at Patrick AFB. The Drill Team placed third in the SER. I am sure everyone had

fun, but you can ask C/SMSgt Gabriel Sweat for all the details since he was part

of the team and made the trip with them. We also need to ask him about the

Secret Squirrel Mission carried out at Cadet Professional Development week-

end which he also attended.

The Alabama/Mississippi Wing Encampment will be held at Ft. McClellan, Al June 22-

June 29 and the applicationprocess is open. There are limited slots available so if you plan on attending you need to get your application in. You

must be Cadet Airman rank and know basic customs and courtesies.

During our meeting on April 25ththere were several awards presented. The awards and their recipients were:

Alabama Wing Phase IV Cadet of the Year

C/LtCol Peter Randolph

Alabama Wing Frank Brewer Aerospace Award (Cadet)

C/2dLt Jonathan Watkins

Air Force Association Award to Outstanding CAP Cadets

C/2dLt Thomas Bracker

VFW Award for Cadet NCO

C/TSgt Gabriel Sweat

Congratulations to all our award recipients!

TRIVIA QUESTION

The answer to last months trivia question about what Cadet Awards have an April 15thdeadline for nominations

was answered by C/SMSgt Gabriel Sweatt. He correctly responded that the VFW Award for Cadet Officer, the VFW

Award for Cadet NCO and the Air Force Sergeants Association Award for Cadet NCO of the Year nominations are

all due to their respective associations by April 15th. This months trivia question is : What regulation governs the

wearing of the Cadet Advisory Council shoulder cords and.....what does it say? ...... In your own words please.

Email the answer to: [email protected]


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Aerospace Hi

Aerospace HI . . .

Hello all. This month our stargazing event will occur May 24-30. During this time Mercury, Venus and

Jupiter will be low in the west-northwest sky soon after sunset. As the days change so will the position of

these three planets change noticeably. On May 28 Venus will be passing Jupiter to the upper right of Jupiterand will be more than 6 times brighter than Jupiter.

What do you do with a launch pad when the shuttle program ends? Well if you are NASA, you try to sell it,

or lease it, and failing that you demolish it. Since the shuttle program ended and 8000 employees were laid

off, NASA is having one huge yard sale. Acres and acres of office equipment are for sale, the space shuttle

runway is being used for race car tests for NASCAR and the empty buildings are for rent, lease, or to sell.

You can find more information here: http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florida/brevard-county/Want-a-

launch-pad-NASA-is-selling/-/11788124/17981174/-/144fg0dz/-/index.html or just Google Launch Pad 39.

After going through my second SUI for Aerospace, I find that we have made some improvements overtime, however we are still lacking in one area and that is the Yeager Awards. It was mentioned to me during

the SUI that we have about 33% completion rate for this award. Now that it is mandatory to have the Yeager

completed for Level III before achieving rank of Major we need to make that extra effort to increase that

percentage to 100%. I will repeat myself here I know, you can study the book in hard copy or download it to

your computer, and if you need help with either way, contact me at [email protected] and I will get

you a copy. Again the test is in chronological order, it is not timed and takes maybe an hour to complete if

you read the material. If you dont want to study on your own, I would like to see how many are interested in

a group study, maybe on a Saturday, then everybody take the test. If that is a better option for you, let me

know, then if there is enough interest we can make that happen.

Last month our trivia question was why does it snow around a rocket on the launch pad? The answer

was because of the super cooled propellant used for the rocket. Congratulations go to Senior Member 2d Lt

Thomas Searcy and Cadet MSgt Jessica Lucy who gave me the correct answer.

Aerospace Trivia Question

2 part Question

(1). What are the dimensions of the blast trench on Launch Pad 39A, and

(2) how many gallons of water per minute refill rate is pumped into the

blast trench during launch.


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C/MSgt. JESSICA LUCY

Promotions . . .

Jessica Lucy will be leaving for Parris Island around the

middle of this month for basic training in the U.S. Marine

Corp. She plans to attend combat engineer training at

Camp Lejeune and hopes to be a pioneer of some of the

newly opened military positions to women in the near

future.

Jessica will be adding her name to a long line of family

members who in the past have sworn to protect this great

nation: Her great great-great Grandfather serving in the

Civil War, her Granddaddy in the Navy during WWII, her

grandfather's service in the Army, and her Dad's service in

Army Special Forces. Each one of these men have left a

legacy and contributed to the safety of the ground we so

freely stand on right now. Jessica considers it an honor and

a privilege to have the opportunity to do the same.

We will miss Jessica in Civil Air Patrol but will always

consider her to be part of our squadron.


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Cadet Recognition . . .

This past weekend, C/Capt Brian Scottparticipated in the

Alabama Council for Technology in Education (ACTE) State

Fair for his final time. These fairs are held on an annual

basis at regional and state levels. He has been in this

competition for many times and has won awards every

year. This year was no different!

He placed 1st in the Information Technology (IT) Test.The IT test is a written

exam given on-site. The exam has 50 multiple choice questions with a few

programming questions on the higher level exams. Questions are both vocabulary and

concept oriented. They come from the following topic areas: history of computers,

parts of the computer and peripheral computer devices, copyrights, ethics and

plagiarism, uses and limitations of computers, general uses of common computer

applications software, new and emerging technologies, the Internet and World Wide

Web, social implications of computers, and networking.

He placed 1st in Individual Computer Programming.Programming projects must use recognized programming

language code and must be self-executing. All parts and sections of the program must be your own original design

and coding. Programs must be presented with a documentation notebook which includes a narrative description of theprogram with its purpose, 5-step plan, flow chart, data flow diagram, or any other appropriate documentation. The

program must be identifiable in one of three project categories: computer aided instruction or educational/learning

games, business or commercial applications, or personal applications which, with minor alteration, could be marketed

for larger commercial appeal. This year, C/Capt Brian Scott's project was an encryption program called

"CAESAR" (ConsolidatedAdvanced Encryption StandardAutomated Runtime).

He placed 3rd in Team Programming Challenge.(along with his friend, Trey Houston) The Team Programming

Challenge is an on-site event in which teams of two to four students are given a series of problems which they must

solve during a two-hour competition time. The computer must calculate computational solutions to the problems.

They must use procedural or object languages that are capable of solving calculations and logical problems. Programs

are judged on structure, design, and organization.

Each team must be able to enter their programming code and execute the solutions to the problems. Here is one of

the questions.

Programmatically shut down the computer. Do it safely and have a 30 second countdown before the shutdown.

Output as you like and be creative.Can you solve it? If interested in the answer, ask Cadet Scott!

Capt Jeannie Scott, SER-AL-118, CAP


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CAMP WAIDSPRINGVILLE CADET SQUADRON

Cadet Opportunities . . .

On behalf of Springville Cadet Squadron AL.126 I would like to invite the cadets

from Pell City Squadron to Camp Waid on 17-19 May, 2013.

This year's focus at Camp Waid will be on basic GSAR training. Cadets will need to

bring three meals and 1 PT uniform, also a swim suit and towel if they want to

swim. If they need a gear list it is the same as WESS so the can go to the WESS

website to copy it. When cadets arrive they should have a parental permission slip,

a form 60, and CAP ID. Each participant must be safety current, and if 18 or over

need to have completed CPPT. If you have any questions please contact me.

Joshua Tillman

C/MSgt., Civil Air Patrol

AL-126

GLIDER FLIGHTS AVAILABLE

I just read the material and took the Wing Runner test for participation in Glider flights. We have

a chance to have glider flights during the summer coupled with ES and Communications train-

ing. They are wanting the cadets to lead the ES and Comms training which as we all know is

something that we are well able to do. HOWEVER we all have to be safety current and all must

do the Wing Runner training and pass the test. This is not as easy as the Aircraft Ground Han-

dling video and test for powered flight. There are six segments to this course, they are detailed

but not super hard, it just takes more time to read the material and then take the 20 question

test.

Now the first chance at glider flights is May 18, just 3 weeks away. There will have to be a lot of

coordination to get this to happen and your first step is the wing runner course. SO get busy and

get this done.

Cindy Bennett, Maj. CAP

CDC, Al-118

pell city squadron - may 2013

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