WingTips

THE NEWSLETTER
OF MINNESOTA
WING, CIVIL AIR
PATROL

SPECIAL
POINTS
OF IN-
TEREST: JUNE/JULY 2007
Minnesota Wing
Encampment

Col Miller and

Lt Col Kettell
attend Hawk
WingTips gets facelift and staff change
Mountain

Member recog-
nition
WingTips has made a couple of changes in The other change for WingTips is a new
both style and staff. The most noticeable editor.
change to WingTips is the new format that
We extend our thanks to Captain Al Pabon
is going to be used and the other more sub-
for his many years of hard work.
tle change is a new editor.
The new editor is Major Conrad Peterson.
WingTips has had many different looks
He assumed control of WingTips in June
over the years. We hope that you will
and will be looking for contributions from
enjoy the new look and find it to be
the members of Minnesota Wing for future
aesthetically pleasing, as well as easy to
newsletters.
read. If you have any comments concerning
the “new look” or readability, please share Thank you for reading WingTips this month.
your thoughts and ideas by emailing Enjoy!
INSIDE THIS wingtips@mncap.org.
ISSUE:
We wish to thank Mrs. Jennifer McDowell
2 for her hard work and dedication on mak-
Wing
ing the new WingTips format a reality.
Banker
Cadet 3 Commander’s Column
earns Col Stephen G. Miller
Commander, Minnesota Wing
Pfingsten
Scholarship sent shock waves throughout call was received. Our
Summer 3 the country. Our most im- training had us positioned to
mediate concern is for the be effective participants
Encamp-
safety of our members and had we been called upon.
ment their families. Our hearts Thank you.
5 and prayers go out to the
Hawk As a point of reference, the
families who were involved.
Mountain state of Minnesota has a
Based on all we know right law on the books, 181.946,
Awards & 7 now, we do not believe any Minnesota Statues 2006,
Promotions of our members were di- that addresses time off from
The catastrophic collapse of rectly involved. I do know work for Civil Air Patrol
Calendar 8
the I-35W Bridge in the that Minnesota Wing CAP members assisting in what-
heart of Minneapolis has had members ready to as- ever capacity event. The
sist wherever needed if a law states:
Commander’s Column (continued from front page)
“Unpaid Leave required.
Unless the leave would un-
duly disrupt the operations
of the employer, an em-
ployer shall grant a leave
of absence without pay to
an employee for time spent
rendering service as a
member of the Civil Air Pa-
trol on request and under
the authority of the state or
any of its political subdivi-
sions.” For future reference
you should be able to find
this law posted on our web
site.
We have had a very busy
summer. SAREXs, Flight
Academy, Cadet Encamp-
ment, and many national ac-
tivities are just a few of the
opportunities we have had.
Attending these events gives
you a real feel for what is
happening around the Wing.
Additionally we have had
many training events. We
had a record training budget
this year and I am happy to
report, assuming we do not
get weathered on our next
two SAREXs, we will use every
nickel of that budget. Many
of our pilots have received
training on the glass cockpit
aircraft and on the GA8. This
training only makes us bet-
ter prepared.
The second week of Au-
gust, I will be attending the
Summer National Board
Meeting. It is in Atlanta
this year. Look for a future
announcement regarding
the Board Meeting being
broadcast over the web.
When I return, I will pre-
sent a report of board’s
highlights.
Stay Safe – Think Safety –
Be Safe
Semper Vigilans!

Wing Banker has Arrived By Kirsty McCracken

The Wing Banker pro- has made 15 deposits ber making the check re-
gram is up-and-running and requested 15 checks. quests and deposits is not
in Minnesota. St Croix The most cumbersome as- the same as the person
Squadron of Lake Elmo, pect has been the dual creating the financial re-
MN took the leap as the entry between the forms ports. This is good audit
test-bed squadron. Our sent to Wing Banking and control.”
Wing Finance Officer, entering the same data
1st Lt Brad Heck has into Quickbooks. Third, Minnesota Wing is re-
worked very closely with establish a solid filing quired to have all units on
St Croix’s Finance Offi- system to maintain copies Wing Banker by the end
cer, SM Tom Simonet, to of requests and deposits. of the fiscal on September
get the systems in place St. Croix uses a two fold 30, 2007. When you are
to make it easier for the concept; simple hanging ready to come on board
rest of the squadrons to folders for the documen- contact Brad Heck at
come on board. tation and Quickbooks for fm@mncap.org and he
the financials. Finally, will provide you with the
“To be successful, first, keep the Wing Banking help you need.
all accounts must be bal- finance team apprised of
anced and reconciled to any issues. Review your
the penny. All squad- financial reports and vali-
rons do this task al- date checks and deposits
ready, no big deal” entered into the Wing
said Simonet. “Second, Banking system.”
familiarize yourself with
the new forms and com- Simonet adds; “The Wing
munication process to Banking Solutions works.
request checks and sub- STX now has separation
mit deposits. St. Croix of duties. The CAP mem-

PAGE 2
St. Cloud Cadet earns first Pfingsten Memorial Scholarship
By Capt Richard Sprouse
The first annual Jacob
Pfingsten Memorial Flight
Training Scholarship was pre-
sented to C/SSgt Jessica
Stone of St. Cloud Composite
Squadron during the annual
Minnesota Wing Flight Acad-
emy at Gustavus Adolphus
College in St. Peter, MN, on
Saturday, 21 July, 2007.
Jacob Pfingsten’s sisters,
Jolene Parks and Sarah
Pfingsten, both of Brainerd,
made the presentation.
C/SSgt Jessica Stone was
selected as the recipient of
the scholarship from several
Minnesota Wing’s 9th CTG “a great experience”
By Capt Richard Sprouse
Waking up at 5:30 a.m. each
morning is not what many young
people do over the summer.
But from 24-30 June, 69 basic
cadets worked their way
through the 9th Minnesota Cadet
Training Group encampment at
Camp Ripley. Thirty
cadets in various
staff positions, 11
Staff Development “The first
Squadron members
and 24 senior offi-
cers participated as
well, getting up at
5:00 a.m.!
At the conclusion of encampment
the general consensus among the
basic cadets was, "The first thing
I'm going to do when I get home
is eat then sleep.” When asked
about the overall experience the
vast majority said, "This was a
outstanding applicants by
staff of Flight Academy.
The scholarship goal is to
encourage Minnesota Wing
cadets graduating from Flight
Academy to continue their
flight training and obtain
their FAA Private Pilot Certifi-
cate. The scholarship provides
up to 30 hours of Civil Air
Patrol Cessna 172 funding to
assist one Flight Academy
graduate to continue and
complete their powered,
fixed-wing flight training.
The cadet has one year to
utilize the funds and to obtain
their certificate.
great experience. I'm so glad I
did it."
The majority of the cadets said
their biggest shock was how
structured and disciplined the
encampment was.
thing I’m going to do when I get home is
eat then sleep”
"Everything had to be perfect,"
said C/SSgt Steven Athas who
was among a small group of
Iowan’s to attend the encamp-
ment. "Your uniform, your room,
and moving in formation. You
learned a lot about responsibil-
ity and discipline."
C/Lt Col Brian Anderson, 9th
Jacob Pfingsten
was a long time
member of the
Crow Wing
Composite
Squadron as a
cadet and as a
senior member. He
obtained his FAA
Private Pilot Cer-
C/SSgt Jessica Stone
tificate through the CAP pro- being awarded the
gram. He passed away in scholarship by (l-r)
February 2005 of natural Jolene Parks, C/2d Lt
Sarah Pfingsten and C/
causes while conducting a
SSgt Stone.
special assignment with the
U.S. Army in Hohenfels, Ger-
many.
CTG Commander, said the
initial shock of being in camp
wears off in roughly two days.
"Wednesday is 'Hump Day,'
for many cadets," Anderson
said. "Once you make it to
Wednesday, you begin to get
over the hump
for the rest of
the week."
Joining the ca-
dets for several
days was Jeff
Thompson, a
photojournalist with the state’s
largest newspaper, the Min-
neapolis Star Tribune. Thomp-
son produced a story and slide
show depicting encampment
activities.
PAGE 3
Minnesota Wing encampment continued (from page 3)
“I had never experienced anything
like this (encampment) before,”
Thompson said. “I’ve never had so
many people calling me ‘sir’ in my
life. It was a lot to take in, and eve-
ryone made the experience as
easy and as comfortable for me as
possible.”

In addition to working under a mili-

tary-style regimen with morning
physical training sessions, room in-
spections and scheduled wake-up
and sleep times, cadets came away C/CCMSgt Rebecca Waddell leads PT early in the
morning on Day 2
with lessons learned on teamwork,
time management and attention to
detail, skills they’ll apply the rest of
their lives.

"By graduating from this encamp-

ment, they have demonstrated that
they're a leader and not a fol- Basic cadet going over obstacle at Camp
lower," said Maj Josh Puhl, Comman- Ripley.
dant of Cadets.

Maj Conrad Peterson, Encampment

Commander, reiterated Maj Puhl’s
sentiment in saying that the cadets
made great strides during their
week at encampment.
Cadets and staff preparing to go out to land naviga-
"The families’ gave us great young tion course on Day 4
people, and we gave them back
great young adults," Peterson said.
Cadets reuniting with family and friends
Anderson said he believes there's after pass in review at encampment.
little reason for anyone not to want
to come to encampment.

"You do and see so much in only one

week," Anderson said. "Even if you
have any doubts, just apply next
year and experience it. I know you
wouldn't regret it."

C-130 coming in over Camp Ripley for a touch and

go at the air field.

PAGE 4
Wing Commander and Vice-Commander Become Rangers
By Capt Al Pabon

From 11-15 July, Minnesota Wing
Commander Col Stephen Miller and
Vice-Commander Lt Col Tom Kettell
joined fellow CAP leaders for the new
Ranger Program Coordinator Course
at Hawk Mountain, PA.
Students spent 4 days touring the
facilities and learning what it takes to
run a program like the Hawk Moun-
tain Ranger School.
With the implementation of this
course, Maj Gen Pineda hopes that
the Ranger Program will expand and
more CAP members can experience
this unique training program.
Located in Kempton, Pennsylvania,
Hawk Mountain Ranger School is the
longest running Search & Rescue
School in the nation. For over 50
years, it has provided some of the
best wilderness SAR training to cadets
and officers throughout the country.
The curriculum consists of individual
skills training about equipment and
techniques used in search and rescue
operations. In addition to the practi-
cal skills, leadership and character
development are emphasized. There
is a field training exercise to be com-
pleted and a final test to earn Ranger
Grade certifications which includes
emergency services advancement. Col Miller (above)
and Lt Col Kettell
(left) putting their
“This activity offered some of the
rappelling skills to
best ES training opportunities I the test at Hawk
have seen. Hawk Mountain is an Mountain.
excellent training facility. The in-
structors are all top notch. We
had hands on training as well
as classroom (tent) training.”
said Col Miller.
Col Miller and Lt Col Kettell
earned the basic Ranger grade
upon completion of the course.
For more information on the
Hawk Mountain Ranger School
please go to http://
www.pawingcap.com/hawk/
From left to right; Col Stephen Miller, Brig Gen Amy Courter,
Maj Gen Antonio Pineda and Lt Col Tom Kettell in front of
Hawk Mountain Headquarters.

Minnesota Wing Ground Team Academy at Camp Ripley

From 16-19 August, 2007 the Minnesota Wing Emergency Services staff will be conducting the first Minnesota
Wing Ground Team Academy at Camp Ripley in Little Falls, MN. Thirty-nine students have applied to learn
basic Ground Team skills or to further advance their knowledge.
Applications are no longer being accepted. If you are attending and have any questions, contact Maj Chet
Wilberg at cwilberg@mncap.org

Executive staff chosen for Minnesota Leadership Academy By Maj Josh Puhl

The 2007 Minnesota Leadership Course Commander (BCOC)

Academy (MLA) will be held at
Camp Ripley from 18-21 October,
2007.
MLA Commander, Maj Josh Puhl,
has chosen his executive staff for
the activity.
C/Col Laura Broker has been se-
lected as the Basic Cadet Officer
and
C/Capt Cory Titus has been
selected as the Non-
Commissioned Officer School
Commander (NCOS).
Maj Conrad Peterson will serve
as the MLA Project Officer.

PAGE 5
 AirExpo 2007 will have special appearance and rides

AirExpo 2007 will Saturday evening of Air-

be held at Flying Expo will include a silent
Cloud Field 18-19 auction and an “Evening
August, 2007. with Eagles” dinner.
Those will both be held
Among the many at the Eden Prairie
aircraft at AirExpo City Center in the Gar-
this year, will be a den Room beginning at
“Yankee Lady” in flight, rides
will be available.
special appearance by a 6pm on 18 August.
P-38 Lightning.
For more information P-38 Lightning making special AirExpo appearance.
The B-17 “Yankee Lady” about AirExpo 2007,
will also be returning to check out the website at
AirExpo and rides will be www.wotn.com.
available to the public.

'The Atmosphere Ate My Laptop'

From GAO source

NASA Watchdogs Reveal A June General Account- cording to the GAO.

"This computer, Odd Explanations For ing Office report lists
although assigned Missing Equipment. some of the reasons We think the best one was
to me, was being submitted for missing stuff. used by an employee
Watchdog groups that Some employees played who'd misplaced a laptop
used on board the
keep a sharp eye on it safe and employed computer worth some
International
public spending are some classic excuses like, $4,000. He or she gave
Space Station. I saying the National "I lent it to someone but an excuse only a NASA
was informed it Aeronautic and Space forget who" and "I employee could give -
was tossed Administration fails to borrowed it for my wife and possibly get away
overboard to be exercise "effective con- and never got a receipt with.
burned up in the trol" over $35 billion when I gave it back."
atmosphere when it worth of property re- "This computer, although
failed." ported in its financial How about this one: "A assigned to me, was
statements. thorough and reasonable being used on board the
search was conducted but International Space Sta-
The groups allege NASA we were unable to locate tion. I was informed it was
employees have "lost" the missing property. In tossed overboard to be
$94 million worth of stuff general, the missing items burned up in the atmos-
during the past 10 years. consist of older equipment phere when it failed."
that has been replaced or
Some of the items were is no longer necessary for It's feasible. After all,
located in audits. There standard operations" was haven't we all wanted to
are, however, some given when 65 items do just that at one time or
perfectly... reasonable totaling $850,000 could- another?
explanations as to where n't be accounted for, ac-
some of the rest went.
PAGE 6
 Awards and Promotions
Cadet Awards
Gen Carl A. Spaatz Award
C/Col Laura Broker, St. Cloud
Capt Ryan Kenny, Group 3
Gen Ira C. Eaker Award
C/Lt Col Charles Cox, Viking
Brig Gen Billy Mitchell Award
2d Lt Joshua Woodard, Crow Wing
2d Lt Shashona Lucas , Red Wing
2d Lt Mitchell McGillick, Hutchinson
2nd Lt Nathaniel Tyner, Crow Wing
2nd Lt William Hoffman, 130th
2nd Lt Jeff Dvorak, St. Cloud
Wright Brothers Award
Alex Bee, Viking
Ethan Sundquist, Northland
MacKenzie Johnson, Wesota
Robert Spear, St. Croix
Jessica Stone, St. Cloud
Lydia Stone, St. Cloud
Eric Heinonen, Northland
Officer Awards
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. Award (Level 2)
Gary Isker, Owatonna
Jerome Karels, St. Paul
Grover Loening Award (Level 3)
Daniel Jorgenson, Viking
James Hetherington, Viking
Rob Carlson, North Hennepin
Paul Garber Award (Level 4)
Chet Wilberg, Hutchinson
Fly high at ACES!
If the weather is too poor periods of 30 minutes to
to go for a flight or if a full hour. Prices range
you do not have a pilot’s from $29.95 for 30 min-
license, try ACES flight utes or $44.95 for an
simulation at the Mall of hour.
America.
Fly ACES and become
There are over 190 air- “an ace in a day.”
craft to choose from to
fly and you can fly for For more information go
to www.flyaces.com.
Officer Promotions
Second Lieutenant
Russell Olson, Valley
Jay Spreitzer, Anoka
Sarah Mandrell, Northland
Tommy Heibert, Ft. Snelling
Jeffrey Lucas, Hutchinson
Gregory Jorvig, St. Paul
Jeffrey Leif, St. Paul
Gabriel Busitzky, Owatonna
Terry Pittman, Anoka
Thomas Winch, Northland
George Ramler, St Cloud
Roger Thorson, Grand Rapids
Michael Cagley, North Hennepin
David Fronczak, St. Paul
Gary Robbins, Red Wing
Patrick Grumley, St. Croix
Andrew Scheevel, St. Croix
Melissa Peralta, Worthington
Adam Monson, Grand Rapids
First Lieutenant
Jennifer Stolp, Mankato
Christina Dalbec, Duluth
Keith Struck, North Hennepin
Captain
Nathan Wozniak, Northland
David Yost, St. Croix
Ryan Kenny, Group 3
Major
Ron Winkler, Viking
Jotham Blodgett, Wing HQ
Marilyn Lucas, Red Wing
Edwin Culbert, Duluth
Robert McLawhorn, Ft. Snelling
Kendall Wallace, Duluth
PAGE 7
The Newsletter of Minnesota Wing, Civil
Air Patrol

WingTips is a publication of
Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol,
U.S. Air Force Auxiliary
6275 Crossman Lane
Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076
www.mncap.org wingtips@mncap.org

Calendar

Schedule of Events AUGUST 2007

7-12 August– Burnsville Fire
Muster. Contact: 1Lt Norine Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
Olson.
1 2 3 4
10-12 August– Group 1 SAREX
at Bemidji. Contact: 2nd Lt
Don Helgager.
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
16-19 August– Ground Team
Academy at Camp Ripley.
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Contact: Maj Chet Wilberg.
18-19 August– AirExpo 2007
at Flying Cloud Airport. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

24-26 August– Group 3 SAREX

at North Hennepin. Contact:
26 27 28 29 30 31
Lt Col Dick Johnson.

The views expressed, either written or implied, are not necessarily

those of the U.S. Air Force, Civil Air Patrol or Minnesota Wing.
Submissions should be sent to the above email address.
Wing Commander: Colonel Stephen G. Miller Wingtips Editor: Major Conrad Peterson