THE NEWSLETTER

OF MINNESOTA
WING,
CIVIL AIR PATROL WingTips
SPECIAL
POINTS OF
INTEREST:
NOVEMBER 2007
International
Aviation Art
Contest Minnesota Wing Members Locate Missing Aircraft and Crew
Aerospace quiz
Capt Richard Sprouse
and updates

Letter from the The crew of a plane reported missing early ing Piper Seminole aircraft, flying from St Paul
editor and next
month’s issue on Wednesday, October 24 perished in a to Grand Forks, ND.
crash.
Awards and The FAA's Minneapolis Center last had contact
promotions
The plane was discovered by an aircrew from with the aircraft near Little Falls late Tuesday
Calendar the Minnesota Wing, Civil Air Patrol (CAP), evening around 10:15 pm.
around 4:10 pm on Wednesday in a swampy
area near Turtle Creek Township, approxi- CAP aircrews from Brainerd, Cass County, Du-
mately 20 miles northwest of Little Falls. luth, Hutchinson, North Hennepin, St Cloud, and
St Croix participated in the search.
INSIDE THIS A search and rescue team from the Todd
ISSUE: County Sheriff’s Department, along with a The Minnesota Wing of the Civil Air Patrol
CAP ground team from St. Cloud, confirmed consists of 23 squadrons located in every area
Members 1 the find. of the state, with more than 1200 members
locate missing and 18 light aircraft.
aircraft The Todd County Sheriff’s Department an-
nounced the pilot, Annette Klosterman, 22, Minnesota Wing routinely flies thousands of
Man High 2 Seattle, WA, and her passenger, Adam hours per year of operational flights, and con-
50th Anniver- Osateiko, 22, Duluth, MN, both died in the tributes some 10,000 + person-hours to
sary celebra- incident. Both were affiliated with the Univer- Search and Rescue, Counter Drug, Disaster
tion sity of North Dakota in Grand Forks. Preparedness, Homeland Security and other
Wesota holds 3 humanitarian missions.
Open House Fifty Minnesota Wing, Civil Air Patrol mem-
bers, including a ground team and pilots,
Minnesota 4 used seven aircraft in the search for the miss-
Leadership
Academy

Airplanes on 5 Red Wing Celebrates 40 Years During Open House

life support Maj Mari Lucas

Thanksgiving 7 Red Wing Composite Squadron kicked off
safety tips their 40th Anniversary celebration with an
Open House on September 27.
The doors to the facilities were opened at 6
pm and guests were invited to visit several
information stations that included all three of
the Civil Air Patrol missions.
Each information station was manned by Offi-
cer and Cadet members that were available
to answer questions and provide information
to guests.
Flight Officer Melody Cedergren conducted an
Introduction to Civil Air Patrol presentation to
guests. The presentation included history of
Civil Air Patrol, its main missions and informa-
tion on how to join.
Cadets not helping at information stations dem-
onstrated drill and ceremonies on the flight line
and four aircraft including a glider were avail-
able for guests to view and ask questions
about.
Red Wing 40th continued on page 3
 Man High Celebrates 50th Anniversary Lt Col Bob Johnson
USAF Gen. Bruce
Carlson address-
ing the group at
the launch site of
Man High.
Lt. Col. David
Simons is sitting
at left in back-
ground.
Fifty years ago the US Air
Force conducted tests to de-
termine the effects of space
on humans. Of the three tests
that were conducted the one
that was most successful took
place in Crosby, Minnesota.
It was called Man High and
it happened on August 18,
1957.
A helium balloon was used
to carry a 3 by 8 foot cap-
sule to a height of 19 miles
above the Earth’s surface.
Air Force Lt Col David
Simons spent over 43 hours
in the capsule. Lt Col Simon’s
was 35 years old and a Ma-
jor at the time.
The 50th anniversary of the
event took place in Crosby
in August, with retired Lt Col
Simons as the guest of honor.
Simons, now 84, shared his
experience with a large
group of people that at-
tended the event. He said
that the flight helped estab-
lish what would be needed
to keep a man alive in
space. Dr Simons is an MD
who was trained as a Flight
Surgeon.
Organizers of the event re-
quested help from Crow
Wing Composite Squadron
to provide assistance for the
event. Several senior and
cadet members helped make
the event a success, showcas-
ing the CAP program. In a
letter to 1st Lt Marcel Kob-
berdahl, the CAP project
officer for the event, Colleen
Rawlings extended a special
thank you:
“I wanted to take a moment
and write you a personal
thank you for the Civil Air
Patrol's assistance with the
50th Anniversary of the Man
High Celebration in Crosby.
In particular, I wanted you to
know what an asset these
fine young people were to
the Space Symposium at the
High School on Saturday.
As Chair of this event, I can't
begin to express the valu-
able contribution they made
to the symposium. I spent a
great deal of time with the
High School technician to
ensure the lighting and sound
for the event would be set
up correctly, but as things go
it was not functioning prop-
erly on the afternoon of the
event. I happened to have a
conversation with Cadet
Josh Woodard on the way
into the school and ex-
pressed being nervous about
this part of the program. He
graciously offered his assis-
tance if l should need it. Boy
did I need it!!!
Josh stepped in when the
lighting wasn't correct, or the
microphones weren't working
or when they weren't loud
enough during Dr. Simon's
presentation. He even helped
Kevin Taylor, Dr Graveline's
Personal Assistant, load
power point presentations on
the computer. He stayed with
me in the sound booth and
orchestrated the entire after-
noon of lighting & sound. He
truly saved this event.
I believe if cadet Woodard
had not been there the suc-
cess of this event would have
been in serious jeopardy.
At a day when the room was
filled with heroes, cadet
Woodard was mine. I can't
thank you enough for all your
help and the help of all your
cadets.”
Because of the success of this
space mission and Lt Col
Simon’s findings, our present
day space programs continue
to work on his ideas for astro-
naut safety and how to live in
a space suit environment.
This event was another great
opportunity for the Civil Air
Patrol program to be recog-
nized, which it was by some
of the dignitaries invited to
the event, including Minnesota
Rep James Oberstar and
Minnesota native Gen Bruce
Carlson, USAF.
Cadet Josh Woodard and
Colleen Rawlings.
PAGE 2
Red Wing Celebrates 40 Years (continued from front page)
Chap Lt Col Don Mikitta served as
Master of Ceremonies and shared
squadron history, including past
unit commanders and past meet-
ing locations with the guests.
During the Open House awards
were presented that represented
all three missions of Civil Air Pa-
trol.
Lt Col Roger Brogren presented
C/SrA Ryan Lucas his Glider Solo
Wings.
Maj Jeff Bartelt presented C/SrA
Ryan Lucas with his Wright Brothers
Award and promoted Cadet Lucas
to C/SSgt.
Twenty-two members of Red Wing
Squadron were awarded the Disas-
ter Relief medal and ribbon with
“V” device, for Presidential de-
clared disaster, for their service in
Southeast Minnesota helping with
flood relief efforts. These awards
were presented by Maj Jerry
Rosendahl, Chief of Staff for Mis-
sion Operations, of Minnesota Wing
Headquarters.
A USAF recruiter was on hand as
well to answer any questions con-
cerning future service.
Cookies, punch and coffee were
served to the guests. Some of the
cookies even had frosted represen-
tations of the Civil Air Patrol seal on
them.
Thank you to all that visited us dur-
ing the Open House and we look
forward to many more years of
service to our nation, state and com-
munity.

Wesota Composite Squadron Holds Open House

Maj Ruth Hoffman

On September 2 the members space Education, Cadet Pro-

of Wesota Composite Squad- grams and Emergency Ser-
ron showcased to the public vices.
who the Civil Air Patrol is dur-
The Open House was held by
ing the Willmar Municipal Air-
the airport to recognize the
port Open House.
completion of the Willmar Mu-
Part of the Open House cele- nicipal Airport in September
bration was a fly-in pancake 2006.
breakfast in which cadets from
Wesota Composite Squadron
Wesota Squadron helped
meets at the Willmar Munici- C/SSgt Mackenzie Johnson works on the flight
marshal aircraft. The pancake line for the Willmar Airport Open House.
pal Airport at 6:30 pm on
breakfast was sponsored by
Thursday evenings. Please stop
Willmar Boy Scout Troop 565.
in if you are in the area and
2nd Lt Linda Dilley, Wesota take a look at our website at
Squadron PAO, used the air- www.mncap.org/wesota.
port’s Open House as a way
to promote the Civil Air Patrol
to the citizens of Willmar and
surrounding communities.
Lt Dilley put together an
elaborate display showing
past Minnesota Wing activities
and squadron activities. She 2nd Lt Linda Dilley next to her display at the
Willmar Municipal Airport Open House.
gave guests to the booth in Wesota cadets waiting in line for the
depth information on Aero- pancake breakfast.

PAGE 3
 2007 Minnesota Leadership Academy Capt Richard Sprouse
From first light to well past sundown those attend-
ing the Minnesota Leadership Academy (MLA), and
its components, the Non-Commissioned Officer
School (NCOS) and the Basic Cadet Officer
Course (BCOC), are on the move: practicing drill
and ceremony, poring over notes as they prepare
for speech competition or attending classes on
leadership and team building.
“These are cadets motivated to move ahead into
leadership positions within the Minnesota Wing,”
said Maj Josh Puhl, 2007 MLA director. He said
NCOS and BCOC are both tough, demanding
courses.
Drill and ceremony, human behavior modification,
verbal and written communication, and conflict
resolution are major components of NCOS. The
BCOC addresses elements such as character devel-
opment, project management, ethics, and leading
by example.”
The four-day academy held October 18-21 at
Camp Ripley drew cadets from across the state at
a time when most of their peers were enjoying
time off during the annual Education Minnesota
Professional Conference.
“These are leaders in the making who wanted to
be here when most of their friends were taking
four days off during the school year,” Maj Puhl
said. “Few teens would be willing to make such a
sacrifice, so this speaks volumes about their com-
mitment to learning the traits of leadership, to their
squadrons and to the Civil Air Patrol.”
C/SSgt Tessa Berg of the Grand Rapids Compos-
ite Squadron was among the 36 NCOS cadets.
She was recovering from oral surgery the day be-
fore in-processing, so speaking and eating was
difficult during the course. Despite her not being at
“full speed” from her surgery she said that NCOS
was a must in her Civil Air Patrol career.
“I learned a lot about what it takes to become a
leader, and how to gain the confidence and re-
spect of my subordinates,” Berg said. “I thought
the role playing activity was extremely helpful on
how to deal with situations that come up when
working with cadets, for example, ‘I miss my mom,
etc.’ She said her first instinct would have been to
“Mommy” them, but felt the alternatives suggested
by the NCOS instructors were a better option.
C/CMSgt Ethan Helgager of Bemidji’s Northland
Composite Squadron joined 16 cadets completing
the BCOC. He said that the course was challeng-
ing.
“It was demanding, but all of the training was
good,” Helgager said. “I took a lot of notes and
have a lot of ideas to take back to my squadron.”
The BCOC Distinguished graduate was C/2d Lt
Keyona Sanchez of Anoka Composite Squadron.
Alpha Seminar Honor Graduate – C/1st Lt Josh
Woodard, Crow Wing Composite Squadron
Bravo Seminar Honor Graduate – C/MSgt David
Blessman, North Hennepin Composite Squadron
Charlie Seminar Honor Graduate – C/CMSgt Ben-
jamin Hartley, North Hennepin Composite Squad-
ron
The NCOS Distinguished Graduate was C/SrA
Michael Weston, St Croix Composite Squadron.
Alpha Seminar Honor Graduate – C/TSgt David
Chanski, North Hennepin Composite Squadron
Bravo Seminar Honor Graduate – C/TSgt Lydia
Stone, St Cloud Composite Squadron
Charlie Seminar Honor Graduate – C/TSgt Dane
Bjorkman, Anoka Composite Squadron
Delta Seminar Honor Graduate – C/SSgt David
Trudeau, St Croix Composite Squadron
Echo Semi-
nar Honor
Graduate –
C/SrA Tim
Blesi, Valley
Composite
Squadron
Students and staff being briefed at the beginning
of the Minnesota Leadership Academy (MLA).
PAGE 4
Airplanes on Life Support
As seen in Defense News by Erik Holmes

One C-130E Hercules from the 86th an average of 43 years old, the KC- Saxton said he originally supported
Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Base, 135Es were built during the Eisen- the modernization program but now
Germany, is so old and in such bad hower administration and the C-5As thinks modernizing the A-model
shape it cannot safely fly. have been plagued by low mission- planes is impractical.
capable rates, according to Mose-
Yet U.S. Air Force maintainers must ley’s and Wynne’s testimony. “Those that think it would be wise to
tow it around the tarmac every so of- modernize the entire fleet rather than
ten to make sure its tires don’t go flat, More than 20 percent of the service’s just the newer B models ... must now
and crank up the engines every month C-130Es are grounded or have sig- realize that the degree of ineffi-
to make sure they still run. nificant flight restrictions, they said, ciency and the high cost of moderniz-
yet the Air Force is not allowed to ing all 111 C-5s make it a most un-
These measures consume money and retire any of the aircraft in fiscal wise” option, he said.
maintainers’ time but must be per- 2008. And the 2007 Defense Au-
formed in order to keep the plane in thorization Act requires that any C- Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., said he
active status, which is required by 130Es retired after Sept. 30, 2006, opposes retiring any C-5s because
Congress. be maintained in Type-1000 storage, the overall strategic airlift demand
a status in which they are available has been understated.
This conundrum, congressional moves to be recalled to active service.
to prevent the Air Force from retiring “I really think it’s foolish of us to
worn-out airplanes and putting the Moseley asked committee members make dramatic moves regarding to
savings toward buying new ones, was to remove this requirement. the C-5 force before we hear what
the central focus of an Oct. 25 hearing our real strategic need is,” he said.
before the House Armed Services “Theoretically you could fly them
Committee. again,” he said, “but it would take an Despite the apparent support in the
infinite amount of money.” House committee for allowing the Air
“Our request is to lift the [restrictions Force to retire at least some air-
on retiring aircraft] so we don’t have Wynne also asked committee mem- planes, it may be a moot point.
to spend the time and manpower and bers to remove restrictions from retir-
money on these airplanes that will ing KC-135Es. He said only 40 of the The Senate Armed Services Commit-
never fly,” said Gen. Michael Mose- Air Force’s 85 active KC-135Es can tee would have to agree to any such
ley, chief of staff. “Please give us the fly, yet congressional language re- move, but it is not inclined to do so,
authority to manage our inventory.” quires they be kept operational. according to a Senate staff member
involved with defense issues.
On that count, at least, Moseley and The planes are in such bad shape,
Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, Moseley said, that by spring 2010 Some Senate committee members are
who both testified at the hearing, must they will all be grounded because of suspicious of the Air Force’s motives
be pleased. It’s an issue they’ve been worn-out engine pylons and other for retiring planes, the staffer said.
arguing forcefully in recent months, structural problems.
and it seems to be gaining some trac- “The Air Force is saying, ‘These are
tion in the powerful congressional com- The Air Force also seemed to gain done and we need to get rid of
mittee. some traction on the issue of whether them,’” the source said, “but the Air
to modernize its C-5As. The service Force also has a tendency to do that
announced in September that the cost and then create a new requirement”
“We have tied up the Air Force in of the C-5 re-engining program had for new airplanes.
their capability to manage their fleet,” ballooned to $146.7 million per air-
said Rep. Jim Saxton, R-N.J., a senior craft, for a total program cost of Maintaining old planes might be
member of the committee. “We have $17.5 billion. costly, the staffer said, but it is still
an opportunity now to address that. I cheaper than buying new ones.
hope we will.” Wynne and Moseley said they pre-
fer to modernize the C-5Bs but retire
The discussion centered on the C-130E, most of the older C-5As because they
KC-135E and C-5A. The C-130Es are will never be sufficiently reliable.

PAGE 5
International Aviation Art Contest Capt Adan Parker
This year’s theme for the Interna- the ages of 6-17 as of December 31, later that January 31, 2008.
tional Aviation Art Contest is 2007.
“Design an Aviation Stamp.” For more information on this contest
There are three age categories to go to www.dot.state.mn.us/aero/
All artwork will be judged in part enter artwork. Category I for ages aved/students/artinfo or you can
for its appropriate use of this 6-9, category II for ages 10-13 and call 1-800-657-3922 or by email
year’s theme. There are other ar- category III for ages 14-17. at avedinfo@dot.state.mn.us
eas of judging criteria that include
creativity, presentation and techni- This contest is open to all Minnesota
cal ability. Wing Civil Air Patrol cadets who
meet the age and residency require-
To be eligible to enter you must ments.
be a Minnesota resident between
All entries must be post marked no

Aerospace Education Updates and Quiz

Maj Conrad Peterson

1st Lt Todd Christopherson
of St Cloud Composite
Squadron helped 15 of
his fellow squadron mem-
bers complete the Gen
Chuck Yeager Aerospace
test in September.
With all of the submissions
for Yeager Certificates I
have ran out more than
once and placed many
orders to NHQ. Just as a
note, due to the change of
National Commander it
will be a couple of weeks
before certificates are
available with the new
National Commander’s
signature.
Thank you everyone for
your hard work in the
units.
All of the AE reports that
were sent in have been
logged online and are
available to view through
the intranet.
Here are five aerospace Question#5-Who was the
history related questions first Minnesota Wing
to test your knowledge. Commander?
Some are easy and some
are harder. Use any re- The first member to send
sources you can and email me their list of all correct
me your answers no later answers before the No-
than November 30. vember 30 deadline will
receive a small die-cast
Question #1-What was model of Charles Lind-
the date of the successful bergh’s “Spirit of St.
flight of the Wright Broth- Louis” aircraft.
ers aircraft at Kitty Hawk,
North Carolina? For all related information
and quiz answers send to
Question #2-How many email address
combat missions and hours cpeterson@mncap.org.
did Col. C. E. “Bud”
Anderson have during Have a great Thanksgiv-
World War 2 and what ing!
was the name of his P-51
Mustang?
Question#3-When did
Howard Hughes stop at
Wold-Chamberlain air-
port (now Mpls.-St. Paul)
and what was the event?
Question#4-In what year
did the Army transfer the
space program to NASA?

PAGE 6
 Thanksgiving Safety Tips
Maj Jotham Blodgett

On Thursday, November 22
we will be celebrating
Thanksgiving. I would like to
share with you a few safety
tips to make this holiday
season safe and enjoyable.
Since Thanksgiving is late in
November the weather is
typically cold. Most likely
you will be doing a lot of
traveling. Be sure to keep a
warm blanket and an emer-
gency kit in your vehicle.
There are several places
where you can purchase these driver for the return trip
kits or you can make your own. home.
Kits should include bandages,
hand warmers, flares and re- Have fun with your families,
flective tape. enjoy their company and
make many good memories.
When preparing meals make I wish you all a very safe
sure to cook food to the proper and Happy Thanksgiving.
temperature. Most meats re-
quire a range of 150-160 de-
grees Fahrenheit.
If you are going to consume
alcoholic beverages, please do
not drive. Stay overnight with
family or have a designated

Letter from the Editor Maj Conrad Peterson

It is already November and the
holidays will soon be upon us. The
weather is getting cooler and we
will be adding extra layers of cloth-
ing to keep warm. As you are all
aware, Thanksgiving is November
22 and the next day Christmas
shopping begins!
Have a very enjoyable Thanksgiv-
ing holiday, keep safe and cherish
times spent with family.
Since Thanksgiving is a time of giv-
ing thanks, I would like to take a mo-
ment to thank all of the members for
reading this publication and I would
especially like to thank all of you
who have contributed articles.
Keep up the good work and keep
the articles coming!
Looking forward to the December
issue:
Hutchinson Squadron Change of
Command
Urban Direction Finding “Fox Hunt”
Squadron Leadership School hosted
by Northland Squadron

Awards and Promotions

Officer Promotions Cadet Awards
Second Lieutenant Brigadier General Billy Mitchell
Nichulis Zak, 130th John Learned, Red Wing
Nanette Berg, Grand Rapids
Wright Brothers
First Lieutenant Derek Fox, St Paul
James Barker, 130th

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
November 10-Air Ops School at
NOVEMBER 2007
Viking Composite Squadron. Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
Contact: Lt Col Barney Uhlig.
1 2 3
November 17-Urban Direction
Finding Competition “Fox
Hunt” at Air Lake Airport.
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Contact: Capt Tony Rossini.
November 20-Change of Com-
mand at Hutchinson Composite 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Squadron. Contact: Capt Karl
Heisel.
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
November 30 to December 1-
Squadron Leadership School
(SLS) at Bemidji. Contact: Maj 25 26 27 28 29 30
David Odette.

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 W. Peterson