October 2009

Mountain Flyer
Major Jeffery Schrock —Wing Public Affairs Officer/Editor

WV Wing CAP - state agencies train during

ALSO INSIDE
THIS ISSUE:
Beckley Squadron
visits Yeager Airport
Wing Conference
Two WV Wing cadets
earn Spaatz awards
And more . . . .
search and rescue exercise in Petersburg
By Major Jeffery Schrock aircrews arrived on August an Alzheimer’s patient.
Wing Public Affairs Officer 14, and the main exercise The exercise wrapped on
was conducted on August August 16. Meals were
A search and rescue exer-
15. The entire exercise provided by the American
cise (SAREX) brought to-
was designed to be a func- Red Cross. Organizers say
gether nearly 70 members
tional exercise to be close the exercise was very suc-
from units and wing head-
to real world operations as cessful.
quarters of the West Vir-
possible.
ginia Wing of Civil Air Pa-
Several emergency ser-
trol to Grant County Airport
vices workshops were
in Petersburg, W.Va. dur-
offered. They included
ing the weekend of August
emergency locator trans-
14-16.
mitter usage, map and
The purpose of the exer-
compass training, basic
cise was to work together
man training, and prepar-
along with other search
ing SAR ready packs.
and rescue teams through-
The scope of the training
out West Virginia and the
weekend also included
West Virginia Division of
CAP’s involvement along
Homeland Security and
with other agencies partici-
Emergency Management
pating in simulated exer-
and the West Virginia
cises involving a downed
Emergency Operations
aircraft and its crew, miss-
Center.
ing persons in the wilder-
CAP ground teams and Photos by Capt Russell Voelker
ness, and the search for

Civil Air Patrol

West Virginia
Wing HQ
112 Airport Road
Charleston, WV
25311
304-343-8866
 THE MOUNTAIN FLYER Page 2

Beckley Composite Squadron sees weather

experts, air traffic controllers at work
By Lt George Stepp The NWS in Charleston unit then visited Yeager
Beckley Squadron PAO was behind the creation of Airport, where they toured
such aviation products as the air traffic tower watch-
Seven members of the
graphical forecast images ing as controllers commu-
Beckley Composite Squad-
for ceiling and visibility. nicated with aircraft in the
ron got a wide-ranging look
In addition, one of the area for takeoff and land-
at different aspects of
forecasters developed a ing.
aviation recently when
program known as POP. Then came a tour of the
they visited the National
Its used nationwide to radar room, where the
Beckley Composite Squadron cadets visit Weather Service center
store phone messages members were able to
Yeager Airport air traffic control tower. and Yeager Airport air
and to plot, and display observe controllers as they
traffic control tower in
public and storm spotter performed their duties in a
Charleston, W.Va.
reports on a computer live environment. Dwight
The visit started with the
monitor for easy reference Wright, a retired air traffic
167th WV Air National weather service, where
members received brief-
during severe weather. controller coordinated the
Leading the tour was tour.
Guard recognized by CAP ings from several meteor-
Nicole Grams, NWS stu-
ologists about their area of
dent trainee. The Beckley
operations.
By Capt Russell Voelker vided training and
Martinsburg Sqdn PAO classes on water Wing Conference—Banquet scheduled for October 24
and land survival, as
Two sections of the 167th
well as firearms
Airlift of the West Virginia You are cordially invited to banquet program begin-
training. Wing Chief
Air National Guard were the 68th annual Civil Air- ning around 6 p.m.
of Staff, Lt Col Den-
recognized for their invalu- Patrol West Virginia Wing Hotel CAP rates cost $95
nis Barron pre-
able service, and out- Conference and Banquet plus tax for up to four peo-
sented plaques to
standing support to the being held on October 24 ple in a room. For reserva-
representatives from
West Virginia Wing of the at the Charleston Mariott tions call 800-228-9290
both sections.
Civil Air Patrol. Town Center in Charleston, or 304-345-6500. Cutoff
Joining in the pres-
Over the past several W.Va. date is Oct. 5. Registration
entations was Cadet
years, the 167th’s life Registration will begin at 8 cutoff date is Oct 21.
Senior Airman Ty
support section and secu- a.m. with the general as- Registration forms and
Stansbury who at-
rity forces squadron have sembly beginning at 10 dress code regulations can
tended the 2008
generously provided in- a.m. Seminars will begin be found at the wing’s
and 2009 encamp-
structors for the Wing’s in the afternoon with the website.
ments.
summer encampment
Barron and Stans-
held annually at Camp 167th Security Forces SSgt
bury thanked the
Dawson. Patrick Judy, TSgt Michael
167th personnel for Seavolt, Wing Chief of Staff Lt
The ANG instructors pro-
their assistance. Col Dennis Barron, C/SA Ty
Stansbury

Far left photo: 167th Life

Support TSgt Brian Brim, SA
Daniel Risinger, SSgt Daniel
Lee Watts, Lt Col Dennis Bar-
ron, C/SA Ty Stansbury
 Page 3 OCTOBER 2009

Cadets Dilley and Guiney earn Spaatz Award

More photos from By Lt Col Dennis Barron at an appropriate cere- In the fall, he will be at-
2009 WV Wing Cadet Wing Chief of Staff mony. tending West Virginia Uni-
Cadet Mark R. Guiney of versity where he earned a
Summer Encampment Beckley Composite Squad-
ron earned its first Spaatz
the Martinsburg Compos- $1,000 scholarship. The
visit www.wvwg.cap.gov/pao/pao.htm ite Squadron has also Spaatz award is Civil Air
Cadet.
and click on the photo gallery link. become the newest Patrol’s highest cadet
Cadet Robert S. Dilley
Spaatz Cadet. As a result, honor.
completed all the require-
Cadet Guiney was pro- The Spaatz Award is pre-
ments for the prestigious
moted to the rank of Cadet sented to cadets who have
General Carl A. Spaatz
Colonel during the start of demonstrated excellence
Award effective August 17,
the WV Wing Cadet Sum- in leadership, character,
and becomes the 22nd
mer Encampment. fitness, and aerospace
cadet within the West Vir-
Guiney was selected and education. Less than 1%
ginia Wing to earn this
attended the International of all cadets in the CAP are
award.
Air Cadet Exchange by able to earn this coveted
His award will be pre-
visiting the Netherlands. award.
sented in the near future

Photos taken by
members of the
encampment
staff

National CAP Headquarters PAO Update
Civil Air Patrol’s brand new
online initiative, Volunteer-
Now, is now live, accessi-
ble to all through CAP’s
national website,
www.gocivilairpatrol.com
or directly at
capvolunteernow.com
Its goal is simple: to be an
online source for the latest
news and information
about CAP and its citizen
volunteers.
Volunteer Now
will be chock full
of stories and
photos about
America’s pre-
mier volunteer
organization.
They will tell of
CAP’s noteworthy
contributions to
Boone Composite Squadron
hosts Wing wide SAREX
By Major Carol Martin
Boone Composite Squadron
The Boone Composite Squadron
hosted a Wing wide search and
rescue exercise for all West Vir-
ginia Wing squadrons of the Civil
Air Patrol on August 29.
Ground teams from Bluefield,
Beckley, and Charleston partici-
pated with the base of the opera-
tions at Boone Squadron Head-
quarters.
WV Wing CAP Commander Col
Rod Moore, and Wing Vice Com-
mander Lt Col Gene Thorn at-
tended the exercise, with Thorn
serving as incident commander.
Local agencies and organizations
as well as individual volunteers,
brought the total participation to
approximately 70 people.
Mike Holbrook, with Marpat Avia-
tion of Logan, W.Va. Provided
outstanding support, excitement
and reality for one of three sce-
narios Continue on Page 5
search and rescue and
humanitarian missions
and U.S. homeland secu-
rity, as well as the impor-
tance of aerospace educa-
tion and cadet programs.
Keep in mind it’s a work in
progress with more en-
hancements over the next
few months. One future
feature will be “Region
C/SrA Andrew Calo peers through the
camera viewfinder inside the Piper PA 31-
310 Navajo twin engine aircraft.
Photos by Lt Col Dennis Barron
Martinsburg unit holds aerospace
education meeting in new hanger
News Journal,” which will By 1st Lt Dirk Stansbury
include stories and photos Martinsburg Squadron Aerospace Education
from each of CAP’s eight Officer
regions. One final note in
Martinsburg Composite Squadron’s August
lieu of PAO updates we 18 meeting featured Aerospace, which was
now encourage you go to held for the first time at the new unit hanger.
“PA Essentials,” the offi- The presentation was by Donald Siler, Jr., vice
cial NHQ/PA blog for much president and chief pilot of Air Photographics
quicker access to every- Inc. All members were given a tour of the
company’s Piper PA 31-310 Navajo twin en-
thing related to Public
gine aircraft used for aerial photography. Siler
Affairs. who has been a mapping pilot over 14 years,
explained the nature of aerial photography.
Siler went on to explain that air photos are
used by government planners, and planning
commissions for growth studies and develop-
ment characteristics and to check on who has
built a structure without a building permit.
Topographic mapping is also used by engi-
neers for site development design and devel-
opment of USGS maps. Some photos are just
promotional to give a birds eye view of a nota-
ble place or structure.
Siler explained the difficulty in keeping a
plane on course so that the overlapping pho-
tos make the correct coverage. He further
compared the old “fly the target” method to
the present GPS directional control that is
now used.
Siler started his flying career as a CAP cadet
in the Martinsburg Squadron many years ago.
He finished his presentation by emphasizing
the importance of education.
C/Amn Emily Metzbower and-
Donald Siler Jr, vice presi-
dent, and chief pilot at Air
Photographics as he de-
scribes the features of the
Piper PA 31-310 Navajo twin
engine used for aerial
photography
by setting down a Heuy to stage a
mock helicopter crash just outside of
Danville, W.Va. Holbrooke, along with
Jason Lewis and his friend also
named Jason, landed the chopper in
a scheduled spot on Mud River Road.
A ground team composed of mem-
bers from the Charleston and Beckley
squadrons were assigned the task of
locating the missing aircraft. Boone
CAP cadet Jon Ball and the friend
volunteer, Jason, served as mock
victims for this crash.
Once the incident scene was located,
the Danville Volunteer Fire Depart-
ment responded to the scene after
being called out by Boone County
911 personnel, also participating in
the exercise. The department’s mem-
bers treated the scene as if it were
an actual emergency, preparing vic-
tims for evacuation and reporting
back to the 911 dispatcher.
A second simulated aircraft crash
was staged on a hillside just past the
tent camping area in Chief Logan
State Park where an ELT was part of
the scenario. Acting as the “crash
victims” at this site were Boone CAP
cadets Josh Lezu and Jonathan
Daniels.
The cadets had a somewhat lengthy
wait to be rescued by the ground
team from the Beckley Composite
Squadron. The team, without aid of a
search aircraft, had the daunting task
of tracking the ELT signal as it
West Virginia Wing CAP
112 Airport Road
Charleston, WV 25311
bounced off the hillsides throughout
and surrounding the park. This scenario
provided the search team with several
hours of practice in the use of their DF
equipment.
Once on the scene, the team had to
assess the simulated injuries of the
victims and determine a plan of action.
One additional segment of this scenario
was staged at the mission base, as 2nd
Lt Jamie Cumbridge and her son, John
Earl, posed as the wife and son of the
pilot who was down in Chief Logan
State Park.
They came to mission base seeking
information regarding the search and
were treated as if they were actual vic-
tims. In the third scenario, CAP cadets
Michael Jarrell and Dakota Workman
posed as lost ATV riders on Cazy Moun-
tain.
Members of the Wharton-Barrett Volun-
teer Fire Department participated in
this scenario, serving as the lead
agency in the search. They were as-
sisted by a CAP ground team from Blue-
field, W.Va.
Wharton-Barrett VFD located the “lost
victims” as their team continue the
search even after the CAP team had to
return to mission base in compliance
with a mandatory recall deadline.
The exercise concluded without any Top— a cadet from Charleston Cadet Squadron pre-
injuries all “victims” were located. paring to rescue an unconscious victim from a simu-
Boone Squadron assisted at mission lated crashed helicopter. Bottom – Cadets Josh Lezu
base and provided a delicious meal for and Jonathan Daniels as “victims” of a simulated
all participants. plane crash in Chief Logan State Park. Locating the
victims are members of the Beckley Squadron.