Group 13, Texas Wing, South Western Region, Civil Air Patrol, USAF Auxiliary
November 2004 / Happy Thanksgiving
November News
Civil Air Patrol is the United States Air Force Auxiliary
7-6 Air Cav re-CAP is
The newsletter of the:
7-6 Air Cavalry Civil Air Patrol Composite Squadron, Group 13, Texas Wing.
Commander:
Maj. S. Dicker
4724 S. Parkway
Conroe, TX 77303-4355
Line Star Exécutive Air port
Celle Phone:
(713) 504 7154
Pager:
713-684-8385
Fax:
(713) 218-5560
E-mail:
or
We’re on the Web!
See the Calendar
Visit Line To learn the History of the Civil Air Patrol
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Membership rates have increased:
New Senior Member – 3 different checks made out to
$75.00 – National Headquarters
$20.00 – AirCav
$3.00 group 13
Senior Member Renewals will be $65.00
Cadet – New Members - 3 different checks:
$30.00 – National Headquarters
$20.00 – AirCav
$3.00 – Group 13
Cadet Renewals - $30.00 / November News
Commander’s Corner
As December arrives, my thoughts turn to Christmas and the coming New Year. I begin to wonder where 2004 went and what we, as a collective unit, achieved in the previous twelve months and how fortunate we really have been. Have we been successful and achieved our goals for the year? To determine this, let’s look back and review our capabilities:1) Are we Emergency Services Ready?
We have a fifteen-passenger van equipped with CAP radio, A/C power source and GPS unit. We located and had donated, the only cargo trailer in the Texas CAP fleet. We have six squadron tents capable of housing 60 personnel in the field. We have two screened in tents for use in the field as well. We have a forty-foot communications mast to allow us to establish communications anywhere. We have a field kitchen to allow for hot food to be served while deployed on a mission. We have a Cessna 182 aircraft to conduct aerial surveillance to support a mission. And the most important thing, we have the Emergency Services qualified personnel to conduct the mission! In short, Yes, we are Emergency Services ready.
2)Have we been fortunate in 2004?
This is a multi-fold question. As a unit, we have had no accidents, mishaps or injuries this past year. We have not incurred any member deaths by any cause. The Senior’s and Cadet’s did rally around Chaplain (Maj.) George Klett this summer when he suffered the loss of his wife Wanda to cancer. Members made numerous trips to the hospital to comfort Chaplain Klett and reinforce his beliefs in friendship. I was never as proud of our squadron as I was when the Senior’s and Cadet’s marched into the funeral service and flooded several rows of pews with USAF uniforms. It was greatly appreciated by Chaplain Klett and his combined families and friends. We have had several members requiring and successfully recovered from surgeries this past year. Capt. Max Taylor recovered and has returned to flight status after a couple surgeries, colon and eyes surgery for cataracts. Lt. Col. William “Bill” Williams also successfully recovered from cataract surgery and is in the process of renewing his flight status. Capt. Robert Stewart escaped by the grace of God, an explosion at work and suffered relatively minor burns on his hands, arms and legs. Considering how it could have been, he was extremely lucky and healed quickly. We have had several members lose their jobs to downsizing. We’ve been fortunate that all have been able to remain in thesquadron and find another form of employment. I believe this rates a Yes, we have been fortunate.
3)Has the Squadron moved forward?
Can you remember the shoebox our unit used to be in? If you can’t, I still have the key. Man that room was small! Since moving into our new office, the spirit of the membership has increased. Your hard work has made our facility the envy of a lot of other squadrons. Your abilities as a squadron to obtain donations, put forth physical labor and donate lots of man hours made it all possible. Of course, the generous cooperation of the CyberEvidence Company has allowed us to provide computers at all the workstations and establish our own network system. I think this is actually another blessing! Our in-house training, including six field training exercises each year, and the participation in almost every SAREX held in Texas Wing, has provided our unit with the experience and expertise to handle anything that comes our way. I think this is another Yes, we moved forward!
I want to thank all the members that participated in “Operation Christmas Stocking” in November. We were highly successful in our efforts to obtain and buy items to stuff the sixty-five stockings for our adopted USMC unit in Iraq. I estimate we helped secure about $ 5,000 worth of gifts for the troops and covered $ 500 in shipping costs. The troops will not received the Christmas Stockings for a couple more weeks. I’m sure we will receive positive feedback!
I have been the Squadron Commander of the 7-6 Air Cavalry Composite Squadron since late 1999 and I have never been disappointed by the actions of members of this unit. You have always displayed a “can do” attitude, shown your dedication to the US Government and to me. I can never repay you for the outstanding performance. All I can do is continue to work for you and ask the same of you. I know I won’t be disappointed!
Merry Christmas and I wish each of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
Stephen R. Dicker, Maj., CAP
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Capt D. Ayre
Events by Month for the News LetterAugust
Aircraft Hangar
Our aircraft N235TX, a C-172 was swapped following the Tyler SAREX with SABRE squadron’s C-182 N97881. However, on receipt it immediately went in for its 100 hrs inspection and was down for some time while it had three cylinder heads replaced.
O-Flights
Several cadets had powered O-Flights out of Hooks airport on Saturday August 25th
Senior Professional Development
The group 13 CLC was held Aug 14 & 15 at DWH hosted by Delta Sqdn.
ES
A Table Top Unfunded exercise was held at DWH, hosted by Delta Sqdn for mission staff training 28th and 29th August
September
ES
The Spinks Distributed SAREX was held was held September 18 & 19th. Houston units participated at West Houston Airport and Conroe. We also hosted a UDF school and had the Marine KC-130 aircraft rides. The weekend was a huge success, with ~150 cadets and seniors having a ride in the KC-130 and around 40 cadets and seniors participating in the UDF School. During the SAREX, 1Lt Brumlow completed her scanner training with Capt Ayre and Capt Hooper. The Conroe Courier printed a picture article on Monday Sept 20th concerning the events at Conroe. Capt. Tessitore and Maj. Dicker collected a mobile kitchen to be loaned from Capt. Ayre’s company for the cooking which was overseen by C/Capt Yalcin from the Sugarland Sqdn. C/Maj Mabry and his staff did an excellent job arranging the UDF school. Our thanks to BGen Fruchtnicht for arranging and allowing us to ride in one of his KC-130’s
Prior to the SAREX and UDF School, we had an actual UDF mission (04M2107) for an ELT, which was going off. Maj Jerald Landis from Ellington, LtCol Mike Hays and SM J. Milsaps went out on the mission. They found a Beech Bonanza at Poly Ranch, where the owner had just changed the battery on his ELT and must have left it running.
Cadet Programs
Good bye to First Sgt David Brown.
We held a goodbye celebration for 1st Sgt Brown who was leaving to attend Le Tourneau University in Longview TX. He will be missed.
We moved into our new office early September!
USAFR Staff Assistance Visit
We received a glowing report from Maj. Jerry Deemer, USAFR when he visited us on Sept 22nd for a Staff Assistance visit
Senior Spin
We welcomed back Jeremy Hooper 1Lt, USAFR ( aka Capt Hooper, CAP. USAF Aux) and 1Lt Nick Terry, who both completed their training at USAF OCS, and US Army ITB respectively.
13th Group Commander, Maj R. Woodward, resigned Sept 11, and is replaced by the deputy Group Commander, Maj Dennis Cima, as Acting Group Commander.
October
Cadet Programs
Several cadets attended the Wings Over Houston Airshow October.
Hangar Talk
Our aircraft was repaired and placed back in service. It had to be run for 10 hrs with special TLC and for 50hrs with special mineral oil.
The Firearms Training started off this month, with 8 members attending the safety training and 4 cadets and two seniors completing the range qualifications (NRA Marksman) on Sunday 31st Oct at the Gun Emporium in Conroe.
The NAVCOM (Navigation Competition) scheduled for Oct 22-24 was cancelled due to bad weather.
Mrs. Joncyk proposed operation Christmas Stocking, to send a Christmas stocking to 65 Marines in Iraq
ES
Sugarland Sqdn hosted a GTM school 30 and 31st October. C/Maj Mabry, along with several other staff members (Joncyk, Kurtz) attended and supported this event
Capt Ayre attended the Alpine mountain flying school, which was held over the same weekend.
November
ES
The Wing Radiation Monitoring Officer Lt.Col. D. Whisennand taught a RADMON class at Ellington AFB Nov 6th, which was attended by Capt. Tessitore, Ayre, and 1Lt N. Terry
The San Marcos DSAREX was held 13th and 14th of this month. But with bad weather the last day was cancelled.
Cadet Programs
Our own Woodville FTX was cancelled due to forecast (and actual) bad weather
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Professional Developmentby Lt Col Bill Williams
I would like to encourage all members to log on to the Texas Wing website. A Wing calendar is available to all and will show courses that are offered by the various groups throughout the year.
Most members have at least one Specialty Track they are working on. I have a master list of this information correct through November 1, 2004 from the Nat’l Headquarters. Please check with me if you want to know what’s required for your rating or if you want to add another Specialty.
For more information on Senior Professional Development, contact Lt. Col. Bill Williams Tuesday evenings or e-mail at . My home phone is 936-264-4296.
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Safety Officer - C. Domengeaux
The squadron continues to have an excellent "safety record" to this date. The continuing awareness of the "Seniors" and "Cadets" at the meetings and on CAP functions will keep us 'SAFE'. And remember, we "ALL" are, SAFETY OFFICERS. The "holidays" are here and more "stress" will be placed upon us. Our "attitudes" will be challenged during the next couple of months, so we will have to practice patience, understanding, forgiveness, and be willing to help others more than ourselves. Happy holidays to the "176" and its entire membership.
Capt. C. Domengeaux; Safety Officer.
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My summer of Civil Air Patrol Part 1
By: Kyle Joncyk
This summer I attended not one, but two back-to-back National Cadet Special Activities, as well as a Texas Wing Encampment. Hence I spent the most active summer of my life June through August of the year 2004. At encampment I served as medical staff, watching a few cadets from my squadron get their fist encampment experience, while I received my first staffing experience.Then it came time to prepare for my two NCSA’s, the first of which was Hawk Mountain Ranger School, in Pennsylvania.
Hawk Mountain
By far, THE hardest thing I have done in my lifetime. Hawk Mountain is a national SAR school that started in Pennsylvania with the Ranger program. Rangers are an elite SAR group that builds off skill, teamwork, physical fitness and courage. Civil Air Patrol Rangers take ES above and beyond the national standard, in order to provide an extremely efficient SAR force, in the form of Ranger teams. Created by Air Force PJ’s, and run by every type of special forces you can think of, as well as the extremely proficient Expert Rangers, Hawk is definitely not your typical 101T sign off session.With such a reputation, I will admit that I was thoroughly scared/nervous as I sat in that 737 on my way to Pennsylvania. When I got there and saw not only the terrain I would be living in for the next 9 days, but also the staff, I began to wonder if I would really ever make it home. Hawk Mountain, is quit obviously a mountain, somewhere near the Appalachian trial. The only buildings on the mountain were the BX as well as about 7 unfinished buildings that would serve as support staff offices in the future. As I walked up the main road that led to the BX, I could see to my right, the huge parade field, on the far side of which was the obstacle course that led off into the woods. The road I was on continued up into the mountain after passing the BX, and I noticed the only bathrooms seemed to be a small fortress of porta potties at the far end of the parade field. The days ahead looked promisingly painful.
The first 6 of the 9 days we spent on the mountain, were comprised of training days spent at the base camp, the last 3 days, were reserved for the infamous FTX that included a trek up the mountain. A typical “training day” started off at 5am with revile and a whole lot of yelling from the staff. Imagine trying to figure out how on earth to put on your pants and your boots inside a crammed tent, all in about 10 seconds. We would assemble by our fire pit then march down the mountain to the parade field. Here we had formation and PT. PT consisted of about half an hour of Calisthenics, everything from Iron Mikes, to modified 8 Count Body Builders. After Calisthenics, we all lined up to run the obstacle course. This was everything from rope climbing, to swinging over water hazards, to scrambling up the big wooden wall that would always be slick with mud. This seemed to be the source of all our minor injuries as we would manage to bruise ourselves on something or other on a daily bases. After the obstacle course it was running time. We would run a mile in our boots singing jodies as best we could since we were sucking wind by this point in PT. If you were lucky, then instead of the run after the obstacle course, you would get to play “Three Ball Soccer”, the official sport of Hawk Mountain. This, while it did involve more running, was just downright fun. Since it had very little rules, it tended to get a little rough; this meant that the bigger guys would defend the soccer players as they attempted to score. Nobody got seriously injured but we did at times resemble a rugby match.
As soon as PT was over and everyone had paid a visit to the porta-potty fortress, we would head back up to our campsite and whip out breakfast. MRE’s…….. Yummy! After eating, an entire day of class and fieldwork would follow. This is when we would be taught all the skills necessary to become a Ranger, everything from Hasty Searches, to the best UDF techniques. The classes were taught in pole buildings with a gravel floor. The Instructor would stand up by his table, while the class got to sit on the sharp gravel floor of the building. After the first day, we began to wonder if the gravel imprints on our behinds, would ever go away. Classes lasted something around 10 hours, after which we would drag our seemingly broken bodies back to the overly crammed tents that we called home.
Finally, after 6 long hard days of training, it was time to put it all together and go on our FTX. We all packed up everything we thought we would need for 3 days, crammed it into our packs and set off up the mountain. We were motivated, pumped, excited and we tore up that mountain seeking adventure. Two hundred feet later, we were moaning, groaning, crying, and stumbling. The rest of the hike was like that, the bigger stronger guys would have to carry gear for those who were weaker. The slow ones got put up front so that they couldn’t fall behind. After what seemed like hours of painful uphill hiking in full gear, we stopped. “Congratulations cadets, you’ve just traveled a half mile,” our head ranger told us. The look on everyone’s faces was priceless. Not only had we turned a mere half mile into a death march, but in front of us was a sheer rock wall that swept up as high as we could see. Up we went, 900 feet of vertical distance, over broken rocks that would create small landslides as you tried to climb over them. We did all this with full gear.
We spent that night by a stream, in a makeshift poncho shelter that, to us, closely resembled the Hilton. This we accomplished by tying together as many ponchos and tarps, as we could find. While our massive emergency shelter did leak, it was a lot better then our soggy tents back at base camp. We ate that night by a huge bonfire, which lasted until it began to pour rain down on us. Well that didn’t stop the fun, because we all scrambled into our “poncho shelter Hiltons” and started singing. Everything from “You Lost That Loving Feeling” to “Buttercup.” The staff would make requests by shouting into the shelter, and we would respond by singing whatever they requested at the top of our lungs to try and drown out the rain.