BUILDING CONFIDENCE

Kimberly Marshall, cadet First Lieutenant with the Civil Air Patrol from Sanger starts the uphill climb to the clear the water during an exercise on Tuesday. Sanger is just one of many CAP members who came together this week from all over the country to take part in nine schools at the ALERT Academy in Big Sandy. Sanger was exhausted when she finished, but there was no quit in this cadet. If you're looking for a way to serve your community, state and country, then the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) might just be your ticket.

Last week, CAP members gathered from all over the country to participate in training at the Air Land Emergency Resource Team (ALERT) Academy in Big Sandy.

CAP members began a weeklong school of specialized training designed to maximize training opportunities in nine specialized schools. This annual event has been set up to encourage adult and cadet members to gain knowledge by experiencing hands-on training in this indoor-outdoor training facility, according Lt. Colonel Dana Gray, CAP public information officer.

Gray, from San Angelo, also conducted training for CAP cadets and CAP adult members as Public Affairs Officer/Information Officer.

"There are five CAP zones in Texas, and this training is being conducted in Zone III," said Gray.

The schools given during this week of training are Mission Air Crew, Mission Staff, Communications, Ground Search and Rescue Specialty School, Public Affairs Officer/Information Officer, Flight Line Management, Citizens Emergency Response Team, Red Cross Classes and NASAR Training.

Gray said she has been a member of CAP for 12 years.

"I joined so I could give back to my community," said Gray. "I never served in the armed forces and this is my way of being able to serve my country.

"Anyone can join CAP; they must be at least 12 years of age and if an adult joins they must pass a background check," said Gray.

The U.S. Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, was founded on Dec. 1, 1941, less than a week before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which brought the U.S. into World War II. CAP is a nonprofit organization with more than 56,000 members nationwide.

Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. Members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the more than 22,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet program said Gray.

CAP members who receive training such as ground search and rescue (GSAR) this week will not only learn the classroom instruction, but will go into the field to perform the hands on training.

"Civil Air Patrol provided photographic and ground team support during Hurricane Ike. During the photographic support we took over 40,000 photos covering Galveston Island to Dallas showing the path and damage done by the hurricane," said Gray. "The ground team support spent seven days locating ELT's (emergency locator transmitters) used by airplanes and boats. They would locate the ELT and attempt to turn them off or notify mission base of the status of the plane or boat if they were unable to locate the owners for access or they had sunk. Ground Team members also did POD (point of distribution) in various areas of Houston after Hurricane Ike."

One exercise conducted for GSAR was on Tuesday as cadets conducted a water crossing, commonly used for crossing rivers.

"The purpose of this exercise is to cross a body of water with only one member of the unit getting wet," said Gray. "Cadets were given classroom instruction first, by ALERT Academy instructors, prior to going into the field."

Four teams were then taken to a remote area where they had to cross a 100-foot body of water. ALERT team members demonstrated the crossing to the cadets first and then each team sent a swimmer across the water to tie off a rope, allowing for team members to then set up the rest of the rope for crossing.

Spec. Joshua O. Sullivan, ALERT Academy member, said once a person gets on the rope they must make the crossing — there is no way to go out and get them — because they would have to drop the rope in the water to get them off.

CAP cadets had to make their own body harness, hook up a carabeaner, attach themselves to the rope, pull themselves across the water and then they would be assisted off the rope by team members on the other side.

Chris Levesque, a cadet from San Angelo, was the swimmer from team one and a master sergeant in the CAP.

"This is my third year coming to the ALERT Academy for training," said Levesque. "I love to swim so I volunteered to bring the rope across, but it is hard to breath and swim with a rope in your mouth."

Kimberly Marshall, from Sanger, said it was difficult to get across, especially the last half, but it was great. Marshall is a first lieutenant in the CAP and this was her second year of training at ALERT Academy.

Youth members are also used to help with flight line marshaling, radio communications, mission staff assistance and ground team with adult supervision, said Gray. Youth members are 12 to 20 years old and make up the cadet corps.

There are 52 CAP units throughout Texas, one of those units being the Gregg County Civil Air Patrol. Gray said cadets earn rank as they progress in CAP.

"By achieving goals, cadets can enter the Air Force as an E- 3, earn rank in ROTC and even qualify for academies," said Gray.

First Lt. Corolyn Morton, GCCAP unit, said Zack Whitley, cadet captain for GCCAP, attended the GSAR training at ALERT Academy this week.

"Zack is a four-year cadet and lives in Longview," said Morton. "The week before last, most of our cadets attended the Summer Basic Encampment training, also at the ALERT Academy."

Morton said the basic training has to be completed before cadets can move on to training such as Whitley attended in the GSAR school. "We currently have 15 cadets and 15 senior members in GCCAP," said Morton. "The meeting are held at East Texas Regional Airport and if anyone wishes to attend they can call me at (903) 297-7905 for more information."

Gray said trainees from Citizens Emergency Response Team (CERT) and Ground Search and Rescue Specialty School (GSARSS Advanced & Basics) performed an exercise for extinguishing a hazardous fire on Monday morning. First Lt. Choya Shanahan, (CERT Trainer) guided the cadets and seniors in a buddy system of maneuvers for extinguishing fires and teaching fire safety.

"These kinds of programs are designed to produce confident senior and cadet members to meet the challenges and demands for national security," said Gray.

CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and credited by the AFRCC with saving 91 lives in fiscal year 2008 said Gray.

"Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies," said Gray. "The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the more than 22,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 67 years"

For more information on CAP, visit www.gocivilairpatrol. com.