By: Capt Michael A. Crockett
Recently, B-CC members got a chance to participate in a real life search and rescue mission in which squadron members were involved from the very beginning until the very end. This mission was a search for a missing airplane that crashed while trying to land at Cumberland Airport in Western Maryland.
The mission began at 12:01 AM when Capt Crockett, as one of 12 Incident Commanders on the Maryland Wing alert roster, received a call from the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center requesting Maryland Wing send teams to search for a missing airplane. Capt Crockett accepted the mission and began to alert teams and collect information related to the flight. Quickly, it became apparent that this plane had likely crashed. This called for additional resources as well as more experienced ones and Capt Crockett coordinated for Maj John Henderson to take over the Incident Command duties at daybreak with Capt Crockett remaining on the staff to lead the operations section.
Naturally, the B-CC ground team was alerted to help with the search. Despite short notice in the middle of the night, during the week, B-CC managed to pull together an initial ground team consisting of Capt Vineer, 2d Lt Roberts, C/Capt Maraj, C/SMSgt Thomas, C/TSgt Vallinas, C/TSgt Kator, and C/SSgt Slemmons. In addition to the Ground Team, C/MSgt Kerr provided mission base support as a radio operator and staff assistant and Capt Regen and Lt Col Longstaff were on standby for aircrew duties in hopes that weather would clear up enough for an aircrew to fly.
After 8 teams had scoured the terrain of Western Maryland for hours, a combined team from Annapolis and Arundel found the wreckage of the aircraft only slightly ahead of the other ground teams, who were all focused in the same area. At this point, the mission shifted from search mode to security mode. Ground Teams remained overnight in Cumberland, with B-CC gaining additional support from C/CMSgt Ilowite and C/CMSgt Victor Santos for Crash Site Surveillance duty.
When the mission finally wrapped up, the B-CC Ground Team had spent over 24 hours in the field in cold weather and snow in
support of their fellow man. Members of the pilot’s family expressed their sincere appreciation by gathering at the door
to the search base to thank each and every CAP member as they walked by. WELL DONE B-CC! You should all be proud of the
massive, speedy, effective response that our ground team provided.
By: C/CMSgt Kristen Santos
On January 19th, five cadets from our squadron, C/Capt Maraj, C/CMSgt Kristen Santos, C/CMSgt Victor Santos, C/MSgt Walters, and C/Amn Magruder, participated in Montgomery County’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service held at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel Conference Center. At this event, sponsored by the Montgomery County Volunteer Center, these cadets were among the 800 volunteers who assisted in completing community service projects led by the 40 non-profit organizations.
Upon arriving at the Bethesda Marriott Conference Center, the cadets were immediately put to work, unloading trucks filled with food for the Meals on Wheels of Wheaton. Meals on Wheels of Wheaton is a part of the Meals on Wheels Association of America, which is the largest and oldest organization in the United States to provide meal services to those in need. The food that the cadets unloaded from the trucks ranged from granola bars to canned goods and was later packed into boxes and delivered to disabled and elderly citizens residing in the Wheaton area who are unable to provide meals for themselves.
After assisting with Meals on Wheels of Wheaton, the cadets split into two groups, each of which took on a different service project. C/Capt Maraj, C/CMSgt Kristen Santos, and C/Amn Magruder assisted in making Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbons, which were sold to raise money for Breast Cancer research. C/CMSgt Victor Santos and C/MSgt Walters spent the day making boutonnières, which were distributed to homeless citizens in D.C. later that day. The cadets also took turns manning a booth promoting Civil Air Patrol and its programs, and assisted in clean up afterwards.
By the end of the day, the cadets were certainly tired after the long day of work, but all said that it was worth it.
As C/CMSgt Victor Santos said, “I certainly feel honored to be a part of this event dedicated to honoring Dr. King’s mission.
Throughout his lifetime, he encouraged all citizens to use nonviolent ways to make this country a better place to live, and through
our service I believe we are making this happen”.
By: C/CMSgt Kristen Santos
Congratulations to the following cadets who have received staff positions at this year’s Tri-Wing Encampment. It is nice to see that our squadron will be well represented.
C/CMSgt Vliet (Command CMSgt) C/CMSgt V. Santos (Bravo Flight Commander) C/Capt Maraj (Squadron 2 Commander) C/2d Lt Nesko (Echo Flight Commander) C/MSgt Kerr (Squadron 4 First Sergeant) C/CMSgt Lopez (Golf Flight Commander) C/CMSgt Smith (Hotel Flight Commander) C/MSgt Golia (Public Affairs)