Twin Pine Squadron, New Jersey Wing, Civil Air Patrol

Staff:

Capt BJ Bousquet, Public Affairs Officer

CAP, NJSAR Complete Search and Rescue Exercises

NJSAR and CAP Search and Rescue Exercise

Members of the NJ Search and Rescue and Civil Air Patrol are briefed for their first-ever joint search and rescue exercise at Stokes State Forest in NJ.

BRANCHVILLE, NJ - After over two years of planning, nine members of the Northeast Region of the Civil Air Patro, many from the New Jersey Wing and three from Twin Pine Squadron, worked alongside the New Jersey Search and Rescue (NJSAR) on a joint search and rescue exercise, or SAREX.

The event over the June 8 weekend was the direct result of a search for a downed aircraft in NJ in which CAP participated in 2006. During that mission, two of the NJSAR who were also CAP members felt that it was in the best interests of both organizations to conduct joint training exercises in order to work out any communication glitches and set up a unified command drill under the Incident Command system.

Under the direction of the NJSAR training section, Mike Sternick (also a CAP member) and Bob Shaw developed and presented their SAREX proposal which was quickly adopted and implemented by both organizations. Shaw and Sternick wrote up the SAREX scenario and contacted NJWG. It was quickly authorized and opened up to other members of CAP for staffing purposes.

Altogether, 25 NJSAR and nine CAP officers, including one aircraft and three crewmen from Twin Pine, Capt. Ken Korwin, Capt. Des O'Neill, and Lt. Margaret Doig, took part in this joint exercise, a scenario involving a missing plane. The planning team consisted of several NJSAR team members and staffers from the Northeast Region of CAP, including Maj Robert Taylor and 1st Lt Jack Arena. Taylor and Arena worked alongside Lt Col Kevin Webster and 1st Lt Robert Lippman of the NJ wing.

The aircrew and ground teams had fourteen specific tasks to be conducted. The NJSAR personnel focused on the ground search while the CAP personnel handled the communications duties and the air search. Capt Peter Mitchell, NJWG, stepped up and took care of the ground direction finding tasks with Taylor and Arena.

The mission ended around 3 p.m. after storms in the area made further operations unsafe. All fourteen of the pre-planned search tasks were successfully accomplished by the teams. Sternick commented that the operations "went off better than my greatest expectations, especially considering we were working in 95-degree heat." The SAREX organizers were in agreement that this exercise will lead to even more joint SAREX training weekends at much larger scales in the future.

The success of this event was established a week later when park rangers at the Stokes State Forest alerted NJSAR of a missing person in the area of the Kittney Ridge in the area where the search teams had practiced a week prior. NJSAR contacted CAP, which put together an aircrew for the search. This was the first time in many years CAP had ever been contacted for assistance in searching for a missing person in New Jersey and even though the individual was eventually found before the aircraft arrived, based upon CAPs responsiveness, it won't be the last.

"CAP's presence at the joint SAREX," commented Sternick, "made NJSAR and the NJ Park Service aware of their capabilities and will certainly lead to more contact in the future when the emergency need arises."

ELT Find Was Helicopter in Bristol, Pa

Members of the Twin Pine Sq executed a 406Mhz ELT (emergency locator transmitter) search that took them to Bristol, Pa., on May 22.

In Bristol, they found a helicopter in a hangar with its ELT transmitting a false emergency. The heliport operator was contacted and access was provided so the ground team could identify the aircraft and turn off the signal.

The aircrew was: mission pilot Capt Ken Korwin, observer Maj Norm Stewart, and scanner 1st Lt Al Lane. On the ground, the team consisted of leader Maj Lou Bainbridge and members Capt Bob Bousquet, C/Maj Josh Williams, and C/Capt David Pankove.

Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs), Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs), and Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) are all tracking transmitters that operate as part of the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system. When activated, the beacons send out a distress signal that allows the beacon to be located by the satellite system and search and rescue aircraft to locate the people, boats and aircraft needing rescue.

In the U.S., offshore beacons are investigated and victims rescued by the Coast Guard. The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center is charged with land-based emergency signals, usually dispatching volunteer members from the Civil Air Patrol.

Fourteen NJ Wing Members Complete Intermediate FEMA Course

Hillsborough, NJ -- They wrestled with terminology. They worked in groups to learn how to identify, isolate, contain and communicate. They learned and re-learned the differences between sections, branches, divisions and groups. Most of all, the stalwart band of 14 NJ Wing members completed the 20-plus hour ICS-300 FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) course at the Somerset County Emergency Services Academy in Hillsborough, NJ, over the April 26-27 weekend.

ICS-300 is the intermediate FEMA course for the Incident Command System (ICS). Students participated in the class after having received their CAP GENES card as part of ICS-100 and completing the FEMA ICS-200 and 700 courses, as well.

Twin Pine members Maj Norm Stewart and Capt Bill Ward completed the course, as did Capt John Paul, 1st Lt Mark Swanson, Capt Tom Woods, Maj Mike Pagan, SM Joe Kling, Lt Col Constance O’Grady, Lt Col John O’Grady, Capt Chris Trotter, 2nd Lt Bob Cann, 2nd Lt Peter Torrano, Lt Col Hank Bruno and Maj Joseph Pona. They received certificates from the course trainer, Maj Tom Opalack, the CAP Northeast Region disaster preparedness training officer. Opalack is a former police officer and emergency services trainer for many agencies, police and fire departments and military services, as well as being an NER officer in CAP.

Over the course of the weekend, participants took part not just in classroom instruction and discussion but also in a number of activities and training scenarios designed to reinforce what they learned. Many of the participants have been participating in CAP search and rescue exercises for years and completed the course with a fresh perspective on their volunteer work.

ICS-300 is just one eight FEMA courses (ICS 100-800) now required for many CAP emergency services qualifications. A memo from CAP interim national commander Brig. Gen Amy Courter, dated 10 April, notes that most members will need to complete of the online FEMA courses by 31 Dec., 2008, in order to remain qualified in emergency services. A limited number will need to complete a ICS 300 and 400-level in-residence training courses.

Middletown ELT Find Was Ejection Seat

MIDDLETOWN -- NJ Wing members found themselves in the hunt for an emergency location transmitter (ELT) on Feb. 23-24 in Monmouth County, a mission assigned by the Air Force.

The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) reported a 243 Mhz ELT signal in Monmouth County. Responding teams included Maj Mike Pagan (NJWG HQ) and C/CMSgt Eric Pagan (Bayshore Sq.); Lt Col Steve Tracy, Lt Raul Estrada and cadets Kyle Hoffman and Emma Rubin (Pinelands Sq.); and an aircrew from Twin Pine Sq., Capt Ken Korwin, Capt Des O’Neill, and Lt Margaret Doig.

The signal was first heard at 11 p.m. on Feb. 23 and the Pagan team responded. No signal was heard in the vicinity of Monmouth Executive Airport and nothing was seen on runways.

The signal reappeared during the morning of Feb. 24 and the Pagans responded to the Middletown, NJ, area, where the signal was lost again. A Twin Pine aircrew was launched from the Trenton Mercer Airport and acquired the signal. The crew guided the Pinelands Sq. ground team to the target, where it was found in Middletown. The target was an ejection seat from a jet fighter, located at a collector’s residence. The Pinelands team was unable to silence the signal as no one was at home and the ejection seat was locked in the back of a car.

The Pagan team responded to the scene again at 7 p.m. on Feb. 24, when the resident was at home and the ELT – located in the base of the ejection seat – was silenced. The resident, who collects such items and has a full F-16 display cockpit in his backyard, told Maj. Pagan that he would be contacting CAP to become a full member.

Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs), Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) and Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) are tracking transmitters that operate as part of the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system. When activated, the beacons send out a distress signal that allows the beacon to be located by the satellite system and search and rescue aircraft to locate the people, boats and aircraft needing rescue.

In the U.S., offshore beacons are investigated and victims rescued by the Coast Guard. On-shore beacons are investigated by local search and rescue services in Alaska. The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center is charged with land-based emergency signals, usually dispatching volunteer members from the U.S. Civil Air Patrol.

For more information about Civil Air Patrol missions, contact the public affairs officer at (609) 723-8200 or email pa@njwg.cap.gov.

More CAP news is available at NJ Wing News Online.