South Dakota Wing - Jan 2015

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Emergency Services REDCAP30 November 2014

CIVIL AIR PATROL • WINTER 2015 • UNITED STATES AIR FORCE AUXILIARY

South Dakota

Wing Roundup


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In This Issue . . .

South Dakota Wing, Civil Air Patrol4275 Airport Rd., Ste. A, Rapid City, SD 57703

Of ce: 605-393-4215, Fax: 605-393-4216Email: [email protected]

Website: http://sdcap.us, Facebook: www.facebook.com/SDWingCAP

Flickr: http://www. ickr.com/photos/102270464@N02/

Col. John N. SetenCommander, South Dakota Wing

Civil Air Patrol

South Dakota Wing Roundup Staff

PublishersCol. John Seten , South Dakota Wing Commander Lt. Col. Richard Lar o , South Dakota Wing Vice

Commander

Editor Maj. Bruce Kipp

South Dakota Wing Public Affairs Of cer Email: [email protected], Cell: 605-261-4507

The South Dakota Wing Roundup is an authorized journal of the South Dakota Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, theof cial auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. It is published by aprivate rm in no way connected to the U.S. Air Force or theCivil Air Patrol Corporation. The comments and opinionsexpressed in the articles are those of the contributors and donot re ect the position of the U.S. Government, the U.S. AirForce, the Civil Air Patrol Corporation, or the South DakotaWing. The appearance of advertisements, supplements orinserts, does not constitute an endorsement by CAP or the

U.S. Air Force of the products and services advertised.The South Dakota Wing Roundup encouragescontributions from CAP members, the military, relatedagencies and the general public. Articles must be original andfree of copyright constraint. The Roundup magazine reservesthe right to approve, reject, edit, abridge or expand anysubmission. Articles must be in Associated Press style. Donot embed photos or graphics in the article - send them asattachments in jpeg format and provide complete captions.Photos must be a minimum of 1 Megabyte resolution orhigher. Always include contact information at the top of yoursubmission. Email articles to [email protected]. Othermaterial should be sent to South Dakota Wing Public Affairs,

Attn: Roundup, 6016 S. Bremerton Place, Sioux Falls,SD 57106. Ideas for future articles should be discussed in

advance with the Editor, Maj. Bruce Kipp.The Civil Air Patrol is a non-pro t volunteerorganization federally chartered by Congress under36 U.S.C. §§201-28, which is dedicated to emergencyservices, aerospace education and motivation of America’syouth to the highest ideals of leadership and publicservice. Funds received by the advertising sales are usedto support this publication and to support various CAPactivities throughout the state of South Dakota.

For i formatio o adverti i g rate a d pace,plea e call: 1-800-635-6036

COVER PHOTO: SDWG’s Lookout MountainComposite Squadron’s ground team moves up theside of a finger butte near Alzada, MT during atri-state REDCAP on 30 November. The crash siteis behind the knob at the center of the photo. ASDWG aircraft from Rapid City orbits overhead.

CAP Congressional Gold Medal 3

Commander’s Corner 7

CyberPatriot-VII 8

Professional Development Coursesin Custer 9

Flying In or Near a Thunderstorm 11

How to Request Use of the Civil Air Patrol 15

Cadet Orientation Rides 16

November Joint REDCAP 19

Shades of Blue 21

Studying Mandarin in China 24

Operation Windmill 27

Inspections...UGGH! 29

SDWG Pilot Earns South Dakota Aviation Award 31

South Dakota Wing’s Newest LieutenantColonels 32


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By Maj. Bruce Kipp, CAPWing Public Affairs Officer

Obverse and reverse of the Congressional Gold Medal presented to CAP honoring its WWII service to the nation.

Mrs. Norma Kraemer is presented with her husband’s bronze replica medal by CAP National Commander Maj. Gen. Joe Vazquez at the evening dinnercelebration. North Central Region Commander Col.

Robert Todd is in the foreground.

On 10 December, at a ceremony in StatuaryHall at the U.S. Capitol a CongressionalGold Medal (CGM) was presented to

collectively honor World War II members of theCivil Air Patrol whose valor and dedication dur-ing the war helped thwart the enemy submarineattacks against our vital shipping lines, saved lives,secured our nation’s borders, conducted missionsto support the war effort, and helped train mem-bers of the armed forces.

Presided over by House Speaker Boehner,Senate Majority Leader Reid, Senate RepublicanLeader McConnell, and House Democratic LeaderPelosi, the CGM was accepted by Col. LesterWolff, a WWII CAP subchaser and former U.S.representative from New York and by CAPNational Commander Maj. Gen. Joe Vazquez. Thegold medal will be placed on permanent display inthe Smithsonian Institution.

Later that evening at a gala dinner celebra-tion was held for surviving veterans, families of

CAP Congressional Gold Medal


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– Luverne “Vern” Kraemer, Vernon Jeffries, andEarl Wilkinson. Mrs. Henkin and a member ofJeffries and Wilkinson families will receive the

bronze replica medal at ceremonies to be held inSouth Dakota. Mrs. Norma Kraemer, widow ofVern Kraemer, travelled to Washington, D.C. forthe ceremony and was presented her husband’sbronze replica medal by Gen. Vazquez.

The men and women of CAP’s First Patrol Force (also known as Patrol Base-1) in Atlantic City, NJ pose for a final photograph before the unit was stood down. Vernon Kraemer is in the front row far left. The photo is dated August 31, 1943.

deceased members, CAP members and distin-guished guests in nearby Crystal City. Maj. Gen.Vazquez personally presented a bronze replica

medal to each CAP WWII veteran or to a memberof the family of a deceased veteran.South Dakota has four who will receive the

bronze replica medal; Mrs. Sylvia Henkin, a resi-dent of Sioux Falls, and three deceased individuals

The CGM was accepted by Col. Lester Wolff, a WWII CAP subchaser and former U.S. representative from NewYork, and by CAP National Commander Maj. Gen. Joe Vazquez.


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Gary Hewett for stepping up and being the leadon this mission. Lt. Col. Hewett has made himselfavailable and logged 246 hours flying Civil AirPatrol aircraft in FY14 with the bulk of those hoursin support of the animal tracking mission. That’swhat I call dedication!

Our cadets were hard at work in 2014 as theyattended many National Cadet Special Activities;some of which were Blue Beret, flight academiesacross the country and also CyberPatriot wherethe Big Sioux Composite Squadron in Brookingswas the top Civil Air Patrol team in the nation.Great job to Big Sioux on that accomplishment. Iknow they are working hard to get to the nationalcompetition again this year. I’ve received manyapplications for NCSAs for FY15 and we’llhave a number of our cadets participating acrossthe country.

By the time you read this article we’ll havebeen at our state capitol for our annual legislativeday where we will actively recruit more legislativemembers to our Legislative Squadron and to thankall of them for their support of our organization. I’ll

also have attended the Command Council meetingin Washington D.C. where I’ll meet with the SouthDakota legislative delegation to inform them of ouractivities and accomplishments and thank them fortheir support of the Civil Air Patrol.

We’ve have a really special group of peoplein the South Dakota Wing and I’m honored to saythat I am a member of our great organization.

Commander’s Corner

By Col. John SetenSouth Dakota Wing Commander

Over the past few months we’ve been busy inthe South Dakota Wing. We ranked the highest inthe North Central Region for aircraft utilizationfor FY 14 and finished well above the nationalaverage for hours flown in FY 14. We were ableto use nearly all of our allocated funding for CadetOrientation flights in FY14 and we are expectingan increase for FY15 Orientation Ride funding sowe can look forward to getting even more cadets inthe air. This is a valuable program and we need tocontinue to support it going forward.

Since 1 October, the wing has been taskedwith flying in support of a Radar Site test mission,two missing person searches, a missing aircraftsearch and an electronic beacon search which hasresulted in one “find” credit awarded to the SDWing. We’ve shown our ability to reach out tosurrounding wings as we worked with the NorthDakota Wing on one of the searches and theWyoming Wing on another. Just this past weekendwe were called upon by Lawrence County toassist in a missing person search near Spearfish,SD. We’re happy to say that the missing person

was found and was in good health. Great job to allthat assisted with these search missions.We continue to assist the State of South Dakota

with aerial animal tracking missions and flew 288hours in support of this mission in FY14. So farin FY15 we’ve flown nearly 70 hours in supportof the animal mission. Thanks to all that assistwith this mission with a special thanks to Lt. Col.


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The Big Sioux CompositeSquadron’s cyber-security teamplaced sixth overall in the AllServices Division and secondamong CAP teams in the thirdround (state) of the Cyber

Patriot-VII competition that washeld from 5-7 December. Thesquadron’s crew of ace cyber-sleuths now goes to the fourthround (regionals).

CyberPatriot is a uniqueeducational competition thatchallenges high school studentsto resolve real-life cybersecu-rity situations faced by industryprofessionals. Created in 2009

by the Air Force Association,the CyberPatriot competitionprovides students with hands-on learning aboutsecuring computer networks while educating, andmotivating them toward careers in science, tech-nology, engineering, and mathematics, disciplinescritical to the nation’s future.

The 2014 Big Sioux Composite SquadronCyberPatriot team consists of Cadet Major JoshuaKlosterman (Team Captain), Cadet LieutenantChris Dinnel, Cadet Senior Master Sergeant JadenPetersen, Cadet Staff Sergeant Nathaniel Fleet, andCadet Lieutenant Laura Rudnik. They are beingcoached by Capt. Shannon Hofer and mentored byCadet Captain Tyler Gross.

Civil Air Patrol competes in the “All ServicesDivision” which consists of teams from Army,Air Force and Marine Corps Junior ROTC units,the Naval Sea Cadet Corps, and CAP. Only thetop two teams in each category of the All Services

CYBERPATRIOT-VII By Capt. Shannon Hofer, CAP, and

Maj. Nick Gengler, CAP, of Big Sioux Composite Squadron, and Maj. Bruce Kipp, CAP, Wing Public Affairs Officer

Division go to the national finals to be held inMaryland in March.

During the online qualification rounds the BigSioux team faced realistic computer network threatsat their home location seeking out weaknesses insimulated online networks and working to defendthose networks from threat scenarios. A Cisco net-working challenge was also a part of the competi-tion. The team was scored according to how quicklyand effectively they established and maintained thesecure networks. In the regionals the team will befaced with similar but more complex and sophisti-cated online computer network threats.

If the Big Sioux team succeeds in the regionalround they advance to the National Finals, the onlyin-person round. In the finals the team will com-pete to defend virtual networks and mobile devicesfrom a professional aggressor team. The National

Big Sioux Composite Squadron’s cyber-security team that took part inCyberPatiot-VI (2013). Three of team members (Klosterman, Dinnel

and Rudnik) are in the current competition. As in CyberPatriot-VI,Capt. Hofer and Cadet Capt. Gross are coach and mentor respectively in

CyberPatriot-VII.


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Inclement weather conditions in the highnorthern plains, especially over South Dakota’sBlack Hills can present a pilot with entirelynew set of challenges, not the least of which isthunderstorms.

1. Turbulence associated with thunderstormscan be extremely hazardous, having the potentialto cause overstressing of the aircraft or loss ofcontrol. A thunderstorm’s vertical currents maybe strong enough to displace an aircraft up ordown vertically as much as 2,000 to 6,000 feet.The greatest turbulence occurs in the vicinity ofadjacent rising and descending drafts. Gust loadscan be severe enough to stall an aircraft flying atrough air (maneuvering) speed or to cripple it atdesign cruising speed. Maximum turbulence usu-ally occurs near the mid-level of a storm, between12,000 and 20,000 feet, and is most severe in

Retrieved from General Aviation News , Salt Lake City Department of Airports,Volume 22, Issue 9, September 2014

Edited by Maj. Bruce Kipp, CAP, Wing Public Affairs Officer

Flyi g I or near a Thu der torm

clouds of the greatest vertical development.

Severe turbulence is present not just withinthe cloud. It can be expected up to 20 miles fromsevere thunderstorms and will be greater down-wind than into the wind. Severe turbulence andstrong out-flowing winds may also be presentbeneath a thunderstorm. Microbursts can be espe-cially hazardous because of the severe wind shearassociated with them.

2. With lightning, static electricity may buildup in the airframe interfering with operation of theradio and affecting the behavior of the compass.Trailing antennas should be wound in. Lightningblindness may affect the crew’s vision for 30 to50 seconds at a time making instrument readingimpossible during that brief period. Lightningstrikes on aircraft are not uncommon. The proba-

Forks of lightning splits the sky over the high plains.


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by the updrafts. This water can be as damaging ashail to an aircraft penetrating the thunderstorm athigh speed. Heavy rain showers associated withthunderstorms encountered during approach andlanding can reduce visibility and cause refractionon the windscreen of the aircraft, producing anillusion that the runway threshold is lower than itactually is. Water lying on the runway can causehydroplaning which destroys the braking actionneeded to bring the aircraft to a stop within theconfines of the airport runway. Hydroplaning canalso lead to loss of control during take-off.

Because of the severe hazards enumeratedabove, attempting to penetrate a thunderstorm isasking for trouble. In the case of flight the bestadvice on how to fly through a thunderstorm issummed up in one word - DON’T.

Detour around storms as early as possible whenencountering them en route. Stay at least 5 milesaway from a thunderstorm with large overhang-ing areas because of the danger of encounteringhail. Stay even further away from a thunderstormidentified as very severe as turbulence may beencountered as much as 15 or more nautical milesaway. Vivid and frequent lightning indicates theprobability of a severe thunderstorm. Any thunder-storm with tops at 35,000 feet or higher should beregarded as extremely hazardous. Avoid landingor taking off at any airport in close proximity to anapproaching thunderstorm or squall line.

Microbursts occur from cell activity and areespecially hazardous if encountered during landingor take-off since severe wind shear is associatedwith microburst activity. Dry microbursts cansometimes be detected by a ring of dust on the sur-face. Do not fly under a thunderstorm even if youcan see through to the other side since turbulencemay be severe. Especially do not attempt to flyunderneath a thunderstorm formed by orographiclift. The wind flow that is responsible for theformation of the thunderstorm is likely to createdangerous up and down drafts and turbulencebetween the mountain peaks.

Reduce airspeed to maneuvering speed whenin the vicinity of a thunderstorm or at the first indi-cation of turbulence. Do not fly into a cloud masscontaining scattered embedded thunderstorms

unless you have airborne radar. Do not attemptto fly through a narrow clear space between twothunderstorms. The turbulence there may be moresevere than flying in the storms themselves. If theclear space is several miles in width, however, itmay be safe to attempt to fly through the center,but always go through at the highest possiblealtitude. When flying around a thunderstorm, it isbetter to fly around the right side of it. The windcirculates counter-clockwise and you will get morefavorable winds.Source: www.slcairport.com/cmsdocuments/GA_News_Sep14.pdf, accessed January 7, 2015.

A thunderstorm like on aircraft radar.


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From time-to-time local officials, county and state emergency managers, lawenforcement, and other agencies and organizations request Civil Air Patrol supportfor a mission. It is useful for everyone to be aware of the process that allows CAP’sSouth Dakota Wing to be tasked for missions.

The type of mission will determine who will fund CAP support. If the task is tosearch for a missing person or a missing aircraft, normally the U.S. Air Force pays forthe CAP mission. That’s because the USAF has overall search responsibility withinthe continental United States and CAP is its executive agent for those type searches.Mission requests are coordinated through the Air Force Rescue and CoordinationCenter (AFRCC) at Tyndall, AFB in Florida. Funding for other types of CAPemergency responses can come from a locality, a county, the state, or the requesting agency or organiza-tion depending on the type of mission. Contact the South Dakota Office of Emergency Management forfurther information.

Emergency Response Request for CAP SupportTo use CAP to assist in an emergency response the requesting agency should contact the local county

emergency manager (EM).• The county EM will contact the state Office of Emergency Management (OEM).• OEM will contact the AFRCC and/or the CAP National Operations Center to obtain CAP

assistance.• OEM will contact the South Dakota Wing and provide general mission information.• South Dakota Wing will then contact the requesting agency to obtain specific mission

information.

If the requesting agency/organization has a local CAP contact, it is helpful to also contact that indi-vidual and provide notice of a pending mission request. This “heads-up” helps improve response time ofCAP personnel and availability of assets. If a local CAP member is contacted s/he should in turn contactthe CAP Wing Commander or Incident Commander.

Non-Emergency Request for CAP SupportIf an agency or organization wishes to use South Dakota Wing assets for a non-emergency request

(assistance with parades, fairs, aerial photography, or other volunteer activities) contact the nearest SouthDakota Wing squadron (Sioux Falls, Brookings, Pierre, Rapid City, Custer, Spearfish). Contact informa-tion for the squadrons is on the South Dakota Wing website at www.sdcap.us under “About CAP”.

Alternatively, phone the South Dakota Wing Headquarters in Rapid City at (605) 393-4215 or byemail at [email protected]. South Dakota Wing Headquarters is only manned about 20 hours per week. Afterhours, a non-emergency request can also be sent to the South Dakota Wing Commander, Col. John Seten,at [email protected].

How To Reque t U e of theCivil Air Patrol

By Col. Mike Beason, CAP, former Wing Commander,current Inspector General and Member of the Wing Incident Command Team

Civil Air Patrol Emergency

Services

uniform patch


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Tweens and teens join the CivilAir Patrol for a variety of reasons.Surveys, however, have shownthat the #1 reason why they joinis the opportunity to fly. CAP hasa formal program to do just thatcalled the Cadet Orientation Flight(COF) Program. The motto of theprogram is: Safe, Fun, Educational.COF is designed to introduce CAPcadets, under 18 years old, to gen-eral aviation through hands-onorientation flights in single engineaircraft and gliders.

Under COF, cadets are autho-rized five flights in the co-pilot’sseat in a powered aircraft, usuallya CAP-owned Cessna, and fiveflights in the front seat of a glider.In addition, cadets are permitted an unlimitednumber of backseat flights. Cadets fly only infair weather, under conditions that the FAA calls“visual flight rules.” In powered aircraft, cadetsare aloft for 45 to 60 minutes. If two cadets fly atonce, they share 90 to 120 minutes of flight time.

Generally, an airport near a CAP unit’s home-


Cadet Orie tatio Ride

town will serve as the day’s base of operations.The cadets may stay in the immediate vicinity,or fly to a nearby airport, land, switch seats, andreturn to the original airport. In South Dakota, forexample, orientation flights in the West River areausually are over the Black Hills. In the East Riverarea orientation flights are usually around the

Sioux Falls/Madison/Vermillion/ Yankton areas. Gavin’s Point Damis a popular destination.

While fun and educational, ori-entation flights are not intended asformal flight training. Orientationflights are commanded by expe-rienced and certified CAP pilots.S/he is in control of the aircraft atall times and performs all takeoffsand landings. A cadet may handlethe controls once the aircraft isabove 1,000 feet. Each orientationflight has a syllabus of activities tobe accomplished. The syllabi focuson such things as preflight checks,

Summer encampment familiarization ride in a National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.

Cadet student pilots at the powered flight academy last summer at Mankato.


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basic maneuvers, aircraft instruments, weather, etc.Cadets can also participate in orientation flights

in military aircraft. During the annual summerencampment cadets can experience a familiariza-tion ride in a military helicopter such as a UH-60Black Hawk operated by the National Guard.

In the summer months each year CAP holds anumber of flight academies for powered aircraftand gliders. There is even a CAP flight academyfor hot air ballooning. At these academies cadetscan earn the CAP cadet Solo Pilot Badge!

Cadet Tech. Sgt. Hannah Beckerworks toward her solo wings atlast summer’s powered flight

academy at Mankato.


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Late in the evening of Saturday, 29 Novemberthe Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC)at Tyndall AFB, Florida notified South DakotaWing that an aircraft had been reported overdue toreturn to Spearfish, SD. The AFRCC also placedthe Wyoming Wing on alert as rough forensic dataon the pilot’s cell phone pointed towards Colony,Wyoming as a potential search site.

Very poor weather conditions in the areathat night prevented either Wing from launchingan immediate search. At first light on Sunday,

30 November, an eight-man ground search andrescue team was dispatched from South DakotaWing’s Lookout Mountain Composite Squadron(Spearfish). They were sent to Colony, WY where

november Joi t REDCAP “FInD” By Maj. Bruce Kipp, CAP

REDCAP Public Information Officer

they conducted a local search for an aircraft emer-gency beacon (ELT).

Later that morning three aircraft; two fromSouth Dakota Wing and one from Wyoming Wingwere launched to conduct an aerial search for themissing aircraft’s ELT. Using onboard sensors theCAP aircraft began picking up the ELT’s signaland worked to refine the location. About an hourlater, using aerial triangulation and refined cellphone forensics data the Wyoming Wing aircraftsighted the missing aircraft on the ground in the

snow-covered Finger Buttes area near the tinytown of Alzada, MT.The ground search and rescue team was re-

directed from Colony, WY to Alzada, MT; a three

The Lookout Mountain Composite Squadron’s Ground Search Team approaching the crash site near Alzada, MT.They are climbing the side of a saddle in the Finger Buttes area toward the knob in the center of the photo. Thecrash site is on the reverse slope behind the knob. Photo courtesy of Montana’s Carter County Sheriff’s Office


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state ground search mission fora single SAR team. While theground team was en route theWYWG and SDWG aircrafttook turns orbiting the crashsite to direct the ground team tothe location. Once officers fromMontana’s Carter County SheriffOffice arrived at the crash sitethe SDWG ground team andboth wing’s aircraft returned totheir bases.

South Dakota Wing supportfor the REDCAP was providedby personnel from RushmoreComposite Squadron (Pierre),Lookout Mountain CompositeSquadron (Spearf ish) andWing Staff members through-out the state.

A member of Montana’s Carter County Sheriff’s Office inspects the aircraft.

The South Dakota Wing Ground Search Team secures the crash site awaiting arrival of the county sheriff. Photo courtesy of Montana’s CarterCounty Sheriff’s Office


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United States Air Force Academy (USAFA)Everyone has certain parts of the United States Air Force Academy

that are forever engrained in their memory. It is our nation’s premierOfficer Training Program, graduating hundreds of cadets every yearas new Second Lieutenants in the United States Air Force. I was ableto experience the famed painted red footprints on the ground showingnew cadets where to stand, run the halls for physical training and attendservices in the beloved Chapel. I stood in front of the black GraduateMemorial Wall and sat (and stood) at attention while listening to brief-ings in Arnold Hall. The experience there is like none other.

Day 0, which is the start of Basic Training, marks the beginning of anew life for about 1,000 students. You mark your progression by whereyou learn essential pieces of information throughout your cadet career.Depending on your squadron, you arrive at the gate of the Academy withyour small backpack full of personal belongings. This is all you carrywith you of your previous life through Basic Cadet Training. The firsthalf of your morning is spent meandering with future classmates through the halls of the reception center,where you receive your nametape and flight assignment. Waiting silently at the end of the welcome tapeis the bus to the cadet area. Guarded by athletic cadets in white gloves, this is where you first learn theposition of attention.

On the bus, the seven basic responses are pressed into memory, where your name is now “BasicCadet”. The position of attention while sitting isquickly absorbed into muscle memory. When thebus stops you learn how fast you can run, and atthe red footsteps you learn what it’s like to be aPreparatory school cadet. I learned that I can repeatthe seven basic responses seven times in perfectpush-up cadence with my fellow NorthwesternPreparatory School chums before the cadre getsannoyed with us.

I learned so much more about myself dur-ing Basic Cadet Training, lovingly referred to asBEAST, than I have in quite some time. Civil AirPatrol prepared me greatly for the correct mindsetduring my time there. I had everything from AirForce-style unit organization to summer encamp-ments - I understood why our cadre was yelling at

SHADES OF BLUE:The Road to the U ited state Air Force

By Elizabeth Foy, CAP Cadet Major and

North Dakota State University AFROTC Cadet 3rd Class

NDSU AFROTC Cadet Elizabeth Foy and U.S. Army First Sergeant Marvin Nicklay at a military ball.

Cadet Foy with her AFROTC Honor Guard colleagues at a NDSU “Bison” football game.

“Aviation is proof, that given the will, we have the capacity toachieve the impossible” - Capt. Edward Rickenbacker


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blessed enough to have the choice between both.I made the decision to stay with AFROTC

because when I become an Air Force officer Iwant to be able to relate to my Airmen. I made itto the United States Air Force Academy, one of theworld’s top schools. I have stood “on the shouldersof giants” as CAP Major Epp once stated. Theunique challenge about AFROTC is it is yourchoice. It is no longer an environment of absoluteintegrity and excellence. It is the real world,complete with car trouble and apartment rent andgrocery bills. It’s balancing your professional lifewith academics and your personal life. It’s whereyour integrity will be enforced by a small groupof like-minded people on campus. AFROTCcadets don’t get scholarships, nor are we slottedfor high-demand jobs such as pilots as easily. Inthe end, however, my former colleagues in BravoFlight will graduate with a single gold bar on theirshoulders exactly like mine.

I continue to pursue my commission in the AirForce every day. Due to the experience Civil AirPatrol gave me I was placed in a Wing Staff posi-tion after only having one semester in the program.I am currently the Honor Guard Commander. I’veused my knowledge acquired at BEAST to helpdefine a better training program for incomingAFROTC cadets and to help my fellow cadetsprepare for our version of BEAST, that is fieldtraining at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. Ifall goes as planned, I will complete my secondbasic training semester this summer and continueas an upperclassman this fall.

I would like to thank everyone who helped meachieve so much through Civil Air Patrol in NorthDakota and South Dakota over the years. I wouldbe more than happy to contribute to CAP in anyway I can. And to any of you looking to pursuea commission at a Service Academy or throughROTC, please feel free to contact me. I would bemore than happy to help you achieve your dreams.

[Editor: AFROTC Cadet 3rd Class Foy can currentlybe reached at [email protected]. Due to securityconcerns, photos of the NDSU AFROTC facility, its trainingsites, and of members of its cadre have been removed fromtheir Facebook page. The photos included with this articleare from random extracurricular activities.]

us to perform better and just how important it wasto keep our flight commander happy. As part of theprior enlisted and preparatory school group, I wasable to teach and lead my flight in the good timesand bad.

There were 29 of us, all from different back-grounds and with different attitudes. Our cadrewas a dynamic mix; five upperclassmen withdifferent career desires and unique leadershipstyles. We were designated “Bravo Flight” of theAggressor Squadron. We ran everywhere. Theypushed us hard and ran us harder, but they did sowith us the whole way. We learned in our hallwayhow to show respect to our cadre, and from thepush-up position how to build it back up. Welearned how to shine our shoes and prepare ourrooms for a white glove inspection. We learnedthat everyone has something to contribute and weneeded everyone’s leadership to get there.

In front of the Memorial Wall we learned justhow sacred the ground was that we walked on. Itouched the names of those inscribed there andlearned just how heavy a salute can be. I saw eachof my flight-mates faces reflected off the stone, theweariness of BEAST carried away on the breezefor a few passing moments.

I will never forget my time at the United StatesAir Force Academy. It is a period in my life I willtreasure along with memories of friends there Iwill keep for a lifetime. After attending BEAST Icame to the decision that the USAFA was not thelifestyle approach I needed in order to become anoutstanding officer in the United States Air Force.

Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps(AFROTC)

I am now enrolled in Air Force Reserve OfficerTraining Corps Detachment 610 at North DakotaState University in Fargo.

At AFROTC your progress is marked bythe individual cadets around you. The averageDetachment size is around 100 cadets. Each personplays a more personal role in forming your AirForce career. We’re an extended family, with allits grandeur and challenges. It’s a college coursethat requires a few hours of your time to complete.Just like the academy, you receive what you putin. Each program has its own difficulties. I was


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China Adventure ( )- During the months of March,April, and May of 2014 I livedin Wuhan China for the purposeof learning the Mandarin dialectof the Chinese language. I choseto learn Chinese mainly was dueto its usefulness. More businessis going to China and they are anemerging power, so it seemedlike a good choice to become

familiar with their languageand culture. The difficulty wasanother reason in a way. I didn’tgo after the easiest choice I wentafter what was hard so it meansmore to me to be able to learn it.This was a worthwhile opportu-nity in that not only did it allowme to learn a foreign language,but it also exposed me to livingabroad on my own. Also, I tookadvantage of my time there bygoing to various different placeson some weekends.

There were multiple reasonswhy I went to Wuhan to learnMandarin. Some of the promi-nent reasons were to get more

Studying Mandarin in China By Cadet Col. William Small, CAP

Lookout Mountain Composite Squadron

language credits to graduatehigh school, to learn how to liveon my own in a different envi-ronment, and how to be respon-sibly independent. My parentssaid that if I can survive threemonths in China by myself, Ishould not have a problem withcollege. The reason I went toWuhan and not a school in theUS or in a city like Beijing or

Shanghai, is because Wuhan isthoroughly Chinese. MeaningI was completely immersedin the language and culture ofChina. If I went to Beijing orShanghai I would have foundplaces with familiar people,foods, etc. In Wuhan I reallyhad to search to find somethingfamiliar (besides McDonalds).

My father was with me forthe start of my stay in China. Iflew over to meet him in HongKong and then we went bytrain together to Wuhan. Oncein Wuhan we met up with mysoon-to-be teacher and anotheremployee of Rainbow Reading

(the language school I went to).They first took me to my accom-modations for my stay. Thiswas a two bed, one bath apart-ment with a small kitchen andliving area. I stayed in one ofthe bedrooms and an Englishteacher from the Philippines(Archie) stayed in the other.During my stay I got to knowArchie some and enjoyed talk-

ing to him. After I put my suit-case in the apartment my dadand I went out to do some basicshopping for things that I wouldneed such as bed linens somelight bulbs and coat hangers.I also got a cellphone. Gettinga cellphone in China is a littledifferent than getting one here.The basic premise is you buy aphone and then you buy a cardfor the phone which has so manyminutes and data on it. It took alittle time to figure this processout, but in the end I had a phonethat allowed me to call othersin China, and even the US (at agreater cost).

Map of China showing the city ofWuhan in Hubei Province. My teacher Zhong and I.

An overview of a part of Wuhan taken from the Yellow Crane Tower.


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Once I was settled in Wuhanmy three months of learning rou-tine started. Not every week wasthe same, but I had a basic dailyroutine. My school schedulewas I had class every day from10 to noon, and then from 1 to3. Except on Thursdays whenthe afternoon class consisted ofgoing somewhere in the city, beit a museum or park. So, everymorning I would set an alarm foraround 9. Once I got up, I wouldtry to have breakfast. What Imean by try is I normally wouldhave some cereal and milk, butwhen I did not I would eithergrab something from McDonaldson the way to class, or just waituntil lunch. To get to class, I hadmultiple options. I could eitherwalk one of several routes, takethe above-ground train, or thebelow-ground train (subway).Normally I took the subway,but towards the end of my stay Istarted walking more, exploringall the possible routes. I also wasinterested in the looks that I gotfrom the people on the streets.

Usually I was the only non-Chinese person around and somepeople looked a little puzzled bymy presence, especially when Igot onto the smaller streets awayfrom the main areas. Once I got

to school, I would find the class-room we were in for the day andstart class with my teacher. Withmy program I was the only stu-dent so it was just one on one withmy teacher Zhong (who wentby the English name of Kevin).He was only teaching part-timeas he was a student at WuhanUniversity. Once our morningclass was over we would head

out for lunch. Lunch quite oftenconsisted of KFC (the Chinaversion), but we also went to anumber of other eating places.In the end I got quite good withchopsticks and had a higher spicetolerance. After lunch we wouldhave our afternoon class and thenI was free for the rest of the day.

With this free time, I did manydifferent things. Sometimes I

just went back to my room andrelaxed, but other times I wouldgo exploring. I just would walkaround various parks of the city,

especially the parks. Other timesI would go to a movie, which byitself was an experience.

Going to a movie took mul-tiple steps. First, I had to figureout what movies were playing. Icould go to the theatre, but theydidn’t have pictures, only thenames in Chinese characters. SoI ended up getting an app on myChina phone and had someone

show me how to look up currentmovies on it. I just memorizedwhich buttons to press and itworked. Then I had to actuallygo to the movie. I found the the-ater without too much trouble,but getting a ticket was harder.What I ended up doing was pull-ing up a picture of the movie I

The view from my apartment balcony.

A park along the river visited during one of my afternoon class excursions. A map of Rainbow Reading.

A shopping trip in Wuhan taken during one of my afternoon classexcursions.

My room in the apartment where Istayed.

The “lobby” in rainbow readingwhere I would wait if I was early to aclass.

Continued on page 28 . . .


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U n o f f i c i a l l y d u b b e d“Operation Windmill”, in officialparlance it was called the “WindTurbine Radar InterferenceMitigation” (WTRIM) test. Inmid-to-late October 2014, theDepartment of Defense/Department of Homeland Security Long Range Radar Joint Program Officeconducted field tests in the vicinity of the Tyler Minnesota Common Air Route Surveillance radar siteeast of Brookings.

Operation Windmill was part of atwo-year interagency effort to charac-terize wind turbine interference effectson existing air surveillance radars, toassess how wind farms hamper theability to detect objects in the area,and to evaluate commercial off-the-shelf wind turbine radar interferencemitigation technologies. The on-sitetests were conducted by executiveagents Sandia National Laboratoriesand Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology’s Lincoln Laboratory.

Test operations included a SouthDakota Wing (SDWG) Cessna-182aircraft equipped with the GarminG1000 navigation system for flightson both sides of the South Dakota-Minnesota state line, north and west

of Tyler, Minn. Daily during the test period theSDWG aircraft flew parallel track search patterns,expanding square search patterns and sector searchpatterns within the target area for a total of about50 flight hours. Essentially, the CAP aircraft flewpatterns at an assigned altitude with a data loggerfor eight hours a day. The data collected is beinganalyzed by the DOE, DOD, DHS, DOT/FAA,and DOC/NOAA.

The South Dakota Wing participated thisproject once before, in 2012. In 2014, Capt. NeilSchmid of the Sioux Falls Composite Squadronwas the project officer.

OPERATIONWINDMILL By Maj. Bruce Kipp, CAPWing Public Affairs Officer

The initial Operation Windmill flight crew, (L-R) Project Officers Mr. Bryan Miller and Mr. Jason Biddle, Capt. Karla West, Capt. Jerry Zurovski, Col. John Seten, and Lt. Jerry Haden.

Operation Windmill test area, one of the windfarms near Tyler, Minn.

Screen of the Garmin G1000 aircraft navigation system showing the day’s programmed flight patterns.


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wanted to see on my phone andshowed it to the person at theticket counter. Then that person

would show me a seat map and Iwould point to the seat I wanted.Finally they printed a ticket andI handed them the right amountof money. In the end, it took mea month to figure out how to dothis, and I ended up doing it notthat many times.

For the actual languageclasses, there were multiplemethods used. We had a series ofbooks we were working throughthat consisted of reading, speak-ing, and listening exercises. Howit worked was when we started anew chapter in the book firstI would learn how to properlysay the list of new words, thenI would listen to them used insentences which I would thenrepeat. Generally, there weresome exercises with the wordslike match the right image withthe right sentence. We wouldstay on that chapter doing theexercises again and my teacherwould make up some of his ownuntil I had a decent understand-ing of the words and conceptsaddressed. Then the process wasrepeated with the next chapterwhile occasionally revisitingprevious chapters. Sometimesit got tedious, but overall I washappy with the process. I foundlistening to the hardest becauseI could not understand at thespeed with which they spoke. Soit sometimes took a while to getthrough the exercise, but I did.

Walking the streets in Chinais different from in the US. A

particular vehicle made theexperience memorable. T hisvehicle is the electric scooter.The scooter is very popular inChina. What made it so interest-ing though was where and howthey drove. A scooter literallywould drive anywhere - on theroad, on the sidewalk, with traf-fic, against traffic, across traffic,on pedestrian overpasses, etc.And as they are electric they aresilent. I was never sure where Imight find one and I could nothear them. One never hit me, butthey got really close.

One of the fun things I didwas ride the trains in China.I took trains to Hong Kongone weekend, and to Shanghaianother weekend. Like going toa movie, it was a process I hadto work out, although I didn’tfind it as hard. I found a websitewhere I could look up the trainschedules and then go to the sta-tion at the right time. At the sta-tion I had to find a ticket boothwhere I just said the name of thecity I wanted and they gave mea ticket. All things considered,I am impressed I always got theticket I wanted. Then I would goto the gate and get on the train.What I really liked about thetrains in China is their punctu-ality and speed. If a train wasschedule to leave at 1703, it leftat 1703. The latest I think oneever was for me was about 40seconds late. It was the same atthe other end. If it was supposedto arrive at 1801, it arrived at1801. It was very nice know -ing the schedule was absolute.These were high speed trainswhich truly are high speed, theywould go about 200 MPH.

At the end of the threemonths I would not say that Iknew the language well, but Iknew enough to get around. Icouldn’t have conversations withpeople, but I could ask questionswhen shopping, understandannouncements on the subway,read some road signs, ask wherethe bathroom is, order food, etc.Mandarin Chinese is a tonallanguage. There are five tonesin Mandarin and that was one ofthe things I struggled with most.I could get the words right, butget the tone wrong. It got frus-trating at times. An example isthe word “nar”. In one tone itmeans “where” and in anotherit means “there”. So I could betrying to say “where is he?”,but actually end up saying, “heis there” because I change thetone of one word. To put it inperspective, if we had tones,the word “cat” could have five(or more) different meanings. Itmight mean cat, hair, run, is, andbakery for example. So, I reallyhad to work to remember to getthe tones right and remember allthe meanings. I hope to continuelearning but I have not a founda way so far. My college doesnot have a Mandarin class, butI am currently in a Chinese PopCulture class, so my learning ofChina continues.

Overall, I enjoyed my timein China. It was a little stress-ful at times but I got through itand learned a lot. I now havefun translating for others whatis actually said in movies andTV shows when they speakMandarin. I am not sure if Iwant to live in China, but I dohope to visit again someday.

ChinaCont. from page 25 . . .


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“It’s that time again. Another inspection… I hate these things!” Have you eversaid that? I have. But maybe we should reconsider. What if an inspection can helpyou turn a good program into a GREAT program? “We’re here to help!” says theinspector. Are they really there to help? Maybe, it depends on your attitude and whatyou’ve done with your CAP program. Let’s review the process.

Why do we do inspections? As the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force theCivil Air Patrol receives federal funds through the USAF budget. For this reasonthe USAF is charged with ensuring we maintain certain standards and comply withthe written regulations. The inspection process is the method the CAP InspectorGeneral (IG) program uses to ensure units meet the standards and are complyingwith regulations.

There are three types of inspections:

• Subordinate Unit Inspections (SUI): A SUI is a triennial inspection of squadrons by the WingIG and other designated personnel, typically former commanders or selected wing staff personnel. Thesesubject matter experts know how CAP programs are supposed to work. They have a wealth of knowledgeto share on how to make specific programs better.

• Compliance Inspections (CI): A CI is a triennial inspection of the Wing staff by CAP nationallevel inspectors and USAF inspectors, active AF members whose current “job” is oversight of CAP.Virtually every functional area of administration is closely examined to insure it has met and currentlymeets all applicable regulations.

• Staff Assistance Visits (SAV): A SAV is a visit by higher headquarters and/or regional USAFliaison personnel to assist a unit in improving mission effectiveness or preparing for an upcoming inspec-tion. In South Dakota Wing, this typically is the USAF North Central Region liaison personnel conduct -ing a SAV of the wing staff. A SAV is conducted using the same process as a CI.

The preparation for all types of inspections is simple, know the regulations that apply to your programand apply them to your program. Piece of cake, right? Well, maybe not quite that simple. The regulationskeep changing, the people in your unit keep changing, and you are a volunteer with limited time. So,where to start? Sit down and read the appropriate regulations. Pay special attention to items that start with“The unit shall (or will)…”. Reading the regulations will leave you with questions. See if there is a guidefor your program. Many programs have them. Read that. Still have questions, ask your commander or thewing staff officer who is responsible for the same program at the Wing level.

Whether it is a SUI, a SAV or a CI, the inspectors want to give you a good grade. To do that, they needyou to tell them about the great things you’ve done with your program, especially things that exceed whatthe regulations require. Simply complying with regulations won’t get you a “well done”. Determine whatyou’ve done “over and above” what’s required then be sure you tell the inspector about it.

INSPECTIONS… UGGGH! By Col. Mike Beason, CAP, former Wing Commander,

current Inspector General and Member of the Wing Incident Command Team

Logo of theCivil Air Patrol

InspectorGeneral Program


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sDWG Pilot Ear southDakota Aviation Award

Captain Neil Schmid of the Sioux Falls Composite Squadronattained a significant aviation achievement last October. Flying aSDWG aircraft he completed the final requirements for the “Fly SouthDakota” program’s Gold Level Award. The program, which began in2010, is sponsored by the South Dakota Pilots Association to promotegeneral aviation within the state. It involves attendance at aviationsafety seminars, visiting South Dakota museums with aviation displaysand to land at South Dakota’s public-use airports. There are three levels in the program; Bronze, Silverand Gold, each with a varying number of requirements.

When a pilot registers with the Fly South Dakotaprogram he is issued a “Passport”, a logbook, inwhich he records and has verified completion of eachrequirement. The Gold Level Award required Neil toland at all 74 public-use airports in the state, attendfour air safety seminars, and visit four South Dakotamuseums with aviation-related displays.

After three years of working towards his goalNeil completed the Gold Level Award requirement ofvisiting all the public-use airports in South Dakota bylanding at Belle Fourche, Spearfish, Sturgis, Philip,Kadoka and Presho.

The Fly South Dakota Gold Level Award consistsof an “I Flew South Dakota” patch and, for the GoldLevel Award, a “74 Airports” tab for wear on hiscivilian flight jacket.

By Major Bruce Kipp, CAP

Wing Public Affairs Officer

Capt. Schmid next to the CAP aircraft.

Fly South Dakota Gold Level Award patch and tab forwear on Neil’s civilian flight jacket.

Map of all 74 South Dakota airports where Capt.Schmid landed to earn the Gold Level Award.

Capt. Schmid’s Fly South Dakota Passport logbook.


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South Dakota Wing canboast of two new LieutenantColonels; Joyce Jeffries andNancy McKenney. Both werepromoted to their new rank inOctober of 2014.

Lieutenant Colonel (abbre-viated Lt. Col.) is the highestrank a wing member can attainwithout being a wing com-mander. The path to LieutenantColonel is an arduous one. First,it takes many years of excel-lent service with stops along theway at Second Lieutenant, FirstLieutenant, Captain, and Major.It also usually entails servingin a variety of duty positions aswell as advancement throughthe various levels of the CAPSenior Member ProfessionalDevelopment Program thatfocuses on education and train-ing. Finally, not only mustan individual attend variouscourses, conferences, seminars,staff colleges and academies asa student but must also later be amember of the cadre of, or teachat these activities. There are a lotof steps to go through to reach

sOUTH DAKOTA WInG’s nEWEsTLIEUTENANT COLONELS


the rank of Lieutenant Colonelin the Civil Air Patrol.

Lt. Col. Joyce Jeffries joinedCAP’s Mississippi Wing in1973. When her USAF familywas reassigned to Misawa AirBase, Japan she transferred tothe base’s CAP unit. Upon reas-signment of her family back tothe US she transferred to the

CAP unit at Ellsworth AFBwhere she is assigned today.Joyce is also very active as aRed Cross Disaster ResponseVolunteer as well as work-ing with the Amateur RadioEmergency Service and USAFMARS radio.

Lt. Col. Nancy McKenney joined CAP in the fall of 1992.She currently serves on the WingStaff in several duty positionsand frequently assists in CadetPrograms. Over the years shehas participated in REDCAPSas an aircrew member and tookpart in innumerable SAREXs.She has attended eight encamp-ments in both North and SouthDakota. As a cadet activitychaperone she has spent hershare of time sleeping on hardfloors. Nancy is also a long-time member of the Red Crossand has travelled around theUnited States helping manageshelters at disaster locations.

CAP Lieutenant Colonel Joyce

Jeffries

A silver oak leaf, the rank insignia of a CAP Lieutenant Colonel.

CAP Lieutenant Colonel Nancy McKenney

Documents

South Dakota Wing - Jan 2015