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WYOMING WINGS

July 2006

See cover story on page 27 . . .

Wyoming Wings
The Wyoming Wings is an authorized magazine published three times a year in the interest of the members of Wyoming Wing, Civil Air Patrol. The printers are a private firm in no way connected with the Department of the Air Force or Civil Air Patrol. Opinions expressed by the publishers and writers are their own and not to be considered official expression by Civil Air Patrol or the Air Force. The appearance of advertisements in this publication, including supplements and inserts, does not constitute an endorsement by Civil Air Patrol or the Department of the Air Force of products and services advertised. HEADQUARTERS Wyoming Wing Civil Air Patrol Bldg. 233 Warren AFB (307) 773-4519 Fax (307) 773-4783 MAILING ADDRESS Wyoming Wing Civil Air Patrol P. O. Box 9507 Cheyenne, WY 82003-9507 Wing Commander: Colonel William Morton Jr. Editor: Colonel Betty Cash For information on advertising rates and space, please call 1-800-635-6036

Commanders Corner
By Colonel William Morton Jr. Well folks, I believe that this will be my last article as your Wing Commander. I have enjoyed leading you through all of our challenges and seeing the new Senior members and Cadets grow. We have certainly covered a lot of ground together in the last four years. It hardly seems possible that it is coming to a close now. We have accomplished a tremendous amount of progress in where we are today verses where were 4 years ago. We started out in the fall of 2002 with our failure of a recent SAV inspection. Conditions around the state and the Wing headquarters were not good. We didnt know at the time, but we had 8 months to get a new Wing staff on board and get ourselves trained and ready for a CI inspection. The really tough one! We worked our tails off and in the end we did it! I found out that around the Region they were taking bets that we couldnt do it. We fooled them and even got some excellent ratings. I think we were very hopeful going into the inspection, but sort of held our breath until it was all over! We made it! Then it was getting on with rebuilding the program for our Seniors and the Cadets. The central northern part of the state became a hot bed of activity. New squadrons were coming to life. The Senior and Cadet programs were taking off. You people became examples to follow. There were major growing pains to contend with. Lots of folks had never been around the military way of doing things. Tons of regulations and the never ending piles of paperwork. Learning how to properly wear a uniform, military courtesies, filling out all the forms, getting trained and learning leadership. It was definitely fun to watch the growth and development of different folks as they turned into effective leaders! I really love seeing the cadets stepping into the CAP program and developing into
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By Kelsey Aitchison, C/Lt Col, CAP

I had the amazing opportunity this past February to represent Wyoming, as well as the Rocky Mountain Region, at the Civic Leadership Academy in Washington, D.C. I was one of 24 Civil Air Patrol Cadets to attend the Civic Leadership Activity. The program, still in its infancy, was a great success. It is scheduled during the annual winter boards where the Wing Commanders go to Capital Hill on CAP Legislative Day to talk to the legislators. This year was the third year Civil Air Patrol has hosted cadets in our Nations capital. We stayed at a Hilton where we shared a room with another cadet. Most of us had not been to Washington D.C. before, and I was one of them. I was able to taste big city life for a week by taking the Metro everywhere we went. This activity is not intended to be a sight seeing activity, but rather an in depth look into how our Nations government

(L-R) Col Bill Morton, Congresswoman Barbara Cubin, and Cadet/Lt Col Kelsey Aitchison.

Washington or Bust
works. We studied the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches with readings and classroom sessions. Our text readings were reinforced with trips to the Capital, Supreme Court building, Library of Congress, CIA Headquarters, and to the State Department. My peers and I were able to meet some outstanding individuals who lead our great Nation in its daily activities. For those of you who are civic minded and are interested in politics, I recommend that you apply for this activity in the coming years. The requirements to apply are being a cadet officer and competing for one of three slots from the Rocky Mountain Region. The Civic Leadership Academy is by far the best Civil Air Patrol activity I have attended!

Bottling Company
OF RIVERTON WYOMING
We salute the worthwhile efforts of the men, women and young cadets of our Wyoming Civil Air Patrol. Best of luck and blue skies while flying your future lifesaving missions!
Coca Cola
BOTTLING COMPANY 100 SOUTH FIRST STREET RIVERTON, WYOMING 82501

GROUND TEAM TRAINING


Mark your calendars for Aug 11-13, 2006 for a second WYWG Ground Team Training. Capt Patricia Clark will host it again at her ranch near Gillette. All levels of Ground Team Training will be offered for both cadets and seniors. Check the WYWG website for more info. Numbers will be limited so let Capt BJ Carlson know soon if you are planning to attend. wtr@tctwest.net or 307.752.3536

www.cokecce.com

Commanders Corner
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leaders! It seems as though some get it and others dont have a clue. We are seeing some major changes in our Cadet programs and you cant just float through anymore. We are asking the Cadets to be more responsible for themselves, their peers and their program. It means there are standards and qualifications to be identified and followed. You must step up to the challenge or be left behind by those who are learning and growing in their skills and abilities. There is an old saying; If you are not moving forward, then you are going in reverse and are doomed to failure! Wyoming Cadets- You have before you the most fantastic program for young people to participate in. Do not let this opportunity be squandered. Make the decision to do and be all that you can. Find a mentor. Grow and learn from them, and then you in turn become a mentor to a new person and replicate yourself. Seniors make yourselves available to our young people. Some items to measure our successes by: We began with 3 aircraft and built up to 6 aircraft at one point. We moved under the Wyoming Military Department and got access to budget support. Our membership increased up to a little over 310 members at one point. We received access to a grant from the Department Homeland Security. This has allowed us to be the first state in CAP to

install a complete SDIS system in each of our corporate aircraft. To establish Communications kits for issue to each squadron. To acquire 5 new Seimac ELT Direction Finding kits for issue to each Ground Team qualified squadron. To install new mobile Airband radios in all of our corporate vehicles. To buy 7 new HF band antennas so we can install our HF radios around the state. The Region offered to us their first SDIS system and with it we became a Region asset to assist the other states in training and performing SDIS backup missions. We have participated in the National Advanced Technology Academy 2 years running and have been asked to assist again for this year. We were the first Wing to receive the first CAP Glass Cockpit C-182T in the nation. At our Wing conference two years ago we had the first visit from a National Commander, Major General Dwight Wheeless. What an impression this man made on all of our members! We shall never forget him! He has said to pass on a big Hello to all! The Adj. General of our Military Department assisted us in getting funding to help National Headquarters make our Wing Administrator position full time with benefits. He also gave us free access to all the military armories and the Camp Guernsey training site for our Basic Encampment this year. The States Department of

Transportation has agreed to allow us to co-locate our radio repeaters at their sites at no cost. They are also allocating access for us to be able to communicate into the new state wide digital repeater system. We are working with the University of Wyoming to establish a NASA grant to enable our Wyoming cadet squadrons to participate in their satellite balloon launching program. Several of our Senior members have attended national activities to further their training and certifications. We have recruited our Congresswoman Barbara Cubin to be our first Congressional Squadron Member. Lastly, we have become a very close family. I want to again thank everyone for your prayers and support during and after the loss of my daughter. Then two years later when I had a heart attack and bypass surgery you folks were tremendous in your support again. You have touched the heart of myself, my wife and my family members. I cant express adequately how much you have meant to us. We will always remember your support, encouragement and love. Then one last item, remember Fletcher Andersons family in your prayers. They have lost a husband and a father. Be safe and practice safety in all you do and think! Thanks for the greatest four years of my CAP career! Col Bill and Family
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DDR Program
The following was provided to us by: Lt Col Jett Mayhew, Middle East_Region DDR Coordinator ____ Jan Hoffman, Asst. Program Manager Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters With the allergy season upon us it is time for us to remember some very important facts. Prescription or Over-the-Counter Drugs and Driving When people take cold medications or a pill to ease their headache; they often forget that the medication has effects on their cognitive and motor abilities. It doesnt usually cross their minds that they are taking a drug and will be impaired. Even if they read the warning, its common to assume that it only applies to a few certain people and that do not operate heavy machinery means farm equipment or tractors, forgetting that cars should be included as well. Also, many drugs carry warnings about drowsiness or dizziness that people ignore. However, this is a serious problem that leads to thousands of automobile crashes each year. The danger of getting behind the wheel when a driver is too tired to drive can be fatal. Drugs impair our bodies in a variety of ways. They may blur our vision; make us tired or too excited; alter depth perception; make us see or hear things that may not be there; raise or lower blood pressure; react too quickly, too slowly, or not at all. They cause problems with concentrating on the task at hand. These problems can result from taking any type of drug: illegal, prescription or over-the-counter. When our brain function is altered, our muscle and nerve function changes. Taking sedating antidepressants even 10 hours before driving is equal to driving drunk. 10mg of Valium can cause greater driving impairment than a blood alcohol concentration of 0.1 (at or above the legal limit in all states). Antihistamines - which block allergic reactions - slow down reaction time and impair coordination. Over-the-counter decongestants can cause drowsiness, anxiety, and dizziness. Drowsy driving is responsible for an estimated 100,000 traffic crashes and about 1,500 deaths every year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Common prescription drugs (including medications to treat allergies, pain, diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, ulcers, depression, anxiety disorders, and insomnia) can cause drowsiness, affect vision and other skills that can be serious hazards on the road. Tranquilizers, sedatives, and sleeping pills slow down the central nervous system causing drowsiness and diminished reaction time, and impairing the ability to concentrate. Over-the-counter drugs such as cold and cough medicines, antihistamines, drugs to prevent nausea or motion sickness, pain relievers, decongestants, and diuretics can cause drowsiness or dizziness that can impair a drivers skills and reflexes. Some drugs may make you feel alert and confident in your driving. In reality of the situation may be quite different. Drugs can fool you into believing you are in control of your driving when you are, in fact, impaired. Here is a partial list of legal drugs that can - in the right amount - impair your ability to drive.
-Anti-anxiety medication -Amphetamines -Stimulants -Allergy medicines -Antidepressants -Tranquilizers -Motion sickness medication -Anti-seizure medicines -Anti-nausea medicine -Alcohol-containing medicines -Caffeine-containing medicines -Barbiturates -Narcotic pain medications -Blood sugar medicines -Blood pressure medicines -Ulcer medication -Cough syrups -Antibiotics -Paregoric -Sedatives -Decongestants

To avoid harming yourself or others, partner with your physician and pharmacist to learn information regarding your medications side effects,
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Editors Corner
By Col Betty Cash
The time has been forced on me to make a very hard decision. Do I stay active in CAP even in the smallest way? do I just cave in and retire? do I go underground? When I joined way back in 1973 there was a membership category that I need now. It was sustaining member where you paid your dues to support your unit, received all the informational mailings, but were not required to do anything more. Right now and for the foreseeable future, about all I can do is be a sustaining member. I took myself off the list of Flight Release Officers. It would be a major safety blunder for me to release a flight only to go into a medical emergency and not be able to see the flight safely back on the ground. I just WILL NOT endanger any of you that way. And the stress of a flight emergency is more than I need. The only other duty I am still performing is getting this, your magazine, put together but have to have help getting to the post office with it. Most of you will not know why I suddenly vanished from the CAP scene. So here is a condensed version: When I was Wing Commander, I began having the occasional warnings from my heart. Once was on my way home on a flight between Washington DC and Cinncinatti that I never told anyone about. I went downhill fast after my 4 years as WGCC were up. Last year a really good doctor got hold of me and got me on a good medicine. Then back in January this year that drug suddenly started damaging another part of me and I had to get off it. A battery of pharmaceutical combinations have been tried since. Starting late February I have been taken to the emergency room 9 times, 3 in May alone. I have been in the hospital at Casper twice, the last by ambulance with lights and sirens up the interstate. Basically, my heart has been trying to stop, beat way too fast, or swell up so much I can not breathe or swallow food. My last ambulance ride to Casper came when the doctors here could not get my pulse UP to 40. My new pacemaker will never let the rate get below 60 ever again. Then there are the days my pulse hits 104 to 110 which is also not good and means a trip to the ER. The pacemaker only keeps the rate up but can not keep it down. The drugs have the swelling under control so I can eat and drink again. But with NO salt and 1500 calories, well.....try it some time. Then my eyes got so bad I could not read street signs. New driving glasses. Driving is a sitting activity so I am allowed. My doctors even ordered housekeeping help. Since I can not even clean my house, I certainly need to back down from CAP for however long this will take me to overcome. Which means someone out there (can be 2 people) needs to take on my two critical duties, getting the magazine put together and making the monthly aircraft time report BEFORE the deadline. Interested parties let Wing HQ know. I will certainly be available to help you get your feet on the ground. My membership is good for another full year.
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DDR Program
Continued . . . and what drugs are usually safe to combine-especially behind the wheel. Ask for non-sedating forms of your prescriptions if you are behind the wheel, or operate heavy machinery. Allow your body time to adjust to new medications before you drive. Most importantly, each of us is responsible for knowing the signs and symptoms of being drug impaired before we get behind any wheel. Never take more than the prescribed dose, or take anyone elses medicine.

SDIS Operators Prepare


Mark Kunkowski, National Technology Center
Check out your SDIS System before going out on a mission. Just a few helpful troubleshooting tips to help you run a successsful mission using SDIS.

Due to the recent rash of wild fires, severe storms and with the up coming hurricane season that is fast approaching, SDIS is and will be in high demand. Our success in supporting these DR missions is highly dependent on the availability of both working systems and trained operators. As a result of some recent issues that have occurred we offer the following recommendations and information to insure our ability to meet and successfully perform these missions. 1) All SDIS systems should be tested at your earliest opportunity, some of these systems have been sitting since last fall. At a minimum this test should be conducted through the Globalstar Sat-Phone in the aircraft, but all modes (to include LAN and Dialup) should be tested. Additionally, you should check to see if the images are properly posting to the appropriate mission in WMIRS. The most common cause for images not properly posting is a result of either not setting up the mission throught the SDIS tool or altering the signature blocks. Additionally, the systems should be checked several days before any scheduled events. Any problems should be reported to the National Technology Center (NTC) so we can try to resolve issues as

soon as possible. For after normal duty hours or if you have a time critical situation and can not reach the NTC staff, contact the National Operations Center (NOC). 2) All SDIS operators should be properly trained before they are assigned to an aircrew as the SDIS operator. - Training reference material is available at: http://www.video.cap.gov 3) Test the SDIS System for connectivity through the SatPhone prior to take off. The operator does not necessarily have to send an email, but they should be able to connect to Globalstar and refresh the WMIRS Mission list or connect to a web page, this will serve as a connectivity confidence check. 4) Remind operators that when sending images from the aircraft, try to keep the images to 120k or less in size and do not attach more than one image per email, if at all possible. This will help prevent delivery failures or an excessive number of emails being queued for delivery. 5) During a mission, periodically check the SDIS Status Tray Icon in the lower right hand corner of the screen. When the Icon is red, hovering the mouse pointer over the Icon will show the number of messages currently in queue waiting to be delivered. Should the Icon stay

red for a protracted period of time, this can be an indication of one of several issues: -poor connectivity -emails with multiple attachments or a single attachment that is too large to try and send from the aircraft -an excessive number of emails being sent in a short time frame. Under these conditions you may want to consider giving the system a chance to catch up. Emails are delivered in the order they are sent, if there is an excessive number waiting in the queue, trying to send additional images will only make the situation worse. If the SDIS Status Icon has not turned green by the time you land, you will want to connect to the Internet via the LAN or Dialup connection so the images can be transmitted. 6) While in flight and transmitting images via the Globalstar connection, the SDIS operators should coordinate with the pilot to minimize aggressive turns. Steep banks in a turn can and will most likely result in a dropped connection. 7) In most cases, issues with the computer can be resolved by reloading the SDIS Recovery disk provided by National. This will restore a working configuration as delivered from National.

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Cadet 2d Lt Krystina Beatty (L), active duty Air Force Major Eric Davis (C), Cadet 2d Lt Tyler Dimock (R) pose for photographs after the promotion ceremony. Photo by Lt DJ Saddler

A Promotion to Proclaim
Cody Cadet Squadron (WY) Cadets 2d Lieutenant Krystina L. Beatty and Tyler S. Dimock received their Mitchell Award during a weekend Basic Instructor Course taught by active duty Air Force Major Eric Davis, in the community firehall of Burlington, Wyoming. Major Davis, also a Lt Col CAP member and WY Wing Director of Cadet Programs, presented Cadets Beatty and Dimock their Mitchell Awards. Cadet Beatty has been a member of CAP for nearly four years, joining in November 2002. She took on the responsibility of Cadet Commander of the Cody Cadet Squadron when just a TSgt and has just recently passed on the responsibility to Cadet Dimock. Cadet Beatty is a freshman at Cody High School, has attained a Ground Team Level 1 rating, performed the du ties of 1st Sgt at South Dakotas Aerospace Encampment, and is looking forward to being the Advanced Training Flight Commander at the WY Wing 2006 summer encampment. Cadet Dimock has been a member of CAP for nearly three years, joining in December 2003. His most recent assignment had been Cadet Deputy Commander of the Cody Cadet Squadron and he has now taken over the Cadet Commanders role from Cadet Beatty. Cadet Dimock is home-schooled and is also enrolled as a junior at Cody High School. He shows exceptional talents as an artist, has attained a Ground Team Level 1 rating, performed the duties of Flight Sgt at South Dakotas Aerospace Encampment, and is looking to a great challenging year leading the Cody Cadet Squadron.

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A SAREX Trilogy
What is a SAREX Trilogy? According to Websters New World Dictionary, 1969 Edition, a trilogy isa set of three related plays, novels, etc. which form a larger work. Yep, that pretty much explains what happened at the latest WY Wing SAREX in March. To conserve on that precious SAREX funding dollars the Wing decided to cut back on transportation costs of the planes by having satellite Bases close in to those flying units. The WY Wing had three separate bases running separate search scenarios all going on at
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A SAREX Trilogy
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one time, and all being coordinated through one office at the Wing Headquarters in Cheyenne, WY. Those three satellite bases were run out of Cheyenne, Casper, and Cowley, WY. At the Cowley Base a novel idea was stolen from a Montana SAR Ex, the Cadets from Billings, MT (Beartooth Composite Squadron), Sheridan, WY (Cloud Peak Composite Squadron), and Cody, WY (Cody Cadet Squadron) combined their human resources and took over the SAREX Staffing positions under the supervision of senior members. The Cowley Base operations put up 16 flights in the scheduled SAREX and ran 2 Ground Team operations. Thanks to cellular technology the Cowley Base was able to report to the SAREX base in Cheyenne and turn those flights and ground teams out on their mission. There were some major hand cramps from those qualified members signing off on those seniors and cadets obtaining their task qualifications. The Cheyenne Base (Cheyenne Composite Squadron) was only able to mount only one sortie flight due to weather. Laramie Cadet Squadron put in some Ground Team Training, and the Casper senior member squadron (492nd Emergency Services Squadron) shouldered 3 sortie flights.

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Easter Break, or the more political saying Spring Break, finds most youth out sucking in the rays to start the beginnings of a goooood sun-tan, or as us old folk say sun-burn. The Cody Cadet Squadron - Civil Air Patrol (CAP) decided to extend their weekly meeting from the standard 6:30pm to 9:00pm to 2:30pm to 9:00pm. During the lengthened time period a plethora of extra projects needed to be accomplished. The white van was not quite as white as it should be, so armed with a vacuum and buckets of soapy water the cadets (newly promoted C/2d Lts Krystina Beatty and Tyler Dimock, C/A1C Jay Bernavich, C/Amn Andy Crawford and C/ Amn Bobby West) brought out the whiteness and even got those pesky bug splats off the front grill. All this was motherhenned or I should say supervised by their senior member

A Geo-Caching Odyssey
commander, Capt BJ Carlson. Next in line was a refresher course on orienteering and the dreaded Lat/Long and declination stuff, put on by Major Mike Carlson of the Pryor Mtn Wild Horse Group - CAP.
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Geo-caching
Continued . . . Going from scenery to maps and visa-versa always involves declination if you want to get things properly located for a Search & Rescue. So add in some real life practical stuff, like Geo-caching, brought the bobble-headed doll reaction from the cadets, Yehhhh, now I get it! After a treat of pizza for supper, offered by Capt Carlson, the move was on to locate a Geostash in and around Cody, WY. The Lat/Long coordinates were pinpointed on the topographic map and each participant took a bearing. With the help of C/A1C Bernavich plugging the correct coordinates (Lat/Long) into C/ 2d Lt Beattys newly acquired GPS, the troop set out using GPS and that old fashion orienteering compass to locate the cache. After a bit of group consensus a search line was developed once they thought they were in the neighborhood. Matching
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pace count to that of the GPS and a few sweeping cartwheel turns the cache was found hidden in sagebrush. Opening the contents revealed that two people had been there just the previous day. The cache rules indicate that you leave or take something and record the action. While on the intrepid search C/2d Lt Dimock found a matchbox replica of a baby blue Trans Am that was like a real one he just refurbished and sold. So, it is now part of the world-

wide cache system. If you would like to find out more about Geo-caching just check out the Internet at: www.geocaching.com. On the way back to the van Major Carlson would take a cadet off to the side and ask a question all the cadets hate to hear, Cadet, which way is North? You would think that after numerous times of him asking that question the cadets would catch on to looking where the sun is setting or rising. But, C/2d Lt Dimock was one step ahead of the Major by asking the Major which North he was inquiring about, Magnetic or True North. C/2d Lt Dimock was taken back when the Major reached into his pocket and pulled out a note pad and pencil and said, Cadet Dimock one, the Major zero.

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