Tsunami Preparedness

By 1 Lt Alvaro Chavez Jr

Do you think you're prepared in case of a tsunami striking the west coast and, therefore, the San Francisco Bay Area? 

Will Oakland Airport (OAK) North Field be underwater during a catastrophic event?  

Review these sites to find out! 

Even though we are past the Tsunami Preparedness Week, it would be a good idea to take a few minutes to check out the web sites on this quick note.

For information about March 23-29 Tsunami Preparedness Week activities in your area, visit 

http://tsunamizone.org  

Also, you may wish to review this recent post from the California OES (Office of Emergency Services) about the tsunami tests that were scheduled during the Preparedness week.  Last year, Squadron 188 was able to participate in some of the activities. Unfortunately, we were grounded due to weather this year. 

For access to a new report for California decision-makers visit http://wsspc.org 

To find out if you live in, work in, or visit tsunami hazard areas, see www.tsunami.ca.gov or 

http://myhazards.calema.ca.gov/ 

To find out more about how vulnerable your community is to tsunamis, visit 

http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2012/5222/ 

Stay safe!

"All Hands" meeting, April 1, 2014

by Lt Col Juan Tinnirello (the pictures also)

Squadron Commander Maj. Luneau
addressing the members

The meeting started with the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Lt Col Tinnirello.  Squadron Commander, Maj. Noel Luneau welcomed everybody and specially Group 2 Commander, Maj. Steve Renwick.  Immediately after that, with a very serious look and voice, he said, “I have some bad news to tell you.  As of tomorrow, Squadron 188 will be disbanded”.  After a very short silence he said “April Fools!!!”  If you were not there, you missed the tension in the air and the relief after he concluded the sentence.

After a few announcements about all the upcoming training being offered by different squadrons and agencies (see the calendar on the Squadron Website for further information) Maj. Luneau asked Senior Staff if they had any announcements to make.

2Lt Adams explains the new reservation procedure

2d Lt Bob Adams, our Transportation Officer, updated the members on the new vehicle reservation procedure. The CAPSTAR/CAPERS website must be used ahead of time, to specifically reserve the van, but also any other assets in the Wing. The instructions on how to register were already e-mailed by Lt. Adams to every squadron member.

Deputy Commander
Capt Luis Rivas

Deputy Commander Capt Luis Rivas, reminded the members of the upcoming Squadron group photo shoot and potluck this coming Saturday April 5, at 10 AM. To those wishing to stay for the potluck that have already said YES, he will send an e-mail with the list of what is provided by each member.

Capt Prevost relates his stories
about the “Flying Tigers”

SM Chris Fenolio introduced his great-uncle Capt Orval Prevost, a retired Flying Tigers pilot.   Capt Orval told us about his long career that started with the Army Air Corps and flew B-17s in WWII. He flew for the Flying Tigers the rest of his flying career. He retired at 747 captain pay, but he did not get trained as a 747 pilot due to the $43,000 cost. He said "I love my job and I never felt like I had to work a day in my life". During his pilot carrier he flew C-46, DC-4, DC-6, Super Constellation, Canadair Turboprop, DC-8 and 707. Capt Orval, we thank you for shearing your story.

Capt Wang receiving her Level III

For the Award's department, Cap Maggie Wang received the Level III-Grover Loening Award.

SM Fenolio receiving his
Level l Membership Award

SM Chris Fenolio received his Level I – Membership Award.

1st LT Rugroden and 2Lt Choate
receiving their Find Awards

1st Lt Gene Rugroden and 2nd Lt Eric Choate received a Find Award for their recent overnight mission.

Maj. Luneau receiving his
4th clasp for 50 CAP Missions

Maj. Noel Luneau received a 4th clasp (50 CAP Missions) for the Air Search and Rescue Award and was presented his Incident Commander Level III badge.

Maj. Luneau and 1st Lt Hayes receiving 
Commanders Commendation awards

Also, our Group Commander Maj. Renwick presented a Commanders Commendation to Maj. Luneau and 1st Lt Hayes for their work on replacing the old CAWG Web site with a brand new one. This was a very tedious work that required many months of effort.

Maj Riebli making the 
ORM presentation

The Safety portion of the meeting was conducted by Maj. Frank Riebli and the topic was Operational Risk Management (ORM). He presented materials for not only applying ORM to flying, but also to all of our daily activities at work and at home.  It was an excellent powerpoint presentation.

Commander Luneau thanking Capt Eichelberger
for all his contributions

Maj. Luneau called on Capt Don Eichelberger who, unfortunately for Squadron 188, is leaving to relocate to Santa Monica.  He was thanked for all his many excellent contributions to Squadron 188, especially for his involvement with the Airborne Photography (AP) program, where he taught several classes to Group 2 and 5. He received the Maj. Luneau resented Don with the 70 year CAP Anniversary coin, which will help Capt Eichelberger remember us.



Finally, the whole group posed for a historical photo to commemorate the ending of the one month Mustache competition. Well… most of them are fakes, but still looking good.

The entire meeting participants (except the photographer) with their mustaches.  

The Real Mustaches in attendance were:

1st Lt Pat Bitz

1st Lt Doug Perreira

1st Lt Al Chavez  

             

March 2014 - HF Radio Training

On Saturday March 22, 10 students and 2 instructors met at East Bay Cadet Squadron 18's headquarters at Hayward Airport for HF radio training.

1st Lt Jordan Hayes, Oakland Squadron 188, and Capt George Gadd, San Jose Squadron 80, led the training. Although most of the students were from Squadron 188, Palo Alto was represented as well.

The day consisted of classroom training, providing some understanding of topics including:

Discussing the HF antenna's setup

• Site selection, antenna deployment and setup
• Lightning protection and other safety considerations
• Factors that go into whether or not a communications link can be established and what range might be expected (antenna design, location, height above ground, frequencies, weather, sunspots, etc.)
• Communications protocols, formal message passing
• ALE concepts
• Principles of HF radio operations, such as propagation, antenna concepts, and differences between HF and VHF simplex/repeaters

Getting ready to test the mobile radio in the van

Following the classroom training, we had some hands-on radio time, where we were successful in reaching another radio operator as far away as Oregon.

The training was part of a multi-event training that will occur throughout the year, to help Group 2 develop a larger number of trained HF radio operators available for future exercises (like last year’s CW13) and, of course, real events.

The next training event, in the field, will be held some time in July, so stay tuned for upcoming event announcements.