"All Hands" meeting, April 1, 2014

Thursday, April 10, 2014

"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.