By 2d Lt Karin Hollerbach, photos as noted
On a Saturday in
January 2015, the California Wing (CAWG) of the Pacific Region Civil Air Patrol
conducted a statewide Communications Training Exercise. Amelia Earhart, Senior
Squadron 188 at the Oakland Airport North Field hosted the exercise and
participated as the mission base for the entire state.
 |
Squadron
188 members prep the airborne repeater before
taking it up in CAP 445. From
left to right: 1st Lt Jordan Hayes,
Capt Luis Rivas, Maj Steven DeFord, 1st Lt
Eric Choate.
Photo by Maj Noel Luneau. |
One hundred and
sixty-nine CAP members from all 8 CAWG Groups participated in the exercise,
which also included 9 vehicles and one aircraft. An additional 6 aircraft on
self-funded missions informally joined the radio message passing tasks. Each Group’s tasking generally included
passing a pre-defined message to each of the other Groups. Each Group was also
required to confirm receipt of messages from all the other Groups. A total of
approximately 60 unique messages were sent, in many cases relayed, and received
by their intended recipients throughout the state.
 |
Maj Noel Luneau gives input
to base staff and aircrew before
beginning operations.
Photo by 2d Lt Hollerbach. |
The exercise
included message traffic using FM radio, HF radio, and an airborne tactical repeater.
Radio operators from an incredible list of squadron facilities throughout the
state participated: Oakland, Reid-Hillview, Auburn, Palo Alto, Sacramento,
Santa Rosa, Brackett, Concord, San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara,
Camarillo, Riverside, Costa Mesa, Los Alamitos, Palomar Mtn., Palomar Peak, San
Diego, Montgomery Field, Fallbrook, Carlsbad Airport, Laguna Niguel, Chula
Vista, Camp Pendleton, Chino Airport, Palm Springs, Hemet-Ryan, Big Bear,
Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Chatsworth, and Rosamond; as well as in CAP vehicles
in remote locations, on CAP-approved radio equipment at members’ homes, and in aircraft
acting as Highbird (relays).
Maj Noel Luneau,
Squadron 188, acted as Incident Commander (IC) for the exercise, working
closely with Project Officer, 1st Lt Jordan Hayes, Squadron 188, to make this
event happen. Together, these two
dedicated CAP members provided high quality leadership for the exercise, and Lt
Hayes worked diligently for several months leading up to, during, and
immediately after the event. Because of the many volunteers participating, Maj
Luneau and Lt Hayes were able to organize the entire large-scale exercise and
complete it with a budget of less than $1,000.
 |
|
A ground team appreciated the quintessential Northern
California view, complete with marine fog layer viewed from Mt Diablo. Photo by
Maj Timothy Albert, Squadron 44.
|
Maj Luneau says,
“thanks to the incredible efforts by Lt Hayes, California Wing proved that our
Communication capabilities would be available when required. It was gratifying to be part of an exercise
that utilized members at bases, vehicles, aircraft, and their homes. In the
event of a disaster, our strength and success in message passing statewide will
rely on these distributed assets. Bravo Zulu California Wing Communicators!”
Participation in the
event ranged from highly experienced communicators and planners to members
working on their communications ratings for the first time to those of us who
have gained some experience but who can stand to learn a lot from large-scale,
realistic exercises.
 |
|
Squadron103 members are operating the radios in the Commo
Room. From left to right:
1st Lt Joe Vanherweg, Squadron 103, Maj Jim
Breedlove, Squadron 103,
Maj Kenneth Thompson, Squadron 103. Photo by 1st Lt Bryce Dilger, Squadron 103.
|
In the author’s
case, acting as Mission Observer (MO) in one of the self-funded aircraft flying
Highbird, and holding the Mission Radio Operator (MRO) rating without a large
amount of experience to go along with that rating, lessons learned included,
for example: After checking into one net using one of the relays, then even when
acting as Highbird and expecting to talk to several different nets, before
switching from one relay frequency to another, check out of the net! “Right, as a pilot, I knew that.” Somehow as an MO and not formally part of the
mission’s flights, the author forgot… and promptly got thumped (virtually and
in a friendly manner!) by a concerned Net Control upon rejoining the home net
when returning to base. This is what
training is all about.
Using repeaters
fairly far to the south in the State, the Highbird coming from San Francisco
Bay Area Group 2 was successful in reaching Central Coast Group 4, and relaying
messages back to Group 2 and Norcal Group 5.
 |
A Riverside-based
ground team in Southern California has
found a suitable location on Santa Rosa
Mountain for its radio
transmissions. Photo by 1st Lt Richard Matano, Squadron
5. |
According to Lt Hayes,
“Mission Pilot (MP) 1st Lt Eric Choate, along with MO Capt Luis Rivas, flew CAP
445 from Oakland as an alert-launched airborne tactical repeater almost to the
Los Angeles basin area at high altitude, allowing operators from at least 5
Groups to utilize ad hoc long-distance radio communications links. While
CAP 445 was out of range of Group 2’s local repeater, the aircraft reported an ‘ops
normal’ to an operator in Group 4, who relayed it via VHF to an operator in
Group 3, who then relayed it to the base in Oakland over HF. All of this
occurred in less than 4 minutes. We can all feel better knowing that CAWG
has that kind of real-time mission capability.”
