April 2017, All Hands Meeting

By Lt Col Juan Tinnirello, photography by Lt Col Tinnirello and  2d Lt Alexei Roudnev

Capt Rivas (right) conversing with 1st Lt Rugroden (left) and
Capt Eichelberger (middle). Photo by Lt Col Tinnirello.

The meeting took place on the 4th of April and started with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States, led by Lt Col Tinnirello.

Squadron Commander, Capt Rivas welcomed participants and proceeded to comment on the CAP Report to Congress. He was impressed with the accomplishments as well as the amount of money CAP saved taxpayers because of the contributions of the hours provided by CAP members.


Squadron Monthly Recap

Promotions

Members socializing before the meeting. Photo by
Lt Col Tinnirello. 

Congratulations to Capt Michelogiannakis for his promotion to Maj and to SM Valeur for his promotion to 2d Lt.
   
Missions
The following members participated in missions over the past month.

• 18-Mar ELT at Borrego Springs – Maj DeFord: IC3
• 23-26 Mar Routine IPL Mission – Maj DeFord, Capt Brown, Capt Hayes, Capt Stevulak, 1st Lt Choate
• 26-Mar ELT at KLVK – Maj DeFord, Capt Brown: UDF +FIND (first heard by CAP481)

Members at the meeting. Photo by Lt Col Tinnirello.

Capt Rivas reading from the report to
Congress. Photo by Lt Roudnev.

Events

• 11-12 Mar Winter Ground SAREX – Maj Michelogiannakis: MP; Capt Stevulak: MO; 2d Lt Valeur: MS-T
• 11-12 Mar ICS 300 at Travis – 1st Lt Fall 
• 1-Apr AEX Workshop at KPAO – 2d Lt Zherebnenkov

Renewed/New ES Ratings
Congratulations to those members that obtained or renewed their ratings:

Capt Rivas congratulating Maj Michelogiannakis, who received his promotion
last month, one day after that All Hands meeting. Photo by Lt Roudnev.

• Maj Blank: renewed IFR F5 (Instructor Pilot, Check Pilot, Check Pilot Examiner) Maj Blank is also the only GA8 pilot in our squadron.  Welcome back!
• Maj Wang: renewed AP rating
• Capt Cao: renewed AP rating
• Capt Fenolio: renewed F5
• 1st Lt Rugroden: renewed F5
• Squadron 188 is now back to having 11 active pilots (4 more waiting for F5)

Professional Development 
Congratulations to Maj Luneau, who has taken on a new duty – Assistant Operations Officer for Group 2.
 
Awards
Congratulations to 1st Lt Fall for his Achievement Award from Pennsylvania Wing (PAWG)!

2d Lt Valeur receiving his epaulets from Capt Rivas (left) and Capt Hayes
(right). Photo by Lt Roudnev.  

Upcoming Events

Upcoming squadron events include:

Maj DeFord explaining the two missions he
participated in. Photo by Lt Roudnev.

• Apr 15: Squadron fly-in at KAUN (organized by Maj Luneau)
• Apr 21-23: Wing Evaluation at Riverside (Maj DeFord, Capt Eichelberger)
• Apr 24-26: WMAO (see Capt Hayes if you can help out)
• Apr 28-30: Pacific Region Conference @ Sparks NV
• All hands moved to Tuesday May 9
• May 15-18, Vigilant Guard exercise (Lt Chavez)
• May 30: 5th Tuesday group photo and BBQ (Capt Rivas)

Safety Update: Class B Airspace

This month’s safety update was provided by Capt Gast, who gave an excellent presentation on changes in class B airspace, using Seattle as an example.  If you were not at the meeting, you missed a lot of good information.

Capt Gast presenting updates to class B airspace.
Photo by Lt Roudnev.