June 2017 All Hands Meeting

By Lt Col Juan Tinnirello, photography by Lt Col Tinnirello except as noted.


The meeting took place on 6 June and started with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, led by Lt Col Tinnirello.

Capt Rivas welcomed all participants and proceeded to review the Cadet Protection Program, as mandated by CAWG’s Cadet Awareness Day.  A quiz followed the presentation.

Members socializing prior to the meeting.

Squadron Monthly Recap

Missions
On18 May, 1st Lt Kraus (MP) and Capt Stevulak (MO) prosecuted an EPIRB at Salinas.

On 30 May, 1st Lt Choate (MP), 1st Lt Rugroden (MO), and Capt Hayes (MRO) prosecuted an ELT in San Jose, resulting in a FIND. Congratulations!

SM Sharma (L) and Capt Hayes (R).

 
Events

Travis AFB Open House / Air Show. 1st Lt Roudnev attended the air show on Saturday, 6 May, and Lt Col Tinnirello on Sunday, 7 May. A multitude of people attended the event, which had many military as well as civilian and law enforcement aircraft on display. The aerobatic presentation by civilian pilots as well as the USAF Thunderbirds was excellent. The local CAP squadron helped with crowd control, and brought an aircraft for display as well as a recruiting booth. It was a beautiful fun event. Photos of the event can be seen at our Facebook page.

Lt Chavez (L), Lt Col Matarrese (C), and Capt Perreira (R).

Group 2 Basic SAREX at Palo Alto.  The event was held on the weekend of 13-14 May. Participants from Squadron 188 included Capt Brown, Capt Hayes, 1st Lt Choate, 1st Lt Roberts, SM Campbell, and SM Devine (who since then has been promoted to 1st Lt – congratulations!).

HF Exercise. Capt Hayes participated in the quarterly USAF HF Communications Exercise on 17 May.

USAF Glider Clinic at Minden/Tahoe Airport. Capt Gast and 1st Lt Choate participated in this USAF event from 17-10 May. This sounded like a fantastic event. – click here for a blog post with more information about this event. Please contact Capt Gast if you have interest in learning more about gliders.

Plane Washing. On 28 May both aircraft at Oakland and Livermore were washed in preparation for the Squadron photo shoot/BBQ on 30 May.  Thanks to all for a job well done: Maj Luneau, Capt Eichelberger, Capt Hayes, Capt Perreira, Capt Stevulak, 1st Lt Choate, 1st Lt Spears, 2d Lt Booth, SM Devine and SM Sharma.

Photo Shoot & BBQ. On 30 May: Members of the squadron and guests gathered for a squadron photo shoot and BBQ.  Click here for details! Thanks to all members for their food/help contribution.  A photo re-shoot scheduled for 11 July (All Hands Meeting).

G1000 Training. On 1 Jun, the squadron hosted a Group 2 G1000 Ground school at OAK - thanks to Maj Michelogiannakis, Maj Blank, and Maj Luneau.

Group 6 Basic SAREX at (KMER) Castle Airport on 3-4 June. Squadron members attending included SM Campbell and SM Sharma.

Renewed/New ES Ratings 

Congratulations to the following members for their efforts to achieve and/or renew their ratings.

• Maj Luneau: CAP Instructor Pilot (we now have 5 total in the squadron!)
• Capt Gast: CAP Glider Check Pilot (now 4 total in squadron!)
• Capt Hayes: renew CUL
• 1st Lt Hollerbach: initial F5 (now14 active pilots in squadron!)
• 1st Lt Roberts: completed UDF, renewed MRO
• SM Campbell, SM Devine, and SM Sharma: completed MS
• SM Devine: completed ICUT

Lt Spears (R) receiving his Red Service Ribbon from Capt Rivas (L).

Professional Development & Awards

Congratulations to Maj DeFord, who is the newly appointed CAWG Director of Emergency Services Training. (The squadron needs someone to replace his former position – if you are interested and think you may be qualified, please contact Maj DeFord.)

Congratulations also to members for the following awards:

SM Sharma (R) receiving his Yeager Award from Capt Rivas (L).

• 1st Lt Spears: 5 years Red Service Ribbon with Bronze Clasp (includes cadet time).
• SM Sharma: General Yeager award (aerospace excellence)
• SM Sharma: Membership Ribbon for completion of Level 1

Transportation 

1st Lt Adams is looking for a replacement Transportation Officer. He has performed 5 excellent years of duty. Thank you for your outstanding service, Lt Adams. 


Upcoming Events

The squadron is involved in the following events in the next month/s:

Lt Baldwin discussing this month's safety
topic: hydration (photo by Lt Roudnev)

• Mid-June: International HF radio exercise with UK Air cadets (contact Capt Hayes for more information )
• 1-2 July: CAWG MAS ground school at Oakland
• 4 July: NO MEETING. Moved to following week (11 July) due to the holiday - Happy 4th! 
• 21-23 July CAWG MAS flight school at KBFL (Bakersfield)
• July: NESA (Maj DeFord, Capt Brown, 1st Lt Hollerbach)
• SUI before the end of August (department heads).
• August: Goup 5 SAREX at KSTS (Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport).
• Aerospace Moments (date tbd): 1st Lt Spears: ADS-B receivers
• External STEM with quadcopter for Cub Scouts

Safety Update

2d Lt Baldwin provided this month’s safety update on Proper Hydration. Key takeaways included the following topics:

Hydration - this month's safety topic!

• How does my body lose water? The body is well over half (by weight) water that is held in cells. We lose water through waste, perspiration and even breathing. When the body loses too much water, we begin to get dehydrated.
• How do I know if I am dehydrated? Some of the symptoms of dehydration are: dry mouth, sleepiness, extreme thirst, headache, confusion, feeling dizzy.
• How do I get hydrated? The best way to prevent dehydration is to know what your activities will be and plan accordingly. If you plan to be outside for an extended period of time or work out you should typically have two glasses of water 1 hour before the start. Every 15 minutes you should have 4 oz of water and then have two glasses of water for every pound you lost. 
• The best liquids to consume are water or sports drinks, which help replace minerals and electrolytes. For rehydrating, fruit juices, caffeinated beverages, and alcohol drinks are not the best items.

   

Missing Aircraft Located

Approximately one week ago, CAP joined crews coordinated by the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department in a search for a missing aircraft. Thank you to the following Squadron 188 members and everyone else who volunteered their time to support this search:

• Maj Blank
• Maj DeFord
• Maj Fridell
• Maj Johnson/C
• Maj Michelogiannakis
• Capt Brown
• Capt Hayes
• Capt Perreira
• Capt Rivas
• Capt Stevulak
• 1st Lt Choate
• 1st Lt Hollerbach
• 1st Lt Roberts
• 1st Lt Rugroden
• 1st Lt Spears
• 2d Lt Baldwin

Please see the following CAP press release for additional information.

June 13, 2017

Missing Aircraft Located

CALAVERAS, Calif. – Ground and air search crews coordinated by the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department located the wreckage of a missing Beechcraft aircraft with a single pilot on board Tuesday in the mountainous terrain west of Mountain Ranch. There was no survivor.

The aircraft was located by Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department ground teams around noon.
The aircraft took off from the Grayson area Friday, and was expected to land at Columbia Airport in Columbia. The aircraft was reported overdue after the pilot’s wife alerted Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department that he had not arrived as planned.

The California Wing of the Civil Air Patrol was activated in the early hours Saturday morning by the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, located at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, to initiate a search for the missing aircraft. A CAP aircrew flew an electronic route search Saturday morning, but heard no pings from the aircraft’s emergency locator transmitter.

Mutual-aid teams coordinated by the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department and the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) continued search efforts throughout the weekend and into the week, together with CAP aircraft and ground teams searching the very rugged rural terrain of Calaveras County. CAP set up an aircraft staging area at Columbia Airport to better support the search efforts.

Weather impeded the air sorties most of the day Sunday, but ground crews continued their search for the missing aircraft. The California Air National Guard and California Highway Patrol also assisted in the search.

Early Tuesday morning, CAP aircrews launched from Palo Alto, Concord, and Merced to continue aerial visual and electronic search. Ground teams from numerous agencies were deployed, some being inserted by way of National Guard helicopters.

Data obtained from Civil Air Patrol’s National Radar Analysis Team provided a focal point for the search, which significantly increased the chances of locating the aircraft, said Maj. Jacqueline Tubis, CAP’s Incident Commander for today’s search efforts.

“We always hope for a better outcome in these situations, and we are grateful that we were able to collaborate with the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office and CalOES, but more importantly, help bring closure to his family,” Tubis said.

A total of 65 CAP professional volunteers, five CAP aircraft and three CAP vehicles were used in the search mission.

Further questions regarding the aircraft search and find should be directed to the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department.

Civil Air Patrol, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Force’s Total Force, which consists of regular Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, along with Air Force retired military and civilian employees. CAP, in its Total Force role, operates a fleet of 550 aircraft and performs about 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 78 lives annually. Civil Air Patrol’s 56,000 members nationwide also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. Its members additionally play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 24,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet program. Performing missions for America for the past 75 years, CAP received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2014 in honor of the heroic efforts of its World War II veterans. CAP also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. Visit  www.capvolunteernow.com for more information.

CAP contact:
Lt Col Reynold Lopez, CAP
Public Information Officer

Squadron BBQ

By 1st Lt Karin Hollerbach, photos by Lt Col Juan Tinnirello except as noted

Squadron members and guests gathered this week at our headquarters at OAK airport for a squadron photo shoot as well as a BBQ with friends and family members.

All squadron members that we were able to round up for the official photo! Photo by Capt Gast.

And a few additional squadron members that didn't make it into the main
photo. Photo by Capt Gast. 

Mingling before the food gets served.

How are we going to get everyone organized, so
that we can take their picture?

Deep in conversation.

Several dozen people showed up, and it was a lot of fun to have a little more time than we normally do at squadron meetings, to chat, meet spouses and friends, and get caught up on what’s happening in other members’ lives outside of CAP.

Changing smoke alarm batteries -
safety first!

I swear we were talking about bush flying in Alaska.
What was so funny?

Thanks to all who brought food, drinks and good cheer!  We had more than enough in all three categories – although for some reason the grill did not seem to get very hot, so cooking beef burgers, turkey burgers, quinoa burgers, and hot dogs seemed to take forever.  My idea of time might have gotten stretched a little bit, considering how hungry I was before even arriving there…





Thanks to the efforts of our commander, Chef Capt Rivas and Sous-Chef SM Campbell, everyone did get fed with the grilled food of their choice, as well as any number of side dishes and desserts.

Capt Rivas getting ready to feed the hungry.

2d Lt Zherebnenkov,
our squadron's Asst.
Historian

Special thanks also to Capt Hayes for all his organizational efforts for this event and everyone who helped rearrange furniture, clean up, and everything in between.

Mingling and eating! 

Two pilots, deep in conversation.  Is it flying related?

Members and non-members are all
welcome here! 

Relaxing with friends from outside of CAP. 

People are starting to look a little less hungry.