Communications Training This Week (27 September)

Squadron 150's meeting this week (27 September) will be focused on Civil Air Patrol (CAP) communications. Here is more on CAP Communications from the CAP national website:

"The Civil Air Patrol communications system includes thousands of HF and VHF radios with trained operators across the United States.

The system operates in support of all CAP missions, including Emergency Services, Aerospace Education and the CAP Cadet Program. The focus of the CAP system is tactical communications, including air to ground, ground team to ground team, and communication with mission base.

Interoperability with other agencies is stressed. In most cases, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is signed with each agency before operation on each other's frequencies.

The Civil Air Patrol operates primarily on frequencies assigned by the United States Air Force. As a result, all CAP radios must comply with NTIA standards for transmitting and receiving. This requirement also applies to all radios used by other agencies that are permitted by MOU to operate on CAP frequencies.

Advance planning is a priority of the communications program. Communication managers at all levels develop mission communication plans and manage resources to ensure sufficient assets are available to accomplish the missions of CAP. Because "emergency communication is our business" CAP communicators are obligated to have standard procedures developed and trained for communication under demanding conditions."

SM Henry Hercock (L) and SM Mihai Sochirca (R) during a communications training
(Civil Air Patrol photo by Capt. Gary Mathieson)

We look forward to seeing you there!

No Meeting in Los Alamitos JFTB This Week (20 September, 2018)

Squadron 150 will not be meeting at our headquarters at Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base (JFTB) this week (20 September) as we will be attending a training session with other members of Civil Air Patrol (CAP) South Coast Group 7 on the G1000 flight instrument system that is used in many of CAP's airplanes. 

Civil Air Patrol aircraft equipped with the G1000 flight instrument system.
Civil Air Patrol photo by 1st Lt. Rommel Anacan

The joint Group 7 training will be held at AFI at Fullerton Airport (KFUL) the HQ of Squadron 40. Squadron 150 members-as a reminder this meeting will begin at 1900 hours (7:00pm). AFI is located at 4119 W Commonwealth Ave, Fullerton, CA 92833. 

We will have our regularly scheduled Squadron 150 meeting next week (27 September) and we look forward to seeing you then!

Long Beach Senior Squadron 150 Hosted Talk by 103-Year Old D-Day Veteran

Sam Sachs a 103 year old World War 2 veteran speaking to Civil Air Patrol members and guests
(Civil Air Patrol photo by: 1st Lt. Rommel Anacan)

Squadron 150 was honored to host the August South Coast Group 7 Joint Training which featured 103 year old Sam Sachs, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, World War 2 and D-Day veteran as our special guest speaker. 

Sachs held the rapt attention of the standing room only crowd of approximately 100 people for nearly an hour as he described his training for the D-Day invasion (he played a leading role in the planning of the glider operations on D-Day), the emotions he felt after seeing only one bullet hole in the glider he flew in behind enemy lines with his men in Normandy, and the experience of liberating a Nazi "extermination camp."

After answering a series of questions from the audience, Sachs concluded his remarks with his secrets of living a long life: "Practice moderation in all that you do. Exercise regularly. Manage stress by focusing on the positives."

"It truly was an honor to hear Lt. Col. Sam Sachs speak," said 1st Lt. Rommel Anacan, Long Beach Senior Squadron 150 Deputy Commander, "a rousing standing ovation, a line of people wanting to take a picture and the simple words of 'thank you for serving' embodied the appreciation that Civil Air Patrol members and guests felt for Lieutenant Colonel Sachs."

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Civil Air Patrol, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Force's Total Force. In this role, CAP operates a fleet of 560 aircraft, 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 80 lives annually. CAP's 60,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. In addition, CAP plays a leading role in aerospace/STEM education, and its members serve as mentors to over 25,000 young people participating in CAP's Cadet Programs. Visit www.GoCivilAirPatrol.comor www.CAP.news for more information.

Secretary of Air Force Speaks at CAP National Conference in Anaheim

NOTE: This post was originally published on www.CAP.news

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Lt. Col. Crystal Housman
Civil Air Patrol Public Affairs

Photos by Lt. Col. Robert Bowden
National Photographer

Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson reflected on Civil Air Patrol’s seven-decade history as the civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force along with her personal connection to the organization when she addressed CAP members Aug. 25 during her keynote speech at the National Conference in Anaheim, California.

An audience of 700 members and guests listened as Wilson told the story of her grandfather, George C. “Scotty” Wilson, who flew in Britain’s Royal Air Force and barnstormed around America before his love of aviation and desire to serve led him to CAP during World War II.

"He joined a group of volunteers,” Wilson said.



”He towed targets and chased submarines off the coast in various parts around New England.”

Wilson’s grandfather was one of 125,000 CAP subchasers during the war. They found 173 German subs off America’s coast and attacked 57.

The organization was founded Dec. 1, 1941, predating the creation of the Air Force in September 1947. CAP became the service’s official auxiliary on May 26, 1948, with President Harry S. Truman’s signing of Public Law 80-557.

It was the same year George Wilson, who logged more than 1,000 flying hours with CAP, took the helm as commander of CAP’s New Hampshire Wing. He served in the role from 1948 -1954.

The aviator passed his love of flying down to his granddaughter, who grew up spending Saturdays in an airplane hangar. “I saw joy in that hangar,” Wilson said, drawing a corollary between her youth in aviation and the experiences CAP cadets encounter today. Addressing the organization’s adult members, she continued, “and all of you here are responsible for what the next generation sees.”

She recalled meeting a nervous CAP cadet at the 2017 EAA Oshkosh AirVenture air show in Wisconsin.

“The young people you work with are learning skills, but they are also way out of their comfort zone ... in a safe place,” Wilson said. “It’s when you’re out of your comfort zone growing up that you’re learning what it means to be a responsible member of the community. It causes young people to grow into better versions of themselves.”

Two of those young people have grown to become pilots on this year’s U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds F-16 aerial demonstration team, she said.

“That’s not too shabby for kids who grew up flying Cessnas,” Wilson said, referring to CAP’s fleet of general aviation single-engine planes.

From inspiring the next generation of F-16 pilots to training those of today, Civil Air Patrol has a direct impact on the Air Force, she said. The auxiliary flies an average of 200 air defense missions every year throughout the country.

Federal Aviation Administration rules require remotely piloted aircraft to have an escort when they fly outside military airspace. Last year, CAP logged more than 600 flight hours escorting the New York Air National Guard’s MQ-9 Reapers from their home in Syracuse, New York, to nearby military airspace for training.

Turning to CAP’s long-standing work with the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, Wilson credited the auxiliary with handling 90-95 percent of the center’s inland search and rescue missions.

“Henry David Thoreau was fond of saying, ‘the only people who ever get any place interesting are the people who get lost.’ That goes double for the people who find them,” she said.

The auxiliary has saved 146 lives since the fiscal year began in October.

“That’s 146 people who got to make that phone call home to say, ‘I’m all right. Civil Air Patrol found me,’” Wilson said.

She spoke of the organization’s work with other state and federal agencies, including support missions for the Department of Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Shortly before her speech, CAP’s Texas Wing was lauded by AFNORTH for its work to provide aerial imagery for FEMA during Hurricane Harvey a year earlier.

As Wilson ended her remarks, she defined what the Air Force expects of its Auxiliary Airmen.

“We expect proficiency at your skills: flying, geolocation, emergency management [and] search and rescue,” she said. “We expect you to be good at what you do. We expect you to be safe in your operation.”

“I also expect you to engage the next generation in a way that is positive and meaningful,” Wilson said, turning her focus back to the 25,000 young people currently serving in CAP’s cadet program.

Before her speech, Wilson engaged one of them herself.

“Actually meeting the Secretary of the Air Force and sitting down and talking with her about our program was such an honor,” said Cadet Staff Sgt. Chloe Hirohata of Billie L. LeClair Cadet Squadron 31 in Riverside, California. “It warmed my heart, really, knowing that someone in such a high position of power … understands where we come from, understands our program and understands what we’re all about.”