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Civil Air Patrol Conducts Joint Search and Rescue Exercise

Mission Base Staff Members Discuss Sorties
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Front L-R: Lt. Col. Dominic Strug, Maj. Dion Viventi. Back L-R: Col. Dave Crawford, Maj. Kert Henderson, Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Wayne Byerly (click image to view full size)
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NC and SC Wings Train Together for Disaster Relief Missions

8/2/2012–– North Carolina’s Stanly Co. Airport hosted a total of 10, red, white and blue Civil Air Patrol aircraft from bases in NC and SC on Saturday, July 28, 2012. Situated on the western edge of the Uwharrie Mountains in North Carolina’s Central Piedmont region, this airport has seen significant renovation including a resurfaced, 5,500 ft. runway and a modern, spacious terminal. 

Geologists say that the Uwharries were once a coastal mountain range towering more than 20,000 ft. But the rising of the tectonic plate they sit on moved the Atlantic Ocean some 150 miles to the East.  Rain and winds over the past 500 million years reduced them to rolling foothills with the highest peak a mere 1119 ft.
CAP aircraft began to arrive at the mission base early Saturday morning and briefings for the aircrews and a ground search teams prepared them to begin disaster relief missions in the wake of the simulated hurricane named “Sam.” 
The fully-staffed mission base team began the task of assigning sorties and issuing flight releases to the aircrews, while the ground teams learned the scenarios they would concentrate on. 
Overseeing some 123 volunteer members from both wings, Col. David E. Crawford, took command of his first SAREX since being named NC wing commander. 
Maj. Rob  Mason served as supervising Incident Commander (IC). At the conclusion of the day’s activities Maj. Mason said, “While we have participated in joint operations with other wings during real-world missions, this was the first SAREX utilizing personnel and assets in a joint training mission in recent history. Our people fulfilled all of today’s sorties in a highly efficient manner. I am doubly proud of the excellent work done by our mission base staff.”
Col. Crawford stated during the out-briefing that the 10 aircraft flew a total of 49 sorties for 71.3 hours and consumed 741 gallons of fuel. Six vehicles completed three sorties traveling 738 miles using nearly 55 gallons of fuel. “The successful outcome of this mission attests to the measure of skill our aircrews and ground team members demonstrated. Every planned objective was met and our members performed in a professional and safe manner,” he said.
The SC Wing Commander, Col. Jay Lindler added, “The relationship between our wings, North Carolina and South Carolina, has never been stronger.   Our cooperation ensures that CAP is ready to support the citizens in our two states as well as those in all of Middle East Region.   I am proud of the ability of both wings to answer the call when needed.” Continuing, he said that our Region Commander, Col. Larry Ragland, is urging more joint participation in training as well as real-world missions. Today Col. Ragland, who flew one of the mission aircraft, was given a firsthand view of just how well our people and our assets perform as a team.”
Lt. Col. Francis Smith, SC Wing, served as exercise coordinator and he stated, “We’ve been extremely fortunate over the last several years in that we have not had a major hurricane strike our coastline.  It’s incumbent upon the Civil Air Patrol in the Carolinas to continue to be at full readiness for when that next one comes, and we took a big step in maintaining our readiness over the last 10 days.”

The timing for this exercise coincides with a statement just released by the National Hurricane Center: A WEAK AREA OF LOW PRESSURE ASSOCIATED WITH A TROPICAL WAVE LOCATED ABOUT 1150 MILES WEST-SOUTHWEST OF THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS CONTINUES TO PRODUCE DISORGANIZED SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS APPEAR CONDUCIVE FOR SOME GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT OF THIS LOW OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS.

Additional Stanley Co. Photos HERE