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 WingTipsThe official publication of Minnesota W ing Civil Air Patrol May 2005

FAA awards Thompson its Wright Brothers Master Pilot Awardby Maj. Shannon Bauer,

Viking Squadron

The Federal Aviation

Administration awarded Lt.

Col. John Paul Thompson,Viking Squadron, its Wright

Brothers Master Pilot

Award at the MinnesotaWing Conference in

Breezy Point, Minn.,April 29-May 1.

Thompson is the first pilot

in Minnesota to receive thisdistinguished award.

This FAA award is

designed to recognize pilotsthat have been involved in

aviation for 50 or more

years with a record of safeoperations and outstanding

achievement. To receive the

award, the pilot must have

soloed 50 years ago andstill be an active flyer, be

recommended by at least

three certified pilots, pro-vide documentation of avia-

tion ratings and experience

and not be involved in anyaviation accidents.

Thompson served as a pilotin the U.S. Air Force from

1953 to 1973, retiring as a

lieutenant colonel. He firstsoloed in 1953 in an AT-6

Texan. During his Air Forcecareer, he additionally flew

the T-33 Shooting Star, the

L-19 Birddog, the F-84GThunderjet, the F-86 Sabre

and the C-123 Provider,

FAA principal operations inspector Gary Pendleton

(right) presented the Wright Brothers Master Pilot

Award to Lt. Col. Paul Thompson, Viking Squadron

(center). Members of Thompson's family are standingwith him. Photo by 1st Lt. Mark Helseth, Viking

SquadronPilot Award / Page 2

Military Chaplain Association honors Mikitta with Distinguished Service awardChaplain Lt. Col. Donald

Mikitta, Jr., Red WingSquadron, Minnesota Wing

headquarters and NorthCentral Region, received

the Distinguished Service

award for a Civil Air PatrolChaplain during the 2005

Military ChaplainAssociation National

Institute Recognition

Ceremony, in Alexandria,Va., April 14

Mikitta is a 25-year CAP

veteran. He presently servesas the Minnesota Wing

director of cadet programs,

the North Central Regiondeputy chaplain and the

Red Wing Squadron chap-lain, as well as is a Boy

Scout chaplain to Troop 32

in Red Wing."He has been considered a

role model for chaplains in

the North Central Regionfor many years," said

Chaplain Lt. Col. RonTottingham, North Central

Region.

Mikitta has been a memberof CAP since 1979. In

2004, he received the CAP

headquarter’s SeniorChaplain of the Year award.

Mikitta’s vision is to equip

the CAP youth to becomedynamic leaders by provid-

ing living leadership labora-tories experiences. He uses

the ministry of presence to

expose the young membersto spiritual truths, and to

show his concern in theirsuccess.

MCA holds the National

Recognition Ceremonyeach year in conjunction

with its National Institute.

This year, the conferencedrew around 100 members

from throughout the nation.The three-day event includ-

ed business meetings, the

election of new nationalofficers and training semi-

nars.

MCA is the professionalorganization for chaplains

of the Army, Navy, AirForce, Department of 

Veterans Affairs and the

Civil Air Patrol.

MCA Award / Page 3

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by Col. Steve Miller,

wing commander 

By the time this WingTips

is published, we completed

our 2005 wing conference.Those members whoattended the conference

should take back to theirunits information they

picked up from the wing

staff and from members inother units.

This forum, the wing con-

ference, is an excellent wayin which to learn more

about CAP, meet othermembers and, overall, have

an enjoyable weekend.

The subject of communica-tions comes up all time.

Being a "comm guy," how-ever, I am not talking about

radio communications. I am

referring to communicatingwith family members, fel-

low squadron members,

members from differentsquadrons/groups and Wing

staff members.

What is the most effective

way to get a really impor-

tant message out to a spe-cific person or group of 

people? It really dependson the message and the tar-

get audience.Due to the ease of usingemail, I believe we use it

for way too many tasks. Itis very easy to shoot off a

note to someone. And yes,

for a call down or for dis-tributing information to a

broad audience, email is anexcellent and economical

tool.

However, for importantitems, it is my opinion and

personal standard, thephone is a better communi-

cation tool. Use of a phone

allows emotions to be con-veyed and immediate feed-

 WingTips is a publication of 

Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol,U.S. Air Force Auxiliary

P.O. Box 11230, St. Paul, MN 55111

www.mncap.orgwingtips@mncap.org

The views expressed, either written or implied, are not neces-sarily those of the U.S. Air Force, the Civil Air Patrol or

Minnesota Wing. Submissions should be sent to the aboveemail address.

Wing Commander: Col. Steve Miller

Wingtips Editor: Maj. Shannon Bauer

Commander’s Column: Phone often better to use than email

Col. Steve Miller

back given.

Email is quick in the short

run. However, in the long

run, you may spend more

time trying to clarify your-self or straighten out some-thing that was taken out of 

contest. By picking up the

phone and discussing yoursubject, you will accom-

plish a lot more.

First of all, you will receiveinstant feedback. The per-

son with whom you arespeaking can immediately

ask for clarification onsomething you just said.

Second, when you read a

sentence, you do not hearthe inflection or tone of 

voice from the writer. You

don't know if the writer ispulling your leg, being sar-

castic with you or veryserious. An example of this

would be if you receive amessage such as "That's

 just great!" This sentencecould be perceived several

ways.When you talk with people,voices convey emotion,

such as happiness, anger,

teasing or humor. Instantfeedback is extremely

important in communica-tions. It makes communi-

cating effective. It doesn't

waste time with misinter-preted messages.

When communication isreally important, emailsmay be misunderstood. For

subjects that may be misin-terpreted, let's all make an

effort, at all levels of CAP,to pick up the phone and

call instead of using email.

-Semper Vigilans

Page 2 WingTips May 2005

which he flew on troop re-supply and night flare missionsin Vietnam, often in isolated areas. For his gallantry and

skill exhibited during these missions he was awarded theBronze Star and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Thompson continues to fly in CAP today as a Cessna 172

mission pilot. He has been an active member of Civil AirPatrol and Viking Squadron for more than three years.

Unbeknownst to Thompson, members of his squadronnominated him for this award.

Gary Pendleton, FAA principal operations inspector, pre-

sented Thompson with his award in front of his family andfriends. He said, this award “speaks to that passion for

excellence which has been realized in the ability to satisfy

a vital spiritual need, the need for connection to somethinglarger than ourselves, to feel alive, to make us certain that

we walk this planet for some purpose.” And Thompson,he continued, “exemplifies that passion for excellence.”

Pilot Award / from Page 1

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May 2005 WingTips Page 3

(Left to Right) Chaplain Col. John Murdoch, MilitaryChaplain Association president; Chaplain Lt. Col. Don

Mikitta; and Lt. Col. Robert Hicks, deputy director of 

CAP Chaplain Services.

Membership is made up of all faith groups and those

who are in the active serv-ice, Reserve, Guard, retired

or former chaplains. MCA

is an educational organiza-tion providing training

opportunities for chaplainsand a national magazine for

and about chaplains.

MCA is an advocacy groupthat is the voice of the

chaplaincy in Washington,D.C.; and nationally. MCA

is the only national organi-

zation to strengthen thebonds of friendship and

cooperation between chap-

lains that covers all services

and faith groups.

For more information onMCA, see <www.mca-

usa.org>.

MCA Award / 

from Page 1

by 2nd Lt. Tyra Cerny

St. Paul Squadron

St. Paul Squadron cadetssuccessfully completed

flight line marshallingtraining at Fleming Field in

South St. Paul, April 3.

Exceptional flight linetraining was planned and

executed by Lt. Col. Paul

Adams, with assistancefrom 1st Lt. Matthew

Barrett and C/2 Lt. Tyra

Cerny.

The training began in the

classroom and was fol-lowed, in the afternoon, by

marshalling CAP aircraft

on the flight line. The stu-dents were led through

drills and protocol withemphasis on safety.

The class was held in

preparation of the Group 3

Search and Rescue

Exercise, or SAREX, to be

hosted by St. PaulSquadron in August. The

cadets are excited to use the

newly acquired skills,

where they will play a vital

role in flight line mar-shalling and aircraft safety.

St. Paul cadets train forupcoming Group 3 exercise

C/AB Dominic Marchetti,

St. Paul Squadron, learns

flight line marshalling

skills April 3.

Minnesota’s CadetAdvisory Council elects

new officersMinnesota Wing’s Cadet Advisory Council elected

new officers at its April 1 meeting in Breezy

Point, Minn. (Left to Right) Cadet Patricia Friese,

Valley, will serve as vice chair; Cadet Brian

Anderson, 130th, will serve as chair; and Cadet

Matt Dunlevy, Anoka, will serve as recorder.

Photo by Lt. Col. Don Mikitta

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NONPROFIT ORG.

US POSTAGE PAIDPERMIT NO. 7109

ST.PAUL, MN

Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol,U.S. Air Force Auxiliary

P.O. Box 11230, St. Paul, MN 55111

Senior member and cadetofficer promotions

Major

Sherrie Herzfeld, AnokaJim Abeler, Matt Dean, Tom Emmer, Patricia Pariseau and

Neil Peterson - all Minnesota State Legislative

Captain

William Hienz, Viking; Richard High, Grand Rapids;

Douglas Ployhar, 130th; Mark Robbins, North Hennepin;

Antonio Rossini, 130th; and Eugene Sellen, Valley

1st Lt.

Melinda Brown, Susan Holmgren

and Thomas Lucey - all Anoka

2nd Lt.

Michael Pierce, Owatonna; Tyrel Schue, Grand Rapids;

and Robert Swearengin, Viking

C/Col.Jacob Heffron, Crow Wing

C/Capt.

Joshua Waddell, Viking

C/2nd Lt.

Steven Parker, North Star and Scott Wright, Duluth

Page 4 WingTips May 2005

by Capt. Paulette Odette

Group One sponsored aSquadron Leadership

Course, or SLS, in Grand

Rapids, Minn., April 2-3.Grand Rapids Squadron

hosted the event.

The graduates included:

Capt. Jim Harris, 1st Lts.

Dianne Harris and BrianGrey and 2nd Lt. Tom Hill,

Cass County Squadron; 1stLts. Terrance Best and Ken

Hartwig and TFO Mat

Shadrick, Northland

Squadron; 1st Lt. EarlGibson and SM MikeBlowers, Northwest

Minnesota Squadron; 2nd

Lts. Penny Hadrava andFred Hoshal and SMs

Adam Dimich, TomFlemming and Tyrel Shue,

Grand Rapids Squadron;and 2nd Lt. Mark Johnston,

Duluth Squadron.Instructors and staff includ-ed: Cols. Steve Miller and

Kevin Sliwinski, MinnesotaWing; Bill Willis,

Minnesota state director;

Maj. Dave Odette, GroupOne; Maj. Bob Stein,

Grand Rapids Squadron;Capt. Rich Yeager, Cass

County Squadron; and

Capt. Brian Freseman,Duluth Squadron. Maj.

Dave Odette served as thedirector, Capt. Paulette

Odette as assistant director

and 1st Lt. Jim Miller aslogistics officer.

Group One sponsors senior development

 D o n ’ t  m i s s

  t h e  J u n e  i s

 s u e  f o r 

 c o v e r a g e  o

 f  t h e  2 0 0 5  M

 i n n e s o t a

 W i n g  C o n f e

 r e n c e !