California Wing - Jun 1980

8/4/2019 California Wing - Jun 1980

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Official Publication of California Wing, Civil Air Patrol, Auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force Summer 1980HERO'S AWARDS FOR GROUP 1 CAP MEMBER

Saturday, December 8, 1979. wasJUSt an ordinary day for JeromyeAvery. It wa now early evening andhe wa headed on his way to workwhere he pitch-hits a newswriterwith Radio Station KFWB."I was just driving along whenuddenly I saw columns of blacksmoke. L t eemed to be close and Ididn't ee any fire engines ap-proaching. "Avery made a quick turn at thenext corner and followed the blacksmoke until he came to a house witha man out front with a garden ho e.trying to put out the fire."I got out of the car and a ked theman if he knew if anyone was tillin ide the structure. The man said hedidn't know but the front door waslocked."A ery quickly ran around to theback door but found this wa al 0locked."I ru hed back to the front of thehou e and proceeded to kick thedoorin. I was immediately confronted

with smoke and heat."Being the early part of December,it was now beginning to get dark.avery returned to hi car to get a.fla hlight 0 he could see inside thehou e."I returned to the burning housecrawling through the living room onmy hands and knees. I kept callingout to a see ifanyonewould answer."Receiving no answer, Avery con-tinued to crawl on hi hands andknee through the moke-filledroom. About half-way through theliving room he discovered a womanin a semi-conscious condition lyingon the floor."Look," I aid. "you've got to getout of here. The woman was cough-ing and the smoke was very thick. Igrabbed her by the arms and at-tempted to drag her out, but he wanot a small per on and this proved tobe more difficult than I thought."After what seemed to be a verylong time to Avery, he managed todrag her across the living room floor

LA Fire Department Battalion Chief Ray Williams (right) presents the depart-ment's Special Commendation to CA P Capt. Jeromy e A very, Group 1. whilehis wife. Leslie. and daughter, Jessica. look on. At left is LA Fire DepartmentAssistant Chief Timothy DeLuca.

and ut the front door. where an-other on-looker helped to pull herinto the front yard."Being a first-aid instructor, Iquickly checked the woman 0 er andasked her if anybody else lived \ it hher.The woman aid she had a little girlbut lapsed back into a semi-consciousslate before she could give me any

O N L Y 5 0 A W A R D E DSince its inception in 1960,only 49 Civil Air Patrolmembers have been recog-nized by presentation of theSilver Medal of VaJor. Capt,Jeromye Avery becomes thefiftieth recipient and only

the second California Wingmember to be so honored.further information."Avery decided to return to theburning hou e to see if he could findthe child. He got him elf wet downagain and proceeded to crawl backthrough the house."I kept going until I got to aboutthe middle r the hou e, till callingout and yelling to eeifanyonew uldan wer. I heard nothing and the heatand smoke were now very inten e."

By this time the fire departmentpersonnel had arrived and theyordered A ery out of the hou e. Heobeyed their in tructions and in-formed them that there might beanother person in ide the burningtructure.Avery returned to the woman toee what other treatment he mightrender to prevent her from going intohock. He again a ked her about herchild."She wa a little more coherentCont'd. on page 8 ...


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COMMAND COMMENTA we enter the new decade thereare numerous area we hould talkabout. uch a. safety. challengesrelating to the Cadet Program.operational missions and the like.All these areas have one commonthread: money.CAP requires money and a fairamount of it. While we frequentlydo not see the dollar now. it is there- ask any member who flies his ownairplane on SAR. When this dollarnow ceases. the CAP activitiescease as well.Wing Headquarter is perhaps aninstructive example. We support anincredible amount of activity. all ofwhich is financed through CAP re-sources. These funds naturally in-clude dues - about $25.000 per year- plus activity fees such as confer-ence registrations and the like. Wespend most of our $50,000 budgetupporting the Cadet Program, theSenior Program (which includes theWing Conference), Operations andPublic Affairs. We spend about$750.00 per month on the telephone- and we log all calls. When weoperate a Wing airplane or vehicle,those costs come out of the staff'sbudget or the member' hide. Whatreally kills us - and I mean all of usBEAR FACTS

BEAR FACTS is distributed toall senior and cadet members of theCalifornia Wing, Civil Air Patrol,free of charge. rt is mailed via thirdclass postage directly to the mem-ber's address as provided byNational Headquarters CAP. EachCAP member is urged to pass oncopies of BEAR FACTS to inter-ested individuals and to the media.Material contained herein may bereprinted with a credit line forBEAR FACTS. ALL MATERIALSUBMrTTED WiLL BE CON-STDERED FOR PUBLICATION.SEND YOUR SUBMISSIONS TO:1LT Barbara Abels, CAP4023 W. 176th St.Torrance, CA 90504Wing Commander

COL Edwin Lewis, CAPDirector of InformationLTC Stewart Hall. CAPEditorCPT Barbara Abels CAP

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- is when the Wing ha to bailout aunit' airplane or vehicle due to theunit's inability to pay its own way.Hopefully, those days are over.The Wing Finance Committeeoperates by the book. For awhilewe'll be back-budgeted for two items:a printing pres and a computer sys-tem. The press was bought a fewmonths back. You will see itemsprinted from it before you see thisand it will save us about 65 percentof our costs of printing manual. Thecomputer was programmed over afour-year acquisition cycle, but aeries of events pushed it up. Byspending under $10,000, we havebought a system we cannot outgrow.it has the capacity to service allmember' CAP needs and, in itsspare time, cogitate over the bestmethod of prosecuting the currentSAR mission. Incidentally. the com-puter - which badly needs a name-cost us less than half its currentmarket value. And if it doc not payfor itself. a the press will do. theFinance Committee will have beenbadly misled.How does this all relate to you,possibly a member of a mall squad-ron with a total cash flow of under$500 per year? Let's look at it:Most small units are supported bymember's dues a we are. Further,most mall units are also upportedby the member's picking up much ofthe operating cost individually. Thistype of financing usually means theunit cannot engage in long-rangeplanning a it can't afford it! .The difference between the WingHQ and the malle t unit i one ofdegree perha ps. Not very long ago wewere, for all practical purposes,broke. In our case. one man hasturned that around - LTC LewFreeman, who hored up aU thetimbers and plugged quite a fewholes. Your finance officer can do thesame, but first you have to have afinance officer.Are you spending your unit'smoney on a vehicle you really don'tneed? Do you have items that yourent but really cannot justify? Doyou posses a CAP aircraft that unitfunds. not flying generated funds.support? Doe your unit have afinancial plan which extends beyondnext month?Jarvis 11 is here and if it passes we.oon will be back to upporting allof our aircraft with internal funding.It is evident to us that the unit which

How many lime have you seensomeone shrug and comment "Well.that's the way it goes sometime." Or."Well, that' life!"We all have pet peeve and this isone of ours. We think it' a cop-out,ridiculou - even cowardly - toaccept an unsatisfactory ituationwith the comment. "Well, that's life!"Who says that' the way somethingha to be?It goes against the very grain oftoday's modem, intelligent creativeperson to admit defeat without eventhe pretense of a fight. It is true thatsome things in life are unalterable.Or, are they. Just think of the ad-vance some men and women havemade by not accepting what otherpeople thought was unattainable orimpo sible to accomplish. Wherewould the Thomas Edisons of thiworld be if they had not dared todream the impo sible - and then setout to do it in spite of the doubtingThornases?The next lime you hear omeoneay, "Well, guess that's the way it is,"don't follow the crowd, resign your-self LO failure and just give in. Don'tbe content with a cop-out. Seek andfind other alternatives. Rise to theoccasion and pursue the po itive ide.Perhaps t here really i no solut ion.But, what if - what if there is a way?Put your heads together. Brainstorm.Maybe you'lJ discover a new solutionto an old problem.We think life is more often whatwe have the courage to make it. Ju tbecau e something has alway beendone a certain way is no reason for itto continue. Most circum tancemade by man can be changed by man(or woman). Nothing i forever andresigning yourself to failure is notthe answer.The old adage, "Nothing beats afailure but a try" isjust as good todayas it ever was. Think about it. Whatdo we have to lose?plans ahead now for the projectedfiscal climate of the 80' will be ableto survive in that climate. The unitwhich does not manage its financialaffairs will gradually succumb tothose pres ures.


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SAR THOUGHTS - AN ESSA YON RESPONSIB IL ITYBy Capt. Donald M. BiondichThe other day I was riding in theback of a T-34 on my way home (romgiving some flight checks at Mon-terey. The sun was hining in thecockpit and Iwas enjoying the goodfeeling of having done a lot of pro-ductive flying relating to our role in

CAP.I was Ii tening to the engine com-bined with the occasional radiochatter and thought what pleasantsounds are associated with aviation- sounds which bring back mem-ories, soot h nerves and help re-livesome very pleasant experiences.Suddenly my mind wa broughtback to reality by the sound of anELT - the loneliest, most pitiful cryin the world. A wail from someone

you don't even know telling you theirworld has just been torn apart -HELP!This sound will set off a chain ofevents and reactions from all CAPmembers, triggering the training wehave had and banding us together tohelp. .But, what about that training? Letme quote from the first paragraph ofCAPM 50-15:"The Civil Air Patrol i a noncom-batant auxiliary of the United StatesAir Force that has volunteered itsservices to conduct various emer-gency service missions. These mis-sions are in support of fellowAmericans in distres and should.therefore be conducted profes-sionally and expeditiou Iy. Properorganization, thoroughness and

timeliness cannot be over tressed.The fact that CAP is a volunteerorganization doe not lessen ourresponsibility to do a job well. Byaccepting these missions, CA Paccepts a public respon ibility."Thi one paragraph says it all. Weas members of CA P must be ready toaccept thi responsibility and. aspart of thi acceptance. we must trainso that we can act "profes ionallyand expeditiously."What are you doing to furtheryour training? We now are offeringflight clinics, ground team training,survival and basic levell, but none ofthem are any good unless you partic-ipate and learn. Not only should youtake part. you should be studyingthe manuals that are available toCont'd. on pagt 7 ...

CAL WING CONFERENCE HELD ON THE "QUEEN"The alifornia Wing 1980 Con-ference will offer more than anopportunity to meet old friends,transact ivil Air Patrol businc ,upgrade individual perception ofCAP's public service objectives andrecognize out tanding service toCA P and the nation. it also will be a"crui e'' into history.For some like Maj. Fred Beelby ofthe wing Public Affairs staff, it willevoke powerful memories - mem-ories of a young, Army lieutenantstanding at the rail of a huge oceanliner watching the coast of Englandand a world war constantly comecloser.This year the wing conference willbe held aboard the Queen Mary, the81,000-ton monarch of the seas nowserving as a luxury hotel and conven-tion center in the harbor at LongBeach. And, when Beelby climbs upthe gangplank it will be like goingback in time 36 years to a June day in

1944 when the silouette of LongIsland disappeared over the horizon.Scheduled for August 29-30 andSeptember I - Labor Day weekend- the busy conference schedule stillwill permit attendees plenty of time toexplore the Queen. ours of the ves-sel include the engine room where thehuge, steam turbine still are main-tained as they were when the ship wasat sea. In addition to the structuredtours of the Queen the ship today

has numerous shops and points ofinterest individuals may visit at will.Special attractions include Costeau'sLiving Sea exhibit and the "SeaProbe" - a simulated deep sea cruiseaboard a submarine that encounterssharks in their natural habitat,schools of exotic fish and the erup-tion of an undersea volcano.Four hundred of the Queen's orig-inal first class cabins have been con-verted to guest accomodations by

Hyatt House Hotel - all roomequipped either with twin or king-size beds - and a special rate hasbeen established for CAP members.Reservations still rna be acceptedon a first-come, fir t-served basi'.Advance registrations were accom-modated on a block basis.onference registration costs thisyear are $19 per person at the de k.Pre-registrations received at WingHeadquarters prior to August 22 ar e

$17.For individuals attending the ban-quet only - on Saturday - ticketsare $12.50. A special "conferenceonly" ticket for cadets is $6.The Queen Mary is located just 25minutes from downtown LosAngeles and in sight of downtownLong Beach. Adequate parking isavailable. There are other hotels/motels conveniently located to theQueen.

One of the man-made wonders of the world. the Queen Mary. is the site of the 1980 California Wing Conference.Page 3


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Cadet from ORTH HOLLYWOOD QUADRON 3, EAGLE ROCK FLIGHT 30 and BURBANK ANGELSQUAD RON 63, plus four sen ior members from GROUP J STAFF, received the "Order of the Battered Boot" certifi-

cates from the March of Dime for all-day assistance in the San Fernando Valley phase of the fund raising SuperW alk'80. Recip ien t also included Lt. CoL John Schultz, USAFR who supp lied two-way transportation from Eagle Rock.driving cadets from Fligh t 30 ... MARCH AFB CADET SQUADRON 45 has been extremely bu y these pa t fewmonths ith a variety of activities inc lud ing participating in the Long Beach Grand Prix, R iverside Air Show, ChinoEAA Air Show, Watsonville Fly-in and their very own Open House. The entire squadron attended the Cadet Conferenceand three cadet attended the N 0 chool at Co ta Mesa.The annual ALE lA OMPO ITE QUADRON J 38 Awards Banquet included the fo llowing awards: Outstand-ing Basic Cadet Charles AI7.u biaga; Most I mproved Cadet, Leticia Gonzales; Mo t Outstanting Staff Award , FrancesWood; Outstanding Over-all Cadet Award. Luz Ochoa; and Outstanding Sen ior plaque, 0 nald Sellers. A modelairp lane conte t wa held recently and wa quite a success with IS entrie . First p rize wen t to 0 car Garcia. G ROU PIS'sA 'UAL A W ARDS BANQU T was held at the West Covina Elk 's Lodge. Keynote speaker fortheeven t was Lt. Col.Pau l W iesend , AFR, who also won the G roup Commander's award -a hand-crafted Group 15 eal on a black velvetbackground w ith over 1100 nails and pieces of embroidery silk . made by A lfon 0 Gutierrez. M ost improved quadronwas claimed b L T Tom Valenzuela on behalf of Pa adena quadron 17; Out tanding Squadron, W est San GabrielV alley Cadet Squ adron 7S : Out tanding Sen ior. Pau l Dcut ch of Cable Compo ite 2S ; and Out tanding Cadet. LU7Ochoa of quadron 138. Thi mark the fourth time in five ear that quadron 13 member has won th is p restigiouaward.

Cadet V . "Clare" Cocksedge was pre ented with TRI-VALLEY SQUADRO IS6'. Out tanding Cadet award atthe squadr n 's annual banquet. O ther cadets receiving award were: Chri Kirsch ten , Todd M 0\ n . Chris hun andMonty Wheeler. Squadron IS6 members pon ored a field trip to the Livermore Airport ~ r Marlin venue chool.Over 150 pup il participated in the program which in luded a tour of the term inal build ing , the FA con tro l tower. andcockp it orien tation if) an airp lane f r each student. .. PT H 0BA Y ONA of PEN IN UlA GROUPTWO has beenelected for participation in the Presiden tial Managemcnt In tern Program. Cpt. Bayona will serve his two- ear in tern -h ip ' an ad rn in i tra iiv e as i tan t to the Associate D irector for Programs in the Office of Program 0 rd ination andDevelopment, In ternational ommunications gency in Wa hingion. D.C. 0 er 60 member and their fam ilie werepresentatthePE I SULAGRO P2awardsd inner.Amongtho e elec t d f rhonorswere:Squadron ommanderofthe Year. Linda Tirnrn, adet Squadron 114 Commander; Senior Member of the Year. Kay Mark, Q 0: Best Com-municator. Jim chrn idt. Q 10: Cadet ommander of th Year; R ichard Reynolds. Q 36; Best Cadet M ember. TomHerte. Q 10' Mo t Achie ement Award . Robin Caulfield. Q 36; and Outstanding Reserve As istancc , Peter Cikalo,USAFR, SQ 36. MAJ. . lee White, Commander announced t,he receipt of a $3S0 donation from the Santa ClaraKiwan is [or CAP recruiting activities with in anta Clara Coun ty.

Honored at the B H ITI CADET QUADRON lO T award banquet were: quadron ornmander's A, ardJenn Fung; Outstanding adet in Leadersh ip, Jenny Fung ; and Out tanding adct, COil Mc lean. Two "so lo night"cho larsh ip were awarded by MAJ Roger Griffin , ommander, t Stuart Jaye and Joe Mansueto . CPT Dale Holubreceived a pecial award at a ceremony dedicating the newly acquired headquarter build ing at the Torrance Airportike M i ile ite. u ring the past seven years, Capt. Holub wa the No. One pers n s pearheading the drive to obtain u e

ofthefacilityforthesquadron ... Membe-r of WE TBAYCOMPO ITESQ ADR 110, A C R joinedother AP units from the Bay Area in a weekend of flying activity. c urte y f U .. Naval Reserve, quadron P 91.ba ed at Moffett aval Air Station . At least 20 C P personnel were offered the opportun ity to ride along during theseroutine train ing m i ion t ob erve fir t hand how the Na y maintains con tinued read iness in its mi ion for .ubrnarineurveillancc. Member from Q 110 organized and e ecuted a training se ion for earch and re cue per onnel attock ton Metropolitan Airport. MAJ Jim Howell, I T Denni ord n , and their several volun teer instructor led the

attendee. through a series of lecture on search technique '. communicati n . u r ival. .afety. emergency techniques andn ig ht lin e p ro ced ure.

One of TA ROSA QUA ORO l l S' cadet attended the fam u. Challenger School in Washington. ErickGelhaus completed the grueling course. saying that he participated in 300-foo t cliff rappelling, a well as many otherexciting event. He completed the course as one of the highest g raduates from Californ ia W ing ... PRE 1010OF ANFRA I COCOMPOSIT SQ ADRO 86.atlatrep rt.wa meeting inRo mllSofthePsych logy Build ingatL an Francisco State Uni er ity, The facilities belong to the Air Force R T and 1M Ann ray, Arnold Soc iety!AFROTC. ha been very helpful to the squadron . The squadron is also grateful to Lt. Col. Greeley, Professor ofAer space tudies, for making it pos ible to ho ld squadron meetings at the State.Page 4


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CPT W illiam McDaniel recen tly ended a proud career with CAP. CPT McDaniel served the SanBernardino community for 36 years starting in 1944 when Californ ia W ing wa located on Spring Street. G roup I andSAN BERNARDINO SENIOR SQ 5 sponsored a Safety Seminar at Norton AFB. Pilots attend ing the ail-day ses ionreceived life-saving tips from the FAA, the m ilitary and CAP. Special thank to CPT A I Woss and L C RichardHeitman for a mo t successfu l eminar.

Cadet Major Raymond Pren tice of JON E. KRAMER MEMORIAL SQUADRON TEN, was presen ted theAmcliaEarhart Award by Californ ia W ing Commander COL Ed Lewis. Prentice is a first-year student at the College of SanMateo and live in Redwood City. His i the fir t Earhart Award earned at Squadron Ten in the last five years. BryanBoyle and Ray Pren tice attended the adet Officer Ba ic Course held at Vandenberg AFB ... HILLCOMBERSCOMPOSITE SQUADRON 22 and its per onnel received an impressive number of awards at the Group 4 AwardsBanquet. Squadron 22 was named first runnerup to Squadron 14 for Squadron of the Year. Doug White was namedGroup 4 Pilo t of the Year, and Ste e Humphrey was named Group 4 Outstanding Cadet of the Year. Cadet BarbaraLisch received her General B illy M itchell Aerospace Award from LTC Shirley Timm .At la t rep rt, YPR ESS SE lOR SQU ADRON 33 was still looking for a home. If no t forthe con tinued hosp italityof John and Mary Bas eu, it appear the squadron meetings w uld be held on the wings of their T-34. W elcome aboardto new member Russell Weil. a p ilo t with Yosemite irlines ... SAN FERNANDO AIRPORTSE lOR QUADRON35 ho ted a meeting of airplane owners, in terested p ilo ts, Red Baron A ir Ads, Able Air, Shortfield Flying Ser icc andth er interested p arti !> to d iscuss what cou ld be done to save the San Fernando Airport from closing. A big round of

app lause to member' fo r the c cellcnt job they did leaning up and tak ing inven tory of the squ dron' upplv depot ...M embers f TAMA PAIS ADET SQ ADRO I 38 ha e been wearing big grin ince they acquired ~ quadronvehicle ... F. G . P W -RS Q ADRON 39, LA A TER, reports that quadron Commander Chuck iller habecome a Major, Joan poerer was recen tly made cap tain and al 0 is a certified CAP check p ilot. Congratu lations alsoto Bill Finstad who received his certificate of p rofic iency as ground operations officer and communications acti it .

Wedding congratulation to , QUADRON 51. SANTA MO ICA. commander Ronald Butts and his nev brid e M aryKU7ak, v ho were married in March . Squadron 51 was selected the out tand ing quadron in Group I for 1979 becau e ithad the m st p r motions, most cadet oruracts completed, a high recru itment rate and an increa e in membersh ip ...Marcia Zoeier recen tly look command of ORTH ORANG OUNTY OM POSITE. QUADRO 56and hope: toin troduce more young peop le to the world of n ight through the g lider p rogram . Train ing i currently taking place atTwentyn ine Palms ... WESTSAN GABRI EL VALLEY ADET SQUADRON 75 was selected as G roup 15 utstand-ing quadron for 1979. MAJ arl Raymondo. ornrnander, added hi thanks to each and every squadron member formaking this award possible ... COM POSIT - QUADRON 77 i offering a wide range of acti ities to its membersincluding model rocketry program., ranger progrrns, a course in war gaming and a course in rock climbing and mountainte ch niq u es .

W elcome to the following new SQUADRON 80 members: James Brack ton , Henri Geier. Manuel lrueriano andKenneth Picco lino ... Cadet Grace Muller, PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO COMPOSITE QUADRON 86. hasjo ined the Air Force Rc er e, adet M ark orson i attend ing the University of San Francisco , ha ing received a four-year cho larsh ip through the Arm. Cadets of the un it p re erued a CAP program at Lowell H igh School, generatingin terest in th e squ ad ro n.

BIRD STORY OF TH YEAR - We've all heard the c liche, 'A bird in the hand i worth two in the bush," but askTom O 'Donnell where he would rather have had the bird when it smashed th rough the w indsh ield of h i C-152.O'Donnel l is a CFI with SQUADRO 110 and was near Stock ton with a studen t when they in tercep ted a hav k inn igh t who did not cornplj with the ARs CThou shalt bear to the righ t when on an intercep t cour e.) Anywa , thebird era hed in to the co kpit, wild ly thrashed around. scarring up both O 'Donnell an d his studen t before the couldjam it ou t the door. I n the melee, O 'Donnell' jacket joined the bird in the wild blue y nder. and in I he pocket wa - youguessed it - h is wallet and an $ 00 gold police badge. The shaken-up pilo ts landed afely at Stock ton and through localpolice help backtracked and found the fallen jacket and badge, bu t no wallet. Sans money. they gOI home with the help ofride h itched from local po lice - from county border to coun ty border. (Thank to CPT Hal S toner, QUA DR 110.fo r s ha rin g this u nu ual tory w ith u .)EDITOR'S NOTE - Input for AROUND THE W LNG is taken largely from unit newsletters. Spare perm itting , we will try top rin t something from each participating unit. If yow ' unit is no t rep resen ted in th is issue, it may be because we are notreceiving your newsletter or we ran out of space (if 0 watch for the next issue). Send one copy of all newsletter to Editor,BE~ FACTS, 4023 W est 176th Street, Torrance, CA 90504.

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GLIDER PROGRAM OFF AND "FLY ING ""I like the quiet. I've got aboutthree hour of powered time, but Ilike gliding best!"That's how C/Msgt. ShawnMcDermott feels after five hours ofglider instruction - 16 flights in thepast nine months. Shawn, who isabout to solo in the Group 15 gliderat Twentynine Palm Airport in the

Southern California high desert northof Palm Springs, is one of severalcadets already well on the way to be-

coming rated glider pilots in theprogram Jaunched only a year ago.Currently, all cadet squadrons inGroup 15 arc scheduled to partici-pate in the program. As additionalglider-rated, certified flight instruc-tor (CFI) become available, theprogram will be thrown open toother units throughout the state. Inaddition, an aggressive effort is beingmade to check out rated CA P pilotsin the Schweitzer 2-33A craft.

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2LT Marcy Zoeter gives Cadet M ISgt Shawn Mcisermou last-mimne pointersprior to beginning a training flight with instructor Sf M Mike Wille, in the Group15 glider.

LJ', John Me Mahon (foreground) and Capt. Bob ronsltey spru 'e up theSchweitzer 2-33 during its stay at Hemet. McMahon and Cronshey were among'hefirst three pilots 10 check our in the glider.Page 6

The glider project wa spear-headed by Capl. Ernest Pearson,who received his first airplane rideas a CA P cadet and went on lO ac-quire every pilot rating including anATR and instructor. For Pearson,it was a labor of love.As he puts it,"One of my main reasons for beingwith the CAP i giving cadets theopportunity and motivation to learnto fly. I remember that's how I gotmy start in aviation and I hope thesecadets will go on to help teach futurecadets."

All a cadet needs to obtain a gliderpilot certificate is to be at least J 4years old, have a student pilot'sLicense and complete ground andflight training in accordance withFAR Part 61.The transition from powered pilotto glider-rated pilot also is quite

simple. Allthat is required is 10solos,each of which must include a 360degree turn, two proficiency checkand final night check.Gelling the program going hasbeen a long haul. Initially, it tookmore than a year of negotiation withationaJ Headquarters to acquirethe glider rom the Illinois Wing. Theaircraft first was ba cd at HcmetRyan Airport southeast of Riverside,one of several active glider field inthe area. Several Group 15 pilots -Capt. Henry Beck (who since has

transferred to Colorado Wing), LTCJohn McMahon and Capt. RobertCronshey - soon were checked outand orientation nights for cadetsbegun. However glider tows pro-vided by the commercial operatorproved expensive - $13 fora 3,000-foot tow. And, there were unresolvedlegal and operational questionsabout using CAP or privately-ownedaircraft.Ultimately the glider was movedto Twentynine Palms where com-mercial tows are less expensive andwhere the airport management willpermit tows by outside aircraft. Theproblem of using CA P and pri ateaircraft also were olved. Today,tows can be provided by the 29 PalmSoaring Club's Pawnee 235, a GroupI 0-1. a pri ate 0-1 owned by Maj.Dave Pierson of quadran 129 and aWilga provided by IL PaulDeutsch. Because of its power, thebest tows come from the Pawneeoperated by club pilot Tom

Cont'd. on page 8 ...


7/8

FIRST AWARDS FOR TORRANCE SQUADRON"Every member will be a winner,"vowed Capt. Don Caprio, com-mander of Torrance enior Squad-ron 129 as he announced the firstawards banquet ever held by the 14-year-old unit.Caprio was right. Every memberof the squadron was recognized for

service performed over the years.Receiving top trophy as Outstandingquadron Member for 1979 wasCapt. George Ortega. Trophies forspecial acts were presented to: Maj.Jerry Waymire. Maj. Dave HawkinsCapt. Don Caprio. ILT GaryHan on, I LT Ro ernary DeAngelo.I LT Harry Woolway. Capt. BobPeters and Maj. David Pierson. Inaddition. long overdue find andservice ribbons were presented tomost of the member.

The successful affair was spear-headed by ILT Harry Woolway, whoorganized and accomplished allpublicity for the event which was wellattended by squadron members.family. friends, and communityleaders. Sharing the M.e. spotlightwith Woolway wa former com-mander. Lt. Col. Bob Lay.

Joining in the festivities were Lt.CoL. George Fisher, who was the firstcommander of the squadron 14yearsago; Capt. Ernest Oberheim, whoserved as commander for six andone-half years; and Lt. Col. Bob Lay.immediate past commander for thepast three years.Representing the California WingCommander was Lt. Col. ErnestJohnson. who was then Long BeachGroup 7 commander.Local community officials re-ceiving special recognition for theirsupport of the CAP squadron were:Torrance Airport Manager BillCritchfield; Chuck Nay, TorranceAirport Noi e Abatement enter;Jim McGregor Lomita New re-

porter; Daily Breeze new paper; andlocal businesses.A pecial gift to Squadron 129wasthe evening's musical entertainmentwhich was provided by Lt. Wool-way's two sons. Harry andChristopher.In spite of the hard work and extraeffort, squadron members plan tomake the awards banquet an annualevent."Fourteen years is just too longto wait," commented ommanderCapt. Don Caprio.

Squadron 156 Aerospace Education Officer Carols n St aedel (left) \I ith TomHeineman (center) and Brent Saunders (right) showing their CA P Certificates0/ Appreciation. Squadron Commander Capt. Fred Staedel and OperationsOfficer Don Davis are in the background. Heineman and Saunders who areaffiliated with a local school TV program. produced an lS-minute A E programfor kindergarten through fourth grade students.SAR ... cont'd. from page 3further your training.When I accept a grid assignment Ido so with the thought of doing thevery best I know how. I try to use allthe training I have gained so far andkeep an open mind to learn morefrom the mission and my aircrew.When we participate in trainingexercises, we are there to learn 0that when a mis ion i activated, wecan use what we have learned to help.This is no game - we are doingajobwhere human lives are at stake. Idon't know about you, but I WOUldn'tbe able to sleep at night if I flew ami sion knowing I did not give it myall. Did I miss that downed aircraftin my grid because I was not payingattention?Reflect a moment on thi wordfrom the fir t paragraph of CAPM50-15, "Professionally."Are we accepting the responsibilityto act professionally? Do we conductourselves as professionals when wereport to a search base? Do we takepride in our uniform and flight suitsso that we not only act as profes-sionals, but look like professionalsas well? Remember that we are in thepublic's eye more than we realizewhen we take on the responsibilityto accept one of these mi sions.When you think about it, if you werea relative or member of the family ofsomeone who is down. how wouldyou feel observing what goe on at asearch base. We in the CaliforniaWing of CAP are the best trained.

most efficient of any Wing, and it'about time that we realized that weare indeed professionals and actthat way.Training, as you can ee, is the keyto our uccessful role in CAP. A welltrained unit is a proud unit. Themanner in which they conduct them-selves and the way they dress reflectthis pride to those we erve - ourfellow Americans.Let us continue to make the mostof the training that i available. Letus even go a step further by studyingand reviewing the material that willhelp train us to do our job aprofessionals.iviJ A ir Patrol has a very bigpart of Aviation History. from itsoriginal role in coastal patrol to itspresent role in Search and Re cue.We a member, at this very mo-ment, are helping to write anotherchapter of Aviation History. Let'swrite a proud chapter.P.S. The ELT was secured in aparked aircraft later that day, butwe were ready to put our training towork ... are you?(Editor's Note: Capt. Biondich hasbeen flying for 25 years and has over5000 hours of flight time. He holdsthe ratings of crt. MELS. COMMfNST.. and. as far as we know. is theonly check pilot in the U.S. qualifiedand current in all of the followingcorporate aircraft at one time:Birddog, Beaver. T-34. C-310 andC-206.)Page 7


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HERO ... cont'd (rom page 1now and said that the little girl hadbeen with her. .Iu t then a neigh borcame forward and said that the childwa safe with her."Avery notified the fire departmentpersonnel and monitored thewoman's condition until the para-medics arrived on the scene.Avery's heroic actions earned hima Special Commendation from theCity of Los Angeles Fire Departmentfor " ... complete disregard for yourown personal safety ... performanceunder adverse conditions demon-strating a high level of initiative andresponsibility ... provides an excel-lent example for other to follow."This, however, was not the end ofthe recognition for Avery's heroism.At the Pacific Region Conferenceit was announced he would receiveCAP's Silver Medal of Valor. It willbe presented to him by CaliforniaWing Commander Col. Edwin Lewisat the upcoming wing conference.In spite of the commendations andmedals, Avery doesn't consider him-self a hero."It really didn't cross my mind todo it. 1 guess I'm always in the habitof thinking if a certain thing hap-pened, what would [ do. I suppose

HEADQUARTERSCALIFORNIA WING -CIVIL AIR PATROLAuxiliary of the United States Air ForceBLDG. 834, NAVAL SUPPLY CENTER

OAKLAND, CA 94625

Page 8

my reactions were just rote - whatI recalled from my training."Avery began his CA P career as acadet in 1968, breaking service whenhe was in Navy ROTC at the Univer-sity of California at Los Angeles. Herejoined CAP in 1975 and has servedas squadron commander, financeofficer, communications officer,personnel officer, administrativeofficer and is mission qualified asInformation Officer and Observer(trainee). Avery currently holds therank of Captain and erved as PublicAffairs Officer (community rela-tions) with Group I Headquarters.As far as the rescue it elf was con-cerned, Avery happened to be theright man in the right place at theright time.Avery comments,"I think William F. Halsey aid itbest. There are no great men; onlygreat deed that have to be done byordinary men."GLIDER ... cont'd, (rom page 6McEriane. The Pawnee gets theglider to 2,000 feet in three minutesand 3 000 in just 4.5 minutes.Ernie Pearson, who moved toColorado and happily returned toCalifornia Wing this year serves astechnical manager of the aircraft.

2LT Marcy Zoeier, commander ofSq. 56 at Fullerton, is overall pro-gram manager. Marcy is glider rated- she began flying gliders eight yearsago in CAP and now has more than150 hours. Chief instructor for theprogram is S/M Mike Willey, aglider CFI with more than 800 hours.Coming in to the program is Capt.Jim Wissman of Sq. 21, a CFI nowacquiring a glider rating. WithPear on, the program soon will havethree instructors but, more areneeded.

"The operation still is understaffed," according to Zoeter, "espe-cially in terms of qualified ground per-sonnel. I L takes two trained groundhandlers on the line at all times whenthe aircraft is f lying, For a full day'sflying, especially in the desert heatduring the summer (and this is usu-ally when the thermals are best), weneed several relief teams."Currently, Zoeter considers W/0Ralph Cobb (a cadet turned seniorjust a year ago) "my right hand on theground."Personnel interested in workingwith the glider program are asked tocontact either Zoeter at Squadron 56or LTC Pat Faulkner, Group 15commander.

NONPROFITORGANIZATIONU .S . POSTAGEPAIDPermit No. 13158San Francisco, CA

California Wing - Jun 1980

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