CAPblog

Can CAP Become as Relevant Now as 1941?

With the price of a gallon of 100LL holding around $5, and expecting further clearance to $6, $7 or even $8 a gallon (No kidding! As of 5 May, it was $7.57/gal at Signature Flight Service at KORD.. CRAZY!), GA flying will be taking it on the chin, economically speaking,  over the coming months or maybe even years.  Already the airports in my area are reporting reduced GA operations and one CAP member reported to me that his airport FBO manager told him the majority of the 100LL they dispense lately seems be going into CAP planes. (the rest of their traffic being kerosene burners)

So what does that have to do with CAP, you ask?

::More after the jump!

Pineda Goes Freelance

The United States Ranger Corps. is a volunteer organization who specialize in working with governmental entities, law enforcement and others, who perform search and rescue missions, community service and much more. Be sure to check back here to visit the site when its complete.

(under construction) U.S. Ranger Corps
via the designer via these wags

:: I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

This joker just doesn't know when to give up.

If I was these guys, I would be furious.

New Combat Role for CAP?

[Defense Secretary] Gates wants the services to think “beyond Predator and Reaper” and consider quick and dirty ideas like putting “sensors on a Cessna.”
- Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell

This is in response to the growing brouhaha  over the SECDEF's recent comments about the Air Forces role in war. Here's the rest of today's post from the AFA...

What’s Not In?: A task force looking for ways to get more ISR [Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance] assets into the fight in Iraq and Afghanistan will be looking at “the inventory of what we have and can we get it over there,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at a Pentagon press conference April 23. Gates said he wants all the services to see if there are different ways of doing ISR training, so “maybe we can squeeze a little bit more” of them into the battle zone. He wants the task force—to be headed by Brad Berkson, the Pentagon’s Program Analysis and Evaluation chief—to look at manned aircraft as well as unmanned and to “see what we have in the other commands here in the United States.” After taking inventory, the task force will go to the theater and see if the users “are making maximum possible use of the assets they have.” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell later told the Daily Report Gates wants more unconventional ideas and a willingness to shrug off habits that could be slowing the addition of ISR assets to the war zones. Specifically, Morrell said Gates is unconvinced that UAVs must be operated by pilots, which USAF says is necessary to operate safely in busy airspace. Other services don’t agree, he said. It takes a year to train a pilot, and USAF has a limited supply of them. Gates said that “in too many instances, there is a tendency to look out a year or two years or three years in terms of programs and … processes as usual and not enough willingness to think out of the box and how do we get more help to the theater now.” Morrell said Gates wants the services to think “beyond Predator and Reaper” and consider quick and dirty ideas like putting “sensors on a Cessna.” Gates wants the new task force to make an initial report in just a week and to develop a plan within 90 days. Gates said. “I’ve found that perhaps the most effective way to get things done around here is to put pretty short deadlines on things.”

Air Force Magazine: Daily Report

:: NOTE TO THE FOLKS DOWN @ MAXWELL - Please get on the stick here and get CAP back in the fight... this is your chance. No kidding.

Would I go?

If I was asked. Yes I would.

Would it be for everyone?

No, it would not.

extremis malis extrema remedia
[extreme times call for extreme measures]

No Air Force unit could help spin up an idea like this faster than CAP.

Of course, the idea makes too much sense for the JAGs not to screw it up.

...but a Presidential order, or action by Congress, could get the boots on the ground more resources...

...and maybe, just maybe...

...the Auxies over here could be what the mission needs over there.

A Geriatric Air Force?

Air Force officials are warning that unless their budget is increased dramatically, and soon, the military's high-flying branch won't dominate the skies as it has for decades.

After more than seven years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Air Force's aging jet fighters, bombers, cargo aircraft and gunships are at the breaking point, they say, and expensive, ultramodern replacements are needed fast.

"What we've done is put the requirement on the table that says, 'If we're going to do the missions you're going to ask us to do, it will require this kind of investment,"' Maj. Gen. Paul Selva, the Air Force's director of strategic planning, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "The Air Force is going to be confronting a major procurement crisis because it can't buy all the things that it absolutely needs," said Dov Zakheim, a former Pentagon comptroller. "It's going to force us to rethink, yet again, what is the strategy we want? What can we give up?"

"One of the reasons their equipment has aged so much is because they continue to move ahead with the development and presumed acquisition of new weapon systems that cost two to three times as much as the systems they are replacing," Kosiak said. "It's like replacing a Toyota with a Mercedes."

CNN: Generals warn of 'geriatric Air Force'

:: heh... insert your own joke about  geriatric, and CAP here.

We don't call it the Silver Hair Patrol for nuttin'.

Recently, 4 guys got selected to fly the Raptor. 4 guys!

...and the air force put out a press release.

At this rate it will be easier to get flight time in the Astronaut Corps!

I guess the one good thing about being a CAP officer is...

I have zero chance of being locked up in a box flying a UAS.

Gosh, the day may come when the Air Force operators pilots point to us and say,

"Those CAP guys have all the fun."

Ranger, fmr. Cadet Killed in Iraq

Military service was the path Sgt. Steven C. Ganczewski chose early in life, and his determination never wavered, even when his grades at Niagara Falls High School would have easily gained him admission to a good college.

“He got a lot of [resistance] from guidance counselors when he said he was joining the Army,” said his father, Mark. “They didn’t understand why someone with his potential would join the Army.”

Ganczewski wanted to be an Army Ranger, and it was in that role that he died. The Pentagon announced Sunday that the 22-year-old husband and father was killed during combat operations Friday in Balad, Iraq, making him the 32nd member of the military from Western New York killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

When he left the service and returned to Niagara Falls, Ganczewski passed along his fascination with aircraft to his son, taking him to the air shows at the Niagara Falls air base.

During one of those visits, Steve Ganczewski saw a pamphlet for the Civil Air Patrol and, at age 12, he joined. By the time he left five years later, he was cadet commander.

“We knew pretty much right away that [the military] was what he wanted to do,” said high school friend A.J. Gelose. “He always had that drive. That was his dream.”

When he was 15 or 16, he attended a rescue course sponsored by the Civil Air Patrol. That, his father said, is when the military dream narrowed to the dream of being an Army Ranger. That also was about the time of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Mark Ganczewski remembers his son watching the coverage and saying, “Dad, we have to stop these people.”

The Buffalo News: Army Ranger from Niagara Falls, 22, killed in Iraq combat

There's more about his experience with CAP here.

:: Posting this note stings.

I consider CAP Cadets to be some of our best and brightest young people. I know the U.S. Army Rangers to be  some of the most elite Warfighters in the world. So it makes me very sad to hear of the loss of Sgt. Ganczewski.

My thoughts are with his young family, his fellow Rangers, and his friends.

Disband the Air Force?

What it does on its own -- strategic bombing -- isn't suited to modern warfare. What it does well -- its tactical support missions -- could be better managed by the Army and Navy. It's time to break up the Air Force

The American Prospect: Abolish the Air Force

:: Over the years, I think we've all heard some bonehead say that CAP should be disbanded, yadda, yadda, yadda...

What you may not be aware of, is that there are folks out there who think the U.S. Air Force should be disbanded... There's a pretty good rebuttal here, and a bunch of pro /con on the idea over here.

It's something to think about the next you feel frustrated about how badly our blue-suited-overlords treat their auxiliary...

The USAF is fighting not only a global war on terror... but the idea that the Air Force itself could end up on the chopping block.

Despite all my heartaches over our treatment by big-brutha-blue...

I vote we keep 'em.

Marines Not Welcome in San Francisco?

The Silent Drill Platoon of the U.S. Marine Corps wasn't allowed to be filmed Sept. 11 on California Street for a segment of its new advertising campaign, a Marine spokesman told FOXNews.com.

Instead, the elite group took its austere display to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area for the final segment of its "America's Marines" TV commercial. The group is on a two-month nationwide tour as part of the campaign.

Fox News: Marines Barred From Filming Commercial on Streets of San Francisco

:: I'm going go ahead an call bullshit on this one folks.

Now I'm always up for razzing our close shave headed brethren... but I still respect the amazing people that they are.

I may have somewhat of a unique perspective on this, since my day job has often included working on location shots for commercials, etc... I know how easy/hard working with City Film Offices can be...

This is the same city, who's leadership recently tried to ban the Blue Angels from performing during Fleet Week.

So I don't buy that, "traffic control issues," held up the permit to shoot the spot. The film crew was allowed to shoot on the requested location, but now the guys in uniform that will have to be digitally inserted in post-production.

So see the Our.Marines.com blog for more on the tour.

There was a time when the people of San Francisco worried about having to learn to speak Japanese. Now they're worried about noise pollution?

...sigh. I'm disappointed.

Astronaut Gone Wild

An astronaut drove 900 miles and donned a disguise to confront a woman she believed was her rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot, police said. She was arrested Monday and charged with attempted kidnapping and other counts.

U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak, 43, who flew last July on a shuttle mission to the international space station, was also charged with attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery. She was denied bail.

Police said Nowak drove from her home in Houston to the Orlando International Airport to confront Colleen Shipman.

Nowak believed Shipman was romantically involved with Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, a pilot during space shuttle Discovery's trip to the space station last December, police said.

Nowak told police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to an arrest affidavit. Police officers recovered a love letter to Oefelein in her car.

NASA spokesman James Hartsfield in Houston said that, as of Monday, Nowak's status with the astronaut corps remained unchanged.

Yahoo! News: Astronaut charged with kidnap attempt

:: Wow. After reading this, I somehow feel better about the whole testingate debacle.

...sigh.

Cub Goes Down in Lake Michigan, One Saved

One man disappeared into the chilly waters of Lake Michigan on Sunday after the small, single-engine plane he was flying crash-landed smashed into the water 4 four miles from the Chicago shoreline.

The plane's only passenger, a 49-year-old Texas man, and the missing pilot, believed to be in his 60s, struggled together to swim ashore, officials said. But only the male passenger was located, scooped up by a U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary boat about 5:10 p.m., a half-hour after the American Legend Cub plane went down.

From there, the Coast Guard volunteers helped transport the man to shore, near the Marina Cafe in Jackson Harbor. Paramedics took him to the University of Chicago Hospitals, where he was treated and released, officials said.

"He was very upset. They were swimming together heading towards the shore," said John Laurie, who was the coxswain on the three-man boat that rescued the man. "I believe he was trying to assist him in some other way."

Rescuers descended upon the area near the 68th Street water-filtration facility after receiving a distress call from a plane bound for the Gary Chicago International Airport, Langford said. The two men had taken off earlier Sunday from Oshkosh, Wis.

Chicago Tribune: Small plane goes down in Lake Michigan

:: This was not a CAP mission, but it was close enough to my home base, and having just got back from Oshkosh myself, I just had to post about it...

I fly up and down the shoreline of Lake Michigan all the time. I've probably overflown the area where the American Legend Cub went down myself 4 times just in the last month.

My measurement shows the water intake referenced in the article to be 2.3 miles from land. So the news report isn't detailed enough to draw any conclusions. The article says they were headed to Gary, IN. (GYY) They were directly east of  Midway Airport, (MDW) flying southbound under a 3600 foot shelf of the Class B airspace.  

There was a Chicago Cubs game this afternoon at Wrigley Stadium. Did they push their route farther out over the water to stay clear of the baseball game TFR? (Wrigley is the green circle in the middle. Click for a closer view.)

My heart goes out to the friends and family of the missing Cub pilot. I hope his passenger can tell us more about what happened.

Bravo Zulu to the Coast Guard Auxiliary boat crew credited with the save. Let's hear it for being in the right place at the right time!

Being invloved in Search & Rescue gives you a different perspective on Safety. I'm very careful to always stick to a realistic gliding distance from the shore. I don't fly the lakeshore route when the Cubs or the Bears are playing.

I was lucky enough to cross-train with the CG Auxie / Air Crews a couple of years ago. Teaching the overwater operations / water survival class was a USCG Dolphin crew from Traverse City. One thing that the instructor said stuck in my head, "Treat the water like lava. You don't want to go in there."

Border Deployment?

OK folks, enough shenanigans, it's time to get back to work...

President Bush will call for thousands of National Guard troops to be deployed along the Mexico border in support of patrols aimed at keeping out illegal immigrants, White House officials said Sunday on the eve of an Oval Office address announcing the plan.

White House aides worked into the night Sunday to iron out details of the proposal and allay concerns among lawmakers that using troops to man the border would further burden an overextended military.

Two White House officials said Bush would propose using troops as a stopgap measure while the Border Patrol builds up its resources. The troops would play a supportive role to Border Patrol agents, who would maintain primary responsibility for physically guarding the border.

The officials spoke on a condition of anonymity before the address Monday at 8 p.m. EDT. The officials would not say how many troops Bush wanted to use, except that it would be in the thousands but less than an estimate of as many as 10,000 being discussed at the Pentagon.

Yahoo News: Bush to Call for Guard Troops on Border

:: This should be a game changer for us.

CAP and the Border Patrol have been in talks for some time. As usual, it's the lawyers slowing everything down. I've beat this horse before.

If troops get federalized to support the DHS, then it should be a simple AF tasked mission to put planes in the air and give them a hand PDQ.

Here's Congressman Charles Norwood, calling for our deployment to the border. Our recent JTF-Katrina experience validates that we're well suited to working with military and LEA units.

If I had 2 stars on my shoulders:

1. I'd be on the horn with (Maj Gen) Kostelnik AC for CBP Air & Marine right about now.
2. I'd have the NOC spinning up SER with no delay.

... but that's just me.

This is a role the Civil Air Patrol was built for.