San Diego Cadet Squadron 144

The following San Diego Cadet Squadron 144 personnel attended March AirFest:

Senior Members
LtCol Elbert McDowell
Maj Dennis Ammann
Capt David Saavedra
1Lt Christopher Natwick
2Lt Jeffrey Cable
SM Michael Tam
Cadet Sponsor Heidi Olson
Cadet Sponsor Connie Duescher

Cadets
C/2Lt Joseph Connolly
C/2Lt Douglas Saavedra
C/2Lt Chandra Murphy
C/SSgt Brent Timm
C/SSgt Joseph Culver
C/SSgt Anthony Tavan
C/SrA Scott Lynch
C/A1c Caleb Duescher
C/A1c Emily Duescher
C/A1c Nathan Duescher
C/A1c Rebecca Olson
C/A1c Hanna Olson
C/A1c Nathan Scott
C/A1c Dominick Tavan
C/A1c Andrew Elsken
C/Amn Alexander Lange
C/Amn Jesse O’Keefe
C/Amn Matthew McFarland
C/AB Blake Hanslik

Every two years, March Air Reserve Base, Riverside, CA hosts the March AirFest Air Show which always features the USAF Aerial Demonstration Team, The Thunderbirds as the main attraction along with various civilian aerobatic acts, military air power, and the home airlift/aerial tanker demos. This was the first year our squadron participated, providing support for Civil Air Patrol (CAP) March Field Composite Squadron 45, Commanded by Capt Dave Goude.

Most of the Sq. 144 personnel arrived early Friday night and quickly checked in with Lt Eithne Doyle, Admin Officer Sq. 45 and settling in for the night in an old pre-WWII aircraft hangar. This air conditioned hangar added to the adventure of sleeping overnight on a USAF Base. The next morning, Saturday, 3 May, reveille sounded at 0600 hours and everyone got dressed and headed for breakfast. Two of our Cadet Sponsors, Heidi Olson and Connie Duescher assisted Lt Tom Olson as cooks, turning out breakfast and dinner for the CAP contingent (over 200 personnel).

After breakfast assignments were made with cadets helping to park cars (with senior member supervision) and air show program solicitation. The profits made from selling programs provided funds for food to support CAP and other expenditures. Any extra profits would be equally divided among the participating squadrons later. Most of the senior members were assigned at the three security gates as pre-screeners, assisting the USAF security personnel who were processing spectators through the metal detectors.

One of the fascinating security procedures performed at the entrance gates were the German Sheppard search dogs looking for contraband drugs and explosives. Some of the dogs were brought in by the Marine Base, 29 Palms, CA. These dogs were highly trained and during slow periods during the afternoon, the dog handlers would show us some of the commands the dogs were trained to respond to. All are trained using the German language for commands. One dog was sent out across the street to find a practice sample of ammonium nitrate, used for bomb making. The dog conducted a search pattern with his handler and quickly found it in the open field. Although these dogs are fearless and can take down a criminal suspect in seconds, we also saw them being petted by toddlers after completing a search of their respective baby strollers!

At about 1600 hours the air show ended and everyone returned to the CAP hangar to take showers at the base gymnasium and get ready to eat dinner. Hamburgers and hot dogs were on the menu with free time to play cards, make new friends, or become reacquainted for old CAP friends. At 2200 hours C/Maj Drew Barker played Amazing Grace on his bag pipes and everyone quickly went to sleep, exhausted from the first day.

Reveille on Sunday went down at 0530 hours with the bag pipes blaring in our sleepy ears, this time not so welcome. Everyone quickly got ready for the day and some of us proceeded to a building across the street for a nondenominational Christian worship service led by Chaplain Richard Nelson from Skyhawk Composite Squadron 47 (Oceanside, CA). His sermon was titled, “Can God?” concerning what God is and how He is always with us. We sang three praise songs and watched a five minute video titled, “King of Kings.” It seems like Chaplain Nelson is always present and available to conduct CAP church no matter where and when asked. After church we ate breakfast, received our work assignments, and headed off to work.

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday, only slightly cooler with more spectators in attendance. Again at 1600 hours we were released and I proceeded to the aircraft static displays. Some of the aircraft available for close up viewing were: Vietnam vintage: Russian made MiG-21 Fishbed fighter from Brown Field, CA; an A-1 Skyraider light attack bomber from Montgomery Field, CA; a WWII era C-45 Expeditor twin engine cargo plane from Gillespie Field, CA; front line fighters F-16 Falcon USAF fighter and a F/A-18 Hornet Navy carrier fighter/bomber; AH-1 Cobra Marine helicopter gunship; CH-46 Seaknight Marine medium lift helicopter; SH-60 Seahawk anti-submarine helicopter; C-17 Globemaster heavy lift cargo four engine jet; C-5 Galaxy heavy lift cargo four engine jet, and many others… I also stopped by the CAP recruiting booth, manned by Capt Elizabeth Goude who did a wonderful job fielding questions from the general public. Next to her booth was a brand new Cessna C-182 Skylane CAP aircraft with a glass cockpit sporting a Garmin G-1000 system. The instrument panel looked like the Space Shuttle’s cockpit! When I opened the door, the inside smelled like a brand new car! It appeared someone did a fine job washing and waxing the CAP bird. What a wonderful recruiting magnet for CAP.

As for the air show itself, each day it started out with: U.S. Army Golden Knights Precision Parachute Team; “Thunder Flight” with their four Czech made L-29 Dolphin jet formation demo team; Bill Reesman’s Russian made MiG-17 Fresco air demo; Rob Harrison’s ZLIN-50 aerobatic plane; Rob Harrison’s jet truck speeding down the runway; Canadian Skyhawks precision parachute team; U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet air demo; a heritage flight with a Navy WWII F4U Corsair and a Navy F/A-18 Hornet; John Collver performed in his Marine SNJ WWII advanced trainer; two WWII B-25 Mitchells flew past simulating a bombing run with pyrotechnics exploding below them; a California Dept of Forestry firefighting air tanker demonstrating a water drop along the runway; F-22 Raptor fighter air demo; KC-10 Extender tanker fly-by; another heritage flight with a F-22 Raptor and a WWII P-51 Mustang and P-40 Warhawk; the home base showed off their KC-135 Stratotanker and C-17 Globemaster; finally the Thunderbirds were last with their world class precision wing tip to wing tip formation flying (flying the F-16 Falcon).

With our work finished, everyone gathered in the hangar for a final brief by Capt Dave Goude and his incredible staff. They expressed their thanks for everyone’s hard work and cooperation and gave out many Sq. 45 challenge coins to various CAP staff members. Our two cadet sponsor master chefs, Connie and Heidi were presented coins and received a round of applause from the CAP contingent. One coin was given to a cadet who traveled all the way from Sacramento. All together, there were 156 cadets, 55 senior members representing 30 California Wing squadrons and two Nevada Wing squadrons! There were more cadets at this air show then last year’s encampment (CAP boot camp). What a wonderful job March Field Composite Squadron 45 did hosting this massive CAP support mission and instilling a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in all of us.

The highlight of this briefing was from the USAF Chief Master Sergeant in charge of the security forces who praised CAP for their support stating they could not effectively do their job without our help. The 1st Sergeant from the U.S. Marine Security Detachment, 29 Palms Marine Base also expressed the same appreciation. This was our pay day, to hear the active duty forces express their thanks to us. We often wonder how we can help our military these days, well, this was just one small way.

Soon we were all on the freeway heading south for home at about 1830 hours looking forward to a hot shower and rest after a very long, tiring, but extremely rewarding weekend.

As Squadron Commander, I was very proud and touched by the hard work, dedication, and behavior of our personnel. Who could ask for a better group of CAP cadets and senior members?

Respectfully submitted,

Dennis S. Ammann, Major
Cmdr, SD Cadet Sq. 144

Posted by Vince at 10:55 PM | Permalink

Community Service Trip Report

At 0745 hours, Saturday, 26 April 2008, the following personnel reported for transportation to help clean up San Diego Bay during the 6th Annual Coastal Clean-Up Day sponsored by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors:

Cadets
C/2Lt Chandra Murphy
Cadet Louis Diaz
Cadet Reece Coulter
Cadet Sean Coulter
Cadet Caleb Duescher
Cadet Nathan Duescher
Cadet Andrew Elsken

Senior Members
LtCol Elbert McDowell
Capt David Saavedra
SM Michael Tam
Cadet Sponsor Connie Duescher

At 0835 hours all personnel arrived at Chollas Creek, clean up site and were checked in by the event coordinator.

A safety brief began right away by National Steel and Shipbuilding Industrial Safety Engineer, Mr. Bart Deem, regarding how to handle unsafe materials encountered in the creek, when to alert designated individuals in the handling of hazardous materials if discovered, wear plenty of sun screen, and drink plenty of water provided by the sponsors.

Ms. Kaycee Christy then briefed the volunteers where to go throughout the site, what to look for, and where most of the debris can be found. After her brief, disposable heavy duty gloves, shovels, rakes, and pick up implements were distributed. The volunteers were led down into the creek where they began raking, removing litter, and pulling out discarded tires buried in the muck. All tires were successfully removed by an excellent show of CAP team work led by C/2Lt Murphy. At one point a partially buried shopping cart required the direction and knot tying abilities of Mr. Steven Murphy, father of Cadet Murphy and all the might of every CAP member to pull it out of several feet of thick mud. The “Tug-O-War” required two attempts and was successfully removed and unceremoniously discarded from the creek bed. Three tree stumps were also removed by this method and cleared as eye sores from the creek bed.

Other Squadron 144 members cleaned up litter along the railroad tracks along Harbor Boulevard to 28th Street, a round trip distance of two miles!

Short work was made of the clean up due in large part of this CAP squadron with the clean-up ending at 1030 hours.

After cleaning some of the muck off their clothes, the squadron headed to the San Diego County party and barbecue at Cesar Chavez Park about 1½ miles from the clean-up site where everyone enjoyed a hearty lunch, including cold drinks, and cake under the Coronado Bay Bridge. A concrete pier provided beautiful views of the bay and boat traffic passing by.

A raffle was next and each member in attendance won some sort of prize! Cadet Diaz won an Apple iStand.

The cadets played a makeshift game of football for the next hour providing a well deserved way to enjoy the rest of their time together. During this period, Ms. Christy and Mr. Hugo Bermudez, Coastal Clean-Up Captains, informed Capt Saavedra that they were impressed by how well behaved, efficient, and effective our “platoon” demonstrated themselves. They also stated that certificates for community service hours will be prepared and forwarded to the squadron for distribution. Capt Saavedra thanked them for their complements and observations. After what seemed like a long pause, they asked “where we landed our aircraft.”

At 1310 hours the activity secured and all personnel departed for home.

This is the second time we have cleaned up the bay with the San Diego County Port Authority. Accordingly, we have billed this as a non-CAP event and as such the cadets are eligible for the CAP Community Service Ribbon once they reach 60 hours of volunteer time. This type of event also instills camaraderie and teamwork. The ultimate reward is looking down Chollas Creek and seeing it free of debris and feeling a sense of accomplishment as a clean-up volunteer. Hopefully the cadets will add more hours to their respective “log books” and pin on this coveted CAP ribbon.

Any event like this could not happen without our usual parent and senior member drivers. Parents Steven Murphy and Marci Diaz not only drove; they also pitched in and helped clean up along with Michael Saavedra (a possible future cadet) who is the son of Capt Saavedra.

By Captain David Saavedra
Project Officer

Posted by Vince at 3:16 PM | Permalink

At 0730 hours, Saturday, 12 April 2008, the following personnel reported for the Iron Mountain hike at Highway 67 and Poway Road:

Cadets
C/2Lt Peter Kler
C/2Lt Joseph Connolly
C/2Lt Douglas Saavedra
C/2Lt Chandra Murphy
Cadet Joseph Culver
Cadet Caleb Duescher
Cadet Andrew Elsken
Cadet Hannah Olson
Cadet Emily Duescher
Cadet Daniel Gorin
Cadet Jesse O’Keefe
Cadet Patrick Culver
Cadet Reece Coulter
Cadet Rebecca Olson
Cadet Scott Lynch
Cadet Sean Coulter
Cadet Nathan Duescher
Cadet Spencer Beaulieu
Cadet Harrison Coyne
Cadet Nathan Blackburne


Senior Members
LtCol Ben Aaron
Capt David Saavedra
Lt Jeff Cable
Lt David MacGregor (Sq. 47)
Lt Russell Wesley
SM Michael Tam
Cadet Sponsor William McFarland

One month prior to this hike, 1Lt Russell Wesley met with C/2Lts Peter Kler and Joseph Connolly to plan this hike. After reviewing the options, Cadets Kler and Connolly scouted a few hiking trails and decided on the Iron Mountain trail as the best choice. Although this hike was planned as a social event, it was also designed to “weld” the squadron together.

At 0815 hours after Capt. David Saavedra gave the OK to Cadet Commander C/2Lt Kler to commence the hike. Cadet Kler began with a safety brief by informing the cadets about hydration, wildlife, trail hazards, and hiking techniques.

At 0820 hours all personnel moved out and began embarking on the trail led by C/2Lt Joseph Connolly with C/SSgt. Joseph Culver at the six o’clock position looking for possible stragglers and safety. The mountain trail was invigorating with the morning heat beating down on everyone already. The weather was summer like with the sky clear as a bell, a slight breeze kept the squadron somewhat cool. Upon reaching the summit, the crystal clear skies rewarded the hikers with some of the best vistas anywhere in Southern California. Snacks and water were distributed while the squadron rested prior to descending.

With everyone attired in black T-shirts, BDU pants, light back packs, canteens and/or camel backs, and a “sea” of Squadron 144 covers, many civilians along the trail were heard to exclaim, “What is a 144?” Some of the cadets had an opportunity to proudly proclaim their explanation to these fellow hikers and inform them about America’s best kept secret: The Civil Air Patrol.

Climbing down the mountain’s trail was quicker but slightly hotter as the sun rose higher in the sky. Tired feet, creaky bones, time disparagement, and physical endurance waned; the senior members continued their downward crawl admirably!

The cadets laughed and enjoyed hiking down the mountain while renewing and strengthening friendships along the way.

This six mile hike ended where it started, at the trail head at about 1100 hours. A quick head count was made with everyone present and accounted for.

Special thanks to 1Lt Russell Wesley for spearheading this event, and Cadet 2Lts Peter Kler and Joseph Connolly for scouting and selecting this trail. This has been the second hike for Squadron 144 with a third hopefully planned later this summer.

Respectfully submitted,

Captain David Saavedra

Posted by Vince at 3:10 PM | Permalink