Emergency Services is one
of the main focal priorities
for the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), and much time is spent in preparation
for any type of emergency. Ground teams in CAP are primarily used for
emergencies and can be mobilized 24/7 for any duties such as during
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, or the Shuttle Columbia recovery, which
CAP is widely known for. CAP is tasked by the Air Force Rescue
Coordination Center (AFRCC) and heavily used for inland search and
rescue where Ground Teams and Air Crews either performing missing
person searches, or search for an aircraft/personal ELT (Emergency
Locator Transmitter) signal which can relate to a downed , missing
person beacon, or an accidental mishap. Civil Air Patrol performs 95%
of these functions in the Continental US, and is credited with saving
over 100 lives annually.
The Lackland Cadet
Squadron recently sent one of its
ground teams to
the Texas Wing Ground Team Challenge. The Ground Team leader was c/Lt
Col Paul Rojas, and team members were c/A1C Nicholas Burgess, c/2d Lt
Jenni Biddison, c/Capt Gus Rojas; Lt Col Sean Habina was the team's
adult supervisor. The challenge took place at Camp Bullis, Texas and
its purpose was for ground teams throughout the state of Texas to
compete against each other to who would be the "best" in Texas Wing. Of
the four teams participating, two came from Brownsville, one from
Houston, and another from Lackland AFB, San Antonio. Throughout the
weekend, the teams competed in a variety of scenarios such as endurance
with enough gear for 72 hours deployed in the field while traveling
four miles by foot; physical competition; equipment check; map,
communication and survival skill tests; line and area searches; and
practical field work.
All teams gave it
their all, and Lackland Squadron's
team, at the end
of the weekend, was declared the 2nd best overall ground team in Texas,
coming in behind one of the teams from Brownsville by a mere 80 points.
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