Special guest visits Civil Air Patrol-USAF exercise in Bend
Senior Airman Anthony Milton from the Western Air Defense Sector (WADS), out of McChord AFB, Tacoma, WA, visited the joint CAP-USAF exercise Sunday and toured the Bend Base operation.
Milton is a member of both the Air Force and Civil Air Patrol, and wanted a chance to see what the mission looked like from the Civil Air Patrol end of the spectrum. Senior Airman Milton is a 1st LT in Civil Air Patrol.
Milton flew with Civil Air Patrol Col Bishop from Vancouver, WA to Eugene, OR, where they picked up another member of the mission crew, Maj Ouellette. The three then flew to the mission area southeast of Bend.
Their mission was to give the Air Force jet pilots practice at intercepting aircraft that have wandered into a no-fly zone, by playing the part of an errant aircraft. The jets intercept the errant aircraft and escort it out of the area.
After the training exercise, which was a success, the Civil Air Patrol pilots and planes landed in Bend for a debriefing before heading back home to their respective squadrons.
It was interesting to get input from a member of WADS. The more the two organizations can share with each other and understand each other’s mission specifics, the more we are able to help each other perform their missions.
Besides the crew members of the plane that acted as the errant aircraft, another Civil Air Patrol aircraft flew at a higher altitude to act as communications relay if the other aircraft at any time could not communicate with Bend Base.
A Civil Air Patrol ground vehicle was also in the area of the practice mission to act as communications relay if the aircraft could not communicate with each other or with Bend Base.
Redundancy is the key to safety, and safety is very important to both the Civil Air Patrol and the United States Air Force.
Several members of the High Desert Squadron remained back at Bend Base, handling the mission set-up, the radios, entering mission data into the computer and other duties. A stand-by aircrew was also in place, in case either of the other Civil Air Patrol airplanes were unable to make it into the air.
Civil Air Patrol regularly supplies pilots and aircraft for these training exercises, and are proud to be able to assist the Air Force in these important training exercises.
These exercises are an integral part of Homeland Security. Because of cloud cover and weather conditions, today’s mission required adaptability, which in turn required good communications by all members of the mission. Everyone involved did an excellent job and what could have been a difficult or even scrubbed mission was a real success.
