William Hartman, Major CAP FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Commanding Officer October 24, 2003

(909) 584-9622

BIG BEAR LAKE, Ca – Civil Air Patrol Squadron 6750, a composite squadron of cadets

and senior members in Big Bear, hosted a Search and Rescue exercise (SAREX) recently

in the valley. Simulating a downed aircraft in the mountains near Big Bear, the squadron

was notified that an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) distress call was picked up by

satellite. Establishing a mission command base at Big Bear City airport, 16 senior

squadron members and 5 cadets used three aircraft and four ground vehicles to quickly

locate the transmitter that had been placed in the mountains near the airport.

The primary focus of the exercise was on the basic skills needed in urban and rural

ELT missions. Training objectives were to introduce cadets and senior members to

procedures and resources used in tracking ELT’s, including direction finding techniques,

map and chart reading, plotting latitude and longitude, use of compass and GPS systems,

and communication between the incident commander and air and ground crews.

The Big Bear composite squadron currently has 27 senior members and 15 cadets.

Being a pilot is not a prerequisite for senior members, just a desire to contribute to the

community and become involved in emergency services. The cadet program is designed

to foster leadership and good citizenship, and is open to youth ages 12 to 18.

Civil Air Patrol is a volunteer, non-profit organization and is, by law, an auxiliary of

the United States Air Force. The primary missions of Civil Air Patrol are an aerospace

education program, a cadet program, and an emergency services program. In recent years,

counter-drug operations and homeland defense have been added to the duties performed

by CAP. The Big Bear squadron is one of over 1,700 units nationwide that participate in

these goals, involving 27,142 cadets and 37,538 senior members.

For more information on the local Civil Air Patrol squadron, call Bill Hartman at 584-9622.

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