Civil Air Patrol IL Wing News Blog

Rockford Composite Squadron Cadets Receive Mitchell Awards

By C/Maj Jeramee G Scherer
Rockford Composite Squadron

   

 

The ILWG State Director, Mr. Geoff Biederman, presented to Cadets Elizabeth Barkmann and Justin Scherer the General Billy Mitchell Awards at Rockford Composite Squadron. At that point, Cadet Scherer was the 55,571st and Cadet Barkmann was the 55,572nd cadet to have been awarded the Mitchell since its induction in 1964.  The squadron came together  to celebrate the commissioning of its two newest cadet officers.  Both cadets have received the ceremonial Cadet 2nd Lieutenant pips.  When the next cadet officer is commissioned, they will pass on the pip to the next officer.  As of current, there are now three officers in Rockford Composite Squadron.

Cadet Barkmann has been with the squadron for about two and a half years.  She is a sophomore at North Boone High School.  In Civil Air Patrol, she is currently acting as the Cadet Flight Commander, Cadet Color Guard Commander and Instructor, and Cadet Public Affairs Officer.  Cadet Barkmann has also participated in four encampments, two of them being in the spring and the other two being in the summer.  She has also served as the squadron’s primary representative to the wing’s Cadet Advisory Council. Outside of CAP, she is also active in track, academic bowl, and various clubs.

Cadet Scherer has been a part of the squadron for eighteen months.  He is currently a freshman at Ashton-Franklin Center High School.  In Civil Air Patrol, he is currently acting as the Cadet Drill Instructor, Assistant Color Guard Instructor, and Cadet Safety Officer.  Cadet Scherer has participated in three encampments, two being in the spring and the other in the summer.  He has also served as the squadron’s primary representative to Group 22’s Cadet Advisory Council.  Outside of CAP, he is active in academic bowl and various clubs in the school.

Both Cadets deserve this award, and have earned it through lots of hard work, determination, and discipline.  Rockford Squadron is very proud to have its newest cadet officers in the ranks of its cadet corps.

Great Lakes Region Cadet Competition Results

 

 

   

Story by Cadet Shelby McMahon
McHenry County Composite Squadron

Photos by Cadet Shelby McMahon and 1st Lt James Kalemis

Region Cadet Competition took place on May 5 and 6 at Wright Patterson AFB.  The state of Wisconsin left a big statement to the Great Lakes Region.  The Wisconsin Color Guard won against Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois, who took 2nd, 3rd and last place, respectively.  The Wisconsin Drill team won the competition surprising many as well as themselves.  The Wisconsin and Ohio Drill Teams were neck-and-neck the entire competition.  Every team showed great sportsmanship and professional throughout the competition.  During the competition, Cadet Kristin Ruesch remarked, "Regardless if we win or loose I am incredibly proud of where we have come.  I honestly could not be prouder."  Cadet Ruesch comes from the Waukesha Composite Squadron.  Having been in CAP for 3 years, she has been the commander of the Drill Team since it was assembled in 2005.  Cadet Ruesch won the medal for highest test score, helping the team win 1st place in Written Exam and putting the team over the top overall.

The final results were

Drill Team

1. Wisconsin
2. Ohio
3. Michigan

Color Guard Team

1. Wisconsin
2. Ohio
3. Michigan
4. Illinois

See the Photos from Day 1. 

See the Photos from Day 2 and Awards.

Illinois Wing earns an Excellent Rating!!

Photo by: Col. Maurice Givens

By: Lt. Col. Paul Hertel
Mission Information Officer
Illinois Wing Evaluated Exercise 2007

MARION, Ill -- Sunday, Day three of the Air Force evaluated SAR/EVAL started out slowly like it did Saturday due to low ceilings.  Once the conditions improved everything kicked into high gear. The mission base staff was working like a well oiled machine.  The Communications section worked at a frantic pace keeping up with the Air and Ground radio traffic that started in the afternoon. Air Crews located their assigned objectives and led Ground Teams to the targets for a successful end of mission. The evaluation results are below:

EVAL results are:  Overall Excellent
IC and Agency Liaison: Excellent
Safety: Excellent
MIO: Successful
Chaplain: Excellent
Operations Section Chief: Excellent
Air Operations Branch Director: Successful
Air Crews: Marginal
Ground Branch Director: Excellent
Ground Teams: Excellent
Finance: Excellent
Logistics Section Chief: Excellent
Communications: Successful
Planning Section: Successful

Total Ground sorties = 9; Total air sorties = 36; Total hours flown = 79.   

Great Lakes Region Cadet Competition Day One

    

1st Lt James Kalemis
GLRCC & NCC Public Affairs Officer

Drill teams from Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan and Color Guard teams from Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan compete at the Great Lakes Region Cadet Competition at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH.

Today was the first day of events that pitted the drill teams against each other in Inspection, Written exam, Standard Drill, Quiz Bowl and Innovative Drill.  The Color Guard teams competed in Inspection, Written exam, Outdoor Presentation, Standard Drill, Quiz Bowl and Indoor Presentation.

Tomorrow the teams compete in Mile Run and Volleyball.

Photos from the first day's competition are on the GLR CC Day 1.

All photos by Cadet Shelby McMahon and 1st Lt James Kalemis.

ILWG Eval Mission - Day 2

   

   

   

      

      

Picture 1  C/Amn Brett Jackson and C/A1C Elizabeth Rotramel
Picture 2  Maj. Tom Cardwell and Lt Col. Gordy Larson
Picture 3   Planning and administration staff.
Picture 4   Capt Karen Tones inspecting one of the aircraft
Picture 5   Maj Jim Bartel, C/Amn Patrick Byrne and Maj Kelly Robertson

Photos and story by Lt Col Paul Hertel and Lt Col Ted Lohr

The Illinois Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, the United States Air Force Auxiliary, arrived at the Williamson County Emergency Operations Center in Marion Illinois for their Air Force evaluated emergency services mission.  The mission is running from Friday May 4th through Sunday May 6th.  The CAP received numerous different taskings. These included disaster assessment photo reconnaissance, a missing person search and several overdue aircraft scenarios initiated by Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELT).  The Air Force evaluates each wing every two years to insure proficiency and a high state of readiness. CAP members traveled from as far as the Chicago area as well as local CAP Units. 

Sixty dedicated CAP Cadets and Officers served at the mission. Seven aircraft, five Ground Search and Rescue Teams, and a full mission base staff consisting of command personnel, safety, operations, communications, logistics, flight following were repeatedly challenged throughout the day.

Not only the Air Force challenged us, but Saturday morning's weather delayed air operation for several hours. Our air crews took that time to attend additional training on our Satellite Digital Imaging System (SDIS). SDIS allows our air crews to take aerial photos and transmit them to a ground station via a Satellite. This system has been proven very useful during disasters and in
support of homeland security missions.

60 Members.  7 Flying pilots, 18 aircrew, 36 hours flown.

   

Model Rocketry Launch

Article and photos by
1st Lt James Kalemis
Commander
McHenry County Composite Squadron

Two squadrons from Group 22 met on a warm, sunny afternoon to launch the rockets built as part of the Model Rocketry Program.  Thirteen cadets from Lake in the Hills Composite Squadron and McHenry Country Composite Squadron performed 30 launches.  All the cadets got to launch their first Titan stage rockets, but the larger Titan rockets were cancelled due to the high winds.  Some of the cadet officers that assisted in the implementation of the program built and launched special kit rockets. The squadrons will have a follow-up launch day next month to finish the launches.

Witnessing the launches were Capts Dave Picek and Bill Watson from Lake in the Hills Composite Squadron and Lts James Kalemis and Bob Kryscha from McHenry County Composite Squadron.  Spectators sharing the fun and exceitment on that beautiful day were Major Rhonda Anderson, Lt Col Ken Anderson, Lt Mike McMahon, and Wing Administrator Debbie Schulteis.

For additional photos goto the Photo Page.