Members Refine Mission Readiness
Members from across South Dakota Wing gathered in Sioux Falls recently for operational mission training, including air and ground disaster relief photography.
“Today’s training was a success,” said Lt. Col. Todd Epp, incident commander for the training. “It was a great day where members had the opportunity to hone their skills and become more proficient in the areas we are tasked with.”
Training activities during the event included a successful search for a missing person, aerial photos of infrastructure in local industrial areas, drone photography simulating damage assessment in areas around Sioux Falls, and locating an Electronic Locator Transmitter going off in a simulated aircraft accident.
The map photo shows the track of an aircraft circling a practice emergency locator using radio direction-finding procedures to pinpoint the transmitter's location. More photos below.
“Today’s training gave members from around the state and region a chance to work together for the different missions Civil Air Patrol is tasked with,” said Lt. Col. Jason Ferguson, from Nebraska Wing, participating as the mission’s air branch director. “We saw cadets and senior members build competence and learn new skills from each other.”
Several cadets involved in the training felt it offered them excellent training for the missions for which CAP regularly receives tasking.
This Big Sioux River Bridge was used for ground and drone photography training:
Cadets measure a plumb line to determine how close the river water level was below the bridge:
A CAP adult member monitors the training adjacent to the rover for safety:
