News - Page 5

CAP Major Ben Shafer assumed command of Lincoln County Composite Squadron April 2, in a change of command ceremony during the squadron meeting at Great Planes Airport, Tea.

Eleven members of the Pennington County Drone Team received drone training from South Dakota Wing, Civil Air Patrol, on March 20. Students used basic flight skills with drones to take accurate photos of what they were seeing and to maneuver between targets based on an NIST training curriculum.

C/CMSgt Jordan Weiand became the first South Dakota Wing cadet to earn the technician rating for CAP’s Uncrewed Aerial Systems, known informally as drones. She is among only 13 members currently certified UAS technicians in South Dakota Wing.

Civil Air Patrol’s South Dakota Wing participated in the search for a missing 17-year-old March 11 and 12 in Hand County.

Unfortunately, local authorities found Wyatt Rowland of Miller deceased in the afternoon of March 12. Wyatt was reported missing on the morning of March 10. Authorities found the youth's pickup truck in a slough north of Miller and his body nearby.

"We flew nearly every search pattern we are trained to fly," said Col. Mike Beason, who directed air operations for CAP’s part of the mission.

Nearly three dozen dedicated members of South Dakota Wing, representing all squadrons plus wing staff, participated in an intensive Emergency Services Academy aimed at enhancing their emergency response skills.

Lt. Brett Runge assumed command of Lookout Mountain Composite Squadron March 7 during a change of command ceremony at the squadron headquarters building in Spearfish.

SD Wing has received thanks from the owner of a horse that members searched for in 2023. The horse’s owner was riding across the United States and was wilderness camping in Wind Cave National Park. The horse, Finley, got away in the middle of the night, pulling a long picket rope. 

A team from South Dakota Wing engaged in a series of productive meetings with members of the South Dakota congressional delegation and their staff members on February 29.

CAP’s South Dakota Wing B-1B Lancer crash photography mission was “pivotal” and “groundbreaking,” according to the president of the Air Force Safety Investigation board studying the mishap.

Members of the South Dakota Wing completed FEMA's G0361 - Flood Fight Operations class at the state emergency operations center in Pierre on February 13 and 14. The class addressed basic flood concepts, coordination with multiple agencies, flood threat analysis, expedient flood works and their monitoring, and the recovery process. The class featured a combination of lectures, discussions, activities, and exercises. Emergency managers from across the state attended.