A Thunderbolt

Volume 2, Issue 2

Composite Squadron News Letter

SWR-TX-295
April 2013

www.thunderboltcap.org

Cadet Flight Fest and Ground Team Extravaganza 2013

It was the perfect choice of weekend. It was the perfect place. We were having a great turnout. Senior staff was in place. In the air, 24 anticipated O-Rides, 4 planes guaranteed, 10 pilots. On the ground, GTM3 training in place, set evaluators on point, one damaged hunt and go seek plane to find. Things couldnt be better. Senior staff was appointed as well as cadet leadership staff. Cadets were broken into three flights, Alpha (all aviation, O-Rides, and marshaling related activities), Bravo (all GTM and ground operations only), and Charlie (O-Rides and GTM activities). Cadet leaders were assigned to oversee the flights. Welcome to Cadet Flight Fest 2013. Bigger and better. Thanks to Col Bray and Lt Bray, we found the perfect site. Nestled on several hundred acres in Anna, TX, our location for future CFFs had been established. It contained plenty of trails to hide and seek airplanes and fake people for GTM training. Plenty of room to bivouac comfortably with nearby restroom facilities, and cabins for the adults to settle into. We settled into an area with a nice pavilion great for breakfast and gathering and Friday night was wonderful. It would be the remainder of the weekend that would cause us grief. Unfortunately, no matter how much planning goes on, no one can ever plan well for weather. With the amount of people involved and getting time to do all that we prepared, it wasnt that we could easily change weekends based on a
By 1st Lt Sandra S Locascio

front coming in. Wed have to weather it out and thats exactly what we did. Saturdays strong crosswinds, low ceilings, and pending storm shut air operation down. Eight pilots waiting at their respective FBOs for clearance to fly to McKinney wasnt going to happen, and at 12 noon, we sent them home to try on Sunday. Navigation classes and flight marshaling continued with help from Col Crum and Maj Sharp, so the day was not a bust. Ground team moved forward as planned but precautionary due to impending storms. Cadet Fest continued on page 2...

Special points of interest:

Mission Possible (A MUST read) Commanders Corner Color Guard Going to Nationals! Coming Events...

Inside this issue:

Mission Possible... Color Guard at SWR Coming Events... Commanders Corner

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A Thunderbolt Composite Squadron News Letter

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Cadet Fest continued...

The night saw a different side. To prepare for storms, cadets were relocated to the education building as were many supplies. The storms hit hard in the evening and aside from wind, rain, power was lost for several hours which created backups in the sewage system. Even generators were inaccessible. Power was eventually regained later that night. Sunday the weather continued. Although the rain had stopped, winds and low ceilings were again the constant, and O-Rides, again were halted for the day. As in Saturday, aviation classes and marshaling continued thanks to Bob Brands and Maj Sharp. Ground team was able to function despite the wet and mud and the education building caught the brunt of it all. It was a long but successful day for them. As a precaution and because any camping equipment that was left out from the previous day was still wet, we once again sought refuge in the education building. The night winds had settled and the stars shone brightly. We were able to create a campfire and cook

By 1st Lt Sandra S Locascio

various campfire treats courtesy of Lt Oliver and her culinary talents. Mondays weather was much better and allowed us to launch 2 aircraft and fly 9 O-rides, well below the anticipated numbers, but the best we could do in the short day. Although the Flight part of the Cadet Flight Fest wasnt as good as we hoped, the ground portion totally rocked. Overall, the Cadet Flight Fest and Ground Team Extravaganza was a hit.

Here are the numbers that made it all worthwhile: 37 cadets present 9 squadrons represented 20 cadets completed GTM3 4 completed UDF 1 senior member was signed off as MSA 2 for MRO 1 completed GRM2 1 is now a GTL 1 is now an MSL 9 sorties flew -7 were first rides. Plans to continue more sorties are in the works.

Mission Possible...
Starting 1st Week of May
Good evening, cadets, senior members, and parents. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, will be to train for and complete a 2 mile run or walk. You will be provided a training schedule and times to meet your team members for so-

cial runs, fun and encouragement. At the end of the allotted time, the squadron will face off in a contest of all cadets against everyone else. The winners take all. The more members you have on your team, the better your chances of winning. Refreshments and cool prizes to all who accept this Mission Possible. This paper will self destruct in 5 seconds. Well, maybe not.
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Not only will YOU get in great PT shape, you will also help our color guard train to run their fastest mile ever at their National Competition in July!

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A Thunderbolt

Composite Squadron News Letter

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TX-295 Thunderbolt Color Guard heads to National Competition

Our Thunderbolt Color Guard team has been very busy since winning the Texas competition back in February. A few short weeks after securing first place at Texas, the team headed back to Nacogdoches to raise the flag at the grand opening ceremony of our new Texas Wing Headquarters. It was quite an event and the new facility will serve all of us in the Texas Wing well. Shortly after the grand opening, the team headed up to Little Rock Arkansas for the Southwest Region competition, and while the weather was challenging, our team, led by Commander Lione, once again battled to secure first place overall. As tough as the judging and competition was at the Texas Wing Level, everything was stepped up for Regional. Starting with the written test, and ending with the indoor practical, the team fought in a very close race. Even in-ranks inspection was intense as it was performed by the Little Rock Air Force Base Honor Guard and they were very thorough (also friendly and provided solid feedback). The Air Force Honor Guard also judged each of the drill competitions, which was an honor in itself. The entire event was professionally managed and hosted by the Southwest Region and Arkansas Wing. As is the case in Civil Air Patrol, healthy competition between Squadrons and Wings keeps all of us sharp and prepares us for any challenge life may throw our way. As Major Matt Fields pointed out at the opening meeting, we must always remember that even in competition, we are truly one team. The Regional competition was a shining example of how we can complete but still act and present ourselves as one strong organization with common goals. Between the events, we had plenty of time to interact with the other Squadrons and I can hon-

By 2nd Lt Edward Korona

estly say that we built some good friendships. We heard several comments from uniformed personnel on base of how impressed they were with our cadets and the CAP organization. While we did ultimately come away with a first place finish, we should recognize and congratulate the Squadrons representing Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma for a hard fought battle. Well done to all! Our Color Guard will present the colors at the Wing Conference in Houston on April 12, then continue their rigorous practice and preparation for the National Color Guard Competition which will be held in Dayton Ohio the week of July 16. Well done team, we are all proud of you.

A very rigorous inspection!

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Lt Colonel Chad Bray, Thunderbolt Commander

How does one follow up a very successful month? With a BIGGER successful month! Several significant events happened in March that has made it outstanding. On March 9th, Texas Wing officially opened their new headquarters in Nacogdoches with ribbon cutting and the whole ten yards of ceremonies and activities. The first flag raising at the new wing headquarters was performed by our own color guard. This is an impressive honor and we are very pleased with our cadets. However, it is almost kind of sad to inform you that the Texas Wing Color Guard will not be presenting the colors at Aprils Wing Conference. They have been replaced by the Southwest Region (SWR) Color Guard. By the way, did I tell you that we won the SWR Color Guard competition! This puts our cadets in the finals to win the national title in July. Already the recognition is beginning to sink in as we are starting to get calls for our team to present colors at various events. Please give your encouragement and support to these fine young men. Another highlight is the completion of our second Cadet Flight Fest and Ground Team Extravaganza. Although this is only the second event, we out grew our normal facility and moved the base operation to the Collin County Adventure Camp. Even though the weather was not on our side, the facility worked out well. The highlight on this round had to go to the ground team portion as we were able to get quite a few people signed off on their UDF, GTM3, GTM2, and GTL certifications. Finally, Monday opened up to get some first flights done along with some rocket launching. I have to say, this was another successful event that could not have happened without the support and teamwork of our squadron and quite a few other squadrons in Groups 2, 3, and 6. The last weekend of March was an excitedly sad day, when we had to say good bye to our old home and move to our new home. We owe Capt Pezzulli a lot of gratitude for allowing us such a nice place to meet at the Fairview Country Day School. His efforts and leadership led to the revitalization of this unit! Now we are in a unique position. We outgrew the facility and it was time to look for a larger place. SM Touvell was the head of our New Home Committee and had come up with a few excellent recommendations, which will be kept as future backup plans. Lt Flora Brands was the person that has secured our place back at the airport! We will now be officially meeting at the old McKinney Aerospace Hanger (MAH) at Collin Country Airport, 1476 Industrial Blvd, McKinney, TX, 75069, starting Sunday, 7 April 2013. It is surely impressive to see this unit jumping from a small flight to a fully functional squadron in such a short time. The only way this could have ever happened is with help from all. These are truly stories that demonstrate that anything can happen with TEAMWORK! So what is our mission? Its GO TEAM! All, Thank you for all of your efforts! 4

Eugene Ely made the first landing on a ship in January 1911 in a Curtiss biplane. He touched down on the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay. Later that year, Congress approved $125,000 for expansion of the Air Force. One member objected and said, Why all the fuss about airplanes for the army? I thought we already had one.

Coming soon
April 10-14 Texas Wing Conference April 20 Challenge Air Event (8 AM start) April 25 Medical Reserve Corps Banquet at McKinney Aerospace Hanger (6-8 PM) April 26-28 Mountain Flying Clinic May 18-19 Denton SAREX (GTM Training) June 8-15 Powered Flight Academy June 15-23 LESA, June 25-July 3 Texas Summer Encampment June 30 Special Squadron Activity (stay tuned) July 4, 5, or 6 McKinney Parade July 17-20 National CG Competition (Ohio)

Cadets and Senior Members:

If you would like to contribute to future issues of Thunderbolt Squadrons awesome newsletter, please do not hesitate to contact senior member Detje Printz at ddddprintz@sbcglobal.net