Trying to Fly

Larry Dighera wrote:

So, no -- CAP does NOT have a "drug interdiction" mission.

Have you seen this:

http://www.avweb.com/news/atis/184424-1.html
July 15, 1998

Well, that *was* 7 years ago. Perhaps things have changed.

George Patterson
There's plenty of room for all of God's creatures. Right next to the
mashed potatoes.

On Sun, 08 May 2005 02:03:36 GMT, George Patterson
wrote in Yrefe.191$Ws6.177@trndny07::

Larry Dighera wrote:

So, no -- CAP does NOT have a "drug interdiction" mission.

Have you seen this:

http://www.avweb.com/news/atis/184424-1.html
July 15, 1998

Well, that *was* 7 years ago. Perhaps things have changed.


So it would appear:

http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/1998/capop.html

CAP advises AOPA on Operation Drop In
July 14, 1998 — Civil Air Patrol (CAP) advised AOPA this morning
that by vote of the CAP National Board, it will discontinue
participation in the FAA Operation Drop In program.
"However good our motives and the program results were, the
perception within the flying community that CAP members were
"spying" on fellow pilots is unacceptable.

"Our roots are within general aviation, and the damage to the CAP
image and reputation has reached a point where our future
participation in the program is untenable."

Excerpt from CAP press release:
"Though we will continue to assist government agencies, as
directed by Congress, we wish to refrain from any activity that
could be construed as adversarial to general aviation," said Brig.
General James C. Bobick, CAP National Commander.

"CAP is part of the general aviation community and a large segment
of our membership is made up of general aviation pilots.
Therefore, after great reflection, CAP's National Board decided to
reconsider participation and voted to withdraw from the program."

"....CAP was able to ascertain that the primary objection to our
participation in the program was not the reconnaissance of
airports for drug trafficking, but was due to the posturing of
many very vocal individuals with one thing in common: private
citizens should not be performing these functions for a regulatory
agency.

"Civil Air Patrol members have achieved impressive results from
the Drop-In program. A number of stolen aircraft have been
recovered, according to the FAA, and several hundred aircraft
previously suspected of drug trafficking have been identified.

"However, strong opposition and the reporting of erroneous
information began to undermine CAP's ability to perform this
particular tasking, and most disturbing, its ability to
effectively conduct some other mission elements.

This is an interesting turn of events regarding CAP here in Iowa. At our
last meeting, our wing commander announced that the Iowa Legislature was
voting to place CAP under the control of the Iowa National Guard, whilst
still keeping it as an auxilliary of the U.S. Air Force.

This seemed like a contradictory statement, so I asked our squadron
commander to elaborate on this a bit.

Here is his answer:

********************************************
2d Lt Honeck,

This is a good question that maybe a few people have.

What Col Tomlinson meant by being "under" the Iowa
National Guard did not mean a transfer. The Civil Air
Patrol will still be the official Air Force Auxiliary.
In order to change this status would take an approval
from Headquarters USAF, Headquarters CAP, and the US
Congress.

What he was saying is that a bill has been passed in
the Iowa Congress that allows a state agency to
officially call us up and work as a representative of
the state. The State Patrol can call us to fly
sorties for traffic reports or can call us to find a
missing person. At the same time, the National Guard
can call us to fly sorties for convoy's. That is, we
can fly ahead of the convoy to spot any potential
problems or possible road blocks. The DNR can call us
to fly radio tagging missions of deer or fish or what
ever.

The type of missions are endless. The bill officially
puts CAP Iowa Wing under the Homeland Security for
Iowa. We will be under the supervision of the Iowa
National Guard.

At the same time, we are looking for $125,000 from the
state to help us support this. The bill has passed
the Iowa Senate and the Iowa House. However, the
Senate made some amendments and now the House needs to
pass it again. It looks like we will receive the full
$125,000. The money will be used for Emergency
Services.

What this means for Iowa is more emphasis on the
Operations mission of CAP. Since this is where all
the money is coming from, this will mean more missions
and more pressure to qualify aircrews and pilots.
********************************************
Jay here again. This change will certainly raise the profile of CAP in
Iowa. I'm glad that perhaps CAP will be found to be more useful, and I'm
willing to wait and see how it works out -- but I must admit that I find
this change a bit worrisome.

From my end it doesn't matter much -- I don't have time to participate in
many CAP activities anyway. But from my 14 year old son's standpoint, I
really don't know if I want him acting under the command of the National
Guard or State Patrol. We'll have to see how this all works out in
practice -- if it gets out of the legislature intact.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:vGtfe.66706$c24.27130@attbi_s72...
This is an interesting turn of events regarding CAP here in Iowa. At our
last meeting, our wing commander announced that the Iowa Legislature was
voting to place CAP under the control of the Iowa National Guard, whilst
still keeping it as an auxilliary of the U.S. Air Force.

This seemed like a contradictory statement, so I asked our squadron
commander to elaborate on this a bit.

Here is his answer:

********************************************
2d Lt Honeck,

This is a good question that maybe a few people have.

What Col Tomlinson meant by being "under" the Iowa
National Guard did not mean a transfer. The Civil Air
Patrol will still be the official Air Force Auxiliary.
In order to change this status would take an approval
from Headquarters USAF, Headquarters CAP, and the US
Congress.

What he was saying is that a bill has been passed in
the Iowa Congress that allows a state agency to
officially call us up and work as a representative of
the state. The State Patrol can call us to fly
sorties for traffic reports or can call us to find a
missing person. At the same time, the National Guard
can call us to fly sorties for convoy's. That is, we
can fly ahead of the convoy to spot any potential
problems or possible road blocks. The DNR can call us
to fly radio tagging missions of deer or fish or what
ever.

The type of missions are endless. The bill officially
puts CAP Iowa Wing under the Homeland Security for
Iowa. We will be under the supervision of the Iowa
National Guard.

At the same time, we are looking for $125,000 from the
state to help us support this. The bill has passed
the Iowa Senate and the Iowa House. However, the
Senate made some amendments and now the House needs to
pass it again. It looks like we will receive the full
$125,000. The money will be used for Emergency
Services.

What this means for Iowa is more emphasis on the
Operations mission of CAP. Since this is where all
the money is coming from, this will mean more missions
and more pressure to qualify aircrews and pilots.
********************************************
Jay here again. This change will certainly raise the profile of CAP in
Iowa. I'm glad that perhaps CAP will be found to be more useful, and I'm
willing to wait and see how it works out -- but I must admit that I find
this change a bit worrisome.

From my end it doesn't matter much -- I don't have time to participate in
many CAP activities anyway. But from my 14 year old son's standpoint, I
really don't know if I want him acting under the command of the National
Guard or State Patrol. We'll have to see how this all works out in
practice -- if it gets out of the legislature intact.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


I wonder if "The type of missions are endless" is finite or open-ended. If
open-ended I would be very worried.