NEWS: 40-hour course teaches new search and rescue skills
May 6, 2008
TRIANGLE, Va. — Civil Air Patrol’s Middle East Region recently held its 2008 Ground Search and Rescue Institute (GSAR) at Prince William Forest Park. The school covered topics such as lost-person behavior, wilderness survival and aircraft crash site procedures.
Fifty CAP cadets and officers from throughout the region spent 40 hours at the GSAR, which spanned two separate weekends in March and April. Instructors were from both the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) and Civil Air Patrol. VDEM partially funded the school and certified the training through the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Two exercises were conducted to allow students to practice the skills learned in the classroom. One of the missions included searchers locating a victim during a lengthy night search.
“Practicing to search at night in the rain or snow can be challenging,” said Lt. Col. David Carter, GSAR commander. “When real searches happen, we don’t have the luxury of deciding what kind of conditions we will face.”
This was also the first time a national park has been used for this type of extensive training. Training is typically held on military installations.
Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 56,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 103 lives in fiscal year 2007. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the nearly 22,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 65 years.
By Maj. James Quinn, GSAR instructor and wing chief of staff
Fifty CAP cadets and officers from throughout the region spent 40 hours at the GSAR, which spanned two separate weekends in March and April. Instructors were from both the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) and Civil Air Patrol. VDEM partially funded the school and certified the training through the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Two exercises were conducted to allow students to practice the skills learned in the classroom. One of the missions included searchers locating a victim during a lengthy night search.
“Practicing to search at night in the rain or snow can be challenging,” said Lt. Col. David Carter, GSAR commander. “When real searches happen, we don’t have the luxury of deciding what kind of conditions we will face.”
This was also the first time a national park has been used for this type of extensive training. Training is typically held on military installations.
Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 56,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 103 lives in fiscal year 2007. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the nearly 22,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 65 years.
By Maj. James Quinn, GSAR instructor and wing chief of staff