Winter 2005 The Official Magazine of California Wing Civil Air Patrol Flirting with Disaster Plus: • Using CPR for Off-Duty Saves What Cal Wing Can Learn From Katrina • Our Cadets at the Academy Top Five Finds of 2005 • RE:CAP Wing Activities Introducing the ESsy Awards If You Can’t Buy ‘Em, Build ‘Em Great New Tricks for DF Sticks 57 To the Members Commander’s of California Comments Wing Eagle Call is an authorized By Colonel Virginia Nelson publication serving the inter- ests of the California Wing of the United States Air Force Auxiliary Civil Air Patrol. It is published by a private firm Credit Due in no way connected with the Department of the Air Force Recognizing Our or with the Civil Air Patrol Corporation. The appearance Volunteers in of advertisements in this pub- the Spirit of $76 lication, including supple- ments and inserts, does not CAP dues for California’s se- constitute an endorsement by nior members changed October 1. the Civil Air Patrol Corpora- Cadet dues remain the same. tion or the Department of the Did that get your attention? Air Force of the products and After careful deliberations, services advertised herein. the Wing’s Finance Committee decreased annual dues for senior Materials for publication members by a dollar, going from should be mailed to: Col. Virginia Nelson $77 to $76. Here’s the break- Commander, California Wing California Wing, down: $35 goes to National Head- Civil Air Patrol quarters (NHQ), $5 is earmarked new ID card until that hap- Eagle Call for Pacific Region, and $36 flies pens.) That explains why CAWG P. O. Box 7688 back to California Wing. dues jumped from $70 to $77 last Van Nuys, CA 91409 A little context may be in or- year. der. Each May, Wing command- Where does the CAWG por- Col. Virginia Nelson, ers are asked if they want to tion—around $72,000—of your Wing Commander change their Wing’s dues for the membership dues go? First, CAWG 1st Lt. Frank Geraty, upcoming fiscal year, which runs proportionately redistributes $5 per Director of Public Affairs, October to October. Last year member to each Group headquar- Publisher CAWG raised the Wing portion ters to offset their expenses. And Capt. Gregory Solman, of senior members dues from $35 while Wing HQ’s building is rent- Editor to $37, which would have made free, we still pay a substantial membership dues $72, or $6 a phone bill (averaging $350 a For information on month. After CAWG notified month), subscribe to a DSL, and advertising rates and space NHQ of the intended change, the disburse for IT equipment upgrade availability, please call National Board voted to raise the and maintenance. We also pay over 1-800-635-6036 national portion of the dues by $12,000 annual rent for our com- five dollars and offered a photo munications repeater sites. We are ID card for an additional four dol- fortunate to have a full time admin- ON THE COVER: Biloxi, lars. (As of this writing, the Air istrative assistant, Sue Lundstrom, Mississippi, as seen from a Force has not approved the design who acts as the Wing secretary and CAPflight, post-Katrina. of the photo ID card, and NHQ is processes all of the CAPF108s so not accepting applications for this Continued on page 27 . 1 EAGLE EYE Flirting with Disaster In Mississippi, General Glasgow Pulled CAP from the Mud of Inter-agency Indifference to the Terra Firma of Life-Saving Ops Brig. Gen. Rex E. Glasgow, Civil Air Patrol’s National Vice Commander—who resigned his position in November—and Incident Commander during CAP’s Response to Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, interviewed by Capt. Gregory Solman, California Wing Public Affairs. DEVASTATION BELOW: A CAPflight’s view of Waveland. 2 Can you summarize CAP’s post-Katrina participation in a single line? Two hundred fifteen members from 17 wings around the country participated on the ground and in the air, and we saved lives. How would you rate our response time? The Mississippi members ini- tially flew several air sorties and commenced looking for our own members. Within hours of my ar- rival there was a mission number issued and tasking assigned. Then the NOC [National Operations Center] contacted additional INTER-WING COOPERATION: Maj. Russell Melvin of the Texas Wing briefs a crews and we operated without Tennessee Mission Pilot. incident, I’m proud to say. We didn’t have an accident—not even a twisted ankle or scratch, work- ing in excess of 14,000 man- hours in the field—until the acci- dent after it was over, when mem- bers were returning home. What happened? Members driving home were involved in a non-injury crash in a corporate van. A semi-tractor trailer swerved trying to avoid a deer strike and instead struck our vehicle, which was forced off the road into the ditch, hitting a tree. Unfortunately, cadets—who were not supposed to be deployed in the first place—were involved. I do not feel that this was a case of ‘get-home-itis.’ But we all know NO PAPER TIGER: Gen. Glasgow writes a letter with Maj. Owen Younger. Murphy’s Law applies. Protecting our members was a primary issue, ing there was no other work. an underground facility we use, and cooperation from the mem- That’s one of the reasons the Na- have a seat and computer station, bership must be a priority. The tional Commander sent me in. To and we practice with other agen- few mistakes we experienced my knowledge, there are no cies. In my opinion, if CAP isn’t were all deviations from instruc- MOUs [Memoranda of Under- on the agencies’ checklist, the tions and briefings. standing] established in Missis- possibility of being tasked is di- Was CAP efficiently tasked by sippi. That’s quite unlike many minished. In other words, we other agencies? other wings and the Iowa Wing build the relationship ahead of Other than the initial air task- where I’m from, where we have Continued on page 7 . 3 S U P E R I O R I n d u s t r i e s I n t e r n a t i o n a l, I n c. Proudly salutes our Civil Air Patrol ~ ~ ~ an outstanding organization. CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS: COMPETITIVELY PRICED (818) 781-4973 QUALITY PRODUCTS Fax: (818) 780-3500 Designing and supplying “Superior” 7800 Woodley Avenue quality aluminum wheels and other Van Nuys, CA 91406-1788 automotive component products for www.superiorindustries.com our customers worldwide. G. GROSSLIGHT CONSTRUCTION, INC. General Engineering Contractor We participate in concrete and air safety (805) 527-7981 Lic. #497749 4496 Industrial St. • Simi Valley, CA 93063 4 BIRD’S EYE VIEW Clearing Up Coverage By Lt. Col. Mike Prusak, USAF • California Wing Liaison Officer What FECA and FTCA Should Mean to You For several months now I Department of Labor (DOL), performance of, and after have provided California Wing upon receipt of a claim from the completion of an with monthly mission numbers HQ CAP-USAF/JA (JAG) will AFAM. Periodic travel for those people authorized to independently review the other than during Perfor- participate in Air Force Assigned facts and circumstances of mance of Duty may not be Missions (AFAMs). Here’s a each case to determine if covered by FECA. summary of the coverage that FECA coverage exists. participants in AFAMs can FEDERAL TORT expect to come with those num- Here are a few fine points of CLAIMS ACT: the law: bers. Under FTCA, the federal gov- FEDERAL EMPLOYEES’ CAP Cadets under the age ernment may be held liable for COMPENSATION ACT: of 18 years are not covered the negligent or wrongful acts or omissions of CAP volun- Without AFAM status, FECA provides for the pay- teers in the performance of CAP is not acting as an ment of workers compensation duties during an AFAM. An instrumentality of the benefits to civilian officers and “injured third party” is anyone USAF and is therefore employees of all branches of suffering property damage, operating on its own the government of the United personal injury, or death aris- corporate mission. Mis- States. FECA has been ing from activities under those sions performed for state extended to CAP volunteers or conditions. To recover under and local agencies are their survivors for injuries or FTCA, the injured third party normally not assigned an death resulting from injuries must show that the injury or AFAM number and FECA sustained in performance of damage to property transpired does not apply duty while in service to the during an AFAM. So what United States, so if you are “Performance of Duty” about you? CAP volunteers, 18 injured or killed in the perfor- means active service in years or older, whose personal mance of duty during an connection with an injury or death claim is covered AFAM, you or your proper AFAM, and travel to and by FECA, cannot make a dependant could submit a from that service. Travel FTCA claim. FECA is their FECA claim. Each case of status implies traveling to only remedy. injury or death is unique. The the beginning, while in This article only intends to impart a basic understanding of your coverage and should not be construed as a legally binding interpretation of the law. Check with your squadron or group Legal Officer for an expanded understanding of your coverage and rights. Finally, I cannot overly emphasize the importance of members knowing what they are qualified to do during an AFAM. The best insurance is that which one never needs to use.