Civil Air Patrol trains at Luke, participates in rescue missions

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. CESAR LORA
  • 356th Cadet Squadron
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Twenty-eight cadets and eight adult members of the Civil Air Patrol attended search and rescue training the weekend of Jan. 23 at Luke Air Force Base. 

Luke's 356th Frank Luke Jr. Cadet Squadron sponsored the SAR event, in which cadets trained in several areas of Luke and dined at the R. V. Hensman dining facility. 

"Our goal is to provide our members with field training experience and to sign off tasks for ground team member qualification," said Capt. Matthew Fields, 356th Cadet Squadron commander. 

A CAP ground team is a specialized group of at least eight volunteers consisting of a team leader, medic, radio operator and several others. The ground team drives to a heavily wooded area and hikes in to search areas looking for lost persons and downed aircraft. 

Recently the 356th Ground Team saw action during a real-world search mission assisting the Coconino County Sheriff's Office when Mark Irby, a seasonal resident of Forest Lakes, didn't return after a day of off-roading in snowy terrain. 

Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip Kittelson, 56th Security Forces Squadron military working dog handler and CAP SAR volunteer, was on hand for the search. 

"We were in waist-deep snow most of the day probing drifts and checking empty cabins for Mr. Irby," Sergeant Kittelson said. "We knew by that time it was more of a recovery operation." 

Mr. Irby is still listed by Coconino County as a missing person. 

Sergeant Kittelson is also the emergency services officer for the Luke cadet squadron.
"My job as an ESO is to provide training events and opportunities for members in emergency services," he said. "With CAP conducting more than 90 percent of Air Force search operations, we need all the rescue personnel we can get." 

The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center based at Langley AFB, Va., tasks CAP with performing their inland search function. Once a locator beacon is set off by an airplane crash, the AFRCC contacts the appropriate CAP wing and assigns a mission number. 

The Frank Luke Cadet Squadron meets 6:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays in Bldg. 1018 near the 944th Fighter Wing.