By Lt. Col. Thomas L. Traver, CAP, and 1st Lt. Arthur E.
Woodgate, CAP
(EDITOR'S NOTE: As Hurricane Wilma now
bears down on Florida, the members of the Civil Air Patrol are
standing by to aid in rescue and relief efforts in the storm's
wake, just as they have for all of this past summer's dangerous
storms. ANN would like to present the following in-depth
explanation of some of the duties performed by CAP officers in the
relief efforts this summer -- duties the CAP is called on to
perform far more often than is mentioned in the news.)
One of the basic
principles of disaster preparedness is planning for the worst and
hoping for the best. When the triple whammy of hurricanes Katrina
and Rita -- two of the most powerful storms on record -- and
Ophelia slammed into this country's Gulf Coast and Atlantic
seaboard respectively within a mere four weeks of each other, that
principle was put to the ultimate test when the Civil Air Patrol,
along with other federal, state and local disaster-response
agencies, responded in the wake of these devastating storms.
Prior to the arrival of these storms, CAP units began
re-positioning aircraft and assets to safe areas as far away from
the projected storm track as possible in order to be ready for
immediate post-storm assistance. Members of the CAP, the
all-volunteer civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, found
itself playing a key role in the aftermath of both storms. Tasked
by the Air Force's 1st Air Force, which is positioned at Tyndall
Air Force Base, FL, CAP aircraft, aircrews and ground teams from 14
states -- responding as a total team -- began operations shortly
after each hurricane blew ashore.
In the end, more than 1,700 CAP members contributed 35,495 man
hours, flew 960 air sorties using 68 CAP aircraft, logged 1,848.6
flight hours, surveyed 4,266 homes and made 8,524 contacts with
persons affected by the hurricanes. The CAP missions were many --
air and ground reconnaissance, ground disaster relief operations,
air transport, etc. -- and a key element of the organization's
contributions was flying aerial photo reconnaissance using both its
near real-time satellite-transmitted digital imaging systems, and,
for the first time ever in the midst of disaster relief operations,
its cutting-edge ARCHER air-to-ground reconnaissance system.
"We gathered critical digital imagery for the specific need of
assessing the damage in the areas affected by Hurricane Rita," said
Maj. Owen Younger, incident commander at CAP's Texas Wing Incident
Command Post located in Addison, Texas.
In addition to civilian support, CAP aircrews transported active
duty military and National Guard personnel in and out of the
devastated areas, as well as members of the Army Corps of
Engineers, on damage-assessment missions.
CAP National Commander Maj. Gen. Antonio J. Pineda said the
organization would commit every resource available to augment
relief efforts.
"The CAP, working in conjunction with the U.S. Air Force, proved
we can provide excellent service to the nation in times of disaster
and great need," Pineda said. "We will again help in every way
possible, and we won't stop helping until the job is done!"
ARCHER, which stands for airborne real-time cueing hyperspectral
enhanced reconnaissance, proved itself a vital asset to emergency
officials conducting rescue, recovery and damage-assessment
operations. The system, which was unveiled in March 2004, promised
impressive results. CAP's damage-assessment flights in the wake of
Katrina and Rita were particularly important since they were
ARCHER's first disaster-relief missions. The sorties went smoothly,
the targets were acquired successfully, the images were submitted
promptly and without error, and ARCHER's actual performance in the
field fulfilled an important part of the system's field-testing.
Mounted on a Gippsland GA8 Airvan -- an eight-seat, high-wing
airplane (file photo of type, below) -- the system's HSI
sensor detects an object by looking for and identifying its
spectral signature (the way the object reflects light).
Airborne ARCHER operators can program the target object's
spectral signature into the system in advance or, in the absence of
such a signature, set the system to search for anomalies -- objects
significantly different from the surrounding area. Data on possible
targets that match the sought-for spectral signatures or anomalies
can be processed in real time, stored and analyzed, and transmitted
to ground teams or client agencies. Since the system relies on
reflected light, it cannot detect objects at night, under water,
under dense cover, underground, under snow or inside buildings.
"Hyperspectral imaging will greatly increase CAP's
effectiveness in aerial reconnaissance," said Col. Drew Alexa,
director of the CAP Advanced Technologies Group and ARCHER program
manager, at the time the equipment was first presented to the
press. "CAP already has satellite-transmitted digital imaging
systems in place throughout the nation. We can now use HSI to
capture images in the air and then transmit them to the ground via
e-mail in two minutes or less, using a satellite phone. With such
rapid response, ground operators can quickly see if they need to
redirect the aircraft or deploy ground teams to a particular
location."
Using this timely intelligence, the Emergency Coordinator can
make informed decisions calculated to bring the disaster area
quickly to a state of recovery.
While best known for its air search and rescue operations, CAP
ground teams also made a significant contribution during the twin
disasters, visiting more than 8,500 residents of the impacted areas
checking on their welfare and distributing more than 30,000 lbs of
supplies. In some cases, CAP members were the first emergency teams
seen by victims. The timely response of the CAP ground teams was
critical in some instances. They came across a pregnant woman
suffering from complications, a diabetic person in critical need of
syringes to administer insulin, an elderly woman on electrical
life-support systems without electricity, a deaf victim cut off
from his means of communication - and all were aided by CAP ground
team members who happened to be at the right place, at the right
time.
CAP's response was not limited to those actually participating
in the mission itself. Across the country, CAP units held
fundraisers to collect money to assist the disaster victims. For
the second time in one year, cadet and senior members of New York
Wing's Long Island Group stood in front of supermarkets, store
fronts and even an opening-day crowd for a local youth football
organization in order to collect funds for victims of natural
disasters.
Maj. Mike Kelly, Suffolk County Squadron 10 commander and Long
Island Group hurricane relief project leader, along with the Long
Island Group Commander, Lt. Col. Norman Greenberg, presented a
check for $13,931.67 to Paul Vincent of the Salvation Army for
victims of hurricanes Rita and Katrina. The nearly $14,000
collected surpassed the amount the Long Island Group raised in
February 2005 for tsunami relief in Asia. Other units repeated such
activities across the country collecting money, food and other
necessities for the disaster victims.
Activities such as these are just another way in which CAP
members across the nation are contributing to disaster relief. CAP
Wings and subordinate units are responsible for flying supplies and
medical personnel to those in need, conducting food and supply
drives, and setting up housing for the people who have found
themselves homeless in the wake of these events. When there is a
need, the CAP will always answer the call.
CAP, the auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, performs 95 percent of
all continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by
the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. More than 56,000
volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and
counterdrug 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 almost 25,000 young people currently
participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing
"missions for America" for more than 60 years.
(Lt. Col. Thomas L. Traver is the Public Affairs Officer,
Oregon Wing, and a long-time member of the Civil Air Patrol. 1st
Lt. Arthur E. Woodgate is the Deputy Public Affairs Officer, Texas
Wing, and a retired U.S. Army intelligence officer.)