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.)

FMI: www.cap.gov