Staff members, both cadet and adult, from across the state (and even a few from Kansas) began arriving late in the day on Friday, 25 July 2008, with the remaining few arriving early today. Excitement was high as all were anticipating a long, strenuous, but ultimately very rewarding experience.
This year’s summer encampment is the largest in memory with a total of 133 total participants representing five different Civil Air Patrol Wings (Arkansas, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and Oklahoma) and two different CAP Regions (North Central Region and Southwest Region). 86 “basic attendees” (those who have not attended an encampment before), will be overseen by a total staff of 47 (23 cadet staff and 24 adult or “senior” staff).
Cadets are divided into six separate flights of fifteen members each and are overseen throughout the week by an experienced flight sergeant and flight commander. Staying mainly within their flights, basic attendees will practice and perfect followership skills, military customs and courtesies, discipline and drill (marching), proper uniform wear, and hone early leadership skills. Extensive classroom instruction will be supplemented with daily morning physical fitness testing as well as field activities including rappelling and helicopter orientation flights. By the end of the week, all cadets will have also memorized the encampment’s standard operating procedure (SOP) booklet.
For the second year in a row, summer encampment will be held at Camp Crowder Army National Guard Base just south of Neosho, Missouri, in the southwest corner of the state. Originally known as Ft. Crowder, Camp Crowder was established in 1941 as the U.S. Army Signal Corps Training Center. By 1943, the facility had grown to more than 42,000 acres and had trained thousands of soldiers.
In the old “Dick Van Dyke Show”, Camp Crowder is where characters Rob (Dick Van Dyke) and Laura Petrie (Mary Tyler Moore) met; Rob was a sergeant in Special Services and Laura was a USO dancer. Both Van Dyke and the show’s producer, Carl Reiner, were stationed at Camp Crowder.
Younger folks may be more familiar with the comic strip “Beetle Bailey” by Mort Walker. Walker, who trained here with the Signal Corps and later served in Italy during World War II, based his fictional Camp Swampy of his famous comic strip on Camp Crowder. A graduate of both the University of Missouri – Columbia, and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, Walker said of his time here, “Next thing I know, they sent me off to the signal corps in Camp Crowder, Missouri, where I had no ability whatsoever at mechanics. Mainly, I drew posters for everyone telling them to stay awake and be sure they did their bit. I was not learning an awful lot.”
Our cadet staff, however, IS learning an awful lot! Working day and night in preparation of the arrival tomorrow of the basic attendees, the cadet staff have completed their training and organization into two squadrons of three flights each, and perfected all needed procedures and plans. Cadet commander, Cadet Colonel Nathan Scalia and cadet executive officer, Cadet First Lieutenant Joshua Carr, have led the way working hard to mold the cadet staff into an effective team. Cadet support staff is also in place and working directly with their adult staff mentors in communications, logistics, and as the training officer.
This year’s summer encampment staff is:
1st Squadron Cadet Staff:
Squadron Commander: Cadet Captain Kenna Eggenberger
Squadron First Sergeant: Cadet Master Sergeant Lauren Faulkner
Alpha Flight Commander: Cadet Senior Master Sergeant Victoria Meister
Alpha Flight Sergeant: Cadet Master Sergeant Austin Hooper
Bravo Flight Commander: Cadet Chief Master Sergeant Nick Rueve
Bravo Flight Sergeant: Cadet Staff Sergeant Jonathan Fox
Charlie Flight Commander: Cadet Chief Master Sergeant Joseph Workman
Charlie Flight Sergeant: Cadet Master Sergeant Aaron Hooper
2nd Squadron Cadet Staff:
Squadron Commander: Cadet Captain Dani Gaitan
Squadron First Sergeant: Cadet Master Sergeant Clay Sakabu
Delta Flight Commander: Cadet Chief Master Sergeant Dainec Stefan
Delta Flight Sergeant: Cadet Staff Sergeant Dennis Volkman
Echo Flight Commander: Cadet Second Lieutenant Arielle Bohnert
Echo Flight Sergeant: Cadet Staff Sergeant Marlan Campbell
Foxtrot Flight Commander: Cadet Chief Master Sergeant Mason Bruza
Foxtrot Flight Sergeant: Cadet Staff Sergeant Wyatt McHaffie
Cadet Support Staff:
Training Officer: Cadet First Lieutenant Shane Conaty
Logistics Officer: Cadet Master Sergeant Nick Smith
Communications Officer: Cadet Master Sergeant Robert Varwig
Accommodations are a significant improvement from last year’s crowded two-story World War II era barracks. Two brand new single-story barracks with an associated modern dining facility were recently completed. The large open bay design provides separate space for each individual flight while also allowing each member within a flight to help each other clean and prepare for inspections. And they are inspected daily, not just the cleanliness and organization of their bay, beds and lockers, but also their uniforms.
The quality and quantity of the food this summer continues in the high standard of past years, with a twist. This year, we have obtained the services of Technical Sergeant Charline O’Neill, an active duty U.S. Army culinary specialist, to prepare and serve all meals. From what she’s done in the past for CAP activities, we all know we’re going to be in for a real treat!
So ends our first blog posting. Tomorrow the basic cadets arrive and go through their initial “shake down” and separation into flights, as well as their first introduction to drill and military customs and courtesies.
Tomorrow we will also spotlight the Encampment Commander, Lt. Col. John O’Neill, Jr.
Today's photographs can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mocappix/MOWGEncampmentFirstDay72608?authkey=Qoppg5Nqdrk
No comments:
Post a Comment