Members Turn Out in Force for Ft. Drum Air Show
FORT DRUM -- Central New York Group turned out in force for Fort Drum's Mountainfest Air Show June 27-28, setting up a mission base and bivouac area, providing traffic control, and staffing a recruiting booth.
The air show served as an official welcome home ceremony for 1,000 solders in the 10th Mountain Division, and featured New York Gov. David Paterson who said he was keeping a promise he made while visiting the soldiers in Iraq at Christmas.
The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) members got to watch the military flyovers and aerobatic acts, and saw up close the various aircraft in the static display areas -- from a World War II-era B-17 that was restored to fly as the Memphis Belle in the movie of the same name, to a KC10A tanker/cargo plane from Maguire Air Force Base, to the ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules, which the New York Air National Guard flies to the North and South Poles.
"We had 48 cadets and 11 senior members," representing all of the Group's six squadrons, including the newly formed Fort Drum-Watertown Composite Squadron, Group Commander Maj. Carl Anthony said. The other participating squadrons were: Rome City School District Squadron, Utica Cadet Squadron, Rome's Mohawk-Griffiss Senior Squadron, Syracuse Cadet Squadron, and F.R. Sussey Composite Squadron from Fulton.
"This was a very well-organized and executed exercise," said Major Anthony, who served as incident commander with Maj. Robert Flynn as operations officer. "Our tasking was to provide traffic direction in both the North and South parking areas, provide communications for all our members, provide a gate guard for the Rapid Deployment Facility, and provide a recruiting booth in the static display area."
CAP "operated as a completely self-contained unit," Major Anthony said. "We set up our own kitchen, feeding all members three meals a day. We brought the Wing Communications Van and Generator, providing our own power and communications."
He noted: "Civil Air Patrol has the most dedicated cadets and senior members of any organization currently out there."
Other key staffers included: Maj. Mark Cashin, safety officer; Maj. Gerald Marketos, communications officer; 2nd Lt. Robert Ormsbee, Fort Drum liaison officer; 2nd Lt. Penny Schreiber, director of support services, and 2nd Lt. Joanne Parisi-Haugen, medical officer.
As evening approached on the first day, the cadets got to play some football, and surprised Major Anthony's son, Marshal, with a birthday cake to show their appreciation for the fact that he was spending the weekend cooking their meals instead of going out with friends.
Among the air acts they got to view, no matter where they were stationed, were: the CF-18 Hornet flown by the Canadian Air Force; two A-10 Thunderbolt "Warthogs" flown by the Air Combat Command's A-10 East Demonstration Team; the Lima Lima Flight Team flying six yellow T-34 Mentors from the 1950s and 1960s; the Trojan Horsemen flying six T-28 Trojans, also from the 1950s and '60s; the Iron Eagles bi-plane aerobatic team; and the Gary Rower Vintage Air Show in a 1942 Army Air Corps Stearman PT-17.
"We had a great time," Major Anthony said, "and the cadets loved it."
CAPTION FOR PHOTO AT TOP OF PAGE:
C/MSgt Scott Wolff and C/SA Faith Schreiber, both of Syracuse Cadet Squadron, were intrigued by the Predator B, an unmanned surveillance aircraft operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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C/A Cody Rupert of Syracuse Cadet Squadron was curious about the ski- mounted LC-130 Hercules. |
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C/A1C Alan Pardee from Rome City School District Squadron admired the row of yellow T-34 Mentors on the flight line. |
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C/SSgt Natasha Marshall of Rome City School District Squadron and C/A Joshua Stolp of Syracuse Cadet Squadron were impressed by the size of the KC10A tanker/cargo aircraft. |
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Capt. Jeff Crippen and several of his Rome City School District Cadet Squadron cadets watched an aerial act from the recruiting booth at Fort Drum's Mountainfest Air Show. The cadets are (from left): C/A1C Alexander Makley, C/A1C Emmanuel Anderson, and C/MSgt Wyatt Frazier. |
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Maj. Carl Anthony (left), 2nd Lt. Robert Ormsbee and Maj. Robert Flynn helped coordinate the Civil Air Patrol involvement at Fort Drum's Mountainfest Air Show. |
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For Media Inquiries:
1st Lt. Bob Stronach, CAP
Public Affairs Officer
Central New York Group, Civil Air Patrol
(315) 796-9468