asheville squadron - nov 2009

8/2/2019 Asheville Squadron - Nov 2009

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G a z e t t eVol.1 Issue 12 Semper Gumby October-November 2009

Taking wing conference by storm

the gumby

By 2d Lt. Clint Parker

Members of theAsheville CompositeSquadron of the Civil AirPatrol (CAP) recentlyattended our annual Wing(State) Conference inClemmons and brought

back several awards.Awards received by

local members includes:1st Lt. John Greene ofHendersonville for WingFinance Office of theYear; Major Jim Styles ofAsheville for Recruiting/Retention Officer of theYear; second place forcadet orientation flightswent to Lt. Col. WallyCourtney of Canton andthird place for PublicAffairs Officer went to

2d Lt. Clint Parker ofMadison County.

Our squadron hasabout 135 member, withapproximately 50 cadets(12-18 years of age).

Asheville narrowlymissed taking squadronwith the most membersat the conference by oneor two members evenwith the change to most

percentage of membershipat the conference.

Of course if they

had continued to countmembers as they normallydo Asheville would havewon easily.

Congratulations to allwho won awards and theywho narrowly missedkeep trying. GG

Lt. Col. Wally Courtney at wing conference accepting his award for orientation ights.

Major Jim Styles (L to R) and Lt. John Greene were not present at the conference. 2d Lt. Clint Parker accepting his PAO award.

PhotobyNCWingPAOStaff

Two rst place, a second and a third

for Asheville in Clemmons

PhotobyNCWingPAOStaff


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Wilderness survival at DuPont State Park

Adults who were exposed to large amounts of

secondhand smoke during childhood have lungs thatlook different in CT scans from those of people who

grew up in a smoke-free environment, a new study

suggests.

Specically, their lungs have slightly more, and

larger emphysema-like holes than those with less

smoke exposure. Although breathing tests showed

that the smoke-exposed lungs were functioning just

ne, the changes could signal an increased vulnera-

bility to developing emphysema and other lung prob-

lems down the road.

Emphysema is a progressive lung disease charac-

terized by shortness of breath, coughing, fatigue, and

weight loss. About 24 million people in the United

States have emphysema and/or chronic bronchitis,which together are known as chronic obstructive pul-

monary disease (COPD): however about half of those

people dont realize they have COPD.

The lung condition is the fourth-lead-

ing cause of death in the United States,

and smoking is a major cause of COPD.

Damage done to the lugs of people who

grew up with smokers in their house-

hold can still be seen decades later.

Submitted By 2d Lt Nancy A. Greene Drug Demand

Reduction Ofcer The above article was originally writ-

ten by Anne Harding, and can be found at CNN.com.

GG

Growing up with smokers may

cause lasting lung damage

By C/StSgt. Katherine Moore

Twenty cadets and senior

members from Asheville

and two ofcers from Shelby

showed up for a Wilderness

Survival Training exercise,

despite the slight drizzlethat was coming down at

the beginning of the exer-

cise.

Major Phillips briefed the

group on basic survival tech-

niques, such as what kinds

of food you need and simple

shelter-building skills. Then

cadets and seniors were

then split into three ground

teams, one of which was all

female, and began building

shelters.

Major Phillips handed out

an envelope to each ground

team, and the cadet ofcer

who received it was inicted

with a simulated injury for

the day (i.e. a broken hand,

jaw, back, etc.).

The sun came out for a

while, which the partici-

pants used to their advan-

tage by practicing signaling

with mirrors the CAP plane

that ew over the park.

Cadets then took a lunchbreak while the staff set-up

a compass course complete

with wilderness survival

classes. There was a class

about water collection and

purication (without the

purication tablets) led

by Cadet Second Lieuten-

ant Brown, a class about

international distress sig-

nals taught by Cadet Senior

Master Sergeant Harrell,

and a class about re build-

ing demonstrated by CadetSenior Master Sergeant

Greene. Those who still

needed practice on orien-

teering were sent on a minia-

ture compass course that led

in a circle set up by Cadet

Second Lieutenant Neville.

Rain set in again, forcing

the cadets to do team-build-

ing exercises in the picnic

area under the instruction of

Cadet Captain Houston.

Instead of clearing up, the

rain just came down harder.

The evening ended, with

cadets enjoying a dinner

of pizza while watching a

movie rather than feasting

on live crickets and practic-

ing survival skills.

Cadets were then given the

option to either sleep in their

shelters (with accompani-

ment of a senior member)

or for the females to sleep

in the pavilion and males in

Continued on page 3


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the gazebo. The female ground team

and Cadet Tech Sergeant Moore took

this opportunity and quickly rebuilt

their waterlogged shelters.

The female shelter kept collapsing in

the night forcing them to sleep in the

pavilion due to personal safety issues.However, Cadet Moore, managed to

sleep in his shelter all night.

The next day, cadets made it their

goal to make the place look better than

it had been before they had arrived.

The morning was spent policing up the

area.

Due to the fact that it was still pour-

ing rain, participants packed up the van,

did a gear check, and returned home a

little earlier than planned. GG

Wilderness survival at DuPont State ParkContinued from page 2


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Cadets provide color guard for event

The Asheville CAP Cadet Color Guard was asked to dothe honors at a motorcycle convention at the WNC Ag

Center in September. Hundreds stood as the cadets marched

the colors silently through the Ag Center up onto the plat-

form and posted them. Thanks to Cadets Moore, Lueck and

Parker for the giving of their time and effort. GG


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An honor to honor real heroesBy 2d Lt. Clint Parker

Why would anyone get out on a cold rainy

October night to wait for more than three

hours for people they dont even know and

will probably never see again just to stand

at attention for nearly an hour?

Well just take a look at these pictures of

returning World War II veterans from an

Honor Air ight to Washington, DC to see

the World War II memorial. These veterans

took the last ight this year and returned tothe Asheville Airport on Saturday, October

31st.

This was the fourth such ight that the

Asheville CAP has participated in and each

time it is a privilege to honor real Ameri-

can heroes. GG


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A/E Day in the mountains

Asheville is now on FacebookBy 2d Lt. Clint ParkerEverybody is doing

it and so the Asheville

Squadron thought wed

get in on it too!

Facebook! Thats right,

were on Facebook and

we have nearly 75 friends

already. If youre not a

friend of Asheville CAPon Facebook just look

us up and send a friend

request.

This will be a good

place to post pictures

of squadron events, and

notices of up-coming

events and to generally

keep squadron members,

friends and family mem-

bers informed as to what

our squadron is doing in

the community. GG

By 2d Lt. James Matthews

On Saturday, October 3rd, the

Asheville Composite Squadron held

its own Aerospace Education Day

coinciding with the Wing Aerospace

Day.

Senior members, led by Capt. Barbara

Bow, conducted Yeager Testing, while

Col. Wally Courtney and Col. Matt

Urbanek conducted O-Flights.

Later in the afternoon, a Cadet

Aerospace Dimensions module was

taught by 2d Lt. Matthews.

By the end of the day, ve senior

members passed the Yeager test, ve

cadets participated in O Flights, and

two cadets passed their module test.

GG

asheville squadron - nov 2009

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