Patrulla Aérea Civil del Ala de Connecticut

Echelon of the Civil Air Patrol in Connecticut

Patrulla Aérea Civil del Ala de Connecticut

Connecticut Ala de la Patrulla Aérea Civil
Ramas asociadas
Fuerza Aérea de los Estados Unidos
Personal de mando
Comandante	Coronel James Ridley, Sr.
Vicecomandante	Teniente Coronel. Rob Roy
Jefe de estado mayor	Teniente Coronel. Matt Valleau
Estadísticas actuales
Escuadrones	12
Cadetes	365
Personas mayores	365
Membresía total	730
Sitio web	www.ctwg.cap.gov
Estadísticas al 27 de marzo de 2015 [1]
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La Patrulla Aérea Civil del Ala de Connecticut es el escalón más alto de la Patrulla Aérea Civil en el estado de Connecticut . Con sede en Beers Hall en el campus del Connecticut Valley Hospital en Middletown, Connecticut , Connecticut Wing (CTWG) tiene 14 unidades subordinadas primarias ubicadas en todo el estado para ayudarlo a llevar a cabo sus misiones. Las misiones incluyen brindar educación y capacitación aeroespacial para todos sus miembros, enseñar habilidades de liderazgo a los jóvenes de Connecticut y realizar varios servicios de emergencia domésticos para los Estados Unidos de América en calidad de no combatientes.

Los miembros jugaron un papel fundamental en los principales eventos durante los 75 años de historia del Ala, llevando a cabo operaciones en la Segunda Guerra Mundial , el 11 de septiembre y el desastre del huracán Katrina . El ala ha recibido numerosos premios y reconocimientos, incluidas las menciones de unidad de la sede de la región noreste y la sede nacional, así como el reconocimiento del gobierno por parte de funcionarios locales, estatales y federales. Varios miembros individuales, incluida la mayoría de los oficiales cadetes, son reconocidos por la Asamblea General de Connecticut al recibir sus ascensos . Gobernador M. Jodi Rell declaró el 1 de diciembre de 2007, Día de la Patrulla Aérea Civil en el Estado de Connecticut, en reconocimiento a los esfuerzos continuos del Ala y se celebró como aniversario de la creación del Ala el 1 de diciembre de 1941. El Ala tiene actualmente más de 700 miembros.

Historia

Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Connecticut Wing estuvo muy involucrado en misiones de patrulla costera y antisubmarinas a lo largo de su sección de la costa atlántica. Por ello, recibió dos medallas aéreas del gobierno de Estados Unidos. Connecticut Wing también realizó operaciones de recuperación para rescatar a los pilotos estadounidenses que habían perdido sus aviones en el país. Uno de los barcos voladores Sikorsky S-39 utilizados para las operaciones de recuperación se encuentra ahora en exhibición en el Aeropuerto Internacional New England Air Museumat Bradley en Windsor Locks, Connecticut . ^[2]

Entre las otras misiones que realiza actualmente Connecticut Wing se encuentra el programa Long Island Sound Patrol (LISP). LISP realiza misiones de patrulla en Long Island Sound durante los meses de verano en coordinación con la Guardia Costera de los Estados Unidos para brindar asistencia más inmediata a las embarcaciones en peligro. The Wing fue acreditado con numerosos hallazgos y rescates en el año siguiente a su inicio en el verano de 2007, y hay planes en vigor para continuar con el programa. ^[3]

Estructura de mando actual

En abril de 2017, el comandante de ala de CTWG es el coronel James Ridley, Sr. El puesto de vicecomandante lo ocupa el teniente coronel Rob Roy. El jefe de personal es el teniente coronel Matt Valleau. ^[4] El Vicecomandante es responsable de coordinar el escalón del ala con las unidades subordinadas, específicamente los escuadrones. El Vice Comandante también es asistente del Wing Commander, y se desempeña como coordinador de varios proyectos especiales. El jefe de personal es responsable de los miembros del personal ubicados en la sede del ala, que son independientes de los escuadrones individuales. Finalmente, el Wing Commander es responsable de conectar los dos grupos y asegurarse de que el Jefe de Estado Mayor utilice a los miembros del ala para beneficiar a los escuadrones que reciben estos beneficios a través del Vicecomandante. ^[5]

La mayoría de los puestos de personal a nivel de ala encajan en varios departamentos dirigidos por directores. Por ejemplo, el Oficial de Servicios de Emergencia (DOS) y el Oficial de Capacitación en Tierra (GO) encajan en el Departamento de Operaciones, dirigido por el Director de Operaciones (DO). ^[6] Otros puestos no están en departamentos, como el Oficial de Finanzas (FM) y el Oficial de Seguridad (SE). ^[7]

Los miembros del personal del ala se reúnen en el edificio de la sede, Beers Hall, en el campus del Connecticut Valley Hospital en Middletown, Connecticut . También asisten a reuniones mensuales de "llamadas al personal" para mejorar la comunicación interna. ^[8]

Escuadrones

Los 12 escuadrones de Connecticut informan directamente al Grupo de Connecticut Occidental o al Grupo de Connecticut del Este. Los Grupos reportan al Cuartel General del Ala. También hay tres escuadrones no estándar (000, 001 y 999) bajo Wing HQ, y hay enlaces con unidades en otras ramas de las fuerzas armadas , incluida la AFROTC en la Universidad de Connecticut , que se asocia con Civil Air Patrol ( GORRA). ^[9]

Escuadrones del ala de Connecticut ^[9]

Designacion	Nombre del escuadrón	Localización
CT-000	Escuadrón inactivo	Sin ubicación específica
CT-001	Escuadrón de personal del cuartel general del ala	Middletown
CT-004	103 ° escuadrón compuesto [1]	East Granby
CT-011	143 ° Escuadrón compuesto [2]	Waterbury
CT-014	Silver City Cadet Squadron [3]	Meriden
CT-022	Stratford Eagles Composite Squadron [4]	Stratford
CT-042	399th Composite Squadron [5]	Danbury
CT-058	186th Composite Squadron [6]	Plainville
CT-062	Northwest Hills Composite Squadron [7][permanent dead link]	Torrington
CT-071	Royal Charter Composite Squadron [8]	Hartford
CT-073	Minuteman Composite Squadron [9]	East Haven
CT-074	Danielson Cadet Squadron [10]	Danielson
CT-075	Thames River Composite Squadron [11]	Groton
CT-801	New Fairfield Cadet Squadron [12][permanent dead link]	New Fairfield
CT-999	Legislative Senior Squadron	No specific location
none	USAF Reserve Officer Training Corps Det. 115	Storrs

Commanders

Col Peter Jensen began a history restoration project in 2007 in an effort to uncover as much about Connecticut Wing's history as possible. Photographs were found of all of the previous Wing commanders, and were restored by Wing staff members.^[10] Notable commanders of Connecticut Wing include Col Tier (née Hopkins), who was the niece of Lady Astor and the Civil Air Patrol's first female wing commander. Col Frost was slated to be the next Northeast Region commander after he relinquished command of the Wing, but he died before assuming command. Col Howard Palmer during his term as Wing commander established activities for the cadet membership, and the Col Howard E. Palmer Memorial Cadet Ball is conducted annually in his honor by the Connecticut Wing Cadet Advisory Council.

Commander's Name	Period of Service	Current Status
Lt Col Thomas H Lockhart	1941–1944	Died in 1992
Lt Col William T Gilbert	1944–1946	Died in 1965
Col Charles B Shutter	1946–1947, 1949–1953	Died in 1953
Col Nancy Tier	1947–1949	Died in 1997
Col Robert A Frost	1953–1957	Died in 1957
Col Raymond E Drouin	1957	Died in 1957
Col James F Kavanagh	1958–1963	Died in 1977
Col Clinton G Litchfield	1963–1971	Died in 1978
Col Joseph B Witkin	1971–1977	Died in 2002
Col Kenneth D Faust	1977–1982	Died in 2007
Col Howard E Palmer	1982–1993	Died in 1995
Col Lloyd E Sturges	1993–1997	Wing Director of Operations
Col Frederick Herbert	1997–1999	Died in 2015
Col Karen K Hansen	1999–2003	Died in 2013
Col James E Palmer	2003–2006	Died in 2019
Col Peter K Jensen	2006–2009	Retired from CAP
Col Cassandra Huchko	2010–2013	Wing Advisor to the wing commander
Col Ken Chapman	2013–2017	Active in Local Squadron
Col James Ridley Sr.	2017-	Current Wing Commander

Icons and symbols

The most prominent icon representing the wing is the Connecticut Wing's patch, with an ultramarine blue background and bearing the image of its mascot, Connie the Search and Rescue Dog. The wing patch was required to be worn on the left sleeve of the battle dress uniform until 2006 when National Headquarters made it optional.^[11]Each squadron also has a distinctive patch. A 2007 issue of Civil Air Patrol Volunteer magazine featured an image of all of Connecticut Wing's squadron patches surrounding the Wing patch.^[12]

Connecticut Wing is also symbolized by the name "Charter Oak", which precedes all CTWG radio callsigns. Since Connecticut is in the Northeast region, it also uses callsigns that start with "CAP Stone", the Northeast region prefix.^[13]

Cadet activities

CAP cadets visit other Wings each year across the country to partake in National Cadet Special Activities, such as the National Flight Academy – Glider Track

The largest cadet activity held by the Wing is the annual Summer Encampment. The 2008 Encampment, which was held at Norwich University in Vermont, is the first encampment not held in Niantic, Connecticut for a decade, as reported in the CAP Encampment Reports. The Encampment is being held jointly with New Hampshire and Vermont Wings. There is also an Encampment, Non-Commissioned Officer Academy, Leadership School and Honor Guard Academy, all of which are being held at Otis Air Force Base.^[14] Connecticut Wing liaison for these multi-Wing encampments is Lt Col Valleau.

Lt Col Valleau also runs the application process as per national regulations for the National Cadet Special Activities in Civil Air Patrol.^[15]

Connecticut Wing was featured in the March 2007 edition of Civil Air Patrol Volunteer magazine for an event held at Hartford-Brainard Airport in Hartford, Connecticut, in conjunction with the Connecticut State Police, which provided volunteers side-by-side training with search-and-rescue dogs.^[16]Connecticut Wing cadets are currently involved in a competition between squadrons in the field of model rocketry. The final competition is to be held in June 2008 in conjunction with CATO Rocketry Club, the local chapter of the National Association of Rocketry.^[17]

The Wing's Cadet Advisory Council also hosts the annual Col Howard E Palmer Cadet Ball in recognition of the longest-serving Wing commander. The event is held during the fall season each year and is intended as an informal social gathering to promote inter-squadron cooperation. Nearly one half of the Wing's cadets attended the 2007 Cadet Ball, with an estimated 139 in attendance.^[18]

Additionally, Connecticut Wing holds an annual conference during October. This time is used to allow the Wing commander to address the entire Wing, for guest speakers to give keynote speeches, and for the annual awards to be presented to their recipients. Several competitions for the cadets occur at each conference, including a military drill and ceremonies competition and a public speaking competition. Col Mary Feik, after whom one of CAP's cadet awards is named in honor of her work in women's rights in aviation, was the keynote speaker at the 2007 conference. It is also common to have government representatives attend, including members of the state legislature.^[19]

Recognition and accomplishments

The CAP National History project and National Museum most recognize CTWG for their involvement in coastal patrol missions during World War II, shortly after the creation of CAP. Since CAP was created in a time of crisis, when Brigadier General Billy Mitchell was warning the country of impending attack and less than a week before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,^[20] coastal patrol and submarine searching became the prime missions of CAP.^[21]

In the New England Air Museum, located at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, a Sikorsky S-39 Flying Boat can be found that was used during World War II for rescuing pilots of subchasers that had gone down. A local artist painted an oil painting of the aircraft, now prominently displayed next to it in the exhibit. Photos of the exhibit, the unveiling ceremony, and the oil painting can be found at the Wing Headquarters building.^[2]

The first two Air Medals presented by the president of the United States to Civil Air Patrol went to Hugh Sharp and Eddie Edwards, who conducted the rescue in the S-39. This successful program, which spotted 173 German U-Boats, dropped 57 depth charges, hit 10 of the U-Boats, and sank two of them,^[22] was inevitably discontinued after the end of the second World War. Many of the planes used specifically for this program are now parts of exhibits, replaced by new aircraft that are more suited to teaching young students to fly and performing search and rescue, the current missions of Civil Air Patrol. Currently, CTWG has two Cessna 172s, two Cessna 182s and one Cessna 182T with Garmin G1000 Glass cockpit. Connecticut Wing has the highest number of hours flown per aircraft of any state in the North East Region, and ranks high on a national scale.^[23]

The membership of CTWG grew from 500 to 600 total active members during the 2007 fiscal year, making the largest percent increase of any wing in CAP for that year, as was announced at the April 2007 Wing Conference in Cromwell, Connecticut.^[24]

See also

• Awards and decorations of the Civil Air Patrol
• Cadet grades and insignia of the Civil Air Patrol
• United States Air Force Rescue Coordination Center

References

1. "eServices, National Headquarters". Civil Air Patrol., login required
2. "Local CAP History". CAPHistory.org. National Museum of the Civil Air Patrol. 2005. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
3. Tucker, Audrey (2007-09-05). "September Commander's Call Meeting Minutes" (PDF). CTWG.CAP.gov. Connecticut Wing, Civil Air Patrol. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
4. Yount, Donna (2011-03-21). "Connecticut Wing HQ Website". Connecticut Wing, Civil Air Patrol. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
5. Parker, Susie (2000-05-29). "CAPR20-1, Organization of the Civil Air Patrol" (PDF). National Headquarters, Civil Air Patrol. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
6. Romano, Brian; A. Tucker (2007-08-29). "Operations". Connecticut Wing, Civil Air Patrol. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
7. Romano, Brian; A. Tucker (2007-08-29). "Squadron Links". Connecticut Wing, Civil Air Patrol. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
8. Romano, Brian; A. Tucker (2007-08-10). "Wing Meeting Minutes". Connecticut Wing, Civil Air Patrol. Archived from the original on August 14, 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
9. Romano, Brian; A. Tucker (2007-08-29). "Wing Meeting Minutes". Connecticut Wing, Civil Air Patrol. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
10. Jensen, Peter; Harris, C; Tucker, A (September 3, 2007). "Commanders of the Connecticut Wing". Connecticut Wing Civil Air Patrol. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
11. Pineda, Antonio (2006-03-15). "Change to CAPM 39-1, CAP Uniform Manual" (PDF). US Civil Air Patrol. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-04-11. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
12. Probst, Neil; Wright, Kimberly (May–June 2007). "Time Capsule bridges CAP's Past, Present and Future" (PDF). Civil Air Patrol Volunteer: 18. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
13. Anderson, Lt Col Amanda B. (2007-03-12). "CAP SPEAK - A Glossary Of Terms Used By Civil Air Patrol Members" (PDF). Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-01-15. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
14. Skrabut, Stan. "Northeast Region, Civil Air Patrol". Northeast Region HQ. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
15. Courter, Amy (2007-10-16). "National Cadet Special Activities" (PDF). National Headquarters, Civil Air Patrol. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
16. Probst, Neil; Trujillo, Robin (March–April 2007). "Connecticut Members Enjoy "Dogging It" During Demonstration" (PDF). Civil Air Patrol Volunteer: 54. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
17. Parker, Susie. "Model Rocketry". US Civil Air Patrol. Archived from the original on 2008-03-27. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
18. Huchko, Cassandra (2007-10-19). "October 2007 Staff Call Meeting Minutes" (PDF). US Civil Air Patrol. Retrieved 2008-03-13. ^{[permanent dead link]}
19. Tucker, Audrey (2007-05-03). "April 2007 Commanders Call Meeting Minutes" (PDF). US Civil Air Patrol. Retrieved 2008-03-13. ^{[permanent dead link]}
20. "Billy Mitchell". United States Air University, Aerospace Power Journal. Archived from the original on 2008-09-24. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
21. Blascovich, Leonard (2002-03-02). "CAP Coastal Patrol: 60 Years". National Headquarters Historian. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
22. Civil Air Patrol. "CAP History". National Headquarters, Civil Air Patrol. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
23. Tuckey, Audrey (2007-09-05). "September Commander's Call Meeting Minutes" (PDF). Connecticut Wing, Civil Air Patrol. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
24. Huchko, Cassandra (2007). "Combined Commander's Call and Staff Call December Meeting Minutes" (PDF). US Civil Air Patrol.^{[permanent dead link]}

Further reading

• Burnham, Frank A (1974). Hero Next Door: Story of the Civilian Volunteers of the Civil Air Patrol. Fallbrook, California: Aero Publishers. ISBN 0-8168-6450-0.
• Colby, C B (1958). This is Your Civil Air Patrol: the Purpose, Cadet Program, and Equipment of the U. S. Air Force Auxiliary. New York: Coward-McCann. OCLC 1579198.
• Gonzales, Lissette (2008). "The Civil Air Patrol". Search and Rescue Specialists. New York: PowerKids Press. ISBN 1-4042-3779-8.
• Hanes, Richard Clay; Hanes, Sharon M; McNeill, Allison (2005). "Civil Defense". American Home Front in World War II. Detroit: UXL. ISBN 0-7876-7651-9.
• Neprud, Robert E (1948). Flying Minute Men: The Story of the Civil Air Patrol. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce. OCLC 401797.
• Steketee, Drew (2006). Civil Air Patrol: Missions for America - for 65 Years. Paducah: Turner Publishing. ISBN 1-59652-191-0. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2008-03-03.

External links

• Official Wing website