Civil Air Patrol Readies For Hurricane Season

The red, white, and blue airplanes of Civil Air Patrol (CAP) added significantly to the operations tempo at Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport Saturday as members of CAP’s Louisiana Wing gathered to refine and test their emergency services skills.

Baton Rouge, La. - The red, white, and blue airplanes of Civil Air Patrol (CAP) added significantly to the operations tempo at Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport Saturday as members of CAP's Louisiana Wing gathered to refine and test their emergency services skills.

The primary purpose of the training exercise was to prepare for Louisiana's hurricane season. CAP's role in such events is to support state and parish emergency managers by providing high resolution aerial photographs of critical infrastructure. This includes power plants, railroad and highway bridges, pumping stations, port facilities, dams, and other facilities that might be vulnerable to damage from natural events such as hurricanes and floods. CAP uses its unique capabilities to provide pictures of vital structures to agencies such as the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) and various parish emergency management offices.

By comparing "before and after" pictures, these agencies can quickly assess damages and direct their resources to minimize or protect against further loss. Acquiring photographs of specifically targeted structures was only part of Saturday's exercise for the CAP aircrews. Once back at the Baton Rouge mission base, they were required to tag each image with locating coordinates and to upload them to a website used by emergency management agencies to archive such pictures.

Louisiana Wing's Incident Commander for the training exercise was Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Kerr. He noted that obtaining the photos requested by CAP emergency management agencies is important, but delivering them expeditiously is critical. "We focused on both aspects today; and, as a result, I think we are well prepared to provide significant support to our potential customers," he said. Aircrews and airplanes weren't the only set of CAP resources exercised Saturday. Louisiana Wing mobile ground teams were dispatched to hunt down simulated missing aircraft and, in one case, a simulated lost child. The organization's capability to use both its ground and air assets in coordinated search and rescue missions is legendary.

CAP, in its role as the U.S. Air Force auxiliary, performs about 85% of all continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions tasked by the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC). Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 60,000 members nationwide, operating a fleet of 550 aircraft. CAP is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 70 lives annually. Its unpaid professionals also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies.

The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 24,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet programs. Performing missions for America for over 70 years, CAP will soon receive the Congressional Gold Medal in honor of the heroic efforts of its World War II veterans. CAP also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor, and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. Visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com, www.capvolunteernow.com