Guidance debrief

Ok, so I'm back from Field Training finally, and ready to update everyone on the Guidance mission from way back when. As this was the first operation I ever planned, and the fact that there was some interagency work, it was tricky, but went pretty well I'd say. I was only able to get an IC at the last minute to get a mission number. They put the GT on one mission number, and the aircrew on another because the aircrew was funded, and the GT was not. Crazy. Anyway, the GT from Phoneix met up at my house, and we all discussed some saftey around helicopters. We then went to mission base and were breifed by the IC on the mission, and talked to the chopper crew about the length of the mission, bad weather plan, etc. Remember that later.

After the brief, the chopper crew took off, and I began the paperwork for the GT. Be mindful new leaders, there is a lot of paperwork, more than you think. Getting the two types of sign in sheet done, the gear check, and the vehicle check took about an hour. 40 minutes longer than I expected, but my team was very supportive of my inexperiance. This is why we train, to learn stuff like this BEFORE a REDCAP comes up.

We departed the mission base about the same time as the aircraft. The plane immediatley picked up the ELT northwest of the airport. We proceeded into Chino Valley, pretty much following the plane to the search area. The plane found the target about 20 minutes after liftoff (great job on them, we hid this helicopter pretty good). The plane led us into the general area, but we couldn't get close to the chopper because we were blocked by private property. Capt Fields (another GLT trainee on the mission) and I went door to door trying to get permission to cross property and get to the helicopter. Nobody in that area seems to be home on Saturday mornings. On our 5th attempt, we got permission from one of the ranch owners (very nice lady) and unloaded. During this time, the aircraft had to RTB due to fuelload. They were relaying all our radio to mission base, so we pretty much lost comms at that point. We did a quick gear check, DFed the target, and began to head toward the signal. About a third of the way there, we saw the helicopter take off, circle us, and leave.

Yeah, we were confused. I (miraculously) was able to get a txt out to my friend who works at Guidance, and she told me that the copilot (who was a student) had to get to work, and didn't know the mission was going to go that long, so they flew her back. That was frustrating. Remember earlier when we discussed that at the briefing? Me too, apparently she wasn't listening. It's too bad too, we could of used the training on securing the crash site, and we were planning on littering out the pilot. Oh well, I guess this simulates the sheriff's dept getting there first, right?

So we all packed up, RTBd, and debriefed at base. All in all it was a good training day. We trainind in staging, prepping to go, land nav on streets, land nav on terrain, communications, working with an aircraft (a core competency of CAP), dealing with prvate property laws, and debriefing. The only things we missed out on were crash site security, and medical treatment of victims.

My thanks to the GT from Group IV, hooah, Don Timmerman IC, Bill Brinkman CUL, Kevin Holbrook MRO, the Prescott Composite aircrew (who also flew me to the wing comms meeting later that day), and Guidance Helicopter for thei participation.

So, take these lessons, and go plan a practice operation for your team! It's invaluable to practice everything from start to finish!

Blog name

Ok, so I was talking on CAPTalk today and realized that although "That Others May Live" is real catchy and what not, it takes FOREVER to type and isn't real easy to remember, espcially since I had to put "AZ" on the end. So... I am holding a contest to rename this blog. Something short and sweet like CAPBlog, CAPTalk, etc, but that captures the fact that this blog is ground team oriented. So, post in the comments with your idea, and I'll pick my favorite one (that isn't already taken) and change it up. Thanks!

Identified a weakenss

Our new GT spent all of Sunday training in the field. This was invaluable, as we identified some weaknesses in the cadets navigation skills. First, we realized that compass skills need work:

"Team Bravo, Team Alpha. South mountain is on a heading of 3-8-0 degrees from our location, over."
"Team Alpha, Team Bravo. Be advised. There are only three hundred sixty degrees in a circle, over."

"Team Bravo, Team Alpha. We are heading north on a heading of 1-6-8 degrees."
"Team Alpha, Team Bravo. Walking backwards is not advised in this terrain, over."

So, we are going to work on that. We also found that mapwork is needed. No funny radio calls for this one. We just got incorrect coordinates on two occasions, which made linking up with the other team tricky at best. One thing I learned is how important it is for everyone in a team to understand basic compass work. After the compass man gave the headings to the comms man, they could have stopped right there if the comms man recognized the problem with the statements.

The older members weren't free from error either. I didn't have spare batteries for my GPS in my bag, making my unit useless after a while. Many people didn't have snack bars to munch on, so by the time dinner rolled around, they were very hungry. Even our illustrious leader had the wrong maps for our practice area today. Oops :)

But hey, this is WHY we train like we fight. We can recognize weaknesses in training before we go on a mission. Each GT should go out in the field together at least once every other month. Practice with their gear, make sure they have what they need, get map and compass experience, etc. Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend our next practice session, as it is on a weeknight and we meet nearly 90 minutes from my location. So, I will post again after our next training, or if anything big happens with the Guidance mission! Currently, the Ops Plan is at the Group Level.

ES stuff goin down out here

1) National Board approved the boonie cap and orange shirts for ground teams. Hooah. Way to go national board. It makes me happy that the new command staff is willing to look at necessity more than "how does it look", but also asks "how does the Air Force feel about this?" Everytime a CAP-SAR team goes to a SAR conference, the reaction is pretty much the same. You wear CAMOFLAUGE on SAR!?!? Well, now we wear orange too, if we want. My GT boss submitted this proposal to our wing 2 months ago, so I'm sure he's down with it, and we will all be getting orange as soon as national approves it. As for the boonie hats, he doesn't like the way it looks on the media, neither do I. He and I agree that it is a good item in the field, but when we are around people (like those media types) we should wear AF uniform items, like the regular BDU cover. I haven't heard much about what the rank and file thinks of this. I'm especially interested in what Midway6 has to say. He usually catches sides of things I miss.

2) Planning an op! My roomate is a saftey intern at Guidance Helicopter Inc, and we were given a great opportunity. They want to practice implementing their newly minted saftey response plan. Basically, they want to know what to do when they lose a bird. Who to call, what to say, and how to handle the media (damn they're everywhere). What does this translate to for us? They want to fly a whirleybird somewhere remote, land, and set off a practice beacon. We will then pretend it's the real thing. Guidance calls the sherriff, CAP, etc. We stage and go. The GT I'm on is just getting formed, and has limited field experiance, so this is a great setup for a real life scenario they can use. Additionally, the Group II planes can DF the beacon, while scanning for *ghasp* a real live target! Squadron ES officers should discuss exercises like this with local FBOs. This kind of dual training gets the CAP name out there, provides a realistic environment, and develops a friendship between agencies. Tentative date is April 19th, so expect an AAR after that, if not any more updates beforehand!

My first find

I got my first ever find last weekend, so here comes the standard find post.

Date: 3 February 2008
Time start: 2000 AZT
Time ended: 2200 AZT
Type: UDF
Area: SW Phoenix (Avondale area)
Staging area: Glendale airport
Team: LtCol Wan Wannamaker(Leader), TFO Seth Martin(Comms), C/MSgt Padrick
(L'Per/Nav), C/MSgt Hendricks(Nav/support/log)
Vehicle: LtCol Wannamaker's POV
Cause: ELT heard on satellite 121.5 and 243.0
End result: Find, no distress
Find #: 1
Save #: 0

After GT training at Deer Valley airport, 3 cadets, myself, and another senior member went to Subway to eat and chat. After our mean, the senior member got a phone call from LtCol Wannamaker looking for a UDF team member. The senior member couldn't go because he had work, but suggested myself and two of the cadets could go (the third was also unavailable). We were already in uniform, fed, watered, had our gear, and were all together. What more could you ask for? He agreed, and we drove to Glendale airport to meet him. After a phone conversation with the aircrew that had been DFing for about 2 hours, we had the ELT narrowed down to a two square mile area that included a private, rarely used, dirt airstrip, a semi-rural residential area, and a junkyard. When we arrived in the area, we picked up a weak ELT signal on 121.5. We DFed it, and moved in the direction of the signal. We passed the junkyard on the way to our 2nd DF point, and we heard nothing in there, so we didn't stop to check it out. After 2 more DF stops, we found ourself in the residential area. We switched to the rubber duck, and were picking up the signal with about 45% sensitivity, indicating we were within about 1/4 mile. We pulled down a dirt road, and took the antenna off the unit completley. We picked up the signal in front of three houses at about 90% with no antenna. We exited the vehicle, went to the middle house, and spoke with the owner. We asked him if he had an airplane, he did not, but told us his next door neighbor was refurbishing a plane. Bingo. The man also insisted that his neighbor's ELT was not going off, as if he knew for sure. We departed his house, and walked next door, and rang the doorbell. We asked the owner if he was refurbishing a plane. When he said yes, we told him his ELT was going off. He immediatley denied it, but I turned on the L'per and he decided we should check it out. As soon as we walked in the garage, the L'per went nuts. He found the ELT in a box of spare parts. We deactivated it and left. We returned to Glendale about 2200. This was LtCol Wannamaker's 158th find. For the rest of us, it was our first.

Lessons learned:
1) 25% sensitivity is 0! I expected the L'per to go to zero when we were on top of it, but it apparently doesn't do that.
2) Pick a car with an antenna built in for the L'per. It's great to just drive and listen.
3) Ask people! Locals could be your best resource on the search.
4) Use the sensitivity to close in, not receive or DF. Those are for direction.

Purpose of this blog

The purpose of this blog is to publish the stories of the search and rescue missions that I have participated in as a ground team member or urban direction finding team member, and to help me keep track of them. Newer (and even more experianced) GT or UDF team members can always learn from each other's successes and mistakes! I will also publish things I learn, equipment I buy and like (or loathe), and modifications I make to my car! If you have a comment to make, please make it. I love hearing other people's opinions on anything! Thanks!