Civil Air Patrol
Magazine - January 2022
Wreaths Across America
Manifest
General
04 Left Seat 05 In Memoriam 13 Donor 14 Tail Section
Cover photo: Wreaths Across America, C/LtCol Annika Ziesmer taken by Senior Airman Mario Calabro. Right: Photo courtesy of Lt Vickie Mackie at Polaris Squadron, Merrill 2 CAP AKWG Field, Anchorage.
Squadrons
06 Lakehood 08 Tok 10 Delta 12 Kenai
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Open Mic night, every 3rd Wed at 1900
Left Seat
Col Kevin McClure Wing Commander
Special Staff Capt Brandon Anderson Inspector General
Mr. Nate Healy CAP-USAF Liaison
Maj Carl Siebe Director of Safety
USAFR Coordinators
Lt Col Stuart Goering Legal Officer
Lt Col Brian Porter Vice Commander
VACANT Command NCO
VACANT Gov Relations Advisor
SM Elizabeth Justus Diversity Officer
TSgt Ray Lukic Wing NCO Advisor VACANT Chief of Staff
Lt Col MacPherson Dir. Of Operations
Lt Col Bryan Emerson Dir. Of Communications
1st Lt L. MacPherson Dir. Of Aerospace Ed.
Lt Col Al Senese Dir. Of Prof Development
Capt Karen Padgett Dir. Of Cadet Programs
2nd Lt Clint Justus Dir. Of Logistics
Lt Col Al Senese Director of Personnel
Lt Col Bryan Emerson Director of Recruiting
Lt Col Sheppard Dir. of Maintenance
Maj Caleb Newville Director of IT
1st Lt Terrance Aldridge Director of Finance
Capt Leah Reusser Dir. of Development
Maj Kevin Bottjen Wing Chaplain
VACANT Wing Historian
Lt Col Robert Thomas Health Services Officer
2d Lt Mary Stella Administrative Officer
Lt Col Bryan Emerson Public Affairs Officer
SM Joshua Jones Cyber Security Officer CAO 12/22/2021
Click here to see current Wing Staff position vacancies including: • • • • • • • •
Commander, AK-71 and -93 Chief of Staff, AKWG Command NCO, AKWG Aerospace Education Officer - Internal Aerospace Education Officer - External Historian Recruiting & Retention Officer Public Affairs, Assistant - Social Media
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In Memoriam Col. George Ishkata
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Lake Hood
https://lakehood.cap.gov/
Lake Hood members joined Wing Com- to participate and get the commemmander Col McClure and CAPRAP Liai- orative patch and medal can register son CMSgt Neverly Wake in the Januanytime all year long at ary Air Force History & Heritage virtual https://www.usafmarathon.com/virtual-se5K featuring the Civil Air Patrol and ries-2022/ the Piper Cub. Others who would like
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Six Lake Hood cadets attended the Oregon Wing Encampment over the winter break. C/Lt Col Annika Ziesmer lead the Senior Member Support Staff, earning a CAP Commander’s Commendation Award. C/TSgt Kai Halliburton, C/A1C Keena Bennett, C/A1C Lydia Ori, C/Amn Simon Kosinov, and C/Amn Grania Wegemer attended as first-time students.
Both Cadet Ori and Cadet Wegemer were recognized as Warrior Cadet in their respective flights. Cadet Bennett’s flight was awarded Honor Flight in their Squadron. Other AKWG cadets who attended include C/CMSgts Thomas Clifton and Elijah Goins from Southeast Squadron and Cadets Lane and Luke Hillyer from Kenai Squadron. Congratulations!
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Tok HONORING OUR VETERANS
This ceremony is part of the National Wreath Laying Ceremony that will Submitted by Capt Richard Dennis, occur at over 2,500 locations, in all PAO 50 states and abroad. The Wreaths Across America program got started At 2:00pm, Saturday Dec. 18th 2021, The Tok Composite Squadron simply by accident. A Maine wreath company found that they had sevconducted a ceremony, placing a Wreath on every veteran’s grave at eral thousand extra wreaths at the end of the holiday season. They the Tok Cemetery. This ceremony donated and placed those extra was only one of hundreds of cereWreaths at Arlington National Cemmonies held across our nation that etery. Since that year the program Saturday. has become formalized and has The 085th Tok Composite Squadgrown exponentially. ron, a unit of the Alaska Wing, The Mission of Wreath Across AmerCivil Air Patrol, has participated in ica is to; REMEMBER Our Fallen US Wreaths Across America now for 3 Veterans, HONOR Those Who Serve, years. The wreaths sell for a very and to TEACH Our Children the Valaffordable $15.00 each. In 2019, ue of Freedom. 63 were sold and placed. Last year the Squadron sold and placed 158 wreaths, sharing extras with JBER in Anchorage. This year the 085th has 179 Wreaths to place and will be sharing Wreaths at Rest Haven Cemetery in Delta and JBER.
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Photo erans cerem read. read e who ar tery. W ately f names
Bottom etery, short m prior t vetera
Bottom being past D at min Squad the To etery i was pl vetera
os - Bottom left: Reading VetNames: As part of the WAA mony, each veterans name is Here Capts White and Dennis each of the 67 veterans names re located at the Tok CemeWreaths were placed immedifollowing the reading of the s.
m center: At the Tok Cemthis past December 18th, a memorial service was held to placing the Wreaths at each an’s grave site.
m right: As Wreaths were laid at the Tok Cemetery this Dec 18th temps were running nus 15F. The Tok Composite dron provided 179 Wreaths for ok Cemetery, along with a cemin Delta, and JBER. A Wreath laced at the grave site of each an by the Squadron Cadets.
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Delta
https://www.facebook.com/bigdeltacap/
Squadron members received certificates and coins for their work in finishing the CAP NHQ High Altitude Balloon Challenge. C/CMSgt B Lee was formally recognized for his completion of Achievement 8. Capt K Schmidt assisted in creating an AKWG pre-overnight-activity training course for cadets, and two classes were held virtually with cadets before they attended the Oregon Wing Winter Encampment in December, with 100% attendance. A local fitness gym provided a complimentary fitness bootcamp for the squadron’s PT night in December. What a workout! Big thanks to BlissFit and SM J Fox for planning the fun activity. Volunteer service activities recently included assisting with the gift-wrapping for Project Angel Tree, and collecting a large amount of requested gift items for the National Guard troops at Fort Greely, including multiple sets of new pots and pans and kitchen equipment which were put to good use immediately.
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Members of the squadron placed 59 Wreaths Across America wreaths on veterans’ graves at the Delta Rest Haven Cemetery in December, which was a beautiful way to honor them. Appreciation goes to the 085 Tok Composite Squadron for sharing wreaths with us, and to SM L Stricklin for driving to Tok to obtain them. Just after Christmas, the area was hit with several feet of snow, 24 hours of rain leaving 3-5” of ice, and then another foot of snow, followed by very cold temperatures. This caused the last meeting of the year to be canceled. Strong wind storms then blew massive drifts in the area. Members have spent many hours shoveling off their roofs and driveways, so everyone got some extra cardio for the month. Cadets had a fun lesson building the Piper J-3 Cub aircraft paper model from the AEX I hands-on activities manual, with great results!
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Kenai Every Monday from 6:30 to 8:30 pm Kenai Cadets collaborate on achievements, practice drill and get flight simulator time. Kenai Cadets presented required Safety, Aerospace, Character Development and Leadership Presentations.
Orientation rides were difficult to accomplish this month. The weather and visibility made Saturday appointments impossible. Thank you to 2nd Lt Nick Maliniak, Captain Cole, C/2nd Lt Andrew Cole, and C/SrA Luke Cole for trying to make it happen.
All learned a lot about the requirements to obtain a flight certificate from Captain Cole. He presented Aviation slides from the book, “Let’s Go Flying”. Requirements to fly included: 17 years old, Knowledge test and Check ride, and a Medical exam. The Types of Pilot Certificates included: Student pilot, Sport pilot, Recreational pilot, Private pilot, Commercial pilot and Airline pilot. Cadets contributed muchto the ongoing conversation. Captain Cole did an excellent job on educating our future pilots.
Unfortunately, two meetings were canceled because of health concerns. We abide by strict health guidelines to protect Cadets and adults. We had three new prospective Cadets attend our meetings. We hope they will enjoy the work Cadets do in the community, and also become members of our squadron. Kenai cadets continue to set a good example in our community and state.
We are very proud of C/TSgt Matthew Schwartz for his advancement to Achievement 5! He continues to lead by example in our squadron. Also, C/A1C Lane Hillyer and his twin brother, C/ A1C Luke Hillyer advanced to Achievement 3. They also attended the Dec. 28th Encampment in Oregon. It was a tremendous experience for everyone who attended. They continue to push forward and achieve much. Presently, they are attending meetings in Hawaii.
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C SrA Luke Cole passes Achievement 3.
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Tail Section
In the News - Pacific Region’s Ishikata Passes; Commander was 59 - Virtual Memorial Service for Col Ishikata on January 29, 14:00 (PT) - FAA Employee on Civil Air Patrol Helps Stranded Pilot - Coast Guard wraps up 2021 task force initiative in Arctic, Western Alaska DVIDS - CAP lays wreaths on graves - On Annual Inspection Tour, USCG Witnesses Climate Change in Alaska - The Maritime Executive - Appreciation for the support (Delta) - Kodiak Daily Mirror
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Thanks to all of our members and their families who participated in Wreaths Across America! We had a wonderful turnout and paid tribute to many fallen heroes. This online publication is designed to attract, inform and motivate readers through photos, text and stories. We see and feel the four core values in the faces and body language of the cadets and senior members portrayed herein.
If you would like to propose any content by the 15th of each month or provide feedback then please contact me. Volunteers serving America’s communities, saving lives, and shaping futures. Lt Col Bryan Emerson, CAP Publisher and Editor Alaska Wing PAO, DC, R&R Bryan.Emerson@akwg.cap.gov, 1 (907) 795-5586 cell
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