St. Croix Composite Squadron Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol U.S.

Air Force Auxiliary

The Aviator Newsletter

Upcoming Minnesota Wing & St. Croix Squadron Events
MNWG SAREx & STX Remote Mission Base Training St. Croix Squadron Cadet Change of Command Ceremony MNWG Black CAP ES College MNWG Color Guard Competition

Together We Prevail
September 2010 - Volume 24, Issue 5

Covers Events from July / Aug 2010

St. Croix Cadets Aid In Presenting the Colors for the Woodbury Days Parade!
On Sunday, 29 August 2010, members of the St. Croix Squadron were invited by the Woodbury American Legion Post #501 & Woodbury VFW Post #9024 to participate with them in the celebration of the Woodbury Days Parade. 1:00 pm sharp and the parade route took us on a 1 1/2 mile route through town and ended up at Ojibway Park where the towns carnival was in its final day.
Woodbury JROTC Cadets & St. Croix Squadron Cadets Lead the Parade Line up

I would like to thank Com-

Inside this issue:

St. Croix Participates in Woodbury Days Parade! St. Croix Member Earns CAP Pilot Wings! St. Croix Squadron Commander Earns Pilot Awards St. Croix Squadron Credited with an ELT Find! St. Croix Shows Support for EAA #54 Pancake Breakfast St. Croix Squadron Celebrates Double Wright Bro. Awards Chaplains CornerBreathe Deep & Fly High!

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Woodbury JROTC Cadets & St. Croix Squadron Cadets together before the Parade

cadets from the Woodbury High School JROTC color guard were the lead elements to kick off the Woodbury Days parade. Our cadets came together and performed seamlessly. The veterans from the American Legion & VFW who attended this event were grateful to see our young cadets get involved and participate in an event which marks pride, honor and sacrifice of their service. It was a long and hot summer day for our members. We met up with our hosts by 12:00 noon and found our position at the front of the parade. We stepped off at

St. Croix members who turned out to participate in the Woodbury Days Parade.

The St. Croix squadron has forged a solid bond and had done many events with these two Veterans groups in the past. We have participated in many ceremonies for the Woodbury Veterans memorial and have been a supporter for events connected to the Yellow Ribbon Network. Our cadets together with the

manders Tom Grezek & Bob Fritsche and all the members of the Woodbury American Legion & VFW for having us participate in this event. St. Croix members were; Capt. Dave Yost, Maj. Dave Kenan, 1st.Lt. Scott Richardson, C/CMSgt. Ethan Pike, C/ SSgt. Ryan Malcolm, C/Amn. Jonah Branovski, C/Amn. Colton Dexter & C/Amn. Chandler Krech.

The Aviator Newsletter

St. Croix Senior Member Earns CAP Pilot Wings

In a brief ceremony at the weekly Squadron meeting on Thursday, 02 September 2010, Flight Officer (FO) Jennifer Jara was presented with her Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Pilot wings. Senior member F.O. Jennifer Jara had been a student pilot for the past year at the Lake Elmo Airports, Fixed Base Operator (FBO) Valters Aviation in which she earned her private pilots license earlier this year. It was in late July 2010 when she took and passed her initial CAP Form 5 pilot check ride in order to receive her CAP VFR pilot rating. Jennifer has built up well over 150 hours of overall flight time and is working towards here Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Transport Pilot rating. Squadron Commander, Capt. David presented Jennifer with her wings. F.O. Jennifer Jara joins a small group of active St. Croix Squadron CAP Pilots. The St. Croix Squadron pilots are one of the most active flying squadrons in the Minnesota Wing. F.O. Jara is also an assistant Flight Operations Officer within the squadron and is working toward her Emergency Services qualifications for flight crew Scanner position and Ground Team member.

Nobody who has not been up in the sky on a glorious morning can possibly imagine the way a pilot feels in free heaven!

(L-R) Capt. David Yost & F.O. Jennifer Jara On behalf of the Squadron Commander, Capt. David Yost and the rest of the St. Croix Squadron members, Congratulations and well done!

St. Croix Squadron Commander Achieves Senior Pilot Rating & 50th Orientation Flight!
On Thursday, 02 September 2010 , in a brief ceremony at the St. Croix Squadron weekly meeting, Squadron Commander, Capt. David Yost received a pleasant surprise! With the skill of a covert operation, a few of the Senior members under the direction of our Squadrons Operations Officer, Maj. Stefan Sylvander, decided to give our hard working Squadron Commander a pleasant surprise of our own. Under the cover of presenting two Wright Brothers Awards to two of our cadets, Group 3 Commander, Lt. Col. Richard Johnson was invited to present two awards to Capt. David Yost. When a Civil Air Patrol (CAP) pilot logs over 1,000 hours in his log book he is entitled to receive a star over his CAP pilot wings which lets everyone know he has achieved this special level in their pilot career. Not many pilots get to achieve this level of proficiency without having been a career military or commercial airline pilot. Capt. David Yost is not only busy being the St. Croix Squadrons Unit Commander, but is also a CFII, Cadet Orientation pilot, Mission Pilot, a Minnesota Wing Instructor pilot and a Form 5 check pilot as well. Our squadron is lucky to have all of these specialties and qualifications located within our home base to keep our pilots some of the best trained in Minnesota Wing. Along with the many duties he has in CAP along the way he has accomplished also another milestone in a CAP pilots career. He achieved the level of proficiency of giving his 50th cadet orientation flight.

- William T. Piper, President of Piper Aircraft Corporation

(L-R) Lt. Col. Richard Johnson & Capt. David Yost So in a ceremony which was conducted by Group 3 Commander, Lt. Col. Richard Johnson, Capt. David Yost was presented his senior pilot wings and a certificate which marks the milestone of achieving his 50th cadet orientation flight. On behalf of all the pilots and members of the St. Croix Squadron we would like to Congratulate our Squadron Commander on these milestone achievements!

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The Aviator Newsletter

St. Croix Squadron Is Credited With ELT Find!

On Saturday, 12 June 2010 a call came in from the Air Force Rescue & Coordination Center (AFRCC) that an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) has been detected by airborne aircraft entering or transitioning the Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) Terminal Airspace. The call came in to Minnesota Wings Emergency Services Incident Commander, Lt.Col. Chet Wilberg & Emergency Services coordinator, Maj. Paul Pieper. The Wings ES coordinator contacted the Squadrons of Group 3 who are all located in the North Metro area where most of the ELT signals were indicated. Of the north metro squadrons alerted were; St. Paul, Anoka, St. Croix & North Hennepin whos Emergency Service Alerting officers quickly sprang into action getting ground teams assembled to go out and search for the signals. The St. Croix Squadrons Ground Team leader was 1st.Lt. Chuck Jents who quickly assembled a team to depart and aid in the search. Since summer vacation was on it is easier to get cadets who are trained in ELT searches to join in and get some real ELT training experiences. Of all the squadrons dispatched, it was the St. Croix squadron which located and found the ELT signal at Osceola Regional Airport (OEO). The following St. Croix members have been credited with the find and they are: 1st.Lt. Chuck Jents, C/CMSgt. Vince Peterson, C/2d.Lt. Grady Bell, C/SMSgt. Ethan Pike, C/ SSgt. Mohammad Battah, C/SSgt. Ryan Malcolm. Congratulations to all of you and great job on the find!

Any Pilot can describe the mechanics of flight. But what it can do for the spirit of man is beyond description!

St. Croix Squadron Shows Support for EAA Chapter #54 Pancake Breakfast!
On Sunday, 15 August 2010, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter #54 located at the Lake Elmo airport held its annual pancake breakfast fundraiser in conjunction with Lake Elmo Airport Days. Like many other not for profit organizations the need to hold fundraisers in order to be able to continue to provide many of the different aviation related activities money has to happen. This annual Lake Elmo Aviation Days event is held in conjunction with Valters Aviation, EAA Chapter #54 and pilots from around the airport itself. Fly in pancake breakfast events are the life blood of the small airports and keeps aviation in the minds eye of the public. The fascination with aviation is starts at an early age and never ceases to draw the general public into these events. To show our support to the local airport community and to our aviation partners at the Lake Elmo airport the St. Croix Squadron has participated once again in this fine event. Maj. David Kenan, the St. Croix Squadrons recruiting officer has once again had our Civil Air Patrol (CAP) aircraft on display to give the folks attending the pancake breakfast a close up look and to sit inside our search and rescue airplane. Major Kenan also sets up a recruiting table inside the Valters hangar to hand out literature and to talk to the public and young people who express an interest in joining our organization.

- U.S. Senator Barry M. Goldwater -

Maj. Kenan has been an active recruiting officer for the St. Croix squadron for many years and has been successful in recruiting members to our squadron. He is a regular recruiting fixture at many High School career day events . On behalf of the Squadron members, Thank you for all the hard work and dedication to the Civil Air Patrol!

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Citizens Serving Communities: Above and Beyond

The Chaplains Corner Breathe Deep, Fly High

The Mission of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Chaplain service is to provide for the religious, moral and spiritual needs of all Civil Air Patrol members. The dedicated men and women who comprise the CAP Chaplain service are religiously trained and certified, and specifically appointed for this ministry. CAP Chaplain service members are at the forefront of community serving humankind. Our vision is: The Civil Air Patrol Chaplain servicethe worlds best volunteer chaplaincy. Our vision builds on 50 years of outstanding service to America! St. Croix Chaplain, Capt. Joe Burton has been on temporary duty elsewhere and will be returning to us soon! Until next time Breathe Deep, Fly High!

Promotions & Awards

Samantha Carlstrom C/SrA. Jonah Branovski C/Amn. Chandler Krech C/Amn. Nathanial Holle C/Amn. Philip Harris C/Amn. Daniel Maslowski C/Amn. Alex Swanson C/SMSgt. Ethan Pike C/SMSgt. Capt. Jay Sliwinski Benjamin O. Davis

C/AB. Rebecca Rogers C/AB. Alan Larson C/AB. Trong Quoc D C/AB. Dizidula Klousse C/AB. Robert Moser C/AB. Lucas Biniek C/AB. Valenya Kolyadenko

What are runways 04 / 22 at Lake Elmo airport (21D) most famous for? Cadets Mohammad Battah &

By St. Croix Squadron Chaplain Capt. Joseph Burton 16 July 2010 04 Aug 2010 04 Aug 2010 05 Aug 2010 On Thursday night, 02 SepThe Cadet Achievement Pro11 Aug 2010 tember 2010, Group 3 Comgram is made up of four basic 17 Aug 2010 mander, Lt. Col. Richard Johnphases a cadet will encounter 24 Aug 2010 son in a brief ceremony at the on the way to the top of the Member Count: 76 St. Croix Squadron hangar had program. First is the Learning Seniors 35 & Cadets 41 the honor of presenting two phase, second is Leadership, cadets with their Wright third is Command & the fourth Trivia Question: Brothers certificates. is the Executive phase. Ryan Malcolm both had earned this milestone award by completing the learning phase and receiving a promotion to the rank of Cadet Staff Sergeant (C/SSgt.) in the process. This award is given between the learning and leadership phase of the Cadet Achievement program. It signifies the ending of one phase and the beginning of the next. (L-R) C/SSgt. Ryan Malcolm & Lt. Col Richards Johnson Cadets will be encounter challenges and promotions to the

New Members

St. Croix Celebrates Double Wright Brothers Award!

Cadet Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) grades as they advance through the Leadership phase of the cadet program. Once they achieve the high levels of NCO grades and they are ready to advance to the Command phase a promotion to Cadet Second Lieutenant (C/2dLt.) and the Gen. Billy Mitchell Award is achieved. Both Cadets have worked hard to achieve their Wright Brothers Awards and promotions to C/Staff Sergeants (C/SSgt.) is well earned. On behalf of the Squadron Commander and the rest of the St. Croix Squadron, Congratulations to both of you!

Answer from last Issue:

The Red Service Ribbon is awarded for 2 years of honorable service in CAP !

St. Croix Composite Squadron Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol U.S. Air Force Auxiliary 3275 Manning Ave. North Box #9, Hangar 39E Lake Elmo, MN. 55042 651-773-1210 www.stcroix.mncap.org

Squadron Commander:
David W. Yost Capt., CAP. YostDW@comcast.net

Next Issue:
November 2010 Black CAP ES College St. Croix Squadron Color Guard Events Cadet activities Awards & Promotions Squadron news items

Editor:
Scott A. Richardson, 1st.Lt. CAP Public Affairs Officer pao-stx-cap@comcast.net 651-387-2518