Best Kept Sioux Falls Secret....Civil Air PatrolPublic Affairs Director Jon Michaels (since 1977) talks with Col. Mary Donley and Lt.Col. Mike Cassidy of the South Dakota Wing of the Civil Air Patrol in Sioux Falls.
From their website:
Integrity
The Civil Air Patrol core values are Integrity, Volunteer Service, Excellence, and Respect.
Our Civil Air Patrol core values reflect how we choose to act as an organization. It’s a statement of how we choose to treat our fellow members, our partner organizations, and the American public. They reflect our organization’s institutional commitment as well as our members’ personal commitment to public service.
SOUTH DAKOTA WING
CIVIL AIR PATROL HISTORY
1940’S
Prior to WWI the German army was on fire and seemed unstoppable. The
American aviation community was convinced that the civilian aircraft fleet of
over 25,000 aircraft could be of a benefit to the nation and our army.
A writer for the New York Tribune, WWI pilot, Founder of the Aircraft
Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and director of Aeronautics for New
Jersey, Gill Rob Wilson believed that something needed to be done to help the
East coast search for submarines. After numerous meetings he was able to
convince the governor of New Jersey to form the “New Jersey Civil Air
Defense Service.” Feeling that more needed to be done, he enlisted the aid of
two of his fellow newspaper publishers, Gannett and Beck to help him “win
over” Hap Arnold, the chief of the Army Air Force and the head of the Office
of Civil Defense, Fiorello LaGuardia, with the idea that this civilian air force
would be of a great benefit to the country. Under the Civil Defense Office the
Civil Air Patrol was formed on December 1, 1941.
The new organization now needed national leaders to organize each state with
their own commanders. Under the first National commander, Major General
John F. Curry, recruiting began on December 8, 1941 with the public
announcement of the newly formed “Civil Air Patrol”. Within months 48
states had a new group and wing commander.
South Dakota had 8 groups maned in locations all across the state.
■ Spearfish – Clyde Ice
■ Rapid City – Floyd Barlow
■ Pierre –--------Franklin Hyde
■ Huron --------- Ken Neville
■ Aberdeen ----Dwight Campbell
■ Watertown - Ralph Hubbard
■ Brookings – Cecil Shuoe
■ Sioux Falls –Knapp Brown
The first SD Wing Commander was Thomas B. Roberts Jr.
a newspaper man from Pierre just like Wilson. Roberts was wing commander
from Dec. 01 1941 – 15 Oct. 1945.
The headline in the Rapid City Journal January 7, 1942 read.
“SD State Civil Air Patrol Organized”
On March 5, 1942 the Costal Patrol was formed to offer help to the Navy. CAP
Costal Patrol was credited with helping 91 ships in distress, 865 shipwreck
survivors, flying over 6,000 convoy missions, finding 17 floating mines, and
spotting 173 submarines, even being credited with the sinking of a few. 65 CAP
pilots were killed on duty.
Most members of the Costal Patrol were from the East Coast but South Dakota
did have a few pilots that traveled east to participate in the operations. One of
those being Luverne A Kraemer from Deadwood. In March of 1942 he
traveled to Wichita, Kansas to build B29’s. Three months later he had a pilot’s
license and in April 1943 he volunteered for Costal Patrol in Atlantic City.
Civil Air Patrol participated in the war efforts in numerous ways, one being
here in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Members of the wing organized
coyote hunts from the air and on the ground using the money from the sale of
pelts to help finance the Costal Patrol.
In addition to the coyote hunts, members of the SD Wing joined the Courier
Service under the 2
nd
Air Force to help the Army Air Force transport needed
items and supplies between bases. On November 2, 1942 CAP pilots began
flying routes out of Rapid City Army Air Force Base, now known as Ellsworth
Air Force Base. Wing commander during this period was Col. James R.
Barnett from Oct. 15 1945 - Sept. 24 1950.
For an estimated 14 months 9 pilots, most of whom were not eligible to join the
military, leased their private aircraft to the Army and flew these routes.
These pilots were required to have a minimum of 150 hours of flying
experience because these routes were a treacherous undertaking.
None of the pilots were instrument-rated and they flew daily regardless of
weather. On days when the Army would ground their B-17’s the CAP Courier
Pilots were flying 7 routes per day with a completion rate of almost 100%.
This was a miracle since most of the aircraft had no or very limited
instruments and none had radio transmitters.
Flying time was 3 hours for these planes with the exception of the commander
of the SD Courier group, Captain John Moodie. Moodie took out his
passenger
seat and installed an extra fuel tank giving him extended flying time.
These aircraft were small, 65-75 HP engines, but were defiantly work horses
for the Army carrying cargo such as parachutes, rifles, mail and one secret
mission carried cases of toilet paper.
The biggest danger for these pilots was boredom, in flying so many hours over
the same route they became so familiar with the terrain that some would read
books, buzz farms dropping notes and even performing acrobatics for kids
along the routes.
The first documentation of a SD CAP pilot flying for the Courier Service was
in the log book of Ross Wiehe. His first flight as a courier was February 27,
1941. It was written in a letter from the wife of one courier pilot, Lawrence
“Bud” Younger, that he made $300 a month plus expenses flying for the courier
route.
October 1, 1942 Civil Air Patrol started recruiting young people for the cadet
program. This initial program was intended for the training of pilots for
military service. Potential cadets had to have a senior member sponsor to join.
These sponsors had to work with and train their cadets for wartime service. In
December of 1943 the Army assigned a Taylor craft L-2 to the SD Wing as a
cadet recruiting and training tool.
At war’s end the “mission” of CAP was done but on July 1, 1946 Congress
passed Public Law #476 making Civil Air Patrol a permanent non-profit
organization to promote aviation and provide air service under emergency
conditions. After the Army Air Force became the US Air Force on September
26, 1947 Public Law #557 made Civil Air Patrol the Auxiliary of the United
States Air Force on May 26, 1948.
Post-war was a time to focus on cadet growth with the core missions. In 1948
CAP began the International Cadet Exchange program. In this program
cadets traveled to another country to learn and train with local units. South
Dakota has hosted numerous cadets from other countries over the years since the 1950's.
EMERGENCY SERVICES
Civil Air Patrol’s Emergency Services program is its most publicized activity, striving to serve America's communities, save lives, and shape futures by performing operational missions for local, state, tribal, and federal agencies.
South Dakota Wing was credited with one life saved during FY2022 resulting from emergency response missions. Nationally, CAP performs 95 percent of the inland search and rescue missions tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) and was credited with 151 lives saved during FY22.
South Dakota Wing can provide services that are both effective and economical because CAP’s aircraft have a low cost-per-hour to operate. In a larger mission, South Dakota Wing can serve effectively as an Air Branch, and call in additional resources from CAP wings in adjoining states, if needed.
South Dakota Wing’s recent operational missions, in addition to missions for AFRCC, have included:
COVID vaccine transport
Missing person searches
Damage assessment aerial photography
Low-level route surveys for Ellsworth AFB
Serving as aerial intercept targets for the SD Air National Guard F-16s
Radar coverage studies for NORAD
South Dakota Wing’s six single-engine aircraft based around the state, ground vehicles, and scores of trained personnel can be deployed on short notice for specialized emergency response and agency support
Missing Persons
Local authorities typically ask South Dakota Wing to assist in missing persons searches several times a year. CAP’s high-wing single-engine aircraft are ideal for slow flight allowing visual air-to-ground searches.
South Dakota Wing has small Unmanned Aerial System drones and trained operations teams that can search hard-to-reach areas.
South Dakota Wing can also call in CAP’s expert Cell Phone Forensics team to identify the last known position of a cellular phone through GPS and/or towers contacted.
Disaster Relief
Emergency managers across the country task CAP members to perform airborne damage assessment photography after floods, tornados, hurricanes, and other natural disasters.
South Dakota Wing uses DSLR cameras, operated by trained photographers, to chart the scope and severity of areas impacted by disasters for local and state authorities.
CAP aircraft can also provide light airlift in and out of disaster areas. Ground teams can assist with shelter management, communications support, and other disaster relief needs.
Missing Aircraft
Searching for missing aircraft has long been a premier mission of Civil Air Patrol, although modern Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) technology has reduced the number of accidentally-triggered ELTs that CAP must, nevertheless find and deactivate.
South Dakota aircrews and ground teams are trained in use of direction-finding radio equipment to seek ELTs, as well as visual searching. CAP ground teams can provide survivors first aid and crash site security.
Mission Training
CAP volunteer members train regularly for aircrew, ground team, and other mission specialties needed in search and rescue and disaster relief efforts. Pilots, observers, scanners, radio communicators, operations, flight line, radiological monitoring, public affairs, logistics, supply, safety, administrative and other personnel all respond to thousands of missions annually.
In addition to extensive FEMA training, CAP’s emergency response training includes Air Force-specific requirements and internal CAP mission management policies.
In addition to local training in CAP units across the state, South Dakota Wing conducts several state-level exercises a year to elevate operational experience and identify areas requiring refinement. These exercises are funded by the Air force and, where appropriate, can incorporate inter-agency personnel and communication channels.
