PAO-Archive
Major Warren King and Major Mary Story-King Promoted in Civil Air Patrol.
Colonel Daniel Leclair and Major Mary Story-King pin new shoulder boards on Lt. Colonel Warren King. Photo by Capt. Mark Hyland
The Lewiston Auburn Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol hosted a promotion ceremony on Thursday, February 4, 2016, at the Lewiston-Auburn Airport to promote Major Warren King of Auburn to Lieutenant Colonel. Lt. Col. King has been a member of the Civil Air Patrol since joining the Lewiston Auburn Composite Squadron in 2008. He is a Search and Rescue Mission Pilot with nearly 6,000 hours flight hours. He has been flying for over 50 years, starting when he served in the Air Force in the 1950’s. Warren has served previously in the roles of Maine Wing Maintenance Officer, and Squadron Maintenance Officer. Lt. Col. King currently serves as Director of Maintenance for the Northeast Region, an area covering 9 states.
Colonel Daniel Leclair, Commander of Northeast Region Civil Air Patrol, officially promoted Lt. Col. King in a ceremony attended by Colonel James Jordan, Wing Commander, CAP members and members of the public. Colonel Leclair stated, “Lt. Col. King is a very fine maintenance officer; when I fly, I fly by the grace of God and Lt. Col. King.”
Director of Maintenance for the Region is a demanding job with 70 airplanes, 6 gliders and pilots spread across 9 wings from New Jersey to Maine. Gliders need rebuilding, new planes need testing and delivery, and older planes need work to stay operational. Lt. Col. King works hard to keep region aircraft flying and has mentored a number of Maine Wing pilots in the proper care and flying of CAP aircraft. He is a precise and careful pilot and is qualified in all CAP aircraft from the computer glass Cessna 206 Stationair to the steam gauge Cessna 172 Skyhawk.
Aviation has a long history with Lt. Col. King. In 1955 he joined the Air Force and trained as a flight engineer in in cargo planes, including the C-119 Flying Boxcar and the B-26 bomber. He spent time flying missions from Korea and Japan, monitoring Russian ships in the Bering Sea. He learned to fly using the GI Bill after leaving the Air Force and spent many years as a crop duster, spraying grasshoppers in New Mexico, rice and soybeans in Louisiana, and spruce budworm in Maine forests. He flew small dusters, including a Pawnee and AG Cat, and larger ones including an AG Tractor, Douglas C-54 and a converted PV-2 Neptune that he flew more than 2500 hours.
LT. Colonel King and Major Story were also awarded the Paul E. Garber Award. The award recognizes people at CAP who serve more than two years in a command staff position, attend Regional Staff College, and receive the silver star for mastering a specialty position. LTC King served as maintenance officer for the Maine Wing and Northeast Region. Major Story served as Public Affairs Officer for the Maine Wing and Northeast Region. She now serves as Recruiting and Retention Officer for the Maine Wing.
Lt. Colonel King, Major Story and Colonel Leclair Photo by Capt. Mark Hyland
Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 61,000 members nationwide. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and has been credited by the AFRCC with saving more than 70 lives this fiscal year. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to over 25,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 74 years. For more information on CAP, visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com.
Major Donald Godfrey promoted to Lieutenant Colonel
Lt. Col. Godfrey receives his new shoulder boards from Maine Wing Commander Col. James Jordan
Photo by Maj. Warren King
A promotion ceremony was held on Tuesday, December 1, 2015, at the Augusta State Airport to promote Major Donald Godfrey of Yarmouth to Lieutenant Colonel. Lt. Col. Godfrey has been a member of the Civil Air Patrol since joining the Cumberland County Composite Squadron in Portland in 1998. He is a Search and Rescue Mission Pilot with more than 2,500 hours flight hours. He has been flying for over 40 years, following the lead of both his father and older brother. Having served previously in the roles of Maine Wing Vice Commander and Chief of Staff, Lt. Col. Godfrey currently serves as Director of Operations for Maine Wing. Colonel James Jordan, Commander of Maine Wing Civil Air Patrol, officially installed Lt. Col. Godfrey in a ceremony attended by CAP members participating in an annual meeting.
Director of Operations is a demanding job with airplanes and pilots spread across the state. A financial professional by vocation, in addition to volunteering with CAP, Lt. Col. Godfrey likes to fly, with his wife, in a Grumman Tiger that he has owned since 2011. He also volunteers in the Grumman light plane owners group—the American Yankee Association, and is a member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and the Aero Club of New England.
Aviation and CAP service have a long history in Lt. Col. Godfrey’s family. In 1925 his grandfather, E. R. Godfrey, developed the first Bangor Airport, known as Godfrey Field, which he sold to the US government in 1940 to later become Dow AFB. Lt. Col. Godfrey’s father, Col. Prentiss Godfrey, served in CAP during World War II, patrolling for enemy submarines along Maine’s coast. The family recently received Col. Godfrey’s replica Congressional Gold Medal, a copy of the Gold Medal awarded by Congress to honor all Civil Air Patrol’s WWII “Sub-Chasers.”
Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 61,000 members nationwide. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and has been credited by the AFRCC with saving more than 70 lives this fiscal year. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to over 25,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 74 years. For more information on CAP, visit gocivilairpatrol.com.
Maine Wing of the Civil Air Patrol gets a New Leader
Col. Jordan receives new shoulder boards from his wife Coral and Col. Leclair
Photo by Lt. Mary Ellen Martel
A change of command ceremony was held on Saturday March 22, 2015, at the Old Town Municipal Airport to install Lt. Colonel James Jordan as the new commander of the Maine Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. Colonel Jordan has been a member of the Civil Air Patrol since January 1995. He is a Search and Rescue Mission Pilot with more than 3000 pilot hours. Colonel Jordan served as the Squadron Commander for Bangor’s 35th Composite Squadron for 10 years and most recently served as the Deputy Commander of the Maine Wing. Colonel Daniel Leclair, Commander of the Northeast Region of the Civil Air Patrol, officially installed Colonel Jordan in a ceremony attended by a number of CAP members participating in a monthly training mission. The wind chill outside was -20°.
Being Wing Commander is a full time job. But in his spare time, Colonel Jordan likes to fly, with his wife Coral, in his Cessna Skyhawk that he has owned since 1982. He also volunteers as a Patient Air Lift Services (PALS) pilot, and is an Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) member.
Bar Harbor Savings and Loan Donates $500 to CAP
May 10, 2015: The Downeast Coast Patrol received a generous donation of $500 from Bar Harbor Savings and Loan in support of the Cadet and Search and Rescue Programs. This is the second such donation in as many months.
"We truly appreciate their support. Thank you Bar Harbor Savings and Loan!" - Capt Cristal LaPrade, FM
Maine Civil Air Patrol Exercises Search and Rescue Capabilities in Bar Harbor
(18 April 2015: Trenton, Maine) – Civil Air Patrol’s Maine Wing members enjoyed rare good weather on Saturday, April 18th, for a Bar Harbor search and rescue training exercise. The Wing devoted five airplanes, a number of sorties, and a team of ground searchers to search for a plane that crashed in the 1970’s in Acadia National Park. “The training exercise sharpened members’ search and rescue skills in a mock exercise with a real crashed airplane as a target,” said Major Stephen Vorpagel, Incident Commander for the mission. Air and ground teams had to communicate and coordinate their efforts to find the well-hidden wreckage. The plane was actually found a number of years ago and will be removed by the Park Service this coming year.
Additional missions were flown to take aerial photography of a new campground for emergency management purposes and to train new mission pilots. The Hancock County /Bar Harbor Airport was the enter of operations for the search. More than 30 Maine Wing members participated in the search and coordinated with Hancock County Emergency Management Agency. Members and aircraft from squadrons in Portland, Lewiston, Augusta, Bangor and Bar Harbor participated.
Capt. Michael Mitchell and Capt. Bryant Kuby plan a search.
Photo by 2d Lt Mary-Ellen Martel
Capt. Jay Pusey and Capt. Cristal LaPrade coordinate Finance and Logistics.
Photo by 2d Lt Mary-Ellen Martel
Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 60,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 100 lives in fiscal year 2014. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug 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 25,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 70 years. For more information, visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com.
Downeast Patrol Composite Squadron Receives
$500 Donation From Machias Savings Bank
Capt Jim LaPrade receives "check" from Bank Manager Mr. Matt Horton
Our sincere thanks goes out to Machias Savings Bank for their generous donation to our squadron.
We truly appreciate their support of our program. - Mary-Ellen Martel, PAO, ME038
Maine Wing Supports First Responders and The National Guard During Vigilant 14 Exercise
(Augusta)- Maine Wing aircrews and communications teams participated in the Maine National Guard Exercise Vigilant Guard 14 held the first week of November, 2013 in support of the Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the Maine National Guard. Vigilant Guard 14 was the largest full scale emergency management exercise ever held in New England. The Maine Wing participated in numerous events during the week long exercise including: daily photo reconnaissance of a collapsed building/mass casualty site in southern Maine; delivery of Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) medication to a northern Maine hospital; communications network in support of the Maine Emergency Management Agency; and photo damage assessment of coastal Maine. Planning for the exercise required extensive participation in planning meetings by Wing Commander Col. Marc Brunelle, and Emergency Services Director Major Wayne Merritt. Maine Wing tested Geospatial Positioning System (GPS) tracking of SNS medical supplies during the flight, in coordination with the Maine Department of Health and Human Service (DHHS) and the Maine State Police (MSP). A number of Maine Wing pilots and observers flew Urban Search and Rescue Staff on over-flights of the collapsed building exercise site.
DHHS Strategic National Stockpile Coordinator Joseph Legee said, “CAP demonstrated that they are flexible, effective, and dependable, making them an ideal partner for Maine CDC in public health emergency preparedness.” A Maine Wing Cessna 182 transported 25 cases of simulated doxycycline and ciprofloxacin (7 lbs. per case) from Portland to Presque Isle in 1 hour 26 minutes. The same route would have taken a truck over 4 hours to drive by State Police escort and Maine Department of Transportation (MDoT) drivers. Weight and balance are still important, and the cases must be properly secured with straps or cargo net. The Cessna 182 could have carried more than 35 cases without changing the seats or aircraft configuration. Captain Stephen Vorpagel and 1st Lt. Bryant Kuby flew the SNS mission and utilized GPS Tracking equipment so that DHHS and MSP staff could track the flight’s progress from Portland. Utilization of the Civil Air Patrol for emergency medical countermeasure distribution is a leap forward in DHHS’s ability to respond quickly and effectively to urgent public health threats, especially in the remote reaches of Maine.
Royal Canadian Air Force Search and Rescue Major W. C. Desjardins said that, “CAP pilots provided critical, professional, assistance during the search and rescue activities at the building collapse venue and allowed the participants on the ground to maintain situational awareness.” A Maine Wing Aircrew was ready and standing by each day of the exercise to carry Urban Search and Rescue Team and FEMA staff on a photo overflight of the collapsed building. Weather wasn’t always good, and there were some rough rides, but the photo recon was completed each day. Col. Daniel LeClair, Col. Marc Brunelle, Lt. Col. Roger Plant, Major Donald Godfrey, Captain Michael Barnard and 2nd Lt. Jason Wise flew the overflight missions at the Brunswick Mass Casualty Venue.
Lt. Col. Jeffery Weinstein and Major Raymond Hanson set up a radio net using CAP portable high frequency radios to communicate between the MEMA Emergency Operations Center (EOC), the Somerset County EOC and the simulated bus crash on the international border in Jackman. The radio was set up in the cold MEMA parking lot and the radio team worked all evening on communications messaging with the remote crash site.
Vigilant Guard 14 was a huge undertaking for the Maine National Guard, Maine Emergency Management Agency and County Emergency Management Agencies. Maine Wing air and communication crews played a critical role in the success of the exercise and gained experience coordinating with state and county emergency managers and first responders. The wing also found new tasks to perform during the state wide emergency exercise, giving CAP members additional emergency services skills to master. The Civil Air Patrol, an auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 61,000 members nationwide and operates a fleet of 550 aircraft. CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and has been credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 80 lives annually. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief, damage assessment, and counterdrug 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 27,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP received the World Peace Prize in 2011 and has been performing missions for America for 71 years.
For more information, visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com.
Contact: Captain Mark Hyland, CAP, Public Affairs Officer, Maine Wing
E-mail: glacierpilot1@gmail.com
38th Downeast Coastal Patrol Practice Winter Survival
By 2d. Lt. Mary-Ellen Martel Photos by Capt. J. Scott Pusey
Cadets of NER-ME-038 prepare to travel to Winter Survival Training
Feb. 21-22 on Mount Desert Island.
Cadets of the Downeast Patrol Squadron recently participated in a 24-hour winter survival training exercise on Mount Desert Island. Capt. Jeremy Harmon provided classroom instruction for the Cadets prior to the overnight. Cadets were required to hike with snowshoes about half a mile through 4 inches of new snow to the site where they would set up camp. Each cadet carried their own necessary survival gear, including a sleeping bag, but had to create their own shelter from the local materials (snow). Cadets also had to build and maintain a fire. The exercise was made especially challenging by the arrival of a snowstorm that began just before dark and didn't stop until after sunrise. All 11 cadets who participated passed the training and are now even more prepared to deal with winter emergencies.
Capt. Harmon has worked on ground teams in Search & Rescue since joining CAP in 2007 and is a graduate of the Maine Wing Winter Survival Training held in 2010. He was assisted during the exercise by Capt. James LaPrade and 1Lt Donna Tiemann.
Cadets & Senior Member advisers hike through a paddock
on a farm as they begin the trek to their camp site.
Ceremony Honors World War II CAP Veterans
(Auburn) - Maine Senator Susan Collins presented a bronze replica of the Congressional Gold Medal to Donald Hancock, a Norway resident, who volunteered for the Civil Air Patrol during World War II. As a cadet, Col. Hancock trained with the Lewiston-Auburn Squadron and acted as an aircraft spotter. Then he learned to fly and received his pilot’s license. He would later join the army and serve with occupation forces in Japan and Korea. Two additional Maine Wing veterans received medals posthumously. Those medals were presented to family members during the ceremony. Capt. Merritt Roakes served as an engineering and maintenance officer at Coastal Patrol Base 19 in Portland. Col. Prentiss Godfrey served as a check pilot and mission pilot flying anti-submarine patrols from Coastal Patrol Base 19. A later ceremony will honor Col. Walter Soule, who served as a mission pilot on anti-submarine patrols out of Coastal Patrol Base 19 in Portland.
Senator Collins said, “The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian honor and I am delighted to take part in this ceremony to honor the Maine members of the Civil Air Patrol who served America with such courage and dedication during World War II.”
The Maine Wing of the Civil Air Patrol was proud to host the medal ceremony that was held on Saturday February 21st at the Lewiston-Auburn Airport. For further information please call Capt. Mark Hyland at 515-3959. Information about the Congressional Gold Medal can be found at the website below. CAP was established Dec. 1, 1941.
Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 61,000 members nationwide and operates a fleet of 550 aircraft. CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and has been credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 80 lives annually. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief, damage assessment, and counterdrug 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 27,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP received the World Peace Prize in 2011 and has been performing missions for America for 71 years. For more information, visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com.
Mark Hyland
Wing Public Affairs Officer
Maine Wing Civil Air Patrol