The official publication of Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol
Cadets return home from
encampment stronger,
smarter and better looking
C/Capt. Francesca Fogarty
130th Squadron
The 74 encampment atten-
dees waited in the staging
area, the military museum
parking lot just north of the
gates of Camp Ripley in
northern Minnesota.
These cadets had no idea
what the 54 waiting staff
members had planned for
them. Minnesota Wing’s
annual summer encamp-
ment was about to start.
They would soon find out.
Events on the itinerary
included live firing M-16s
at the rifle range and chal-
lenging themselves on the
obstacle course.
Cadets learned and prac-
ticed teamwork by working
together to pass rigorous
inspections, participating in
the drill competition and
competing in a volleyball
tournament. Moral leader-
ship sessions had cadets
exploring diverse subjects
from the concept of the
“team” to the military
chaplaincy.
There were also several
classes on aerospace topics
June/July 2006
and U.S. Air Force struc-
ture. The personal and team
discipline developed at
encampment will help these
cadets succeed through the
rest of their CAP careers
and their lives.
Maj. Chet Wilberg returned
this year as encampment
commander. At his side
were Capt. Conrad Peterson
as commandant of cadets Cadets participate in physical training at the annual
and Capt. Joseph Bradfield Minnesota Wing Encampment.
as executive officer. With
the help of C/Capt. Janna
Fosterling, commander of
the 8th Cadet Training
Group, every encampment
detail was planned during
the past 16 months.
Eight cadets participated in
the Staff Development
Squadron, a program for
returning encampment
graduates who wish to pre-
pare themselves to serve as
future members of the A cadet flight at encampment practices drill.
encampment staff.
tion and mentoring, as well cadet led activities. These
In support of this mission, as job shadowing staff cadets have honed the
they undergo training in members. skills needed to guide the
Cadet Training Group theo- next year of CTG students
ry and organization, the The 8th Cadet Training
Group concluded with and to continue the tradi-
principles of leadership, tion for many years to
human behavior modifica- cadets enthusiastic to carry
on the fine tradition of come.
Page 2 WingTips June/July 2006

Commander’s Column: Minnesota Wing earns “excellent”

by Col. Steve Miller, limit mission What will we do to take the
wing commander accomplishment. wing to the next level? In
Minnesota Wing Marginal: Performance or the near future, you will see
Headquarters just finished operation does not meet some changes at Wing
its Compliance Inspection. some mission requirements. Headquarters. We are going
This inspection typically Procedures and activities to make those changes to
occurs every four years. are not carried out in an position the wing for the
The rating system for efficient manner. Resources future.
Compliance Inspections is and programs are not effi- On another subject, train-
as follows: ciently managed. ing, the wing has received a
Outstanding: Performance Deficiencies exist that major infusion of training
or operation far exceeds impede or limit mission funds. These funds will be
mission requirements. accomplishment. used to take the wing to the
Procedures and activities Col. Steve Miller Unsatisfactory: next level in emergency
are carried out in a far Performance or operation service training. We have
superior manner. Resources aged and relatively free of does not meet mission three more group search
and programs are very effi- deficiencies. requirements. Procedures and rescue exercises sched-
ciently managed and are of and activities are not car- uled. Additionally we have
Satisfactory: Performance
exceptional merit. Few, if ried out in an adequate a unit based exercises on
or operation meets the mis-
any deficiencies exist. manner. Resources and pro- the calendar. I encourage
sion requirements.
grams are not adequately all members to take advan-
Excellent: Performance or Procedures and activities
managed. Significant defi- tage of these great training
operation exceed mission are carried out in an effec-
ciencies exist that preclude opportunities. Training is
requirements. Procedures tive and competent manner.
or seriously limit mission essential to ensure we can
and activities are carried Resources and programs
accomplishment or endan- meet the mission.
out in a superior manner. are efficiently managed.
Resources and programs Minor deficiencies may ger personnel or resources. The wing also received
are very efficiently man- exist but do not impede or As was mentioned in an additional funding for cadet
electronic announcement, orientation flights. If you
Minnesota Wing received haven't scheduled orienta-
WingTips is a publication of an overall EXCELLENT tion flights, be sure to do
Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol, rating. And, for all the work so. This additional funding
U.S. Air Force Auxiliary that was put into earning should ensure our cadets
6275 Crossman Lane this rating I say, “THANK receive those flights. We
Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076 YOU!” have pilots who want to do
www.mncap.org the flights, so let's get them
wingtips@mncap.org Now, where do we go from hooked up with cadets who
here? We can't sit back and want to fly.
The views expressed, either written or implied, are not neces- bask in the glow of our suc-
sarily those of the U.S. Air Force, the Civil Air Patrol or cess. We must press ahead. -Semper Vigilans
Minnesota Wing. Submissions should be sent to the above
email address.
Wing Commander: Col. Steve Miller
Wing Public Affairs Officer: Capt. Al Pabon
Wingtips Editor: Lt. Col. Shannon Bauer
Page 3 WingTips June/July 2006

Group III search and rescue exercise offers lots of training

by Lt. Col. Shannon Bauer,
Viking Squadron
Around 88 wing members
representing 18 squadrons
attended the Group III
search and rescue exercise
hosted by Viking Squadron
at Flying Cloud Airport in
Eden Prairie, Minn.,
June 10-11.
More than 50 air and 10
ground sorties were
launched throughout the
weekend. The focus includ-
ed accomplishing tasks for
member emergency servic-
es qualification instead of
long, drawn out search pat-
ters or long distance drives.
One of the goals for this
exercise was to perform
very complete debriefings
A ground team made up of all cadets goes through the debriefing process after com-
that include the entire air
pleting a mission. Photo by Lt. Col. Shannon Bauer
or ground crew. Mission
debriefings were to be a
learning experience. The
crews evaluated their own
performance and answered
the question, "What could I
do better next time?"
Lt. Col. Joe Volding, Valley
Squadron, served as the
incident commander. Capt.
Ronn Winkler, Viking
Squadron, served as the
unit project officer for the
event.
Also attending the event
were KARE-11, the Twin Above left: C/Staff Sgt. Brett Bonine, Viking Squadron; C/Airman Alex Bee, Viking
Cities NBC affiliate; Eden Squadron; and Capt. Greg Opdahl, Southeast Minnesota Squadron, served as flight
Prairie News, a local news- line marshallers during a portion of the exercise. Above right: Capt. Joseph
paper; and reservists from Yenkosky, Fort Snelling Squadron, served as a ground team mission during several
the Scott County Sheriff’s sorties. Photos by Lt. Col. Shannon Bauer
Department.
June/July 2006
Commentary: One cadet’s encampment experience
by C/Airman Ben Wondra,
St. Paul Squadron
As a member of CAP, you
are always told to work
hard and to do your very
best all of the time. I found
this out the first day I
arrived at Camp Ripley.
The entire week of encamp-
ment turned out to be one
of the hardest days of my
life thus far. In less than 24
hours, a person must learn
to have the utmost respect
for his peers, staff, seniors
and for themselves. This is
my encampment story.
Day one went by very
slowly. When I arrived at
Camp Ripley, I stayed and
waited for all of the other
cadets to arrive. I joined
CAP early this spring, so I
knew few people except for
those from my home
squadron, the Saint Paul
Composite Squadron.
Once everyone had arrived,
staff started bringing cadets
to headquarters. I was in
one of the last two vans to
depart to headquarters.
Before I even got to them, I
felt sick to my stomach. I
knew it was not going to be
fun. When I arrived there,
my staff was waiting in a
line ready for our arrival.
Once the van stopped, I
saw the driver turn around
and just smile.
Then the line of staff ran
forward, yelling and
screaming while hitting the
van for us to get out. They
WingTips
C/Airman Ben Wondra
then ran to the back of the
van and grabbed our lug- consisted of classes, chow
time, and of course
gage and threw it out of the
van. Once I had collected
my things, I went to check
in and had all of my
belongings searched
through for contraband.
After I checked in, my
flight proceeded to our bay.
We unpacked and met each
other. From there, we did
marching and drill for the
rest of the day. That night,
we met our TAC officer
who would be our spiritual
adviser, as well as a person
to make sure we were stay-
ing healthy. Before my
flight and I went to sleep,
we all knew that tomorrow
was going to be worse and
Page 4
we dreaded honor flight of the day
going to before. We were disap-
sleep for pointed to find out we were
that reason. not. It was ok and our flight
On day knew we could still do bet-
two, we ter. This day mainly con-
learned sisted of the obstacle
everything course. I found it easy to
in our overcome the obstacles, but
it wasn't about me. It was
S.O.P.'s., or
standard about my team. My flight
commander always told us
operating
procedures. that to succeed we needed
everyone to succeed; and if
It took all
of my con- one person fails that every-
one in the entire flight fails.
centration
not to look So, the obstacle course was
a great teamwork building
around at
attention. exercise.
My eyes By day five, everyone in
tended to our flight figured we were a
wander. shoe in for honor flight. We
The day had finished the obstacle
went by course first out of all the
slowly. It flights, and we continuous-
ly were working hard on
drill. our drill.
Day three I was very excit- To our surprise, we had not
ed, because in the morning been awarded the honor of
I got my haircut and we got honor flight. We were all
to shoot M16s. Everyone down and it showed in our
was very excited for this performance. We knew that
event. The cadets shot by lunch time, we needed
much better then the sen- to step it up. After lunch,
iors, for the most part, but we did. We had the volley-
everyone had fun. I shot ball tournament ,which we
pretty well, so I was proud ended up winning. Our
of myself. After shooting, it final record was 6-2. We
was back to reality. used a lot of effort and
Everyone went back to communication along with
working hard and doing having a great time and
their best. succeeded.
When day four came along, By day six, everyone was
everyone in my flight was excited to complete camp
excited to see if we had
received the honor of being Encampment / 5
Page 5
Tamplin assumes command of St. Paul, replaces Chambers
1st Lt. Scott Johnson,
St. Paul Squadron
Saint Paul Squadron hosted
a change of command May
25. Capt. Cliff Tamplin
assumed command from
Maj. Gary Chambers.
During the ceremony,
Chambers reflected upon
his tenure with the unit and
the personal growth many
members have made in the
past two years. He present-
ed numerous personally
crafted awards and aviation
photographs to the senior
members in attendance, as
well as thanked them for
their service.
During his tenure, the St.
Paul squadron grew to 80
Cadet flights report in to the cadet commander at summer encampment.
Encampment /
from page 4
Ripley. All day long we had
some fun and prepared for
Saturday. We also had the
drill competition to see who
had been doing the best,
and even though we tried
our hardest a couple of mis-
takes kept us from the title.
On day seven, it was all
WingTips
Maj. Gary Chambers (left) passed command of the St.
Paul Squadron to Capt. Cliff Tamplin (right). Photo
by 1st Lt. Scott Johnson.
members with several new
members in the pipeline.
Incoming commander
about the tests. We had our
final inspection, and we had
our written final. We also
had PT testing. This day
went by quick and every-
one was anxiously waiting
for graduation. By day
eight, everyone was kind of
sad to leave, knowing they
might not ever see each
other again in the future.
Tamplin discussed his goals
for the squadron in the
coming years. Among them
are expanding the member-
I would not have accom-
plished all that I did at this
camp without my flight
staff. They were the best
flight staff that I could have
had. For flight commander
I had C/Lt. Nathan
Schwartzbauer and for
flight sergeant I had C/Sgt.
Stefan Hall. I would like to
thank them, as well as the
Redwing Squadron for giv-
June/July 2006
ship and enhancing the
members emergency servic-
es qualifications, both
cadets and seniors, and uti-
lizing all members of the
squadron in performing our
missions for America.
The St. Paul Squadron is
currently the second largest
in the wing and his goal is
to make it the largest in
both Minnesota and the
North Central Region by
members enrolled and in
qualifications attained.
In doing so, all members
must remain safe, have fun
and gain the rewards that
come from service and vol-
unteerism.
ing me a scholarship in
order to even attend this
event.
I'm glad that I went on this
event, and I would advise
everyone to go and always
keep in mind that "hard
work is rewarded," as my
flight commander says.
Note: Wondra went from,
self admittedly, not want-
ing to go to encampment
and starting out without a
proper uniform, cover or
even shoe polish in his
gear to earning the
Encampment Commanders'
Award for Outstanding
Achievement. Wondra is
the son of Capt. Tyra
Cerny, Saint Paul
Squadron.
June/July 2006
Minnesota’s Pabon awarded national public affairs honor
National Headquarters CAP program during his five-
recently selected Capt. Al year tenure as public affairs
Pabon, Minnesota Wing officer. He has provided
public affairs officer, as its prominent leadership at the
Public Affairs Officer of wing staff level and sophis-
the Year. ticated external and internal
Pabon has operated a information programs.
diverse wing public affairs One of his most unique ini-
Senior member & cadet
officer promotions ...
Lieutenant Colonel
Odessa O’Brien, Wing Headquarters
Captain
Dale Armstrong, Crow Wing
Tyra Cerny, Saint Paul
Robert McLawhorn, Fort Snelling
Mark Pomerleau, North Hennepin
Richard West, Mankato
1st Lieutenant
Karen Barrie, Red Wing
Tom Flemming, Grand Rapids
Jose Hernandez-Cruz
Peter McDevitt, 130th
Blane Pierson, North Star
Gail Wallace, Duluth
Pamela Weber
2nd Lieutenant
Rachel Anderson, North Star
Barbara Hendricks, Valley
Nicholas Schrampfer, North Hennepin
Keith Struck, North Hennepin
James Summers, Worthington
Jennifer Stolp, Mankato
Steven Van Dokkenburg, Worthington
C/Lt. Col.
Josh Waddell, Viking
C/Capt.
Charles Cox, Viking
C/2nd Lieutenant
Grace Burgio, St. Croix
Angela Shields, Viking
Joshua Shields, Viking
WingTips Page 6
tiatives included created a
series of video programs
about Minnesota Wing, air-
ing across the state on local
cable TV community-
access channels. Beginning
with nationally produced
videos, the programs have
been repackaged as four
30-minute "CAP Journal"
programs with local video
added in a hosted format.
Capt. Al Pabon
Pabon provides outstanding
ditional publicity channels
to tell the story of
mentoring of subordinate
Minnesota Wing and its
public affairs officers, aid- units. His media connec-
ing them with a variety of tions have resulted in sev-
resources, including tool eral prominent stories about
kits, workshops, individual- CAP, including the reaction
ized work and leadership
to the death of a Minnesota
by example. As a result of Wing member serving in
his energetic leadership, Iraq in October 2005.
close to three-quarters of
the Minnesota Wing units His enthusiasm and deter-
have assigned public affairs mination earned the wing
officers. public affairs program an
“excellent” in its most
Pabon is active in using tra- recent inspection.
Momentous Occasion ...
Lt. Col. Paul Adams, Minnesota Wing Headquarters, has
assumed the duties of director of logistics.
Maj. Kevin Dunlevy, formerly of Anoka Squadron, is the
new wing legal officer.
Maj. Bill Hewitt will assume command of Owatonna
Squadron June 27. He will replace Maj. Jerry Rosendahl.
Capt. Jim Kline will assume command of Fort Snelling
Squadron July 31. He will replace Lt. Col. Doug Kilian.
Maj. Jerry Rosendahl, formerly of Owatonna Squadron,
is the new chief of staff for mission operations at
Minnesota Wing Headquarters.
Lt. Col. John Quilling, Minnesota Wing Headquarters, is
the new chief of staff for mission support/training.