Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron

August 2005

Monthly Newsletter of Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron- Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol Auxiliary United Sates Air Force

Vol. 3 No. 8

Commanders Comments LTC Kilian

Numbers Well take a brief break from our look at the cadet oath to talk about something that concerns me at the squadron. Frankly, our attendance numbers at the squadron have been down this summer. Way down. I understand that this is the busiest time of the year for families, as summer vacations and time out of town gets high. What can we do to counter this effect? Easy, and it is a one word answer Recruiting. Here is our goal: Recruit 15 new cadets by the end of the year. Can we do it? Of course! Can we handle then new members? Sure! Ft Snelling, we have the resources. Our facility is excellent for our training needs. Ive never been in a squadron that has access to its own fitness center. We have the people. Ft Snelling has a core of dedicated senior and cadet leadership. We are here for you! Ft Snelling needs to grow. What is the secret to success? Usually it comes down to a three-step process. 1. 2. 3. Get the new cadets into uniform ASAP. Get new cadets to pin on c/Amn ASAP. Get all the cadets into an Airplane / Glider

Safety Corner Capt Yenkosky

A Systems Approach to Safety When Systems break down and go Boom This is the fourth in a series of articles that will explore the background and important elements of safety. If you have any questions dont be afraid to ask questions of me at any meeting or in an e-mail: jyenkosky@sihope.com. First, we learned that Systems Theory is a useful way of looking at complex, interrelated things. We also learned that systems are organisms or entities that have several components with boundaries that interact with the surrounding environment to include feedback and tries to reach a stable internal state called homeostasis. Then we learned that the natural law of entropy is how we describe the natural tendency for systems to breakdown and dissolve into chaos. Breakdowns often result from the human element not following defined procedures. Safety, organizations and machines depend upon a level of order to function in standards for design (like using strong enough elevator cables) or checklists (for procedures that need to be accurately done). So from design to operation, complying with written standards and procedures is essential for safe operation of any machine. (Continued on Page 2)

Its not too complicated, and Ive seen it work. So please invite your friends this fall as you return to school, invite your neighbors, and spread the word!

Monthly Newsletter of Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron- Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol Auxiliary United Sates Air Force Page 2

Above and Beyond the call of Duty LTC Tarpy This will be an ongoing series of articles highlighting CAP Members throughout the nation that have been awarded either the Silver Medal of Valor or Bronze Medal of Valor for actions above and beyond the call of duty. I was awarded the Bronze Medal of Valor a few years ago for saving a number of people in a tractor fire, and it was a great honor to receive that award.

(Continued from page 1) In the third article we learned that we consider friction as the main source of routine wear. Inspections and preventive maintenance can identify and repair minor damage to a machine before it can cause catastrophic failure. Now we will to explore catastrophic explosions and events that cause much destruction and misery. First we look at the big picture: Things can go BOOM What do earthquakes, hurricanes and bombs have in common? Aside from their ability to cause destruction it appears nothing, unless you know Catastrophe Theory. What if we could expect and predict catastrophes and accidents? Could we then intercede and stop them? Fred Warshofsky would say yes and no. He thinks you can predict them but they cannot be stopped in a traditional sense. That is, he believes that catastrophes are part of the natural order and serve a purpose. In his book Doomsday: The Science of Catastrophe, Fred Warshofsky reviews the study of catastrophes in the areas of Geology, Astronomy, Physics and Evolutionary Theory. Catastrophic Theory has a controversial beginning as it grew out of an attempt to reconcile the Biblical explanations of creation and the early scientific explanations of Earth' creation. Early attempts of s Catastrophism attempted to show Biblical accounts as literally accurate (first by Irish Archbishop James Usher in 1650, when using Biblical genealogical passages for calculations and stated that the Earth was exactly 4004 years old). Now, Catastrophic theory is considered by some as a model for planned social change because it promotes that unplanned events happen on a quasi-regular, if not predictable basis, and that preventive planning can assist in minimizing damages. Despite the extraordinary claims by its founder, the contribution of catastrophic theory to science cannot be discounted. Major events in pre-history have been unearthed to generate new theories on how earth was formed and entire species of creatures became extinct because scientists sought to support or dispute the theories of scientists like Charles Darwin (himself a converted catastrophist). Alright, so nature causes disasters and maybe we can become accurate enough some days to really predict them accurately. What about the bombs? Well warfare is predictable in the same way. Wars are fought to impose the (Continued on page 4)

Citation to Accompany the Silver Medal of Valor To James H. Long Jr. (Posthumously) Captain James H. Long Jr., CAP, Distinguished himself by conspicuous, heroic action by risking his own life to save others on 20 September 2004. The Cessna 206 that Captain Long was piloting crashed en-route to a work site at Schaeffer Airstrip. As a result of the crash, the aircraft landed upside down and a fire broke out in the cabin area. Captain Long exhibited extraordinary courage, and risked his own life, attempting to save the three passengers on board. With complete disregard for his own personal safety and well being, he kicked open the right hand rear door and pushed the front seat passenger out of the burning plane to safety. The other two passengers were able to make it to safety also. Captain James H. Long gave his life ensuring that the others on the plane were safe. Captain Longs heroic actions and selfless regard to his fellow man reflect the highest credit upon himself and the Civil Air Patrol.

Citation to Accompany The Silver Medal of Valor To Chiara Fay E. Perkins Cadet Chiara Fay E. Perkins, CAP, Distinguished herself by Conspicuous, Heroic action by risking her own life to save another on 23 May 2004. While swimming in Destin Florida, Cadet Perkins (Continued on page 3)

Monthly Newsletter of Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron- Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol Auxiliary United Sates Air Force Page 3 (Continued from page 2) saw a fellow cadet, disappear below the surface of the water in a shipping channel some 25 yards from shore. The victim had been swimming across the 50 yard wide shipping access channel, When approximately half way across he stopped swimming. He was able to call for help before going under water several times. With complete disregard for her own personal safety, Cadet Perkins dove below the surface of the water where she managed to locate the victim and was able to bring him to the surface. After surfacing, the victim began struggling; pulling both himself and cadet Perkins below the waters surface twice. She was finally able to gain control of the situation and pulled both some 25 yards across the channel to safety. Cadet Perkins quick thinking, Heroic action, and willingness to risk her own life to save others, reflects great credit upon herself, The Florida wing, and to Civil Air Patrol.

Aerospace Comments Capt. Jim Kline

Citation to Accompany the Bronze Medal of Valor To Donald J. Slusarski Captain Donald J. Slusarski, CAP, Distinguished himself by Conspicuous, Heroic action on 8 December 2003. Captain Slusarski had decided to go Ice fishing and upon arriving at the fishing hole, witnessed another fisherman falling through the ice. After sending another person for help, he observed the fisherman was struggling to pull himself onto the ice but was tiring fast. Captain Slusarski went back to his vehicle to find something that could assist him in helping the victim out of the water. Finding a dog leash and returning to the site, he then stretched himself out on the ice. Inching his way to the victim, he began throwing the leash out for the victim to grab. After repeatedly throwing the leash out, the victim was finally able to grab it. Captain Slusarski then pulled him from the water and drove him to the hospital for Medical Treatment. Captain Slusarskis quick thinking, Heroic action, and complete disregard for his own personal safety reflect great credit to himself, The Wisconsin Wing, and to Civil Air Patrol RETURN TO FLIGHT Space Shuttle Discovery mission number STS114 is in space and the first mission since the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia in February of 2003. During the first week of August, 2005 the astronauts will be trying new safety improvements that have greatly increased the risk of flying in the shuttle, however it barely left the ground and spot of concern erupted as a piece of foam covering from the main booster tank broke away in departure. Also A small section of the material that separates tiles broke away and protruded out from the bottom heat shield of the shuttle. This protrusion would have caused extra wind flow around it added to the heat that fires up underneath the shuttle as it re-enters the atmosphere. However, one of the astronauts performed a space walk and pulled the damaged piece out. (Continued on page 4)

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Monthly Newsletter of Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron- Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol Auxiliary United States Air Force Page 4 (Continued from page 3) Commanding the flight is Retired Col. Eileen Collins and piloted by Lt. Col. Jim Kelly. This mission is scheduled for three space walks which include one to replace a Space Station gyroscope. Because of the incident with the tile separation material and foam breakage NASA is planning to ground all future flights once Discover returns and will perform some very extensive examinations and studies into these heat shield problems.

(Continued from Page 2) Political will of one group or nation-state upon another. Bombs and destruction are a method toward this goal. The political will almost always includes battles over scarce resources like land or oil. That is where the predictability comes in. As our worlds population continues to grow at unprecedented rates, the battles for resources can be expected to grow and the pressure points can be predicted. Simply put: the more people, the fewer per-capita resources, and the more wars you can expect. Now we know that just as we can predict the failure of a machine with numerous moving parts or an aircraft wing that pushes through the air from friction, we can predict war from interpersonal and philosophical friction. So once again, the scientist looks for cause and effect relationships, knowing that once the relationship is identified controls can be implemented to manage the system. Bombs are often used in warfare because they cause damage that can cause the enemy to lose their will to fight. Bombs are chemical reactions that release energy in a sudden explosion. That energy can be the main cause of destruction or the bomb can include objects that are propelled away from the explosion to add to the destruction. Grenades are a good example, as they the joining of two chemicals to cause the explosion that then propels bits of metal (called shrapnel) to cause injury. Nuclear weapons employ the subatomic breaking of atoms to release energy and emit damaging particles along with the blast. The explosion releases gamma rays, alpha and beta particles. The gamma rays project from the blast in a line-of-sight fashion and dissipate with distance, but they can be very harmful for those within a few miles of the blast. The particles attach themselves to dust in the environment and remain to create havoc form a long time over a great distance. Dirty bombs have been in the news lately as terrorists have threatened to use them. These are ordinary bombs with some nuclear material (usually hospital waste or smoke detectors) that can be spread by the bomb. These dirty bombs do not have much damage potential, but the threat carries an element of fear and that is what terrorists want: fear to change your attitudes about their beliefs. The risk of a dirty bomb hurting you is minimal, even if one was use in your city. My recommendation when you feel fear from terrorism is to turn off your Lksdfjg;laksjfl;kgja;jg;oiahdfo;ihao;pihgoiapehtpohpio TV for a few days and enjoy some normal activities. Next month we further explore how things go boom and then how we try to minimize damage from unintentional Kbjfblkjdf;lkbjdf;klbj;dklbj;dklbj;dlkjb;ldkjb;lkdfjb;kldjfb;; explosions.

Suiting in an earlier training mission for her command flight is Astronaut Eileen M. Collins.

CAP Websites www.capmart.org http://level2.cap.gov/ www.cap.gov www.mcchord.org/rack_builder/ www.mncap.org www.cap_es.net/ https://ntc.cap.af.mil/es/ics_niims.cfm www.mncap.org/ftsnelling www.thehock.com/

Monthly Newsletter of Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron- Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol Auxiliary United States Air Force Page 5 August Personnel AuthorizationsAugust Birthdays1Lt Brent Smith 8/11 Cadet Trevor Mathisen 8/6 Cadet Taylor Pass 8/12 LTC Tarpy C/A1C Wilzbacher August Service AnniversariesMichael Buss 8/29 4 Years August ScheduleWing: 20th- Public Affairs Workshop 27th-28th Group II SAR-EX in Hutchinson 25th- 5th Sept MN State Fair Out-reach Event Squadron: 15th- Blues MG Doyle Larson USAF (Ret) Guest Speaker The Long War Flight Time 22nd- BDUs PT/CPFT Testing Recruiting Class 29th- BDUs Ground Team Bazaar

Solo Encampment

MN CAP Flight Academy was one of the best experiences I have ever been to. While I was there I was able to learn many things about Aviation. The ground school was very helpful in my flying time. Also throughout the week I received 13 hours of instructed flying time. You learn many things while there like steep turns, S-turns, and flying in the pattern. I also completed my solo fight while I was there. Flying alone was the best part and was what ended the week perfectly. It was a great and unique experience that I am fortunate to have had. These are the words of Fort Snellings own C/A1C Jordan Wilzbacher who recently graduated from the 2005 Minnesota Wing Flight Academy held in Mankato.

The Golden Dragon is the Monthly Newsletter of the Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron- Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol- Auxiliary United States Air Force The Newsletter is written and published by LTC Tony Tarpy, Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron Public Affairs Officer. All article submissions and comments should be directed to me at ttarpy@mn.rr.com or at regular meeting nights. Articles are due the last Monday night of the month and newsletter is published the first Monday of the upcoming month LTC Tony Tarpy- Public Affairs/Editor LTC Doug Kilian- Squadron Commander