Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron

December 2005 Vol. 3 No. 10 Monthly Newsletter of Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron- Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol Auxiliary United Sates Air Force

Snelling a success!

Commanders Comments LTC Kilian Ft Snelling has done an excellent job at recruiting and training new members into the squadron. In the past twelve months you have recruited five new cadets, and we have had several cadets complete milestone achievements. There is a fact that does have me concerned however, as of now we currently have as many senior members as cadets. For a cadet squadron, this is not good, and means we must do a better job at both recruiting, and retaining our cadet membership? How will we accomplish this? By having a maniacal focus on recruiting and retention. So how will this work? Easy - we take the skills from all of our members, cadet and senior, and focus them to make Fort Snelling the best squadron in CAP. We will take our weekly meetings to a new level, and be sure to keep out attendance up at the weekend activities. Having fun and exciting activities is also the key, and the dining out is a superb example of this. Building quality into the program will bring in new members, and keep the existing membership interested. So please, sign up for the activities, attend the meetings, and contribute whatever you can to make Ft

Commander Wins AFA Award LTC Tarpy On Friday, November 5th 2005 The General EF Rawlings chapter of the Air Force Association presented awards to outstanding Minnesota Wing members at their annual banquet. The banquet recognizes outstanding Air Force Personnel, ROTC Cadets, and CAP Members. Congressman Jim Kline, RMN presented the award for Command Excellence to CAP Lt.Col. Doug Kilian of Fort Snelling Squadron. Lt. Col. Kilian was recognized for leading a newer Cadet squadron with minimal resources. He make up for lack of funds with innovative programs and his enthusiasm for the CAP mission and vision. Since accepting the command of the squadron the program has consistently grown in standing among the other squadrons. His example has also grown as a career CAP Member.

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Mitchell Award

LTC Tarpy

C/CMSGT Trevor Matheson has been recently promoted to C/2LT after receiving his Mitchell Award at Fort Snelling Cadet Squadrons First Annual Dining Out at the Fort Snelling Officers Club. The award was presented by Major General Doyle Larson USAF (Ret), member of the RW Rawlings chapter of the Air Force Association. Lt Matheson was also promoted to Cadet Commander of Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron, who in turn promoted C/Sgt Maxwell Meyer to First Sergeant.

Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron Dining Out 2005

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Monthly Newsletter of Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron- Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol Auxiliary United Sates Air Force Page 3 TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE, IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE. I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE, AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE. I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE, NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE. NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND, ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS. WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS, A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND. FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY, I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY. THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE, CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME. THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER, NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER. WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I' JUST READ? D CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED? I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT, OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT. SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY, AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY. THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR, BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE. I COULDN' HELP WONDER T HOW MANY LAY ALONE, ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME. THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE, I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY. THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE, "SANTA DON' CRY, T THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE; I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON' ASK FOR MORE, T MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS." THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP, I COULDN' CONTROL IT, T I CONTINUED TO WEEP. I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT' CHILL. S I DIDN' WANT TO LEAVE T ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT, AND THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT. THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE, WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA, its CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE." ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT. "MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT." This poem was written by a Marine. The following is his request. I think it is reasonable..... (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) PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S. service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let' try s in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us. Please, do your small part to plant this small seed.

What Is a Veteran some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul' s ally forged in the refinery of adversity. Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can'tell a vet just by looking. What is a vet? t He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn'run out of fuel. t He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel. She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang. He is the POW who went away one person and came back another or didn'come back AT ALL. t He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, noaccount rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other' backs. s He is the parade - riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand. He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by. Lksdfjg;laksjfl;kgja;jg;oiahdfo;ihao;pihgoiapehtpohpio Kbjfblkjdf;lkbjdf;klbj;dklbj;dklbj;dlkjb;ldkjb;lkdfjb;kldjfb;;

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/ www.cadetstuff.org http://training.fema.org

CAP Websites

Personnel AuthorizationsDecember Promotions; CB Alexander Selner to C/Amn C/CMSGT Trevor Matheson to C/2LT December BirthdaysCadet Sean Kelley 12/11 December Service AnniversariesCadet Joseph Bauer 12/01/04- 1 Year

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He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb of the Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean' sunless deep. s He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come. He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being a person who offered some of his life' most vital years in s the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs. He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, the greatest nation ever known. So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That' all s most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded. Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU." author- Father Denis Edward O' Brien USMC

December Schedule(Wing) 1st Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron Dining Out 3rd-4th Corporate Learning Course- St Cloud 5th Deadline for Wing Awards Nominations 10th ES Leadership Conclave- St Cloud 18th Deadline for Encampment Staff Applications (Squadron) 5th Blues Moral Leadership Safety Briefing Commanders Call 12th BDUs PT/PFT Aerospace Education 19th BDUs Special Activity 26th Holiday Break No Meeting

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 electronically 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 the newsletter is published to the Fort Snelling Webpage at www.mncap.org/ftsnelling/ the first Monday of the upcoming month LTC Tony Tarpy- Public Affairs/Editor LTC Doug Kilian- Squadron Commander