Real missions please post!

[RFleischman]

just our of curiousity has any one been on a real world mission. If so please explain. I have been on three:

1- SAR ELT going off 3 day ground team search ended up being a fucked up radio tower
2- HS "operation secure peach" basically airborne recon, and commo stuff
3-SAR ELT going off 1 mile south of airport ended up being another fucked up radio tower

kinda sucked but no one died.

[crazy bay]

I was on one.....it was also a screwed p radio tower....
...wait, I was there with you!

[Rusty24]

Fleischman, when I did CAP at Pax River we went out and found an aircraft complete with bodies. The would not let the younger members go near the aircraft due to the bodies and safety concerns.

A guy had it in his mind that he was going to fly. He took off with his wife and another couple in bad weather and crashed after take off.

[crazy bay]

how old were you when you went on the mission rusty? In our unit all we do is train, train, train, and all we want to do is go on a mission so that training will pay off.

Also, what kind of things did you guys do on the mission? Were you a cadet?

[Rusty24]

I was 15 and 16 (early 90's). The night the Gulf war kicked off I was coming home from our nightly meeting. We trained alot too and I still use some of that training today. The biggest thing I gained was learning how to do Lat/Longs on a map. Alot of the guys in our career field hate Lat/Longs and prefer MGRS.

As far as the mission, I was asleep and the phone rang. My mom brought itr in and I spoke with Maj. Breitmier. He said that they are going on a CSAR and asked if I was available, hell yeah! We were assigned to canvass an area (4 man teams) and the team next to us found a piece of debris. About an hour later we heard some yelling and it was a coupple of hundred meters away.

Training is good, but make sure you make it broad. Do not go over a standard topo map. Get some JOG Air maps, JOG Ground, 1:250 etc. Drill is also good. When I went to basic thatwas the second easiest thing, because it was so repetitive.

As far as missions you will get your chance. Maybe set up some practice missions? Rather than go over how to plot coordinates, incorparate it into a scenario. Start out with a "Distress" call. have the team locate the "Survivors". Pre Brief the survivors on what injuries they have (if they are unable to talk, give them a card stating their injuries). Once they are found have the troops treat them. Once they are safe for evacuation, give them a set of coordinates to go to rather than back to the start point. If you have radios, add it in as well. Do not try to plan something like this in a day or so. Take atleast a week and try to think of every possible detail.

Maybe go to a nearby State Park and grab a camp site for the weekend. Train during the day and sit around the camp fire at night drinking sodas and telling lies.

To this day I still use some of the CSAR stuff that I learned. About three months ago a local man went missing in a State Park up the road. I assisted with the local FD and we found him within 3 hours of setting foot down at the park.

Stay Motivated!

[Field_Sailor]

I applaud your enthusiasm, but please don't ask too much for a mission. Remember a SAR mission means someone is probably hurt. I'm not trying to be harsh, I was the same way when I was a cadet in CAP. I'm about to become a senior memeber when I get back off my ass and go to a meeting. Time will come, just be ready and apply what you know.

[RFleischman]

CSAR

???? Combat Search and Rescue in the CAP?

Thanks for the advice and stories everyone. I was just curious on how ofted units get called out because ours are always false alarms, i guess that is a good thing though.

[Rusty24]

One of the biggest violators of false alarms are boaters. Being near the water they went off daily, however, they rarely called us on those.

[RFleischman]

Yeah i know what you mean. Boaters, Hunters, and boy scouts!

[crazy bay]

we do have FTX's, SAREX's, ect. where we just have a scenario. Our new CO (mine and Fleischmans) is kind of stupid but hes good at making up scenarios. Hell, the last FTX he had us climb up to the top of the freakin mountain to try and make contact with the planes. We had 3 smoke signals, a bunch of mirrors, and about 4 cadets with their shirts off in the gleaming sun. Those planes flew right over us and never even saw us.

...those bastards!

[Call me for Artillery]

I think they did see the signals on the ground, they just weren't looking for us, they were looking for that blue tarp.

[RFleischman]

Yeah dude, i saw a CM2037 in a magazine it is like a M203 but it is legal and it shoots flares, we should talk the squadron into buying one, ya know like for signaling planes and stuff lol!

[crazy bay]

good luck. It wil probably turn out to be another one of those ruberduck things.

And if they would have seen our signals you would at least thing they would have waved their wings. But the Lt. said that they never saw us after he talked with the pilot.