San Diego Cadet Squadron 144

The following San Diego Cadet Squadron 144 personnel attended March AirFest:

Senior Members
LtCol Elbert McDowell
Maj Dennis Ammann
Capt David Saavedra
1Lt Christopher Natwick
2Lt Jeffrey Cable
SM Michael Tam
Cadet Sponsor Heidi Olson
Cadet Sponsor Connie Duescher

Cadets
C/2Lt Joseph Connolly
C/2Lt Douglas Saavedra
C/2Lt Chandra Murphy
C/SSgt Brent Timm
C/SSgt Joseph Culver
C/SSgt Anthony Tavan
C/SrA Scott Lynch
C/A1c Caleb Duescher
C/A1c Emily Duescher
C/A1c Nathan Duescher
C/A1c Rebecca Olson
C/A1c Hanna Olson
C/A1c Nathan Scott
C/A1c Dominick Tavan
C/A1c Andrew Elsken
C/Amn Alexander Lange
C/Amn Jesse O’Keefe
C/Amn Matthew McFarland
C/AB Blake Hanslik

Every two years, March Air Reserve Base, Riverside, CA hosts the March AirFest Air Show which always features the USAF Aerial Demonstration Team, The Thunderbirds as the main attraction along with various civilian aerobatic acts, military air power, and the home airlift/aerial tanker demos. This was the first year our squadron participated, providing support for Civil Air Patrol (CAP) March Field Composite Squadron 45, Commanded by Capt Dave Goude.

Most of the Sq. 144 personnel arrived early Friday night and quickly checked in with Lt Eithne Doyle, Admin Officer Sq. 45 and settling in for the night in an old pre-WWII aircraft hangar. This air conditioned hangar added to the adventure of sleeping overnight on a USAF Base. The next morning, Saturday, 3 May, reveille sounded at 0600 hours and everyone got dressed and headed for breakfast. Two of our Cadet Sponsors, Heidi Olson and Connie Duescher assisted Lt Tom Olson as cooks, turning out breakfast and dinner for the CAP contingent (over 200 personnel).

After breakfast assignments were made with cadets helping to park cars (with senior member supervision) and air show program solicitation. The profits made from selling programs provided funds for food to support CAP and other expenditures. Any extra profits would be equally divided among the participating squadrons later. Most of the senior members were assigned at the three security gates as pre-screeners, assisting the USAF security personnel who were processing spectators through the metal detectors.

One of the fascinating security procedures performed at the entrance gates were the German Sheppard search dogs looking for contraband drugs and explosives. Some of the dogs were brought in by the Marine Base, 29 Palms, CA. These dogs were highly trained and during slow periods during the afternoon, the dog handlers would show us some of the commands the dogs were trained to respond to. All are trained using the German language for commands. One dog was sent out across the street to find a practice sample of ammonium nitrate, used for bomb making. The dog conducted a search pattern with his handler and quickly found it in the open field. Although these dogs are fearless and can take down a criminal suspect in seconds, we also saw them being petted by toddlers after completing a search of their respective baby strollers!

At about 1600 hours the air show ended and everyone returned to the CAP hangar to take showers at the base gymnasium and get ready to eat dinner. Hamburgers and hot dogs were on the menu with free time to play cards, make new friends, or become reacquainted for old CAP friends. At 2200 hours C/Maj Drew Barker played Amazing Grace on his bag pipes and everyone quickly went to sleep, exhausted from the first day.

Reveille on Sunday went down at 0530 hours with the bag pipes blaring in our sleepy ears, this time not so welcome. Everyone quickly got ready for the day and some of us proceeded to a building across the street for a nondenominational Christian worship service led by Chaplain Richard Nelson from Skyhawk Composite Squadron 47 (Oceanside, CA). His sermon was titled, “Can God?” concerning what God is and how He is always with us. We sang three praise songs and watched a five minute video titled, “King of Kings.” It seems like Chaplain Nelson is always present and available to conduct CAP church no matter where and when asked. After church we ate breakfast, received our work assignments, and headed off to work.

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday, only slightly cooler with more spectators in attendance. Again at 1600 hours we were released and I proceeded to the aircraft static displays. Some of the aircraft available for close up viewing were: Vietnam vintage: Russian made MiG-21 Fishbed fighter from Brown Field, CA; an A-1 Skyraider light attack bomber from Montgomery Field, CA; a WWII era C-45 Expeditor twin engine cargo plane from Gillespie Field, CA; front line fighters F-16 Falcon USAF fighter and a F/A-18 Hornet Navy carrier fighter/bomber; AH-1 Cobra Marine helicopter gunship; CH-46 Seaknight Marine medium lift helicopter; SH-60 Seahawk anti-submarine helicopter; C-17 Globemaster heavy lift cargo four engine jet; C-5 Galaxy heavy lift cargo four engine jet, and many others… I also stopped by the CAP recruiting booth, manned by Capt Elizabeth Goude who did a wonderful job fielding questions from the general public. Next to her booth was a brand new Cessna C-182 Skylane CAP aircraft with a glass cockpit sporting a Garmin G-1000 system. The instrument panel looked like the Space Shuttle’s cockpit! When I opened the door, the inside smelled like a brand new car! It appeared someone did a fine job washing and waxing the CAP bird. What a wonderful recruiting magnet for CAP.

As for the air show itself, each day it started out with: U.S. Army Golden Knights Precision Parachute Team; “Thunder Flight” with their four Czech made L-29 Dolphin jet formation demo team; Bill Reesman’s Russian made MiG-17 Fresco air demo; Rob Harrison’s ZLIN-50 aerobatic plane; Rob Harrison’s jet truck speeding down the runway; Canadian Skyhawks precision parachute team; U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet air demo; a heritage flight with a Navy WWII F4U Corsair and a Navy F/A-18 Hornet; John Collver performed in his Marine SNJ WWII advanced trainer; two WWII B-25 Mitchells flew past simulating a bombing run with pyrotechnics exploding below them; a California Dept of Forestry firefighting air tanker demonstrating a water drop along the runway; F-22 Raptor fighter air demo; KC-10 Extender tanker fly-by; another heritage flight with a F-22 Raptor and a WWII P-51 Mustang and P-40 Warhawk; the home base showed off their KC-135 Stratotanker and C-17 Globemaster; finally the Thunderbirds were last with their world class precision wing tip to wing tip formation flying (flying the F-16 Falcon).

With our work finished, everyone gathered in the hangar for a final brief by Capt Dave Goude and his incredible staff. They expressed their thanks for everyone’s hard work and cooperation and gave out many Sq. 45 challenge coins to various CAP staff members. Our two cadet sponsor master chefs, Connie and Heidi were presented coins and received a round of applause from the CAP contingent. One coin was given to a cadet who traveled all the way from Sacramento. All together, there were 156 cadets, 55 senior members representing 30 California Wing squadrons and two Nevada Wing squadrons! There were more cadets at this air show then last year’s encampment (CAP boot camp). What a wonderful job March Field Composite Squadron 45 did hosting this massive CAP support mission and instilling a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in all of us.

The highlight of this briefing was from the USAF Chief Master Sergeant in charge of the security forces who praised CAP for their support stating they could not effectively do their job without our help. The 1st Sergeant from the U.S. Marine Security Detachment, 29 Palms Marine Base also expressed the same appreciation. This was our pay day, to hear the active duty forces express their thanks to us. We often wonder how we can help our military these days, well, this was just one small way.

Soon we were all on the freeway heading south for home at about 1830 hours looking forward to a hot shower and rest after a very long, tiring, but extremely rewarding weekend.

As Squadron Commander, I was very proud and touched by the hard work, dedication, and behavior of our personnel. Who could ask for a better group of CAP cadets and senior members?

Respectfully submitted,

Dennis S. Ammann, Major
Cmdr, SD Cadet Sq. 144

Posted by Vince on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 10:55 PM | Permalink