Connecticut Wing Civil Air Patrol

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The Connecticut Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, the United States Air Force Auxiliary

The Connecticut Wing Civil Air Patrol is the highest echelon of the Civil Air Patrol in the state of Connecticut. Headquartered in Beers Hall at the Connecticut Valley Hospital campus in Middletown, Connecticut, the Connecticut Wing (CTWG) has 12 primary subordinate units located throughout the state to help it carry out its missions, which include providing aerospace education and training for all of its members, teaching leadership skills to the young people of Connecticut, and performing various domestic emergency services for the United States of America in a noncombatant capacity.

Members were notably instrumental in major events during the Wing's 66-year history, carrying out operations in World War II, 9/11, and the Hurricane Katrina disaster. The Wing has received numerous awards and recognitions, including Unit Citations from the Northeast Region Headquarters and National Headquarters, as well as government recognition by local, state and federal officials. Several individual members, including most cadet officers, are recognized by the Connecticut General Assembly upon receiving their commissions. Governor M. Jodi Rell declared December 1, 2007, Civil Air Patrol Day in the State of Connecticut, in recognition of the continuing efforts of the Wing. The Wing currently has more than 600 members.

Current command structure

As of February 2008, the wing commander of the CTWG is Col. Peter K. Jensen, the vice commander is Lt. Col. Matthew Valleu, and the chief of staff is Lt. Col. Cassandra Huchko. The vice commander is responsible for coordinating the wing echelon with the subordinate units, namely the squadrons. The chief of staff is responsible for the staff members located at wing headquarters, who are independent of the individual squadrons. Finally, the wing commander is responsible for connecting the two groups and making sure the chief of staff uses the wing staff members to benefit the squadrons, who receive these benefits through the vice commander.

Most of the wing-level staff positions fit into various departments led by directors. For example, Emergency Services Officer (DOS) and Ground Training Officer (GO) fit into the Operations Department, led by the Director of Operations (DO). Other positions are not in departments, such as the Finance Officer (FM) and Safety Officer (SE).

Wing staff members meet at the headquarters building, Beers Hall, on the Connecticut Valley Hospital campus in Middletown, Connecticut. They also attend monthly "staff call" meetings to improve internal communication.

Squadrons under the Connecticut Wing

Since Connecticut does not have so many squadrons that span of control becomes an issue, all 12 of its squadrons are directly under Wing HQ. There are also three non-standard squadrons (000, 001, and 999) under Wing HQ, and there are liaisons with units in other branches of the armed forces, including the AFROTC at the University of Connecticut, which partners with CAP.

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CAPFlight 604, one of Connecticut Wing's Cessna 182 aircraft

CT-000 Inactive Squadron

CT-001 Wing Headquarters Staff Squadron

CT-004 103rd Composite Squadron

CT-011 143rd Composite Squadron

CT-014 Silver City Cadet Squadron

CT-022 Stratford Eagles Composite Squadron

CT-027 169th Composite Squadron

CT-042 399th Composite Squadron

CT-058 Charles K. Hamilton Composite Squadron

CT-062 Northwest Hills Composite Squadron

CT-071 Royal Charter Composite Squadron

CT-073 Minuteman Composite Squadron

CT-074 Danielson Cadet Squadron

CT-075 Thames River Composite Squadron

CT-999 Legislative Senior Squadron

AFROTC Detachment 115

Past Wing commanders

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CAPFlight 602, one of Connecticut Wing's Cessna 172 aircraft

Lt. Col. Thomas H. Lockhart (1941–1944)

Lt. Col. William T. Gilbert (1944–1946)

Col. Charles B. Shutter (1946–1947, 1949–1953) died in office

Col. Nancy Tier (1947–1949)

Col. Robert A. Frost (1954–1957)

Col. Raymond E. Drouin (1957) died in office

Col. James A. Kavanagh (1958–1963)

Col. Clinton G. Litchfield (1963–1971)

Col. Joseph B. Witkin (1971–1977)

Col. Kenneth D. Faust (1977–1982)

Col. Howard E. Palmer (1982–1993

Col. Lloyd R. Sturges Jr. (1993–1997)

Col. Frederick Herbert (1997–1999)

Col. Karen K. Payne (1999–2003)

Col. James E. Palmer (2003–2006)

Col. Peter K. Jensen (2006–present)

Col. Peter Jensen began a history and restoration project in 2007 in an effort to uncover as much about Connecticut Wing's history as possible. Photographs were found of all of the previous Wing commanders, which were restored by Wing staff members. Notable commanders of the Connecticut Wing include Col. Tier (nee Hopkins), who was the niece of Lady Astor and the Civil Air Patrol's first female wing commander nationwide. Col. Frost was slated to be the next Northeast Region commander after he reliquished command of the Wing, but he passed away before assuming command. Col. Howard Palmer during his term as Wing commander established activities for the cadet membership, and the Col. Howard E. Palmer Memorial Cadet Ball is conducted annually in his honor by the Connecticut Wing Cadet Advisory Council. Col. Sturges was the only Wing commander to earn Connecticut Wing the use of one of the National CAP gliders, which was used in a glider flight academy at Danielson Airport in 1998.

Icons of the Connecticut Wing

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The Connecticut Wing's patch, featuring Connie the SAR dog

The most prominent icon representing the wing is the Connecticut Wing’s patch, with an ultramarine blue background and bearing the image of its mascot, Connie the Search and Rescue Dog. The wing patch was required to be worn on the left sleeve of the battle dress uniform until 2006 when National Headquarters made it optional, although Connecticut Wing members were asked by their commander to continue to wear the patch.

Each squadron also has a distinctive patch. A recent issue of the Civil Air Patrol Volunteer magazine featured an image of all of Connecticut Wing's squadron patches surrounding the Wing patch.

Cadet activities

The largest cadet activity held by the Wing is the annual Summer Encampment. The 2008 Encampment, held at the Norwich Academy in Vermont, is the first encampment not held in Niantic, Connecticut, for a decade, as reported in the CAP Encampment Reports. The Encampment is being held jointly with other wings in the North East Region. The Connecticut Wing liaison is Lt. Col. Andrew Marteka.

Lt. Col. Marteka also runs the application process as per national regulations for the National Cadet Special Activities in the Civil Air Patrol.

Connecticut Wing was featured in the March 2007 edition of Civil Air Patrol Volunteer magazine for an event held at Hartford-Brainard Airport in Hartford, Connecticut, in conjunction with the Connecticut State Police, which provided volunteers side-by-side training with search-and-rescue dogs.

Recognition and accomplishments

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Governor M. Jodi Rell proclaims December 1 Civil Air Patrol Day in the State of Connecticut. Col. Peter Jensen receives a copy of the proclamation, and Lt. Col. Delgobbo of the Connecticut General Assembly looks on.

The CAP (Civil Air Patrol) National History project and National Museum most recognize CTWG for their involvement in coastal patrol missions during World War II, shortly after the creation of CAP. Since CAP was created in a time of crisis, when Brigadier General Billy Mitchell was warning the country of impending attack and less than a week before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, coastal patrol and submarine searching became the prime missions of CAP.

In the New England Air Museum located at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, a Sikorsky S-39 Flying Boat can be found that was used during World War II for rescuing pilots of subchasers that had gone down. A local artist painted an oil painting of the aircraft, now prominently displayed next to it in the exhibit. Photos of the exhibit, the unveiling ceremony, and the oil painting can be found at the Wing Headquarters building.

The first two Air Medals presented by the president of the United States to the Civil Air Patrol went to Hugh Sharp and Eddie Edwards, who were both rescued in the S-39. This successful program, which spotted 173 German U-Boats, dropped 54 depth charges, and sank 2 submarines, was inevitably discontinued after the end of the second World War. Many of the planes used specifically for this program are now parts of exhibits, replaced by new aircraft that are more suited to teaching young students to fly and performing search and rescue, the current missions of the Civil Air Patrol. Currently, CTWG has two Cessna 172s, one Cessna 182 and one Cessna 182T with Garmin G1000 Glass cockpit. They also recently announced that a Maule Air Orion will soon join the fleet. Connecticut Wing has the highest number of hours flown per aircraft of any state in the North East Region, and ranks high on a national scale.

The membership of the CTWG grew from 500 to 600 total active members during the 2007 fiscal year, making the largest percent increase of any wing in CAP for that year, as was announced at the April 2007 Wing Conference in Cromwell, Connecticut.

Chronology of missions

Throughout its 66-year history, the types of missions performed by the Connecticut Wing and the Civil Air Patrol as a whole have changed with the needs of the nation—from flying subchasers in the 1940s to assisting in Hurricane Katrina operations in the 2000s.

World War II

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Artist's conception of CAP performing a subchasing mission during World War II

The primary mission of the Civil Air Patrol after its incorporation in December of 1941 was to provide a layer of civilian defense against submarine attacks along the borders of the United States. The missions were flown in privately-owned civil aircraft bearing the CAP insignia. Overall, the White House declared the Civil Air Patrol a success, it having spotted 173 German U-boats, attacked 57, and sunk 2. More importantly, most of the spotted and attacked U-boats retreated. A German submarine commander held as a prisoner of war later stated the retreat was "because of those damned little red and yellow airplanes," referring to the color of the Civil Air Patrol aircraft in the 1940s. Connecticut Wing was heavily involved in this mission of the Civil Air Patrol, and it received two air medals from the U.S. government for its work.

Post-war

After the war, the U.S. government redesignated CAP as a civilian agency that would not participate in combat such as the submarine chasing and occasional battles that had taken place during the second World War. Their primary mission changed to domestic protection in the form of search and rescue and disaster relief. Two new goals of the organization were also added: to educate the public on topics of aerospace and aviation, and to educate and train volunteers of America's youth in leadership and military history.

Connecticut Wing has held annual encampments most summers since this time for the education and training of the cadet membership. In the later part of the 20th century, National Headquarters began a cadet orientation program that allowed cadets to receive free flights in CAP aircraft in order to learn more about aviation. Although it is not technically flight training, the Orientation Flight program does provide cadets preliminary exposure to piloting before they begin formal lessons. Actual flight training is offered by CAP at National Flight Academies held annually across the nation for both powered and glider aircraft.

In the late 20th century, a new mission was added to CAP's Emergency Services: Counterdrug Reconnaissance. Conducted only by members who have undergone heavy screening, this mission is regulated by the Drug Enforcement Agency and provides aerial photography by use of the Satellite Digital Imaging System.

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A CAP Cessna 182 flies over the Statue of Liberty during a transport mission on September 11, 2001.

Operations during 9/11

Civil Air Patrol served as one of the assisting agencies during the attacks of September 11, 2001. At first, New York Wing was called in to fly blood transport missions to bring in blood to Ground Zero. Soon other supplies and even personnel were flown in by CAP. So many missions needed to be flown that many other wings in the northeastern U.S. were activated, including Connecticut Wing. CTWG flew some of these transport missions as well. After the structural collapse of both towers, CAP became the first agency allowed by the U.S. government to fly over Ground Zero. During these missions, CAP was responsible for photographing the area to identify wreckage patterns and find survivors.

Post-9/11

After September 11, President Bush issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5, which established the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the newly formed Department of Homeland Security. It mandated that FEMA establish a National Incident Management System (NIMS) as a standard for all federal agencies to use during an attack such as September 11. NIMS was to include a chain-of-command structure called the Incident Command System (ICS). All federal agencies would have to provide NIMS/ICS training in order to continue to receive federal funding. Civil Air Patrol quickly complied, establishing the General Emergency Services qualification based on completing certain prerequisites including ICS training. The General Emergency Services rating is required of any CAP volunteer who assists in performing missions.

The introduction of these various new agencies created a new mission under CAP's Emergency Services: Homeland Security. CAP has been called upon to fly patrol missions to protect the nation's borders. During the Return to Flight mission STS-114 of Space Shuttle Atlantis after the Columbia disaster, CAP flew patrol missions along the Florida coast to protect the launch pad area.

Hurricane Katrina

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CAP provided aerial photographs for damage assessment after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

The Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans, Louisiana, called on CAP volunteers from across the nation to support recovery operations. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, only two communications networks were established to get messages in and out of the disaster zone, one provided by the Amateur Radio Emergency Services for providing welfare messages to friends and family, and the other by CAP to support its recovery mission. Volunteers patrolled New Orleans for weeks, logging wreckage patterns and significant damage and calling in medical assistance for survivors. Aerial missions were used to follow the flood patterns and keep the government informed of the status of the levees.

Present

Connecticut Wing continues to serve all missions assigned to it since World War II. Other missions have been introduced post-Katrina, including the Long Island Sound Patrol (LISP) program. LISP flies patrol mission across Long Island Sound during the summer months in coordination with the United States Coast Guard in order to provide more immediate assistance to vessels in distress. Connecticut Wing was credited with numerous finds and saves during its inception year in the summer of 2007, and plans have been made to continue the program in the summer of 2008.