information provided by Civil Air Patrol
CHICAGO, Ill. (August 12, 2018) – One portion of the role of the Civil Air Patrol is emergency services. Cadets are ready to respond at any time to assist the U.S. Air Force in search and rescue needs.
Just before midnight on July 24, Civil Air Patrol’s Illinois Wing was contacted by the Air Force Rescue & Coordination Center with reports of an Electronic Locator Transmitter (ELT) going off somewhere between Chicago Executive Airport (PWK) and General Mitchel international Airport in Milwaukee (MKE).
CAP Thunder Composite Squadron was the only team to respond to the call. The ground team was able to locate the signal going off from an aircraft inside of a hanger at Chicago Executive Airport, and the owner was contacted.
Responding to this late-night mission were Major Rick Zalud and four cadets; C/LtCol Peter Pattera, C/CMsgt Alexander Bronas, C/MSgt Ian Steinweg and C/SrA Arjon Odom.
Cadets are continually preparing for such missions both during weekly meetings and also at monthly Group 2 simulated missions. CAP Thunder Squadron meets at Heritage Middle School in Lansing each Wednesday evening from 7:00–9:00pm.
To learn more, visit gocivilairpatrol.com and follow “CAP Thunder Composite Squadron” on Facebook.
