Squadron Hosts Group V SAREX
The San Marcos Tex Hill CAP Squadron (TX-435) acted as the host and Incident Command Post for a Group V Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX) on Saturday, January 18, 2020. TX-WG-Group V Commander, Col Frank Eldridge, Incident Commander, said that in addition to the 435th squadron, the SAREX had cadets and senior members from the Pegasus Composite Squadron (TX-351) at Camp Mabry, Austin, the Joseph W. Kittinger Phantom Senior Squadron (TX-352) from Austin, the Bexar Senior Squadron (TX-424) from San Antonio, and the Kerrville Composite squadron (TX-442) located in Kerrville. Lt. Col. Roger Corbin from the 435th squadron acted as Operations Planner.
The SAREX is a chance for CAP members to practice skills and build teamwork across Group for search and rescue events. The Texas stormy weather played a factor in the SAREX. The San Marcos Base planned to fly the entire day but was hampered by low clouds in the morning, but did launch sorties in the afternoon to accomplish critical training in both electronic and visual patterns with one aircraft, but only one aircraft. The ground teams were able to communicate with the aircraft as they each performed their coordinated search for a simulated aircraft down. The simulated downed aircraft were successfully located both by locating the electronic signals sent at the simulated crash site and also by visual search patterns. The airborne search aircraft aircrew was successful in finding the simulated downed aircraft by a visual search pattern and then making radio contact with the ground teams to coordinate the ground team actions. Orange panels found by aircrew and contact made with ground teams. The ground teams gained experience in communicating with aircraft.
Four sorties mentioned were flown out of San Marcos airport. CAP aircraft crew positions are: Mission Pilot (MP) is the Aircraft Commander and sits in front left seat, Mission Observer (MO) is in the right front seat, and Mission Scanner (MS) is in the left rear seat. The Mission Scanner’s primary responsibility is to maintain constant visual contact with the ground while over the search area. The Mission Observer is a scanner with expanded duties who usually sits in the right front seat. In addition to the primary duty of scanning while in the search area, the observer assists the pilot with planning, navigation, and communication. The observer may also serve as mission commander, ensuring that all mission objectives are met. The Mission Pilot is the aircraft commander and is responsible for the safety of the crew and the aircraft. The Mission Pilot must fly the aircraft precisely in order to execute mission procedures and search patterns so that the scanners have the best possible chance to achieve mission objectives
These sorties allowed for upgraded training for 1 MP, 2 MO’s, and 4 MS’s. Each aircrew position is specifically trained to accomplish their job in our important search and rescue mission. The mission pilots have formal standardization and evaluation check rides to validate their proficiency on a bi-annual basis. In addition to the San Marcos aircraft, the squadrons at Kerrville and San Antonio each flew 3 sorties from their locations.
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