|
The St. Cloud Air Show crew returned home safely Sunday evening. We had a very full and eventful weekend filled with everything the weather could stir up, to the continuous flow of challenges, regrouping and recovery.
Most of us left at 4 O'Dark AM on Saturday morning to avoid the predicted traffic problems. Lt. Fox drove almost all the way in fog and we still found our destination and reported in well ahead of time. We were divided to 5 duty stations. The absolute best seat in the house was the Fence Line Patrol even though it was an all day shift. Those assigned there were to keep people behind the fence to secure the flight line. The reward was front row seats or Ultimate-Extreme VIP.
Others were stationed on Ramp C and were in charge of parking, wing walking and securing performers and planes and of course keeping visitors safe. They were up close and person with million dollar air craft and were given special private tours of some of them. We were able to meet and speak with many of the pilots and their crews.
Another team was assigned to Ramp B where display planes were taxied on and off the Flight Line for performance. This was an especially challenging area due to the sheer number of people attending the show.
The official schmoozer, Lt. Fox, arranged special tours of the F22 for the Cadets. SSgt. Luga, Crew member of the F22, escorted us past the officer and the M16 and gave us a 25 minute tour of the F22. We were able touch what we wanted and crawl under the plane to view the open bomb bays. Cadets asked questions for 15 minutes and would have continued if others weren't waiting. Some Cadets were also able to meet the pilot of the F22, who is from Minnetonka. Lt. Fox was also promised pictures from one of the many media people he made friends with. (Ask him about that.)
As promised 8 Cadets were chosen from 65, to escort the Blue Angel Pilots to the public "Meet and Greet" and autograph signing. Three Cadets from St. Paul were part of that group. They earned this prestigious spot by outstanding performance on duty, excellent uniform apparel according to standards,and respect on display. St. Paul again can be proud of their Cadets. Were in the public eye constantly, and people were watching us all the time. Most didn't know who we were but were amazed and impressed at what we could do. This again shows how important our trainings are and even the tedious task of uniform care and boot polishing. I've never seen glare like that from boots in the field. Again, a few more of our Cadets were able to help the Blue Angel pilots pass out photos for signing and some of us even had our pictures taken with the pilots!
After dinner on Saturday.....aahhhhhh, sweat relief from the humid almost 95 degree temps on the field at the hotel swimming pool. No, we didn't all stay in the hotel, (only some smarter people). Lts. Sebesta and Fox gained permission for us to use the pool and sauna. So, during the thunderstorm we were chillaxing in the pool. Nobody could pass that up. Lt. Neimann treated those returning to tents to Dilly Bars. The Cadets went to the hangar to watch movies and of course the Senior Members barely made it to bed before we were asleep.
Sunday we did it again and we will give a full report at the meeting, but over-all it was a fun and interesting weekend. This was the first air show at the St. Cloud airport so it goes without saying that CAP was able to ebb and flow with the ever changing demands placed on us. We put our Flight Marshalling skills to use, search and rescue, Elper training (C/Neimann K., made that find... rock on!) and our overall professional presence to work. Thank you to everyone that helped with training to get us up to certification and those that participated including Cadets: Fox, Sebesta, Tunell, McMahon, Neimann J., Neimann K., and Welle; Senior Members: Fox, Sebesta, Neimann, Pahr and our summer Spanish visitor, Ignathio.
Semper Vigilans!
Amy Pahr, 1Lt - DCFC
up2pahr@usfamily.net
651-459-9824/>
|