Seven cadets from the Royal Charter Composite Squadron met at the squadron for Wreaths Across America on December 12, 2009. Their job: To place wreaths in memory of those that served in the United States Military. The cadets headed to the State Veteran's Cemetery in Middletown, CT. After being assigned a branch of the military, cadets took the wreaths and practiced what they were supposed to do. When the event started, the cadets took their place in the assigned order: US Army, US Navy, US Marines, US Air Force, US Coast Guard, US Merchant Marines and POW/MIA.
Cadet Senior Airman Demers was in charge of laying the US Army wreath. Cadet Senior Airman Joseph was placed in charge of laying the US Navy wreath. Cadet Senior Airman Kelleher took the US Marines and C/SrA Cordova requested the US Air Force. Cadet Airman Carlson and Fuentes were given the Coast Guard and the Merchant Marines. Cadet Staff Sergeant Kelleher was given the wreaths in honor of the hundreds of thousand Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action. After the wreaths were laid, the Daughters of the Revolution, the Mayor of Middletown and the CT Veterans Association said a few words and Capt. Murphy closed the event. Afterwards, cadets were able to warms up, eat cookies and speak with those that were in different branches of the military. By 1400 hours, cadets returned to Royal Charter warm and full of cookies.
C/SrA J'Vaughn Joseph
Harwinton Fair, Oct. 2-4, 2009
After a quick safety briefing, Royal cadets packed their gear and themselves into the van. Destination: the 151st annual Harwinton Fair in Harwinton, CT. For 2 days, cadets from Royal Charter, Northwest Hills, Waterbury's 169th slept at the fair. Bradley's 103rd and East Haven's Minuteman Composite were also there to help.
Arriving at 1830, Royal cadets signed in and began putting up their tents. By 2200 cadets were in their tents for the night. It was a horrible night and many cadets didn't get much sleep because of rain. At 0530 Saturday morning, cadets were awakend although the majority were already up from the night before. After getting dressed and getting breakfast cadets were given a final briefing of their jobs and tasks assigned for the day. By 0730 cadets were either assigned battle buddies or picked out their own battle buddies for the day. The work kick-off began at 0830 as cars began pulling in; cadets were positioned out in the fields parking cars and directing traffic. Although it was a bit gloomy that day, cadets tried to cheer up people as they passed by. Their assignment was finished around 1630 as the fair came to an early close due to stormy weather. Cadets took this time to rest, fix their tents, eat dinner and mingle. By 2000 majority of the cadets were in their tents to hopefully get a good night sleep and prepare for what would be the longest workday in history.
After cadets were awaken at 0530 and had breakfast, they headed to their assigned spots, not knowing that their workload today would be very heavy. By 0800 majority of the cadets were out working; at 0930 cadets were out in full force parking cars in directing traffic. Many cadets worked for 2 to 3 hours straight before another team can relieve them. All cadets were up and down the fields- mostly jogging to keep up with traffic. They were given lunch in shifts and a short 15 minute break afterwards. Work continued up to 1730 when fair goers began to leave. By that time, cadets utilized whatever spare time they had to take down their tents and pack them up. Once 1830 reached, cadets cleaned up the area, gathered their belongings and headed home for a well deserved rest....and a nice soft bed.
C/A1C J'Vaughn Joseph
Simsbury Fly-In Sunday, September 20th 2009
Cadets from 5 Connecticut squadrons met at Simsbury Airport on the morning of September 20, 2009 for the annual Simsbury Fly-In. After a safety briefing, cadets we split into groups and given tasks which included wing-walking and flight marshalling. The first shift began around 0830 as aircraft from all over the northeast began arriving. Cadets worked long and hard receiving well deserved breaks. On their breaks, they were able to view many aircraft and cars from an antique car show that was also held at the airport. To many of the cadets, it was a mini "reunion" from the Connecticut Wing 2009 Encampment and seeing their fellow cadets also brightened their day. By the end of the day, cadets were directing the aircraft out towards the runway as the fly-in was shutting down. Although all the cadets were split into groups, by the end of the day they ended up working together as a huge team instead of shifts.
After almost 8 hours of working and breaks, cadets piled into their respective vans and said good-bye to their friends and fellow cadets. They headed home for a good night's sleep.
On August 29th 2008, the Royal Charter Composite Squadron cadets and
some senior members were introduced to, or experienced, how disoriented
they could actually be when it comes to trusting their own senses in
a single ‘barney chair,’ which has been recorded by 2d Lt
Barbie Kelleher. These videos clearly display that whether you’re
a fresh new cadet to Civil Air Patrol or a senior member who has been
flying since he was back in his college days; the effects are still
the same. The cha ir in the videos is used to simulate how at night
time you cannot rely on your sight in an aircraft. The chair acts as
the cockpit and the blind helps simulate how on a night flight you aren’t
able to tell land from sky.
As you can see in the first video, Captain Shea, who is actually one
of Royal's mission pilots and has been flying, as he sometimes expresses,
"...for a long, long time." Tells the viewers what he thinks
is going on as he spins in circles in the chair.
In this second video, C/Amn Hernandez, even though it’s highly
unlikely that this cadet has never spun around with his eyes closed
on his own time, experiences disorientation for his first time and expresses
that it feels, "Cool.”
Pictured from left to right: C/MAJ Joe
Molleur, C/A1C Dan Haynes, C/AMN Jake Kelleher, Captain Michael
Ganis, C/SSGT Mario Robles, C/SMSGT Sandeep Singh
18-April-2008
Mission # 08-M-0658
On the evening
of 18-April-2008 the members of C.A.P. received a message of
an ELT going off. A joint effort including Royal Charter Composite
Squadron’s ground and Aircrew’s and Ground Team
members from The 103rd took members on a search that lead them
to a recycling facility. Independent attempts repeatedly took
ground teams to a mountain of waste waiting to be loaded onto
railroad cars for recycling at various locations. Due to the
nature of the location it was determined that searching in the
trash was not practical or safe and the mission was closed.
The ELT was in fact in the trash and was transported on a railroad
car and it continued emitting a signal on 121.5 until ultimately
located in Ohio.
This was Royal Charter Composite Ground Team’s
first actual mission and all performed admirably. Awards were
handed out during promotions on 27-June-2008 Congratulations
to all that were involved.
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