Elkins Civil Air Patrol Composite Squadron members traveled to Grant County to participate in hands-on mission training.  

More than 20 members from multiple squadrons across the state attended, conducting a full weekend of mission operations hands-on practice. 

The weekend of activities began on Friday evening when everyone arrived. After signing in,  all members set up camp in a field next to the Grant County Airport (W99). Saturday  morning started early at 6:30 a.m. with wake up, getting into uniform and breakfast was served at 7 a.m. Classes began at 8 a.m. and some lasted until after 9 p.m., with meal breaks in between.

Some of the classes conducted included how to assemble and delegate a ground team, using a compass, determining an azimuth on a map between two points and orienting a map to the ground using terrain association.

Saturday night ended with campfire s’mores under the stars. Sunday morning began the same way, early and with breakfast. Two ground teams were assembled, a SAREX (search and rescue exercise) began with the scenario of a lost person. The mission scenario started on the grounds of the airport, needing to use direction finding units to pick up a PLB (personal locator beacon). After a signal was  reached, the ground team members used maps and compasses to calculate the beacon’s location.  

Once the location was established, the WV Wing members gathered in CAP vans and headed in a direction that led them to Fort Mulligan Civil War site, located next to Grant Memorial Hospital. Ground teams filled the hill with eager individuals on a mission to find the hypothetical missing person. After more than an hour of searching, finding clues, grid  mapping and more, the mission was complete with a successful find.   West Virginia Wing strives to live up to Civil Air Patrol’s mission, “Volunteers serving 

America’s communities, saving lives, and shaping futures.” Civil Air Patrol conducts 90% of inland search and rescue in the U.S. In 2023, CAP supported 455 Search and Rescue Missions and helped save 60 lives.

Without ground team operations trained members,  there can be no “rescue” in Search and Rescue. Ground Operations are a critical function to Civil Air Patrol’s mission operations and are taken seriously.  

To learn more about Civil Air Patrol, join in for a weekly meeting on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m., located at 400 Airport Road in Elkins.

Another way to learn more is to visit gocivilairpatrol.com or wvwg.cap.gov.