There is a meeting this coming Saturday February 25, 2006 at Capital City Airport to discuss our Group 2 Operations and training for the remainder of the year. We will be mapping out all of our training, as well as working out the specifics of our upcoming SAR/EX (April 1 & 2). We will need volunteers to fill IC Staff positions and people who want to train in various positions (including cadets).

The meeting will start at 10am.

According to published reports on Space.com and Spaceflight Now, NASA intends to retire the shuttle Atlantis in 2008, and use her as parts for the remaining Discovery and Endeavor orbiters until they are retired at the end of the shuttle program in 2010.

Read the full story at:

http://www.space.com/news/ft_060218_atlantis_retire.html

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0602/17atlantis/

For unit members who may be aware that their unit commander is out of town, doesn’t check e-mail frequently, is not on this mail list, or has a relatively new e-mail address, doesn’t have access, - please pass this information on to her or him as quickly as you can.

The Wing instituted a new Unit Commander’s e-mail list recently. This week or last you may have received a test e-mail asking you to respond. Some may have been confused as to what they were being asked to respond to by that e-mail. We were only trying to test to see if it reached you and if you were able to respond back to headquarters.

IMPORTANT:
The Wing Commander started this mail list to try to develop a another, new and direct method to keep in touch. On Monday Colonel Applebaum will be sending you a message for which he needs your response. The issues are time sensitive and he is looking for response within a day so that the next step can be taken quickly. PLEASE watch your e-mail on MONDAY, 20 FEBRUARY 2006 for this message and respond before the end of the day on TUESDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2006.

The Commander’s e-mail list was built upon the e-mail addresses given to and published by LtCol Willa Hayes in the Wing Squadron Directory. If you are aware of any problems with your e-mail address as listed in the directory, have another address that you’d rather use, or are aware of some other problem, please send an e-mail to Bob Gallagher, the Wing webmaster at thegallaghers@comcast.net with your updated information immediately. He will correct the mail list server.

Thank you for you attention to this important matter.

Robert L. Meinert, LtCol, CAP
Executive Director
Pennsylvania Wing
Civil Air Patrol
Building 3-108
Fort Indiantown Gap
Annville, PA 17003
717-861-2335

From the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer site: "Congratulations to Steve Fossett, who has broken the world record for the longest ever flight in history and made a dramatic landing through the sunset - at Bournemouth Airport. He travelled 26,389.3 miles and had a flight duration of 76 hours 45 minutes. Just miles from his destination at Kent International Airport, Steve’s generator failed, which meant a total electrical breakdown. He was forced to make an emergency Mayday call through to Bournemouth Airport, and was given a short window through which to land. Chief Executive of Virgin Atlantic, Steve Ridgeway said: "If we didn’t get him down in fifteen minutes, he would have had to have ditched the plane."

More details online at: http://www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com/News/landing_unscheduled.jsp

NEWS FLASH: Effective 02/09/2005 Vanguard Industries now has an online store exclusively for the Civil Air Patrol. This new store is separate from the main vanguard site.

Visit www.civilairpatrolstore.com

There will be an SDIS class at CXY on 25 Feb. Class is limited to six and two have already signed up. Contact Capt Andresen, Operations Assistant, PAWG for a slot.

"Steve Fossett has taken off from Cape Canaveral in his bid to break the world record for the longest uninterrupted flight."According to the mission website, "Scaled's 'Model 311' aircraft is a single engine turbofan aircraft specifically designed for non-stop global circumnavigation by a solo pilot with no passengers."

Details on the flight and tracking information are online at: http://www.virginatlanticglobalflyer.com/MissionControl/Tracking/index.jsp

Over 80 PA Wing members, half from Group 2, assisted the WWII Federation with their annual Battle of the Bulge Re-Enactment at Ft. Indiantown Gap, January 24-28, 2006

THE PAWG COLOR GUARD COMPETITION IS IN NEED OF THE FOLLOWING STAFF POSITIONS:

SENIOR MEMBERS
2 needed for score keepers (you cannot be affiliated with a team in comp)
judges needed

1 needed for facility manager (pick up and return keys for building)

CADET STAFF
runners during day between judges and competition teams
help with lunch and set up and break down

Please respond ASAP to Major Anne Gibbons at ams1008@yahoo.com

The Northeast Region will be holding a Train Leaders for Cadets course on the weekend of March 24-26 at Westover ARB. All senior members who are working with cadets are invited to this critical training weekend. National is sending Curt Lafond to lead the training and the region will provide two other trainers. This is a revised version of the old STPCL course. I have looked at the material and it is going to be a very valuable training weekend for those in our region who are working with cadets at all levels especially at the local unit. Commanders this is a great opportunity to get your CP people trained to work with your cadets in a safe and appropriate manner. It will teach how the program is to be run and it will cover cadet protection.

Please encourage your folks to enroll soon. Each participant needs to send a CAP Form 17 to me and make room reservations with Westover at billeting. There phone number is 413-557-2700. The rooms will be $21.50 per night. This and the cost of meals (on your own) and transportation will be the only cost of the course. Billeting would like reservation by the 1st of March if at all possible however, she did say they could go past that date. There is no guarantee you will get a room after the 1st.

If there are any questions please do not hesitate to contact me. I am looking forward to an exciting weekend with all who attend. I am hoping that all of you DCPs will be there as this will give us an opportunity to discuss cadet programs for the region.

I am waiting to hear back from Bob Isabelle on the dates for the region cadet competition. I have requested the weekend of May 19-21. We will be using the rules of engagement as set forth by national and the 2006 rules are posted on the national website.

Thank you all for the great job you are doing with cadet programs.
--

Have a great day,

Craig Treadwell
Colonel, Civil Air Patrol
Northeast Region Deputy Chief of Staff for Cadet Programs
6 Sara Lane
Portland ME 04103-3623
(H) 207-797-7993
(C) 207-450-8286
(F) 207-615-0482
Email: ctread@maine.rr.com