Pennsylvania Wing Civil Air Patrol

The Pennsylvania Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is the highest echelon of CAP in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Wing headquarters is located at Fort Indiantown Gap near Harrisburg, PA.

Pennsylvania Wing is abbreviated as "PAWG", and is often referred to by its members as "PA Wing". A Pennsylvania keystone is a symbol commonly used in patches and designs of PAWG.

For CAP radio communications, PAWG call signs have the "PennCAP" prefix. Pennsylvania Wing is the 31st wing, but equipment identification numbers and unit charter numbers begin with the prefix 37. For example, a CAP aircraft in Pennsylvania Wing uses the callsign CAP 37##, where ## is the number of the aircraft.

History
Pennsylvania Wing is one of the original 48 wings in Civil Air Patrol.

In the spring of 1942, the Pennsylvania Wing conducted a 30-day experiment with the intention of convincing the Army Air Forces that they were capable of flying cargo missions for the nation. PA Wing transported Army cargo as far as Georgia, and top Army officials were impressed. After the 30 day trial period, the War Department gave CAP permission to conduct courier and cargo service for the military, often flying mail, light cargo, and important military officials between USAAF bases.

One of the Civil Air Patrols very first "Aviation Cadet Programs" was established at the Pittsburgh Army Air Field in the Spring of 1943. Accepting young men as "Aviation Cadets" in a delayed enlistment program for the Army Air Forces, the Pittsburgh Squadron trained these boys (as young as 15) in Aerospace and Military subjects and vetted them for service as Army Air Force Pilots. Graduating a total of 16 Aviation Cadets for the Army in less than ten months, the Pittsburgh Squadron model was copied by units in Philadelphia, New York City and as far south as Florida. Today, the current Squadron with direct lineage to that Aviation Cadet Unit is the CAP's second longest, continually operated unit on a Military Installation.

On December 31, 1999, PA Wing units were put on stand-by in case of any problems arising from the Y2K bug.

During the September 11 attacks, Pennsylvania Wing was ordered to a stand-by state. Although not officially tasked with any missions in direct support, PAWG radio communications centers were operational and prepared to offer assistance.

In 2006, PA Wing was activated to fly reconnaissance missions during the 2006 flood. PAWG aircraft flew over major waterways to provide detailed photographs of flood-affected areas and to monitor floodwaters as they moved downstream.

31 Members from Pennsylvania Wing Civil Air Patrol traveled 28 hours to Pascagoula, Mississippi to aid in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. PAWG Rangers went door-to-door ensuring that local residents had adequate food, water, and medical care.

In August and September 2011, all CAP emergency service teams in Pennsylvania Wing and CAP members from Maryland,West Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana Wings were activated to assist communities affected by Hurricane Irene (2011) and Tropical Storm Lee (2011).

During the time between September 1, 2010 to December 1, 2011, the Pennsylvania Wing saved eleven lives, provided emergency response in Pennsylvania during the 2011 flooding and severe winter storms.

In November 2012, CAP Pennsylvania Wing emergency services air crews and ground teams were activated to assist communities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware during flooding and high wind of Hurricane Sandy.

Pennsylvania Wing Commanders

 * 1) Lt. Col. William L. Anderson  Dec 1, 41 to Aug 18, 45
 * 2) Lt. Col. Philip F. Neuweiler  Aug 18, 45 to Mar 26, 46
 * 3) Lt. Col. Carl A. Reber   Mar 26, 46 to Aug 15, 47
 * 4) Col. Philip F. Neuweiler  Aug 15, 47 to Mar 21, 70
 * 5) Col. Angelo A. Milano  Mar 22, 70 to Nov 5, 77
 * 6) Temp. Col. Andrew E. Skiba  Nov 5, 1977 to Jun 28, 1978
 * 7) Lt. Col. Edward T. Kelly (Int.)  Jun 28, 1978 to Jan 1, 1979
 * 8) Col. Angelo A. Milano  Jan 1, 1979 to Dec 7, 1987
 * 9) Col. Raymond F. Schuler  Dec 7, 1987 to Feb 16, 1990
 * 10) Col. M. Allen Applebaum  Feb 16, 1990 to Nov 14, 1990
 * 11) Col. Larry Kauffman  Nov 14, 1990 to Nov 20, 1993
 * 12) Col. Joseph A. Guimond, Jr.  Nov 20, 1993 to Aug 19, 1995
 * 13) Col. Jean-Pierre J. Habets Aug 19, 1995 to Aug 15, 1999
 * 14) Col. Fredric K. Weiss  Aug 15, 1999 to Jun 14, 2003
 * 15) Col. M. Allen Applebaum  Jun 14, 2003 to Sep 29, 2007
 * 16) Col. Mark A. Lee Sep 29, 2007 to Nov 12, 2011
 * 17) Col. Sandra E. Brandon Nov 12, 2011 to Present

Pennsylvania Spaatz Awards
10   Michael F. S. Hanford    Feb 14, 1966

47   Kenneth B. Hibbert    Sep 12, 1967

62   Ramon L. Bennedetto    May 16, 1968

74   Michael A. Allen    Nov 22, 1968

79   Richard B. Smith    Jan 7, 1969

88   James I. Heald    May 15, 1969

104   Paul S. Draper    Jan 14, 1970

105   Harry Z. Mertz    Jan 14, 1970

116   Gary J. Kirkpatrick    May 14, 1970

166   Roy K. Salomon    Apr 11, 1972

171   Marie E. Stutz    Jun 28, 1972

174   Donald P. Flinn    Jul 24, 1972

205   Mark L. Sweeney    Mar 15, 1973

220   George S. Rose    Jun 18, 1973

230   Robert P. Pelligrini    Aug 2, 1973

299   Gary p. Standorf    Nov 7, 1974

314   Keith D. Kries    Mar 7, 1975

423   Konrad J. Trautman    Feb 14, 1977

445   Robert Mattes    Oct 2, 1977

452   Lawrence L. Trick    Nov 22, 1977

463   Jerrold Warthman    Mar 1, 1978

480   Richard Magners    Jul 3, 1978

484   Richard Graves    Aug 22, 1978

495   James Kraftchak    Jan 2, 1979

510   William Snee    May 1, 1979

532   Bryan Watson    Nov 13, 1979

533   Robert Atwell    Nov 16, 1979

534   Terry Hawes    Nov 19, 1979

553   Jeff Riley    Aug 8, 1980

554   Terry Friend    Sep 3, 1980

558   Tim Hawes    Oct 27, 1980

570   Richard Yingling    May 6, 1981

583   R. Steven Rickert    Oct 7, 1981

613   Edward Czeck    Jun 25, 1982

625   Sean Neal    Dec 13, 1982

626   Anthony Sodano    Dec 17, 1982

691   Walter Garnett    Apr 1, 1984

738   Kurt Hack    Feb 28, 1985

783   Robert Lutz    Jan 22, 1986

797   Daniel Weston    May 8, 1986

815   David Mertes    Sep 5, 1986

882   Paul Andrew    Apr 6, 1988

889   John Angeny    Jul 1, 1988

935   Lawrence L. Stouffer    Apr 18, 1989

950   John Talaber    Aug 8, 1989

957   Henry Lutz    Aug 29, 1989

1007   William Davis    Jun 12, 1990

1043   Kerim Yasar    Jan 16, 1991

1073   Joseph Shirer    Aug 27, 1991

1074   Randy Lentz    Aug 27, 1991

1081   Isaac Zortman    Nov 21, 1991

1083   Richard Gray    Dec 9, 1991

1101   Nathaniel Szewczyk    Feb 25, 1992

1153   Kara Grimaldi    Jan 18, 1993

1173   Timothy Cheslock    Jun 29, 1993

1174   Sarah Ferdinand    Jun 29, 1993

1236   Julian Rivera    Jan 12, 1995

1282   Julius Armstrong    Dec 22, 1995

1286   Joel A. Martin    Dec 3, 1995

1287   Broderick A. Jones    Dec 3, 1995

1383   Michael T. Bauer    Jul 19, 1998

1409   Jason Secrest    Jul 16, 1999

1432   Sean T. Conroy    Jun 9, 2000

1480   Joshua Plocinski    Dec 21, 2002

1497   Shawn M. Cressman    Mar 13, 2003

1590   Erin M. Nelson    Feb 21, 2006

1631   David J. Spillane    Apr 21, 2007

1658   Robert A. Nolt    Jul 26, 2007

1662   Matthew J. Postupack    Aug 28, 2007

1677   Thomas P. Carr    Dec 22, 2007

1748   Courtney Gallagher    Dec 23, 2009

1767   Dane V. Carroll    Aug 19, 2010

1791   Noah D. Bendele	  Apr 21, 2011

Source: http://www.spaatz.org/mbr/list.php

Structure
Pennsylvania Wing is the highest echelon of Civil Air Patrol in Pennsylvania. PA Wing reports to Northeast Region CAP, who reports to CAP National Headquarters.

Pennsylvania Wing Headquarters is located in a renovated World War Two Post Exchange (PX) and Non Commissioned Officers Club (NCO Club) at Fort Indiantown Gap in Annville, Pennsylvania. Offices, classrooms, a communications center and an emergency operations center are located inside the Headquarters. Additionally, the headquarters building is located approximately one mile from Muir Army Airfield.

Reporting to the Wing level, Pennsylvania is divided into six geographic groups and one School Group (Group 800). Each group conducts training, activities, classroom learning and programs, with actual missions assigned to a group from the Wing. Originally, the state was divided into three groups (western, central, and eastern); but with an increasing number of squadrons, PAWG divided split each group into northern and southern sections, creating six groups in 2007.

Reporting to each group are 76 squadrons. Squadrons are the local level of organization and serve the local community, and squadrons meet weekly to conduct conducts training, activities, classroom learning and programs to carry out the three missions of Civil Air Patrol - Emergency Services, Cadet Programs, and Aerospace Education.

There are three types of Civil Air Patrol squadrons.
 * 1) A cadet squadron focus primarily on providing for cadets.
 * 2) A senior squadron is a unit dedicated to allowing senior members to focus on CAP's missions.
 * 3) Composite squadrons have both cadets and senior members working together.

As of December 1, 2011, the PA Wing operates 76 squadrons, in seven groups, 15 aircraft, 43 ground vehicles and a state-wide radio communications network that is operational 24/7 and is part of a national network.

Group 1
Group 1 is responsible for operations in and around the Pittsburgh area.

Group 2
Group 2 operates around Harrisburg.

Group 3
Group 3 operates in the greater Philadelphia area.

Group 4
Group 4 conducts operations in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area.

Group 5
The Group 5 region encompasses much of North Central Pennsylvania, including State College, Altoona, and Williamsport.

Group 6
Group 6 is responsible for operations near Erie.

Schools
Pennsylvania Wing conducts a number of schools as a part of its cadet programs. These schools provide instruction and hands on experience to members in a variety of areas, ranging from aviation to search and rescue.


 * Group 800 - School Program Squadrons

Hawk Mountain Ranger School
Pennsylvania Wing operates the longest continuously operating school of search and rescue in the United States. Hawk Mountain Ranger School is funded and operated by the Wing both as a cadet program and also to instruct CAP members in emergency services operations. HMRS typically conducts training once a month, and offers a 10-day course during the summer as a National Cadet Special Activity.

Summer Schools
Often referred to only as 'Encampment,' this school is a 9 day condensed version of the Air Force's Basic Training program, modified for cadets age 12-17. The encampment teaches basic cadets the fundamentals of followership and discipline in both an academic and applied environment. This course is traditionally taught at Fort Indiantown Gap.
 * Basic Encampment

CLS is also a 9 day course, offered a few weeks before basic encampment. CLS is similar to Air Force ROTC's Field Training program, focusing on developing cadet's leadership potential. This course involves both classroom instruction and applied leadership skills.
 * Cadet Leadership School

Glider Flight Encampment instructs cadets in the principles of flight, culminating in several rides in an unpowered glider.
 * Glider Flight Encampment

Powered Flight Encampment instructs cadets in the basics of aviation. Cadets learn about ground and air procedures, as well as fly in CAP owned Cessna 172s and 182s. Cadets that do well during the program may earn their solo wings.
 * Powered Flight Encampment

Other Schools
BCOP is a weekend course to teach new cadets about the fundamentals of Civil Air Patrol. Topics covered include uniform care, basic drill instruction, opportunities available to cadets, as well as fun and fellowship. This course is typically offered in the early spring.
 * Basic Cadet Orientation Program

Squadrons are the local unit of Civil Air Patrol, and this course covers material related to the successful operation of a Civil Air Patrol squadron.
 * Squadron Leadership School