Jonathan
Romanko |
Fourteen-year-old Jonathan Romanko became a cadet in the
Missouri Civil Air Patrol as soon as he turned 12. He thought
that would give him a head start on his goal of becoming
a pilot in the U.S. Air Force.
The home-schooled 9th grader from St. Peters, MO, was
among the several cadets who staffed the CAP Open House
last month at the St. Charles Municipal Airport. The open
house was to explain what the Missouri CAP does to support
U.S. Air Force.
The
Missouri Wing of the Civil Air Patrol is one of 52 wings
of the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary. There are currently over
1,000 members of the Missouri wing, including 400 young
cadets, from 12 to 21 years of age.
The Missouri CAP wing is headquartered at Whiteman Air
Force Base in Knob Noster, MO. However, the Illinois CAP
also has several units in the metro St. Louis area.
(If you have an interest in aviation and want to know
more about the Civil Air Patrol, you can go to the national
website at www.gocivilairpatrol.com.
(By clicking on CAP
Teens icon in the upper right of the home page,
you can learn about opportunities for kids. For a listing
of area CAP units in and around St. Louis in both Missouri
and Illinois, you can click on the location indicator at
the bottom of the page.)
Jonathan has been in the CAP for two years, having joined
in July, 2007.
"I want to make a career of flying and I'll probably go
into the Air Force first. I'd like to be able to go to college
at the Air Force Academy in Colorado," he said.
David
Daubach |
Seventeen-year-old David Daubach of Wentzville, MO, is
another cadet who went into the CAP at age 12.
He also wants a career in the military but he's planning
on joining in the U.S. Army. In fact, the senior at Wentzille's
Holt High School is getting all his paperwork completed
so he can enlist as soon as he graduates from high school.
He said he plans to enlist at first for a 4- or 6-year
term. "Then, I'll probably make the military my career,"
he said.
He said he'd like to either be a medic or a military policeman.
The local cadets say they meet once a week at the Missouri
National Guard armory in St. Peters for training.
Jeremy
Leyden |
Sixteen-year-old Jeremy Leyden of St. Charles said the
3-hour training sessions include military drills, then studies
on possible CAP missions and "character development."
Since Jeremy has been in the CAP only four months, his
work at the St. Charles airport open house was his first
unit mission.
The local CAP units are trained in a variety of services
in support of local, state and federal agencies. Among possible
missions include helping with flood relief, searching for
downed aircraft and other emergencies.
Coty
Ruether |
For instance, 17-year-old Coty Ruether of Washington, MO,
was assigned last summer to help fight the flooding at Old
Monroe, MO. His CAP unit was on duty for two weeks to try
to prevent damage from flood waters.
Coty is now a chief master sergeant in the St. Charles
Composite Squadron of the CAP.
He's not only a non-commissioned office (NCO) in his unit
but has undergone honor guard training. That involved attending
a training academy in Washington, D.C.
"I was the second cadet from Missouri to have attended
that academy," he said.
He said the honor guard academy was his favorite CAP experience.
"I was in a unit with cadets from all over the country.
There were two cadets from Puerto Rico and we were all mixed
together and became a family," he said.
Coty said he plans to go to college at Central Missouri
State University at Warrensburg, MO. He plans to major in
aviation with a bachelor's degree in flying. Warrensburg
is close to Whiteman AFB, where the Air Force stations many
of its B-1 stealth bombers.
He said he will look on any actual flight experience he
gets with his CAP duty "as a bonus."
Cadets can go along on CAP flights and, if everything is
clear, can be given the opportunity to control the plane
while in flight.
Although the Missouri CAP has six of its own planes, and
can activate a larger fleet of private aircraft, Coty said
he hasn't flow yet. "As an officer, I've let others fly
first," he said.
In addition to weekly training with their home units, the
cadets also get chances to attend a variety of training
weekend sessions.
For instance, Jonathan Romanko will be attending a flight-simulation
program this summer at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
During that workshop, the cadets will get a chance to do
fighter pilot maneuvers on a computer simulator.
One of the other workshops includes training in "beacon
searches" that simulate the search for a downed aircraft.
When a plane goes down, a beacon signal automatically goes
off to allow rescue teams to pinpoint the location of the
downed plane.
Both cadets David Daubach and Coty Ruether said they enjoyed
the marching drills that are stressed in cadet classes.
They said they appreciated the sense of belonging that you
get from marching as a coordinated group.
Coty said he also appreciated the instruction on how to
avoid use of drugs.
