SD Adjutant General Inspects CAP Aircraft
Major General (SD) Mark Morrell, South Dakota Adjutant General, recently inspected two Civil Air Patrol aircraft. South Dakota Wing, Civil Air Patrol (CAP) receives state funding as part of the state Department of Military.
Morrell’s orientation to CAP’s mission aircraft came at the conclusion of a meeting with CAP’s South Dakota Wing (SDWG) commander, Col. Michael Marek, and several members of the CAP operations team in South Dakota. The wide-ranging meeting covered CAP’s operational capabilities, its “cadet” youth program, and CAP’s aerospace and STEM education efforts.
“The SDNG has a long history of working together with the SDWG of the CAP to serve citizens in our communities, state, and surrounding region,” said Morrell. “It was a great opportunity to get educated on CAP capabilities and to meet some of their impressive cadets and senior members. I look forward to working with them more in the future!”
CAP has close to 400 members in South Dakota, with units in Brookings, Custer, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Spearfish, and Tea. CAP can deploy its six aircraft, ground teams, and small search drones to assist in emergency response and other support to local, state, tribal, and federal agencies in South Dakota. Typical missions include missing person and aircraft searches and flood photography. South Dakota Wing also conducts joint training with South Dakota Air National Guard F16 jets, in which CAP aircraft play the role of aircraft intruding into restricted airspace.
Other CAP members participating in the meeting in Sioux Falls were Lt Col Michael Veltman from the Air Force CAP Liaison headquarters; Lt Col Mike Cassidy, SDWG director of operations; Lt Col Justin Johnson, aircraft maintenance officer; Lt Jacob Roth, commander of Big Sioux Composite Squadron; Cadet Colonel Keon den Hoed, and flight Officer Skye Timmer.
