The Boone Composite Squadron Civil Air Patrol hosted a mock search and rescue exercise for West Virginia Wing Civil Air Patrol units on Aug. 29.

CAP Ground Search and Rescue teams from Bluefield, Beckley and Charleston participated, with the base of operations at the Boone CAP headquarters on Lick Creek Road.

Due to rain and low cloud ceilings, three Civil Air Patrol aircraft slated to participate in the search from a base at Logan Airport, were unable to take part.

West Virginia Wing Civil Air Patrol Commander, Col Rod Moore, and the Wing Vice-Commander, Lt Col Gene Thorn, attended the exercise, with Lt Col Thorn serving as the Incident Commander for the exercise. Local agencies and organizations, as well as individual volunteers, brought the total participation to approximately 70 persons.

Mike Holbrook, with Marpat Aviation, Logan, provided outstanding support, excitement and reality for one of three scenarios by setting down a Heuy to stage a mock helicopter crash off Mud River Road, just outside of Danville.

Holbrooke, along with Jason Lewis and Lewis’ friend, also Jason, landed the chopper in a secluded spot on Mud River Road. A CAP ground search team, composed of members from the Charleston and Beckley squadrons, was assigned the task of locating the missing aircraft. Boone CAP cadet Jon Ball and the friend volunteer, Jason, served as mock victims for this “crash.”

Once the incident scene was located, the Danville Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene, after being called out by Boone County 911 personnel, also participating in the exercise.

Danville VFD members Justin Chafin, Brent Kirk, Cameron Ramsey, Josh Creager and Kevin Atkins treated the scene as if it were an actual emergency, preparing the victims for evacuation and reporting back to 911 dispatcher Jackie Hayes.

A second simulated aircraft crash was staged on a hillside just past the tent camping area in Chief Logan State Park, where an emergency locator transmitter was part of the scenario. Acting as the “crash victims” at this site were Boone CAP cadets Josh Lezu and Jonathan Daniels.

The cadets had a lengthy wait to be “rescued” by a CAP ground team from the Beckley Composite Squadron. The team, without the aid of a search aircraft, had the daunting task of tracking the signal of the distress beacon as it bounced off the hillsides throughout and surrounding the park.

This scenario provided the search team with several hours of practice in the use of their signal tracking equipment. Once on the scene, the team had to assess the simulated injuries of the victims and determine a plan of action.

In the third scenario, CAP Cadets Michael Jarrell and Dakota Workman posed as lost ATV riders on Cazy Mountain.

Members of the Wharton/Barrett Volunteer Fire Department participated in this scenario, serving as the lead agency in the search. They were assisted by a CAP ground team from Bluefield,. Wharton/Barrett VFD Captain Robert Rash, Captain Mark White and fireman Trevor Vance located the “lost victims” as their team continued to search even after the CAP team had to return to Mission Base in compliance with a mandatory recall deadline.

Providing additional support and assistance for the exercise was Boone County OES Director, Greg Lay, 911 Dispatcher Michelle Ratliff, Wharton/Barrett VFD Chief Emil McDorman and Assistant Chief Larry Rash, Danville VFD Chief John Holstein and volunteers John Earl Cumbridge, Jon Ryan, Jarrell Ryan, Vic Jarrell, Angie Jarrell, Betty White, Kimi Ball and Monica Ballard. Several CAP members from WV Wing Headquarters and Boone Composite Squadron filled positions at the Mission Base on Lick Creek Road.

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the US Air Force, is a non-profit organization with 57,000 members nationwide.

CAP performs 90 percent of continental US inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 90 lives in fiscal year 2008. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies.

The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 22,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs.

CAP has been performing missions for America for 67 years. For more information, visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com or call Jamie Cumbridge at 369-4337 or Sandy Young at 369-0004.