CAP S&R 2

Continuing on with thoughts about the CAP program, and specifically the search and rescue activities.

The cadet (youth members) of CAP were eligible for two main functions related to search. Airport base support, and ground search & rescue. Before I explore each of those, I want to acknowledge the very different missions of the wider ground S&R groups, and what the CAP teams missions are.

Washington has some very fine S&R teams, Mountain S&R, King County Sheriff's auxiliary, and more. Those teams are the ones called when Bob & Nancy city people go out and get lost or injured on a hike up Mt. Si or somewhere in the Cascades. Those groups will investigate where the people told someone they were going, try to find the car at a trailhead, and go up, looking along the trail and surrounding woods to find the cold hungry people and lead them back to the world. 

Air Search support is a really different thing. I'll explore air search challenges soon. As for the ground S&R teams, supporting a search for a downed aircraft, radio communications are key. The team will be directed by a aircraft that has sighted a possible crash site, and coordinate with the ground team by radio. Unlike the lost hiker situation, where the targets are usually somewhat near an established trail, light air crashes can be anywhere in the wilderness. 

The search aircraft, or more likely a chain of them, as loiter time may be limited over the crash site due to the distance from the base field, or altitude or both requires relief planes to keep the crash location in view. That is until nightfall. Accurate map and chart work is essential.

Back to the ground team. They will be directed via the nearest access road, most often a forest logging, or fire trail, to a location as near the crash site as possible. The team will have to navigate via compass vector from that road or trail. The team needs to pack in enough supplies to reach the site, support themselves, and carry emergency air supplies to support the occupants of the aircraft. On a realistic note, survivors are rare, but until the team reaches the site, you must assume it's a rescue, not a recovery.

More Later
Dad