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Scenes from basic and advanced ground search and rescue field exercises at NESA, taken by public information officers course participants Maj. Newton Talley of the Indiana Wing, Capt. Jaimie Henson of the Kentucky Wing and Senior Member Jackie Barton of the Virginia Wing.
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Capt. Joseph Testman, emergency services officer for the Connecticut Wing’s 143rd Composite Squadron, photographs a mock accident scene at Camp Atterbury in Indiana. The accident exercise was part of a basic course offered by NESA’s Ground Search and Rescue School. Testman, meanwhile, was training for the basic PIOs course offered by NESA’s Incident Command System School.
Photo by Steve Cox, CAP National Headquarters
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Capt. Jaimie Henson, public affairs officer for the Kentucky Wing’s Boone County Composite Squadron, awaits her turn in front of the camera during the basic PIOs course’s interview session, facilitated by Maj. Al Pabon (left), CAP national public affairs team leader and North Central Region director of public affairs. The course for prospective PIOs was modeled after training provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other emergency response organizations.
Photo by Steve Cox, CAP National Headquarters
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Lt. Col. John Desmarais, NESA’s founder and deputy director of operations at Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters, talks to graduates following this summer’s first one-week session.
Photo by Maj. LouAnn Maffei-Iwuc, Massachusetts Wing
Steve Cox
Public Affairs Manager
National Headquarters
INDIANA – For the first time in its 15-year existence, Civil Air Patrol’s National Emergency Services Academy topped the 600-student mark for its two-week summer sessions of premier multidisciplinary training.
“We’ve never broken 600 before, so this is a nice milestone for us,” said Lt. Col. John Desmarais, NESA’s founder and deputy director of operations at CAP National Headquarters.
Desmarais said 617 CAP volunteers participated in NESA’s two sessions – 299 the first week and 318 the second week, which wrapped up Sunday at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center, a 35,000-acre Indiana National Guard facility in Edinburgh.
“It is incredible to see how much NESA and CAP have grown and changed over the last 15 years,” Desmarais said. “The first two sessions of NESA held in 1996 and 1997 had less than 100 personnel, including both staff and students, and only focused on ground search and rescue.
“This year we had 617 participants from every state in the nation working in all of the emergency services mission areas that CAP supports.”
In addition to the record number of students, NESA operated this year with a staff of about 150 that included mostly CAP volunteers, complemented by instructors representing various federal, state and local agencies, including CAP-U.S. Air Force reservists who monitor the training to ensure it meets Air Force standards.
NESA combines task-based training with practical application that has become the standard for Civil Air Patrol wings nationwide. It consists of three schools – National Ground Search and Rescue School, Incident Command System School and Mission Aircrew School, each providing courses focusing on specific skills:
- National Ground Search and Rescue School provides the skills members need to expertly perform ground searches for missing people and aircraft.
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Incident Command System School covers the skills members need to be top-notch leaders and staff officers at incident command posts and manage operations involving varying degrees of difficulty.
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Mission Aircrew School teaches critical skills pilots and other crew members need to stay at the top of their game and support some of CAP’s primary missions, like conducting airborne reconnaissance and delivering imagery for impact assessment after disasters like the continuing oil spill response on the Gulf Coast.
A total of 20 courses, including a new basic training session for prospective public information officers, were offered this year. The public information officers course, like most courses at NESA, was modeled after training provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other emergency response organizations.
“NESA has truly become a role model program for Civil Air Patrol,” Desmarais said “It showcases the capabilities of our dedicated volunteers to support their communities.”
