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Curt LaFond, deputy director of cadet programs at Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters, leads a session during the Training Leaders of Cadets course.
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Participants in the two-day course.
Capt. Terence M. Wood
Public Affairs Officer
Jim Bridger Middle School Cadet Squadron
Nevada Wing
NEVADA – Twenty-six senior members from seven squadrons and wing headquarters assembled Jan. 24 at North Las Vegas Airport for training on the tenets of a well-organized cadet program.
Those attending the wing’s Training Leaders of Cadets senior course gathered in the airport’s Grand Canyon conference room to hear Curt LaFond, who in his capacity as Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters’ deputy director of cadet programs is the organization’s focal point for cadet education, policy and management.
The TLC course, which LaFond created, is intended to educate senior members who have responsibility for cadet programs in their respective CAP assignments.
Topics covered during the course included strategic goals, leading indirectly, partnering with parents, cadet advancement, mentoring and military skills.
Completion is of the two-day course is a requirement for a senior rating in the Cadet Programs specialty track.
Over the past two years the national cadet team has been revising the 16-year-old curriculum text with a more comprehensive standards-base text for cadets. The first two of four modules from the “Learn to Lead” curriculum are slated to be mailed to units later this year.
Those attending:
- Nevada Wing Headquarters – Lt. Col. Bob Dulinawka and Chaplain (Maj.) Elizabeth Tattersall.
- Douglas County Composite Squadron – Col. Russell Smith and Capt. Robert Semans.
- Henderson Composite Squadron – 1st Lt. Althea Levell.
- Jack L. Schofield Middle School Cadet Squadron – Senior Member Felicia Eslinger.
- Jim Bridger Middle School Cadet Squadron – Capts. David Henderson, A. Carey Sperling and Terence Wood; 1st Lts. Eric Johnson and Samantha Stout; and Senior Member Daniel English.
- Las Vegas Composite Squadron – Capt. Brandi Mizner, 2nd Lt. Marvin Hein and Senior Member Samuel Jensen.
- Nellis Composite Squadron – Lt. Col. Richard Parker, 1st Lts. Shirley Crisp and David Sidle, and 2nd Lts. John D'Angelo II, Victoria McLaughlin, Cory Setera, Jorge Torres and Edward Watson.
- White Pine Composite Squadron – Maj. Barbara Martin, Capt. Debbie Willes and Senior Member Jimmie Turner.
Joining LaFond in making presentations were Lt. Col. Larry Lakeotes, the wing’s director of cadet programs, and Capt. Michael Mizner, Las Vegas Composite Squadron commander. Lt. Col. David Jadwin, assistant director of operations for the wing, served as course director.
