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Cadet Airman Marie-Fe Thielman of the Fredericksburg Composite Squadron is all smiles for her first orientation flight, piloted by Col. Rick Moseley, Middle East Region vice commander and former commander of the Fredericksburg Composite Squadron.
Photo by 1st Lt. Lisa Sylvia, Virginia Wing
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Preparing for the next glider orientation flight are (clockwise from left) Senior Member Jon Wolfe of the Monticello Composite Squadron, air boss trainee; 1st Lt. David Hudson, air boss and Monticello squadron captain; and Capt. Larry Randall, pilot and Virginia Wing glider operations director, as Cadet Chief Master Sgt. John Boelsche (standing) and Cadet Senior Airman Luke Strickland (in glider) look on. Both cadets are Fredericksburg members.
Photo by 1st Lt. Lisa Sylvia, Virginia Wing
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Cadet Airman Zachary Mumma of the Fredericksburg squadron checks the fuel as instructed before his powered orientation flight. Just a few hours earlier, Mumma had received an orientation ride in a glider.
Photo by 1st Lt. Lisa Sylvia, Virginia Wing
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(From left) Cadet Master Sgt. Conor Roberson, Cadet Airman John Martinez, Cadet Chief Master Sgt. John Boelsche, Cadet 2nd Lt. Rachel Sydow, Cadet Airman Rebecca Boelsche, Lt. Col. Gene Jackson, Cadet Airman Emily Capra, Cadet Airman William Durocher, Cadet Airman 1st Class Charles Soper, Cadet Airman Justin Barnett and Cadet Airman Joshua Walter. Jackson, the Virginia Wing director of operations, piloted the Fredericksburg cadets’ orientation flights.
Photo by 1st Lt. Lisa Sylvia, Virginia Wing
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Posing for a photo on a busy Saturday that featured nine powered flights and six glider flights for Fredericksburg cadets are (from left) Cadet Airman John Martinez, 1st Lt. David Hudson, Cadet 2nd Lt. Daniel Sylvia, Cadet Airman William Durocher, Cadet Airman Rebecca Boelsche, Cadet Senior Airman Luke Strickland, Cadet Airman 1st Class Charles Soper, Cadet Senior Airman Elise Ivory, Cadet 2nd Lt. Rachel Sydow, Cadet Chief Master Sgt. John Boelsche, Lt. Col. Gene Jackson, Maj. Mike Wormington, Lt. Col. Elizabeth Sydow, Capt. Larry Randall, Brig. Gen. Joseph Vazquez; Senior Member Jon Wolfe, Cadet Master Sgt. Conor Roberson, Cadet Airman Justin Barnett, Capt. Jeffrey Smith, Cadet Airman 1st Class Caleb Petitt, 1st Lt. Lisa Sylvia and Cadet Airman 1st Class Georganna Grizzard. Jackson, Smith and Wolfe conducted orientation flights, while Vazquez – CAP national vice commander and former Virginia Wing commander and commander –served as a glider tow pilot, as did Randall and Wormington, assistant wing director of operations. Hudson was air boss.
Photo by Senior Member Gregory Fletcher, Virginia Wing
1st Lt. Lisa Sylvia
Public Affairs Officer
Fredericksburg Composite Squadron
Virginia Wing
VIRGINIA – The opportunity for orientation flights is still the top reason cadets join Civil Air Patrol, but for many squadrons it can be one of the most difficult activities to provide for new recruits.
The Fredericksburg Composite Squadron is a case in point; the unit is no stranger to the challenges of getting cadets flying in their first 60 days.
Lt. Col. Elizabeth Sydow, the squadron’s new deputy commander for cadets, recognized how quickly a growing squadron can get behind in getting new cadets flying. By the end of August, 36 cadets – half the squadron – hadn’t flown yet, and years had passed since many others had received their first flight.
“Statistics show that orientation flights greatly increase retention in cadet programs,” Sydow said. “In 2011 we were recognized as one of the top eight squadrons in the Virginia Wing, and yet we were not achieving the orientation flight goals.
“That was unacceptable, and I was determined we could do better this year.”
Cadet 2nd Lt. Daniel Sylvia, the squadron’s cadet commander, had a chance to speak with Maj. James Quinn, wing vice commander, about the situation.
“I told him how difficult it had been accomplishing flights, because we only have an aircraft every other month,” Sylvia said.
“If the aircraft was available, then our pilots had scheduling conflicts. If the pilots were good to go, then of course the weather would not cooperate.”
Quinn offered to help coordinate multiple aircraft and pilots in other Group 3 squadrons to fly in for the day. Ultimately, he arranged for three planes and for the wing’s aerospace education officer, Maj. Michelle Tesla, to lead preflight activities for the Fredericksburg cadets in a single day.
Unfortunately, the planned Sept. 8 “O-Flight Day” was thwarted by nature. The approach of a huge storm front canceled the 24 scheduled flights.
At that point, while most would throw in the towel, the magic began to happen.
Squadron officials were determined to fly their cadets as soon as the weather allowed. Through a group effort, some special things happened in September, and before the month’s end 34 cadets received their first flights.
The very next day, Sept. 9, Lt. Col. Gene Jackson, Virginia Wing director of operations, canceled other plans and flew an eight-passenger Gippsland GA8 Airvan to Fredericksburg from Danville. Five cadets took their first flights in the Gippsland, and three others received back-seat flights.
Capt. Julius Garrett, former Fredericksburg squadron commander and now the wing’s homeland security office, flew two cadets in the squadron’s Cessna 172 in the morning. Capt. Jeffrey Smith, the unit’s aerospace education officer, flew two more in the afternoon.
The participating cadets were especially excited that day when the CAP planes flew into Louisa County Airport, where they were able to observe Virginia Wing glider operations and see fellow cadets.
Later that week, Garrett flew one more cadet after work, and Senior Member Jon Wolfe of the Monticello Composite Squadron, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, drove to Fredericksburg and flew four cadets.
The following Saturday, Col. Rick Moseley, Middle East Region vice commander and former Fredericksburg commander, flew two cadets and Smith flew four more.
Capt. Larry Randall, director of the Virginia Wing’s glider program, has also played an important part in accomplishing the string of first flights for Fredericksburg. Before the scrubbed O-Flight Day, the squadron had scheduled glider flights with Randall and his crew, most of whom are members of the Monticello Composite Squadron.
Since beginning glider operations in April, they’ve flown more than 250 CAP members. In the Fredericksburg squadron, 14 cadets and four officers took their first glider flights at Louisa County Airport in September and hope to fly even more.
