Cadet Master Sgt. Michael Ebert (left) of the LaCrosse Composite Squadron and Cadet Tech. Sgt. Arlen Brandt of the Eau Claire Composite Squadron fold the colors as part of a Color Guard Academy exercise. Ebert was recognized with the Honor Cadet Award for the academy.
Photo by 1st Lt. Cindi Wachholz
2nd Lt. Jeri Gonwa
Public Affairs Officer
2009 Encampment
Wisconsin Wing
WISCONSIN –The Wisconsin Wing’s 2009 encampment Aug. 14-22 at Camp Ripley in Little Falls, Minn., enabled members from four wings to devote nine days to deepening their understanding of Civil Air Patrol and the wide-ranging requirements of leadership.
In all, 143 senior and cadet members from the Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota wings participated in the encampment, which is actually four academies in one:
- Wisconsin Basic Academy -- for new cadets who need to learn the basics of Civil Air Patrol. Customs and courtesies, uniform care, drill, teamwork and the history of CAP are all covered in this academy, as is the importance of being fit.
- Wisconsin Cadet Academy -- for cadets who has already been through the basic academy and are now ready to learn leadership skills that will carry them throughout life. Participants build on teamwork skills they started learning in the basic academy and put those skills to practical use. Areas of emphasis included problem-solving and managerial skills.
- Wisconsin Staff School – for cadet who have attended the first two courses and are now ready to put classroom instruction to the test and use actual problem-solving skills. Participants are ready to lead and take on the responsibility of having other cadets under their charge. Some serve on the Inspection Team, others teach classes and some are in charge of flights and squadrons for the week.
- Color Guard Academy – held for the first time this year and established with the goal of training cadets to go back to their units to train unit color guards. Presenting the colors is not as easy as it looks, and quick thinking often comes into play as one prepares to do the job. Since color guard appearances are the most visible representation of CAP to the public, all duties must be performed with care, precision and expertise.
All the cadets in attendance had the opportunity to try their skills on Camp Ripley’s confidence and navigation courses, use the M1 Abram and the M2 Bradley tank simulators, take orientation flights when weather permitted and face off in volleyball.
In addition, those participating in the cadet academy participated in a leadership reaction course on the confidence course. They were presented with a scenario and had to use teamwork and problem-solving to navigate the task at hand.
