Reisterstown, MD–More than 200 Civil Air Patrol members participated in the week long Maryland-Delaware Encampment, held at Camp Fretterd Military Reservation in Reisterstown, Md., during the first week of July.

Encampment is a basic training style camp for new CAP cadets which emphasizes military customs and courtesies, drill, physical training, aerospace education and history, along with activities such as rappelling and orientation flights with the Maryland Air National Guard.

This year’s encampment was sponsored by both the Maryland and Delaware Wings of the Civil Air Patrol. Cadets and senior officers planned the event and trained cadet basics who came from four states and an overseas CAP squadron in Germany.

Cadet Col. Wayne Mowery, cadet commander of the encampment, along with Cadet Lt. Col. Charles Frater, cadet vice commander, and Cadet Maj. Matt Herten, cadet chief of staff, led a team of 50 cadet staff members who worked directly with the cadet basics or served in a support role of logistics, administration, mess operations, communications, standards/evaluation or public affairs.

Maj. Joe Winter, encampment commander, coordinated the assistance the event received from the Maryland National Guard, from the facilities at Camp Fretterd to the flights at Warfield Air National Guard base and Weide Army Airfield. Winter was assisted by Lt. Col. Larry Buck, vice commander, Maj. John Reutemann, chief of staff, Capt. Brenda Reed, commandant of cadets, and Maj. Bob McCall, chief tactical officer.

During the week, staff members taught classes in the missions of CAP, customs and courtesies, moral leadership, opportunities in the U.S. Air Force, the relationship between CAP and the USAF, and numerous other classes such as drill, uniform care, barracks standards and bunk making, and teamwork. Staff members trained for this week-long activity during the spring, taking courses in teaching, types of learners, and situational leadership.

Special activities during the week included a tour of Warfield Air National Guard base and a flight in a C-130J, rappelling with the Maryland Army National Guard rappel masters, leadership training class with USAF instructors from the Airman Leadership School from Fort Meade, Md., weapons training at the Camp Fretterd weapons simulator, and drug demand reduction (DDR) activities with the Maryland National Guard and Maryland Wing’s DDR staff.

Special guests during the week included Brig. Gen. Alysson Solomon, Maryland’s assistant adjutant general for air, who visited the training activities and met with cadets during her visit. Col. Mary Feik, aviation pioneer and Maryland Wing member, gave a presentation on her life, presented achievement certificates to cadets who recently earned the Feik achievement ribbon named after her, and joined the cadets at the dining out. Capt. Mark Kukucka, aerospace education officer at the Glenn L. Martin Composite Squadron and former CAP cadet, provided a hands on class on rocketry.

Col. Jerry Weiss, Maryland Wing commander, and Col. Eugene Egry, commander of the Delaware Wing, helped welcome the cadets and reviewed the pass in review.  In addition, the two commanders visited the encampment during the week to observe the training first hand.  Staff members, both cadet and senior officer, hailed from both wings.

Health services were provided all week by medical personnel from the Maryland Defense Force. MDF personnel worked with cadet staff members to serve participants around the clock.

Once again, the Services Flight from Warfield Air National Guard base provided their expertise in the Dining Hall, working with encampment staff to provide meals for more than 200 people three times each.  Led by Master Sgt. Kevin Brown, the Guard personnel annually support the encampment by cooking, cleaning, and mentoring cadet mess ops personnel.

During the evenings, the cadets competed in volleyball, culminating in a final competition during a 4th of July barbeque. Cadets and staff also enjoyed a traditional military dining out and closed out the week with a pass in review parade for family and friends.

Awards for the week were announced during the parade. These awards included:

• Honor Squadron: Squadron 4, led by Cadet Capt. Rachel Knowles
• Honor Flight: Delta Flight, led by Cadet Capt. Michael Vliet
• Warrior Flight: Golf Flight, led by Cadet Capt. Shaharazad Purvis
• Drill Competition Winner: Echo Flight, led by Capt. 1st Lt. Matt Bevard
• Volleyball Competition Winner: Charlie Flight, led by Cadet 2nd Lt. Robbert Olson
• Cpl. James W. Higgins, Jr. Honor Cadet: Cadet Stephen Bittner
• Commandant of Cadets Leadership Award: Cadet Lt. Col. Mathew Hughes
• Mentor of the Year: Cadet Chief Master Sgt. Aimee Welch
• Most Improved Cadet: Cadet Airman Jack Poe
• Warrior Cadet: Cadet Airman Alexandra Green
• Honor Line Officer: Cadet Capt. Michael Vliet
• Honor Line NCO: Cadet Chief Master Sgt. Aaron Hull
• Honor Executive Staff Officer: Cadet 1st Lt. Kathleen Crockett
  Honor Executive Staff NCO: Cadet Sr. Master Sgt. Zuleyma Ruiz
• Outstanding Senior Officer: 1st Lt. David Argentieri
• Outstanding TAC Officer: 1st Lt. Donald Ells

Encampment is a prerequisite for cadets who earn the Gen. Billy Mitchell Award. The activities are based on a required curriculum established by the USAF. Cadets who graduate encampment and earn the Mitchell award can receive an advanced pay grade should they enlist in the USAF, Air National Guard, or Reserves.

The encampment public affairs team maintained a website and blog at http://mdeencampment.wordpress.com and provided regular updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mdeencampment.

Reposted from the Maryland Wing website at www.mdcap.org.

by Capt.  Brenda Reed, CAP
Public Affairs Officer
Maryland Wing

Each year awards are handed out to the top cadets and staff of the encampment. The following awards were presented during closing ceremonies:

Honor Squadron: Squadron IV
Honor Flight: Delta Flight
Warrior Flight: Golf Flight
Drill Competition Winner: Echo Flight
Volleyball Competition Winner: Charlie Flight

Cpl. James W. Higgins, Jr. Honor Cadet: Cadet Stephen Bittner
Commandant of Cadets Leadership Award: C/Lt Col Mathew Hughes
Mentor of the Year: C/CMSgt Aimee Welch
Most Improved Cadet: C/Amn Jack Poe
Warrior Cadet: C/Amn Alexandra Green
Honor Line Officer: C/Capt Michael Vliet
Honor Line NCO: Cadet Aaron Hull

Honor Executive Staff Officer:  C/1st Lt Kathleen Crockett
Honor Executive Staff NCO:  C/SMSgt Zuleyma Ruiz
Outstanding Senior Officer: 1st Lt David Argentieri
Outstanding TAC Officer: 1st Lt Donald Ells

The 2009 MD-DE Encampment Dining Out was held on the evening of 03 July 2009. All cadets wore their blues uniform, as did the staff and guest speakers.

The Dining Out is a formal military dinner, a version of which all branches of the military partake in.  It is believed that this tradition came from the old English monasteries and eventually was adopted by the military.

When cadets entered the mess hall they found rows of tables decorated ready for use.  The cadets stood to welcome the head table, which included the senior and cadet command staff which had worked so hard to make this encampment happen.

Once the colors were presented by color guard and then toasted, the head table introduced themselves and the prominent guests in attendance.  Dinner was served after introductions and then, after sufficient time to eat, the Grog Bowl was opened.

The Grog Bowl is a tradition of Dining Outs.  The purpose of this Grog Bowl is to deal with rule breakers.  Every person had a program in front of them that explained all the rules of the mess – if someone was caught breaking the rules of the mess or the encampment rules they could be sent to the Grog.  The Grog bowl held an insidious mixture of every flight; each flight contributed a unique ingredient of their choosing.  This mixture was treated with the utmost care and respect.

The procedures listed in the program had to be followed to accuse someone of an offense, and if called to the Grog, those accused defended their case if they had a defense or objection.  The accusers had to be very careful not to say the wrong words, because the tables were then turned and they were sent to the grog themselves.

After the Grog was closed everyone got to enjoy some cake and some social time until the guests spoke, giving some words of wisdom to the cadets. The speakers gave very helpful advice to everyone in the room.

When the Dining Out was over the cadets went to bed full of stories from the evening.

C/SMSgt Zuleyma Ruiz
Public Affairs NCO

For the third time, Delta Flight has received Honor Flight.  Also for the third time, Squadron IV has received Honor Squadron.

C/A1C Hannah Berkheimer, Hotel Flight, and C/Amn Alexandra Green, Golf Flight, both scored 31 out of 30 on today’s room inspections.

C/SMSgt Shiloh Lockard and C/SSgt Nathan Buxton, both of Echo Flight, as well as C/TSgt Henry Chen, Bravo Flight, scored 100% on the written final exam.

C/Maj Matthew Herten, the Cadet Chief of Staff, was promoted from Cadet Captain to Cadet Major.

Congratulations to everyone!

Issue #5 of The Encampment Sun has been posted. This is the final issue of the encampment newsletter.

More photos from Days 1 through 3 were posted throughout the day – check out the galleries if you haven’t already!

1st Lt Gerstein
Public Affairs Officer

On Tuesday, 30 June 2009, public affairs staff member C/SSgt Zoe Garcia joined C/CMSgt Catrina Johnson to help with morning PT.  Since then, Garcia has been working her station at the exercise wall in addition to her public affairs duties.  She says she finds evaluating and training cadets fulfilling and can see improvement each day.

“It was definitely interesting to work with the cadets,” said Garcia. “I started working on PT on my own station on Wednesday.   I’ve been closely examining the cadets as they work out and I think they were a bit shaky on Wednesday when I started out.  On Thursday and today [Friday], though, I definitely saw improvement.  I think because they actually figured out in their heads that I was a Sergeant!  But there’s most definitely improvement.  I’ve seen motivation, that feeling to keep striving for success. It’s a rewarding sight,” she said.

So there you have it, a public affairs view on cadets during PT.

From the 2009 Welcome Letter:

On the closing day of the Encampment parents and friends are encouraged to attend the “Pass-In-Review” ceremony. Parents, family and friends should plan on arriving at Camp Fretterd by 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 5, 2009. The ceremony will begin at 11:00 a.m. and will last about 30 minutes.

You will need to park at the large parking lot just past the Main Gate where you dropped your cadet off at the beginning of Encampment and will be shuttled to the parade grounds. DO NOT DRIVE TO THE ENCAMPMENT AREA AS THERE IS NOT ENOUGH PARKING.

After the Pass-In-Review ceremony, there will be a checkout period that should last approximately 30 minutes to make sure that we have accounted for everyone. We will take additional steps to clean up the facilities before the ceremony to lessen the time that you have to wait before your Cadet can be released. However, we are using military facilities and we must leave the facilities in spotless condition. We will do most of the clean up and packing on Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

ALL STAFF are required to stay after the ceremony until released by the Commander.

Directions to Camp Fretterd are found in the Welcome Letter.

Cadet Basics
Total: 133
Breakdown by wing: 34 DEWG, 98 MDWG, 1 Overseas Squadron
Breakdown by gender: 15 female, 118 male
Home states: DE, MD, NJ, PA, Germany

Cadet Staff
Total: 51
Breakdown by wing: 2 DEWG, 49 MDWG
Breakdown by gender: 15 female, 36 male
Home states: DE, MD, PA

Senior Staff
Total: 24
Breakdown by wing: 2 DEWG, 21 MDWG, 1 MER