SAR Occupations?

[will3947]

Hi, I just joined CAP, and I have several questions. Here goes nothin'!:

1.) What are some of occupations for search and rescue? (e.g. Pilot, Ground team, etc.)

2.) What are the qualifications for these occupations?

3.) Any age restrictions to some of this stuff?

4.) How often does a REAL mission happen, or even just training?

Thanks for looking at this article!

[lordmonar]

Hi welcome to CAP.

There are about 20 different SAR qualifications.
With lots of different specfic training requirements for each qualification.
Yes there are age restrictions for some qualfications
It varies based on location, relationship with local SAR organisations and wing/squadron dynamics.

Your best source for answers to what you really want to know is your squadron/group/wing ES officers.  The can tell you specifically how they handle the training pipeline, what you need to do to begin your training and what areas they may need or you would like to focus your efforts.  And what the ops tempo in your area are like.

Again Welcome to CAP.

[will3947]

Thank you! Man 20?!? I thought there was only like, 6 qualifications.
WHAT HAVE I BEEN MISSING?!?

[will3947]

Also, I was wondering. I wanted to be an MRO (You probably know what that is), but I don't know what the qualifications are. And I might want to be a pilot or something. Maybe just a navigator, but I just want to be in a plane, like a co-pilot, or something. Do you know what to do?

[Huey Driver]

You can find all of the ES Quals in eServices. I'm not sure if you're set up on there yet, but when you are, here's the link to get you there.

Under "Achievement" are listed all of the qualifications. Click any one of them and you'll see the requirements for the tasks.

Also, age 18 is required for flight crews. If you want to be around planes though, you can go for FLM, but it's kind of rare. And just like lordmonar said, there's often wing/squadron dynamics that affect what you'll be allowed to do as a cadet under 18.

Edit: Typically, if the title of your topic has "SAR" in it, then it most likely doesn't belong in the CP thread

[Storm Chaser]

Welcome! If you want to fly and you're not a pilot already, the quickest way to get in the cockpit is to get qualified as a Mission Scanner (MS). From there, you can move into Mission Observer (MO), which in some ways is similar to a "navigator", but not quite.

Before you can get started, the first thing you need to do is complete your Level 1. Talk to your squadron commander, deputy commander or professional development officer for more details on that. Then you need to complete General Emergency Services (GES), which you can do by reading the PowerPoint and appropriate regulations, and then taking the test. Your squadron emergency services officer should be able to help you with that. Those are the basic requirements to get started with ES. In addition, you must be at least 18 years old in order to become an mission aircrew member.

I hope this help.

[PA Guy]

Hi, I just joined CAP, and I have several questions. Here goes nothin'!:

1.) What are some of occupations for search and rescue? (e.g. Pilot, Ground team, etc.)

2.) What are the qualifications for these occupations?

3.) Any age restrictions to some of this stuff?

4.) How often does a REAL mission happen, or even just training?

Thanks for looking at this article!

Are you a cadet or senior?

[Brad]

Hi, I just joined CAP, and I have several questions. Here goes nothin'!:

1.) What are some of occupations for search and rescue? (e.g. Pilot, Ground team, etc.)

2.) What are the qualifications for these occupations?

3.) Any age restrictions to some of this stuff?

4.) How often does a REAL mission happen, or even just training?

Thanks for looking at this article!

Are you a cadet or senior?

Based on the grammar of his prior posts and the fact that he has a flight commander in a squadron-level unit, I'd go with cadet.

Now, to the cadet, you mentioned MRO, Mission Radio Operator. Sure you didn't mean MO, Mission Observer? Regardless, MO and MRO both take time and training to become qualified in, and even more time to become proficient in. Again, aircrew you have to be 18 or over to be on, so that rules out MO for you unless you're shortly going to be in that 18+ cadet gray area (no pun intended).

MRO on the other hand is open to cadets, and NHQ/NTC greatly encourages cadets to get all 3 levels of the Communicator badge, as do us field communicators. This means that we can concentrate more on the overall communication goal for a given mission, instead of having to man 1 radio. And for someone who gets paid to man a radio for 12 hours a day, PLUS do CAP work, believe me when I say that can affect you.

If you want to know more about MRO, please don't hesitate to post up a topic, I'll be glad to explain further.

[Flying Pig]

Hi, I just joined CAP, and I have several questions. Here goes nothin'!:

1.) What are some of occupations for search and rescue? (e.g. Pilot, Ground team, etc.)

2.) What are the qualifications for these occupations?

3.) Any age restrictions to some of this stuff?

4.) How often does a REAL mission happen, or even just training?

Thanks for looking at this article!

1)  There are several, but some are more base staff/admin side of running the SAR where other specialties are out in the field like aircrew, Ground Team

2)  To many to list here.  Get with someone in your unit who can navigate Eservices.  It will be a lot easier.

3)  SO you are a cadet?  Yes there are some age restrictions. Your Wing or even your specific unit may have some self imposed age restrictions as well. 

4) No way to answer that.  An answer for a cadet in a mountain location in Southern CA will be completely different than the answer for a cadet in Alaska or Ohio.  You need to get with your unit and see what their missions look like.  You will also find that not all CAP Squadrons deal with the SAR aspect.  When I was in CAP in southern CA, I was in a very large squadron that was primarily focused on cadets.  If you wanted to do GT or Aircrew, that was not the unit to be in.  You can participate in any aspect of CAP regardless of what Sq you are with, but it makes it easier and more fun if you can get in to one that focuses on whatever that interest is.