How Many Have Used the CAP Grid System in Their Missions?

[sardak]

On an aside, does anyone around here use USNG/MGRS for ground operations?

UTM is the normal system used in our state by SAR teams, except CAP. Search areas are normally small enough that coordinates don't have to expand to include the letters found in MGRS/USNG. Lat/lon is typically used only when working with aircraft (in DDD MM.m) and plotting Sarsat and SPOT coordinates. Back to the original question, our wing uses the traditional CAP grid system.

When the new CAP ES curriculum was developed in the late 90's, "Task O-0208 Locate A Point On A Map Using Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Coordinates" was an advanced task required for UDF and a GTL trainee task. During the curriculum mods for the 2004 update, this was one of the tasks eliminated.

I recently presented the CAP section of the Air Force Emergency Operations Center Director Course, formerly the Air Force Incident Management Course (AFIMC) or On Scene Commanders Course (OSCC). One of the students, a USAF O-5, asked if CAP used MGRS. I told him generally not.

Mike

[Nick]

One of the students, a USAF O-5, asked if CAP used MGRS. I told him generally not.

Yeah, that really pains me.  I am a true believer in USNG, particularly because my career field was one of the only ones in the Air Force who used MGRS routinely and from working in expeditionary BDOCs most of my career whenever we went somewhere, it was more usable than the installation grid system ... until we had to talk with the EOC.  I've been teaching it in CAP as an add-on to the standard map reading classes for about 10 years now, and the State of Texas has been rolling it into their USAR operations so there's an added benefit for our folks to understand it.

I was just curious how prominent it has become in CAP since the national SAR supplement has been calling for it as the primary georeference format for land SAR since, like, 2007.

Another interesting element is how we use the cell grid system for search area planning and the rest of the world uses GARS.  You know...