I have had many that come to mind. However the best one yet was just last night with my youngest son and former Cadet Chief Master Sergeant. He is now an OS3 in the Coast Guard. He was an observer at a Live Exercise with the Coast Guard in his Sector. The exercise hit a technical snag and he was able to assist with the work and help keep the exercise going. I can't offer up more details as he couldn't share it all.

He was approached by his Sectors Senior Chief and asked why he understood the S&R stuff and process better than most with little over a year on active duty. 

He directly attributed his understanding to the Civil Air Patrol and his years as a Cadet with several encampments, GAWG Frostbites under his belt, and a dad that won't shut-up about safety, emergency management, and being prepared.

Quote from: NovemberWhiskey on March 08, 2022, 01:05:05 AM

Quote from: AirDX on February 01, 2022, 11:39:37 PMNight over water... 80NM offshore, in and out of clouds, no stars above, no lights below, just us and some F-22s.

Presumably not in a single-engine piston?!

Why not? It happens every day in places like Alaska and Hawaii among other places.

Not in a CAP aircraft, under current regulation, without a special operational mission approval from the NOC.

Quote from: PHall on March 08, 2022, 03:58:57 PM

Quote from: NovemberWhiskey on March 08, 2022, 01:05:05 AM

Quote from: AirDX on February 01, 2022, 11:39:37 PMNight over water... 80NM offshore, in and out of clouds, no stars above, no lights below, just us and some F-22s.

Presumably not in a single-engine piston?!

Why not? It happens every day in places like Alaska and Hawaii among other places.

Yep. A 182.

Quote from: NovemberWhiskey on March 08, 2022, 10:03:59 PMNot in a CAP aircraft, under current regulation, without a special operational mission approval from the NOC.

If you have water survival equipment on the plane and everybody is current in water survival you should be good.
All stuff the FRO checks before granting your release. Plus the mission they were flying are normally executed and released by the NOC since it's a "high interest" mission.

My assumption was this was a fueler o-ride off one of the coasts.

There aren't too many places inland in CONUS you can be 85 miles from a shore.

That's the only kind of plane I'd want to be in, over water, at night.

The parameters described above require a SFRO release, a Wing CC/CV/DO release, and a CAP/DO (or designee) release through the NOC, and even then both front seaters would need to be current, instrument-rated, qualified Mission Pilots.

I don't know what CAP mission this is, but it sounds nuts.

Quote from: NovemberWhiskey on March 09, 2022, 04:04:01 AMThe parameters described above require a SFRO release, a Wing CC/CV/DO release, and a CAP/DO (or designee) release through the NOC, and even then both front seaters would need to be current, instrument-rated, qualified Mission Pilots.

I don't know what CAP mission this is, but it sounds nuts.

Playing slow moving target for the F-22s.

Quote from: PHall on March 09, 2022, 04:25:40 AM

Quote from: NovemberWhiskey on March 09, 2022, 04:04:01 AMThe parameters described above require a SFRO release, a Wing CC/CV/DO release, and a CAP/DO (or designee) release through the NOC, and even then both front seaters would need to be current, instrument-rated, qualified Mission Pilots.

I don't know what CAP mission this is, but it sounds nuts.

Playing slow moving target for the F-22s.

That was the mission. Both current and qualified. I was Wing SE at the time. PIC was CAP member who was also AD AF, on staff duty in my day-job office, after a tour as an MC-130 pilot. When he left he went to Beale to fly the U-2. We knew what we were doing.

Sorry, I didn't realize this was a "justify how you did your favorite CAP experience" thread.

 

I guess it would be encampment '84 at what is now known as the Air Dominance Center in Savannah GA. Being on flight staff afforded us the opportunity to stay up til all hours ostensibly having staff meetings. Reality, of course, was different. Anyway, long about midnight we saw a black clad figure peeping in the windows, then at the far door. Quietly opened it, and snuck down the aisle. We saw he was dressed like a ninja and seemed surprised when he found out we could see him. No match for us adrenaline-fueled teens, we quickly subdued and hog tied him, eventually tossing him out the door he came in through. He eventually got to his feet, hopped around and immediately fell into a shallow ditch where he spent the remainder of the night.