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Worst SAREX experience

Started by SDF_Specialist, September 20, 2007, 07:04:04 PM

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SDF_Specialist

What is your worst SAREX experience? Here's mine:

I was in Southern Ohio on a TREX. We had one member who always brought food to cook no matter where we were. After a long day of setting up radio equipment, and testing it, this member made some ham and eggs. All he had was a hot plate because the stove at the fire department we were at didn't work. The ham came out ok, but the eggs were super runny. I eat some, and went back to my work with the GBD. After about an hour, I wasn't feeling so hot. I kept working thinking that I was just a little tired, and over doing it. I was wrong. I ended up going out back, and tossing my dinner. I felt horrible the rest of the evening. I decided to just go home. A four hour drive, and I don't remember any of it.
SDF_Specialist

jimmydeanno

#1
New Years Eve, 1997.  Our squadron had the only GT in the Wing so we got called to search for an ELT about 2 hours away.  That wouldn't have been so bad were it not for the fact it was 2000 already and -20 outside.

So, with the weather, normal CAP Garb was left at the wayside, BDUs with thermal undergarments, cold weather "jumpsuit" and boots rated for -60, aircrew ECW "mittens", one of those old fiberglass ECW masks and a nice wooly hat.

Of course our search lead us to the airport, 10 minutes away from where one of the wing's squadrons met... ::)

We did the ramp search on foot which took about 20 minutes, but in that cold...brrrr.

So, by the time we got back it was about 0230 - Yay New Years!

---sorry, after I typed this I realized you said "SAREX."---

I wouldn't exactly call it a SAREX, but a winter bivouac with an ES theme.

About the same time as above only sometime in February or so, we have a winter bivouac.  Well, it was REALLY cold that weekend getting down to -30 at night and just at around 0 during the day.

Of course you get the cadets that don't bring the right/enough equipment or decide that their jungle boots are fine for 4 ft of snow on the ground in 0 degree weather.

It was originally going to be an outdoor sleeping environment since our squadron acquired some ECW sleeping bags - it was going to be "super cool."  Well, "cool" it was and luckily for us we were using a Boy Scout camp for our exercise and were able to go into one of the cabins.  Even with a fire, I'd would estimate the temperature came up to about 10 degrees.

I remember us having to go out in 10 minute intervals for firewood because it was too cold to stay out longer than that.

We probably should have canceled the event early, but most of us had a good time and it gives us something to talk about to this day.  My old squadron commander is probably reading this shaking his head, but I had fun even though it was probably the worst SAREX experience I've had.
If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law. - Winston Churchill

SDF_Specialist

What a way to ring in the new year. Looking for an ELT at an airport.
SDF_Specialist

♠SARKID♠


SDF_Specialist

Another nasty SAREX experience I had. This one was not too long ago. I signed in at the mission base. When I was asked what I will be training in, I said that I would be training for Scanner/Observer (since I had taken the class the year before, but never saw a plane until that SAREX), but I would like to train as CUL until I can get a flight. I was signed in as "AT LARGE". By the end of the day the next day, I was told that the IC wanted to speak to me. It came to my knowledge that the IC was unaware that I wanted to train for S/O. Needless to say, I didn't get credit for anything. I was so mad, but I finally saw where the mistake was and shrugged it off as a lesson learned.
SDF_Specialist

SoCalCAPOfficer

The worst SAREX I experienced was my first one.  It started out great, but within  a couple of hours we found out two of our CAP Pilots were lost.   The SAREX turned into an actual mission and unfortunately before the day was out the wreckage was found with no survivors.   That will always live in my memory as a bad day.
Daniel L. Hough, Maj, CAP
Commander
Hemet Ryan Sq 59  PCR-CA-458

Trung Si Ma

Alaska, late 70's, 6 Day search until target located, ME said they died on day 5.
Freedom isn't free - I paid for it

SDF_Specialist

Quote from: SoCalCAPOfficer on September 21, 2007, 10:13:51 PM
The worst SAREX I experienced was my first one.  It started out great, but within  a couple of hours we found out two of our CAP Pilots were lost.   The SAREX turned into an actual mission and unfortunately before the day was out the wreckage was found with no survivors.   That will always live in my memory as a bad day.

My condolences to you sir. It's never easy losing a comrade.
SDF_Specialist

SDF_Specialist

Quote from: Trung Si Ma on September 21, 2007, 10:31:52 PM
Alaska, late 70's, 6 Day search until target located, ME said they died on day 5.

It's the effort that counts too. Just because you couldn't find the victim alive doesn't mean you didn't try.
SDF_Specialist

Stonewall

Growing up in FL and never seeing snow, I show up to my first FTX in National Capital Wing.  I'm cool, I'm a bas a$$, cuz I'm active duty infantry and can handle anything.  So it's January and cold, no biggie.  I make a high speed poncho hooch perfectly.  I use my German sleeping bag I bought as a cadet from Kaufmann's West, an Army/Navy out of New Mexico.  Back in the day, that place was the bee's knees.

Anyhoo, I never had to worry about a temperature rated sleeping bag, being from Florida and only being in the field at Ft. Benning during the summer, into the fall.

So here we are, sleeping my butt off, and it's time to wake up.  I wake up in what seemed like 2 feet of snow.  I'm Billy Bad A$$ and I'm freaking out because it's the first time I've seen snow.  Everything is soaked and frozen.  I suck it up, drive on, and shrug it off as if it were nothing.

Then, I attempt to drive out of the training area in my rear wheel drive Ford Ranger, still with Florida tags.  I fish tail that bad boy right into a ditch.  First time waking up in snow, first time driving in snow.  Once we got my truck out, I actually had a cadet drive my truck home because I was too inexperienced to do it myself.  Talk about swallowing my pride.
Serving since 1987.

Steve Silverwood

Quote from: ♠Recruiter♠ on September 20, 2007, 07:04:04 PM
What is your worst SAREX experience? Here's mine:

Fairbanks, Alaska, had to be 1981 or 1982.  Mid-winter, probably February I think.  Crystal clear skies, looked like great flying weather -- except when the sky is clear up there, it gets cold!  (Cloud cover == greenhouse effect == warmer.)  When I say "cold" in Fairbanks terms, we're talking at least 30 below -- sometimes as much as 70 below!

Started the operation at about 0600 but due to the cold (and other cluster-<deleted> related foul-ups) we couln't get anything launched before NOON!

And the day just went downhill from there....

I don't remember if we passed or failed or were just excused due to the <deleted> weather and retested later....
-- //Steve//

Steve Silverwood
kb6ojs@arrl.net

Steve Silverwood

Quote from: Trung Si Ma on September 21, 2007, 10:31:52 PM
Alaska, late 70's, 6 Day search until target located, ME said they died on day 5.

I think I remember that one, Don.

I also remember when we got called up during the 1979 encampment to do a ground search for a missing kid, but IIRC we didn't get authorized for that one because it was considered a law-enforcement body search rather than a SAR.
-- //Steve//

Steve Silverwood
kb6ojs@arrl.net

Cool Mace

ALmost every SARX I've been to in the last 5 years have been bad. For some reason, people think you have to do something 10+ times to be signed off on it. I'm pretty sure I know how to do a search line after the first if not second time I do it. I almost never go to them anymore.

There is one this weekend, and people have told me that it's going to be good.... I'll wait and see.
CAP is what you make of it. If you don't put anything in to it, you won't get anything out of it.
Eaker #2250
C/Lt Col, Ret.
The cookies and donuts were a lie.

bosshawk

I hear you: I rarely go to SAREXs for some of the same reasons.  But, in all fairness, a SAREX is an opportunity for lots of people to learn how to perform some function involving a search.  If everyone knew their jobs, flawlessly(HUH?) there would be no reason to have a SAREX.  They are training exercises.

That said, my experience has shown that they are also chances to practice being miserable.  For some reason, some CAP folks seem to feel that making the experience as difficult as possible and as unpleasant as possible will make participants better at search.  I don't think that it works that way.

Hope that your experience this weekend is not a downer.
Paul M. Reed
Col, USA(ret)
Former CAP Lt Col
Wilson #2777

Spaceman3750

Quote from: bosshawk on August 11, 2010, 12:00:25 AMThat said, my experience has shown that they are also chances to practice being miserable.  For some reason, some CAP folks seem to feel that making the experience as difficult as possible and as unpleasant as possible will make participants better at search.  I don't think that it works that way.

I agree with you, except that I think those that plan the types of exercises you mentioned follow the "Train for the worst, hope for the best" mantra a little differently than the rest of us do.

There's not a whole lot of good to be done in hiding an ELT halfway into the 2' visibility forest behind the heavily hangared flight line... The flight line is going to be just as much of a challenge without beating your people to hell for the sake of "training".

SarDragon

Successfully finding a practice beacon in a difficult location is satisfying. Using the lessons learned makes the less difficult ones even easier. There should be lessons learned from each situation. If there aren't, then the folks running the SAREX aren't doing it right. The difficult situations are designed to test knowledge and increase skills.

YMMV.
Dave Bowles
Maj, CAP
AT1, USN Retired
50 Year Member
Mitchell Award (unnumbered)
C/WO, CAP, Ret

DC

My first was also the worst. I wanted to do GT stuff, but somehow ended up working the radio at mission base. That would have been fine, I was interested in comms too, except most of the teams decided to use cell phones to talk directly to the GBD or IC rather than bother with the radio. So I basically just sat there and did nothing all day. Every time I tried to get relief I was assured someone would be down 'shortly', but it never happened. Turns out I was the only cadet at mission base with an ROA card, and none of the SMs felt like babysitting the radio, so I got stuck with it. That was in 2005, and I haven't been to one since.

Cool Mace

Please don't get me wroung in my last post. I like to make things a little harder then it should be at times. But, I don't think we need to make people turn off an ELT 5 times to make sure they know how and to be signed off on it. There are people in this Wing that think you have to do everything at least 5 times if not more an order to know how to do it. Some cadets may take longer to learn, but for the most part it's easy. We just got a new Wing ES Officer, so I hope things will go better now... I'll just have to wait and see what the weekend holds for me. I'm just going to see how it goes. I don't have any training I want to get done. I'll help anyway I can though, I don't like to just sit there and do nothing.
CAP is what you make of it. If you don't put anything in to it, you won't get anything out of it.
Eaker #2250
C/Lt Col, Ret.
The cookies and donuts were a lie.

wuzafuzz

I enjoy working hard at SAREX's.  Sometimes though, when you are treated like toilet paper, that's another story.

My "horror" takes place shortly after learning it was official, I was headed for divorce and feared a related financial catastrophe.  I decided to opt out of the SAREX and stare at the walls or something.  The night before the exercise I receive a mayday call explaining all the senior members were unable to attend so 14 cadets were counting on me to get them to the mission base.  I was the only person left who could drive our CAP van.  Rather than disappoint a bunch of cadets I agreed to help them out.

When I retrieved the CAP van I discovered the last driver had not topped off the tank.  Grumbling, I topped off the tank on my own dime.  The next morning, SAREX day, I meet all the cadets at the local airport.  I realize I forgot my field jacket and the cold wind is picking up...my fault, but I have to make it right.  So a van load of cadets get dragged 10 minutes back to my house.  I feel like an idiot.

After 1 hour drive, we arrive at the general briefing about 10 minutes late thanks to my jacket retrieval.   :(  Ground branch director chews me a new one, deserved, but handled poorly.  2 hours later we are tasked with a mission.  Real, not practice beacon.  Cool.  We receive our briefing from GBD and the assigned GTL (I am a freshly minted GTM3).  We will caravan in three vehicles, 1 hour, back to where we came from.  Beacon is believed to be on an airport.  We are told to be quick about it.  I round up my cadet crew and we saddle up in a few minutes and sit in van for half an hour waiting for the rest of the team to get ready.  Grrr.

The GTL and the remainder of the group finally get ready and declare we will convoy to target airport via route "A".  GTL makes wrong turn within 2 minutes of mission base.  Repeat 2 more times.  The clock is ticking but this guy will not accept advice.  2.5 hours after receiving tasking we arrive in the suspected vicinity of the ELT signal.

As we approach the airport we pickup a definite signal spike.  As we enter the airport the signal declines.  We inform the GTL, and he insists we thoroughly check the ramp and hangar rows because the ELT "is ON the airport."  We are denied permission to pursue our search from off the airport, even to determine whether the signal is coming from somewhere else.  I caution the GTL it could be an off airport crash and we cannot assume this is on airport nuisance beacon.  About an hour goes by as we search all over the airport with no success, but several bearings point off airport.  An airport maintenance worker keeps providing helpful hints and assumptions, which we chase down with complete disregard for the ELT signal. 

Finally, I show the maintenance guy where the signal is pointing, off airport.  He replies, "Oh! That's where the aircraft junkyard is!"
  Now we are finally permitted to work the signal.  We arrive at the junkyard and narrow the signal down to a portion of the yard, but from outside the fence.  We call the owner and obtain permission to enter.  He adds that he place airplane wreckage in a large dumpster the day prior.  As we enter the yard, the GTL allows a swarm of people, mostly cadets to assault the dumpster like 6 year olds on an ice cream truck.  I cry foul, indicating that 1: the signal is pointing elsewhere, and 2: a dumpster full of shredded scrap metal should not be dove into like a swimming pool.  Cadets exit dumpster and senior members dive in.  I obtain permission to follow the signal.

We find the ELT in a partially disassembled airplane about 200 feet away from the dumpster.  Woohoo!  Real mission = Find ribbon so everyone is happy.

Later we are assigned another sortie, for a practice beacon.  We find it fairly quickly.  The GBD allows us to separate from our GTL and return directly to our home airport, shaving several hours off our drive.

Fill up van's gas tank and submit receipts and paperwork for reimbursement.  Also submit to squadron for reimbursement for the portion of gas purchased to cover shortfall from previous driver.  Complete paperwork for cadets' find ribbons and one my me, myself, and I.  First one!  :-)  Within a few days I am informed the SAREX staff didn't pull a separate mission number for the real ELT.  No Find ribbons.  DCC protests saying it was a real mission and the cadets earned it.  They get their find ribbons.  No go for me, kind of stinks but that's not why I joined CAP.  Motor on. 

On the bright side, we learned a lot that day.

4 months later I still have not been reimbursed for $61 in gas we burned that day.  Double grrr!  Ironically that is the same amount as my CAP membership renewal due this month.  I paid my renewal yesterday, apparently I am a glutton for punishment and I have lots of spare time (but not money) in my post-divorce reality.   I'm still pursuing reimbursement for the fuel to cover the SAREX I tried to get out of!
"You can't stop the signal, Mal."

EMT-83

My first SAREX was interesting. I flew up to the mission base as cargo; I wasn't yet working on air crew qualifications. I walked into the radio room to see what was going on, and the radio operator said something about his relief finally showing up and he ran out the door! No briefing, no notes, no nothing.

After a while, I figured out what was going on, got a quick briefing from someone (don't even remember who at this point), and pushed on. It ended up being a great day. So my bad SAREX experience turned into a good one – met some great people that I now work with on a regular basis, and quickly became part of the team.