South Dakota Adjutant General Flies with South Dakota Wing

South Dakota Wing, Civil Air Patrol hosted South Dakota's adjutant general, Major General Mark Morrell, for a training flight on June 25. The flight allowed the adjutant general to witness first-hand the role CAP has played in recently conducted flood damage assessment photography and other CAP communications and search and rescue capabilities.

"Thanks to South Dakota Wing for a great sortie," said Morrell. "When we planned this sortie months ago, I didn't know there would be such an opportunity to see the SD CAP's real-world partnerships with state, county and community leaders in action. The flight was very useful in many ways. I now better understand the full range of capabilities our Civil Air Patrol teammates bring to the table."

Maj. E.W. Filler flew in the left seat as the Pilot in Command, while Morrell was in the right seat. Cassidy flew in the scanners seat. The sortie flew from Sioux Falls to Akron, Iowa, and followed the Big Sioux River to North Sioux City. After surveying the flood effects, the crew flew to the city of Vermillion and northward, up the Vermillion River, similar to sorties flown over three days of Airborne Photography and drone photography missions in the wake of a request from the South Dakota Office of Emergency Management.

During the flight, Filler also demonstrated the aircraft's avionics capabilities to program different search and rescue patterns. The adjutant general also saw how CAP can communicate from one end of the state to the other using aircraft radios on military frequencies talking through CAP' fixed repeaters. Filler and Cassidy also showed the general how CAP locates a downed aircraft's emergency locator transmitter.

"It was an excellent day for flying surrounded by unfortunate circumstances," said CAP Lt. Col. Mike Cassidy, CAP's director of operations in South Dakota. "To say the least, the amount of flooding along the route was incredible to see from the air and in many ways heartbreaking. It was in this context we were able to show South Dakota's senior military officer Civil Air Patrol capabilities."

CAP is the civilian auxiliary of the Air Force, with responsibilities that are part of the USAF's support to civil authorities to save lives, relieve suffering, prevent property damage and provide humanitarian assistance, also serving state and local South Dakota agencies via a memorandum of understanding.

With over 460 members in South Dakota with units in Brookings, Custer, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Spearfish and Tea, the wing can deploy its aircraft, ground teams and small search drones to assist in disaster response and other support.