Ala. Squadron Assists Storm-Stricken La. Counterpart

Col. Jayson Altieri
Assistant Operations Officer
Group 2
Alabama Wing

Alabama Wing members in the southern part of the state stepped up to assist their fellow Civil Air Patrol members  in the Louisiana Wing’s Hammond Composite Squadron about 150 miles west after Hurricane Ida slammed through the area.

The massive storm ripped into the Louisiana squadron’s Hammond North Shore Regional Airport headquarters Aug. 29 and destroyed its CAP van.

Afterward, the Hammond squadron’s commander, Maj. Jimmie Cox, reached out to a friend from his previous unit, Capt. Amy Mooney of the Alabama Wing’s Mobile Composite Squadron. The two coordinated with their respective wings’ chains of command for Mobile members to collect items like charcoal bags and grills; food, ice and water; batteries and flashlights; and cleaning supplies and toilet paper for transport to Hammond.

Within 48 hours the Mobile squadron collected nearly $2,000 in much-needed supplies from fellow Civil Air Patrol members and families. Four Mobile members – 1st Lts. Rebecca Parsons, squadron commander, and Laurel Boothe deputy commander, and Cadet Senior Airmen Brooks Byrd and Robert Rodriguez – made the trip to Hammond and delivered the supplies.

“You cannot understand how much the loss of basic power and water interrupts your life,” Cox said. “I am so proud of the Alabama Wing and its members, mainly my old squadron … in assisting our members."

Photos by 1st Lt. Rebecca Parsons, Alabama Wing