Directors of operations and standardization/evaluation officers from four Civil Air Patrol regions convened Nov. 4 with a purpose likely last pursued in the late 1990s — to discuss changes to the way CAP trains and flies in the mountains.
The North Central, Pacific Coast, Rocky Mountain, and Southwest regions were represented at the session in Ogden, Utah.
CAP has long provided regions and wings with the flexibility to develop their own mountain flying programs. The result has been a safe and effective program, but with little standardization from wing to wing and region to region.
That means flying between regions and wings with different training plans and requirements could create unintended risks. To address the issue, the participants worked to:
• Standardizing minimum mountain flying training and certification requirements to ensure pilots can safely, efficiently, and effectively operate in and over mountainous terrain and operate from airports in mountains throughout the western U.S., and not just within their wing.
• Provide insight to other regions with mountainous terrain to assist in updating their programs, if desired.
• Generate recommendations to National Headquarters for possible implementation of national mountain flying practices.
With those goals in mind, the team started from the ground up—by identifying mountain flying requirements for CAP pilots. They identified geographical areas where no mountain training is required, then identified a need to train transport mission pilots to fly into airports in the mountains and for mission pilots to operate within mountainous terrain.
The participants generally agreed to:
• Minimum mountain flying endorsement ground and flight training task requirements for an initial and annual CAP Mountain Flying Endorsement.
• Minimum mountain flying certification ground and flight training Specialty Qualification Training Record task requirements to complete an initial and biannual Mountain Flying Certification.
• Documentation requirements for the Mountain Flying Endorsement Training, Mountain Flying Certification, CAPF 70-5 — CAP Pilot Mountain Flying Endorsement, and CAPF 70-91 —CAP Mission Pilot Checkout.
• Route recommended changes through all CAP regions with mountainous terrain.
• Make final recommendations for desired mountain flying changes to National Headquarters for possible incorporation at the national level
Participants, both on site and online, were:
National Commanders SquadronCol. Mike Moyer, standardization/evaluation officer
North Central RegionLt. Col. Jeremy Langrock, standardization/evaluation officer
Pacific RegionCol. Brian Bishop, director of operations
Rocky Mountain RegionLt. Col. V. Scott May, deputy chief of staff —operationsLt. Col. Dave Novotny, standardization/evaluation officer
Southwest RegionCol. Joe Smith, director of operations Maj. Israel Perez, standardization/evaluation officer
Colorado WingLt. Col. John Mitchell, Group 4 safety officer Maj. Rob Yusko, operations officer
Idaho WingLt. Col. Scott Fisher, operations officer Capt. Andrew Jender, Mountain Home Senior Squadron operations officer
Montana WingCapt. Jake Ramirez, standardization/evaluation officer 1st Lt. David Driscoll, operations officer
Oklahoma WingLt. Col. Mark Overman, standardization/evaluation officer
Utah WingLt. Col. Ken Mattison, assistant operations officer Lt. Col. Kent Wright, assistant standardization/evaluation officerMaj. Steve Holmes, operations officer Capt. Curtis Harris, assistant standardization/evaluation officer
Wyoming WingLt. Col. Rod Burnett, operations officer Capt. Al LaPointe, standardization/evaluation officer
CAP-USAFMatt Baugher, Rocky Mountain Liaison Region regional operations director_____Lt. Col. V. Scott MayDeputy Chief of Staff – OperationsRocky Mountain Region
