South Dakota’s adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Mark Morrell, got a first-hand view in a June 25 training flight of the role the South Dakota Wing has played in recent flood damage assessment photography missions and other Civil Air Patrol communications and search and rescue capabilities.
“When we planned this sortie months ago, I didn’t know there would be such an opportunity to see the (wing’s) real-world partnerships with state, county, and community leaders in action,” Morrell said.
“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 piloted the flight, with Morrell riding in the right seat and Lt. Col. Mike Cassidy, South Dakota Wing director of operations, serving as mission scanner. After flying from Sioux Falls to Akron, Iowa, and following the Big Sioux River to North Sioux City and surveying the flood effects below, the crew flew to Vermillion and northward, up the Vermillion River.
CAP members had flown a similar route over three days of airborne and drone photography missions at the state Office of Emergency Management’s request.
During the flight, Filler demonstrated the aircraft’s avionics capabilities to program different search and rescue patterns. Morrell saw how members can communicate from one end of the state to the other using aircraft radios on military frequencies talking through CAP’s 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,” Cassidy said. “To say the least, the amount of flooding along the route was incredible to see from the air and in many ways heartbreaking.”
