Cadet Color Guard ceremony opened the banquet.

Civil Air Patrol lifesaving awards, recognition for Super Storm Sandy service, and honoring top members and the top squadron highlighted the Central New York Group Annual Banquet held May 19 at Harts Hill Inn in Whitesboro.

New York Wing Vice Commander Lt. Col. Tom Carello and Central NY Group Commander Lt. Col. John Jones presented two national lifesaving awards to 2nd Lt. Mark Swing of Syracuse Cadet Squadron.

One was for saving the life of a man having a heart attack at the New York State Fair last August. The other was for saving the life of a youth in respiratory distress at a cadet physical training activity in Syracuse this past March.

(Click to See Photo Gallery.)

Lt. Col. Tom Carello presents lifesaving awards to 2nd Lt. Mark Swing (right).

Carello recalled the devastation along the East Coast caused by Super Storm Sandy last fall, and how hundreds of Civil Air Patrol (CAP) personnel volunteered an untold number of hours in disaster relief on the ground and in the air — especially aerial reconnaissance for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), for the military and for other government agencies.

“The Civil Air Patrol took 160,000 photos” for FEMA and other agencies, Carello noted. “New York Wing and Central New York Group were very active.”

He presented the national Civil Air Patrol Exceptional Service Award and the CAP Disaster Relief Ribbon with “V” device to Lt. Col. Ken Field of Utica for “flying numerous photographic missions in the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy.”

Lt. Col.  Carello presents Exceptional Service Award to Lt. Col. Ken Field.

He also presented the National Commander’s Commendation to Capt. Robert Stronach of Marcy for public affairs work in the wake of the storm.

Other top honors went to:

•  Capt. Robert Ormsbee, commander of Fort Drum-Watertown Composite Squadron, who was named Senior Member of the Year.
• Cadet Chief Master Sergeant Lindsay Ladd of F.R. Sussey Composite Squadron in Fulton, who was named Cadet of the Year.
• Syracuse Cadet Squadron, commanded by Capt. Matt Mallory, which was named Squadron of the Year.

Capt. Robert Ormsbee (left) receives Senior Member of Year Award from Lt. Col. John Jones.

CAP Achievement Awards, for outstanding service as squadron commanders, went to:

• Lt. Col. Steve Watson, Mohawk-Griffiss Senior Squadron in Rome.
• Maj. Joakim Hansson, Utica Cadet Squadron.
• Capt. Matt Mallory, Syracuse Cadet Squadron. In addition, squadron members surprised Mallory with a commemorative photo collage of his three years as commander.
• Capt. Robert Ormsbee, Fort Drum-Watertown Composite Squadron.

The CAP Achievement Award also went to 1st Lt. Robert Woodruff for outstanding service as deputy commander of Syracuse Cadet Squadron.

Capt. Richard Lauricella of Syracuse received the Brewer Lifetime Achievement Award for his work as an aerospace education officer for Central New York Group and New York Wing.

Capt. Matt Mallory accepts Squadron of Year Award from Lt. Col. John Jones on behalf of Syracuse Cadet Squadron.

Carello presented a certificate of retirement to Lt. Col. Jack Hosp of Barneveld for service to CAP from 1975 to 2013 as a pilot and flight instructor. Hosp also received citations from Congressman Richard Hanna and Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi.

Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager Aerospace Education Achievement Awards went to 2nd Lt. Mark Swing, 2nd Lt. Michelle Williams-Swing, and Senior Member John Jensen, all of Syracuse Cadet Squadron.

In recognition of special contributions, Central NY Group Challenge Coins were awarded to Cadet Senior Master Sgt. Jordan Sanner of Syracuse Cadet Squadron and Kelli Gabriele, parent of a Syracuse squadron cadet.

C/Col. Caleb McLean

Civil Air Patrol’s Legislative Day on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. at the end of February proved even more memorable than usual for one of the participants – Caleb McLean of Syracuse Cadet Squadron, who was presented his Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award by Barry Black, U.S. Senate chaplain.

McLean qualified for the award, the highest honor available to CAP cadets, during the fall. He also was promoted to cadet colonel.

McLean is a junior at Syracuse University studying Aerospace Engineering and has been a member of the Civil Air Patrol since 2003. He is also a member of the Syracuse University Air Force ROTC unit. He hopes to become a successful engineer and businessman.

After receiving his Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award from U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black (center), Caleb McLean accepts congratulations from Maj. Gen. Chuck Carr, CAP national commander. Photo by Susan Schneider, National Headquarters

A cadet since 2003, the former Chemung-Schuyler Cadet Squadron member participated in the New York Wing’s annual summer encampments in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011 and in the Texas Wing’s summer encampment in 2011.

In July 2010 he participated in a pair of CAP National Cadet Special Activities – Cadet Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., and E-Tech, CAP’s Engineering Technologies Academy, at Auburn University in Alabama. Two years earlier, he attended the Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training Familiarization Course at Columbus AFB, Miss.

Only about one-half of 1 percent of cadets earn the Spaatz award. Doing so requires passing a strenuous four-part examination after completing all 16 achievements in the cadet program – a written leadership exam, a written aerospace exam, a moral leadership essay and a physical fitness test.

Gen. Billy Mitchell Award Logo

Cadet Lyndsey Ladd of Fulton and Cadet Gregory Blasczienski of Oswego earned the General Billy Mitchell Award.

They are members of the Fulton-based F.R. Sussey Composite Squadron.
The milestone Mitchell Award recognizes completion of the second of four major phases in the CAP Cadet Program’s curriculum of leadership, aerospace education, physical fitness, character development, and activities.

Lt. Col. Carello and Cadet Ladd

Along with the award, Ladd and Blasczienski were both promoted to the grade of Cadet Second Lieutenant (C/2d Lt).

Lt. Col. Thomas Carello, New York Wing vice commander, presented the award certificate and ribbon  during a ceremony Jan. 23 at the Fulton Community Room.

He was assisted in presenting the award by Lt. Col. John Jones, Central New York Group commander, and Capt. Andrew Roth, squadron commander.

Lt. Col. Carello and Cadet Blasczienski

C/2d Lt. Ladd is the squadron’s first female cadet to earn the award in more than 10 years.  She serves as the deputy cadet commander.  She graduated from the 2012 New York Wing Leadership Encampment at Stratton Air National Guard Base, where she also served on the color guard for graduation.

C/2d Lt. Blasczienski is the cadet flight commander for Alpha flight.  He served on the medical staff at the 2012 New York Wing Leadership Encampment.

The crews are all trained in CAP’s standard image capture and processing, but New Jersey Wing wanted to go the extra step and introduce aircrews to cutting edge software and techniques not widely available yet.

That’s why a New York Wing aerial imagery team from the greater Rome-Utica area was deployed to New Jersey Wing’s incident command post at McGuire Air Force Base (Joint  Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst), and given the task of training aircrews this past weekend in the latest developments in aerial image capture and processing.

“This is great stuff, and the New York Wing team is on top of it, so we appreciate New York sharing it with us,” noted New Jersey Wing Commander Col. David Mull.

Lt. Col. Steven Perta of Rome, New York Wing director of communications, said his team guided aircrews “on the setup and configuration of new digital cameras coupled with GPS logging devices, and on the latest post-flight processing of images in preparation for delivery to FEMA and other customers.”

The other team members are: Lt. Col. Gerry Marketos of Rome, a member of NY Wing staff, and Maj. Chuck Hereth of Sherrill, a member of Central New York Group staff. The three team members are all pilots.

Pennsylvania Wing Photographer Lt. Jennifer Lichlyter meets with NY Wing imagery team — Lt. Col. Steve Perta (left), Maj. Chuck Hereth (seated) and Lt. Col. Gerry Marketos — upon completion of an aerial photo sortie. Photo by Lt. Zack King, NJ Wing.

From McGuire AFB, the team was dispatched to nearby South Jersey Regional Airport where CAP aircrews from New Jersey and Pennsylvania wings were flying photo sorties as part of a massive FEMA mission to assess storm damage along a 15-mile wide swath of coastline from Cape Cod, MA to Cape May, NJ. Twenty-two aircrews from across New York State have already flown more than 100 photo sorties from a Civil Air Patrol base on Long Island.

“We briefed each aircrew and did an imagery equipment check prior to takeoff,” Perta said. “Each aircraft sortie was assigned a number of target areas to fly to and capture photos. The number of photos obtained for a particular sortie ranged from 50 to 300 depending on the areas that were overflown.”

After each aircraft returned to the airport, the imagery team downloaded photos and geo-tagged them “with meta data consisting of latitude, longitude, altitude, heading and time stamp,” he said. The tagged images were then uploaded into a Web Mission Information System, which forwarded them to the USGS Hazards Data Distribution System (HDDS). Perta said they processed over 1,000 images while there, and that New York Wing also loaned New Jersey Wing two new camera kits and a state-of-the-art  imaging processing computer.

In addition to training aircrews, the team trained other New Jersey Wing personnel on how to process the images after each flight.

The aircrews are capturing images using Nikon D-90 and D-200 cameras.

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Lt. Col. Tom Carello welcomes Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi to the Civil Air Patrol as he and Lt. Col. John Jones present him with membership credentials.

UTICA — Assemblyman Anthony J. Brindisi, D-Utica, recently was inducted into the Civil Air Patrol’s New York Wing Legislative Squadron and received a briefing on homeland security, search-and-rescue and disaster relief missions.

During a ceremony in his Utica office, Brindisi received membership credentials from a New York Wing delegation that included Wing Vice Commander Lt. Col. Tom Carello, Central New York Group Commander Lt. Col. John Jones, and National Legislative Officer Lt. Col. Larry Brinker. Two Utica Cadet Squadron cadets, C/2nd Lt. Aaron Dostie and C/Staff Sgt. Jonathon Wells, were on hand to present the assemblyman with a wing commander’s challenge coin.

As a Legislative Squadron member, Brindisi wears the honorary grade of major and is authorized to ride in Civil Air Patrol (CAP) aircraft and participate in CAP activities.

State Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi poses with Cadet 2nd Lt. Aaron Dostie (center) and Cadet Staff Sgt. Jonathon Wells after the cadets presented him with a wing commander’s challenge coin.

“As Assemblyman Brindisi progresses on his legislative journey, we are honored and excited that he chooses to share part of his service to New York with our Civil Air Patrol family,” noted Lt. Colonel Carello.

“Keeping our families safe is one of the primary reasons I’m in the Assembly,” Assemblyman Brindisi said. “The Civil Air Patrol — through its emergency services, counter drug, and youth development programs — enhances New York’s and my effort to do just that. The CAP is a natural fit for me; and I’m really looking forward to greater participation in the organization.”

Added Lt. Colonel Jones: “I’ve known the assemblyman for many years. He is a leader that will have a profound impact on our members and programs. Welcome aboard!”

State Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi receives briefing from Lt. Cols. John Jones (left) and Tom Carello (center).

Lt. Colonel Brinker said the delegation briefed Assemblyman Brindisi on disaster relief and homeland security missions in the state, including aerial damage assessment and ground team support after severe storms and flooding, and flying CAP planes as rogue aircraft for the Air National Guard’s F-15 fighter interception practice. With New York Wing being granted a seat on the state’s Emergency Operations Center this past spring, Brinker told the assemblyman CAP wants to reach out to more state and county agencies about its capabilities. With Brindisi being a member of the Assembly’s Veterans Affairs Committee, Brinker said New York Wing was interested in asking the state to consider honoring its World War II members who helped defend shipping lanes from German U-Boats, flying out of a series of coastal patrol bases. Currently the U.S. Congress is considering legislation to grant them a Congressional Gold Medal.

Lt. Col. John Jones, CAP

Lt. Col. John Jones, CAP, of Utica has been named commander of the Civil Air Patrol’s Central New York Group. He succeeds Lt. Col. Daniel Brodsky, CAP, of Clay.

Jones has been Deputy Commander for the past year.

As Group Commander, Lt. Colonel Jones will work out of group headquarters at the New York Air National Guard Base at Hancock Field, Syracuse, and oversee six squadrons located in Utica, Rome, Syracuse, Fulton and Watertown.

Starting as a cadet 25 years ago, Jones has served in a variety of command and staff assignments. He has commanded both the Utica and Syracuse squadrons and has served as group Inspector General, group Transportation Officer, and as a squadron Test Control Officer.

Jones resides in Utica with his wife, Kimberly, and is a full-time member of the Air National Guard. A Senior Master Sergeant, Jones is Chief Quality Assurance Inspector for the 174th Fighter Wing’s Maintenance Group at Hancock Field, Syracuse.

Central New York Group is one of nine group commands in New York Wing.

With headquarters at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, the Civil Air Patrol is the search-and-rescue, cadet-mentoring and aerospace-education auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force.

Cadets Aidan Uvanni, Aaron Dostie and Tyler Kulesa salute after raising the U.S. flag at the Coast Guard Auxiliary Base in Sylvan Beach.

SYLVAN BEACH — Three volleys of musket fire by Civil War re-enactors and a flag raising by Civil Air Patrol cadets highlighted the base commissioning of U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 26 in Sylvan Beach on Sunday, June 3.

Several members of the 12th Infantry, a Civil War living history regiment based in Syracuse, escorted the Civil Air Patrol cadets from Utica Cadet Squadron as they presented the colors and hoisted Old Glory along with the Coast Guard flag and several Coast Guard pennants.

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Then, First Sgt. Neil MacMillan of Syracuse and Corporal Grant Denis of Ithaca raised their muskets high and fired a volley, with plumes of smoke spewing for several feet. In some 20 seconds they had reloaded the muskets and were set to shoot again. They repeated the process for a third volley. A little later in the ceremonies the Civil War re-enactors were called on again to fire three volleys in tribute to members of the Coast Guard who died in the past year.

The Utica Civil Air Patrol cadet color guard included Cadet 2nd Lt. Tyler Kulesa, Cadet 2nd Lt. Aaron Dostie and Cadet Sr. Airman Aidan Uvanni. They were accompanied by their mentors, Capt. Paul Kulesa and Capt. Patrick Dostie.

During the annual commissioning ceremonies that officially opened the Cove Road base for the 2012 boating season, Flotilla Commander Bill Cummings of Utica noted: “For over 50 years Flotilla 26 has answered the call” to serve the boating community of Oneida Lake, offering boating classes, conducting vessel safety checks, patrolling the lake, assisting boaters in distress, and providing search-and-rescue.

Over 50 Coast Guard Auxiliary personnel and special guests attended the ceremonies and a picnic reception.

In his remarks, Cummings noted that the Coast Guard Auxiliary was founded in 1939 and today has some 30,000 members nation-wide.

With the Oneida County Sheriff’s Marine Patrol operating out of the Coast Guard Auxiliary Base, Sheriff Rob Maciol was a special guest, who offered brief remarks and thanked the flotilla “for all your efforts” on behalf of boating safety. Earlier, Sheriff’s Lt. Jim McCarthy told news media that the Coast Guard Auxiliary “is a great asset to the Oneida Lake community and the Sheriff’s Department.”

Other dignitaries included Central New York Division 2 Commander Helen Lou Cummings of Utica, Division Vice Commander John Steinbarge of Baldwinsville, and Sylvan Beach American Legion Post 1153 Commander Guy Berogan. Flotilla 26 Vice Commander Karen Beehm of Hubbardsville offered the invocation and benediction.

Two members of Flotilla 2-14 in Bridgeport — Flotilla Commander Rick Kunz and Bob Shanahan Sr. — served as AuxChefs (auxiliary chefs) for the picnic reception.

Re-enactors MacMillan and Denis were accompanied by 12-year-old Nathan Bowers of East Syracuse, who served as a private, and two women dressed in Civil War era dresses, Peggy Reilly of Syracuse and Lori Bowers of East Syracuse. They represented families who often had accompanied troops when they were garrisoned.

Maj Earl Holdren of the F.R. Sussey Composite Squadron was named the 2011 Cadet Programs Officer of the Year.  Fort-Drum Watertown Composite Squadron commander Capt Robert Ormsbee was named the 2011 Professional Development Officer of the Year for his role as the Central NY Group PD officer. Lastly, Central New York Group Commander Lt Col Daniel Brodsky was named 2011 Logistics Officer of the Year.

In addition to the “of the year” awards, a number of CNYG members received Commanders Commendation Awards, Achievement Awards, and Disaster Relief Ribbon with “V” Clasp awards.

A full list of awardees will be published later this month. Congratulations to all of the award recipients!

I hope to see you there.

If you haven’t already, please contact 2d Lt Calidonna to confirm your attendance. The RSVP date is March 31.