OCEANSIDE, CA The Civil Air Patrol, a civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force, is known for flying to the rescue of lost or stranded hikers, finding downed aircraft, and flying in to aid natural disaster victims, but this time a local squadron is really flying high.
Oceanside CAP Skyhawk Composite Squadron 47 has a friend in high places – NASA Expedition 11 astronaut, Dr. John Phillips (Capt. USNR ret.), Science Officer and Flight Engineer on the International Space Station since April 14, 2005 . Astronaut Phillips is a friend of Major Mike Woods, a Senior Member of Squadron 47. Phillips and Woods were cadets in CAP Squadron 304-C at Williams Air Force Base in Mesa , Arizona during the mid 1960’s. When Woods discovered his friend was going to the ISS, he asked if Astronaut Phillips would do something special to represent Squadron 47 in space.
Phillips had the squadron patch e-mailed to him at the ISS. He enlarged the image, cut it out, had a photo taken of himself with the patch in front of a porthole looking out into space, and then e-mailed the photo back to Major Woods. Voila! Squadron 47 represented in space! Every cadet of Squadron 47 was given a copy of the picture.
Astronaut Phillips is involving the squadron in other ways, also. Each month, several cadets ask questions of him via e-mail and Major Woods then shares the answers he receives. A question posed by 15 year-old Cadet Sergeant Ryan Bucher was, “While in space, what do you miss most, besides your loved ones?” His answer - “I miss just being outside. I also miss cold drinks of all sorts – we don’t have a fridge up here!”
Phillips also sent a photo to the cadets of the San Diego area from 250 plus miles up in space.
On board with Phillips is Russian cosmonaut, Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev, who, by the time he returns, will have spent 800 days in space, more than any other human being. Phillips and Krikalev are preparing for NASA’s two space shuttles’ “Return to Flight” missions. The space shuttles will rendezvous with the International Space Station. Phillips will do a spacewalk in a Russian spacesuit in August and another in an American spacesuit possibly in September or when the new crew arrives. He is scheduled to return to earth on October 7, 2005 .
Founded in 1941, Civil Air Patrol is the civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force, with local squadrons in all fifty states, the national capital, and Puerto Rico . As a benevolent, non-profit federal corporation, the Civil Air Patrol has been charted by Congress with three missions: Emergency Services, Aerospace Education, and the Cadet Program. Boys and girls age 12 and up are eligible for membership in the cadet program. The cadet program provides opportunities to over 26,000 young Americans from 12-21 years of age. With advice and assistance from CAP members at national, regional, state and local levels, and the US Air Force, cadets are exposed to a structured program of aerospace education, learning leadership skills through military discipline, physical fitness and survival training, and moral and ethical values. Seniors are trained to respond to search and rescue missions entailing piloting and ground support of all kinds, and as leaders of the cadet program. Joining the ranks of the Civil Air Patrol is an excellent way for Americans to serve their country.
Adults and boys and girls ages 12-18 are invited to visit Squadron 47 on any Tuesday night (excluding the fifth Tuesday night in any given month) from 6:30 to 9:15 at the Army Reserve Building ( Del Mar area) near the Main Gate to Camp Pendleton . Go to http://sq47.cawg.cap.gov/ for directions and more information about the cadet and senior programs. For more information, call 760-727-1848.