CAP Prepares Youth For Community, Military Service
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
CAP Prepares Youth For Community, Military Service
By Jennifer [email protected]
The squadron also provides them with a stepping stone to enter into the military and workforce.
John Yingling, Warsaw, has served as the squadron's commander for the past four months.
Yingling said not all of the squadron's cadets have plans to go into the military, but the goal is to teach the cadets leadership, responsibility and how to serve their community.
"What we are trying to do is prepare our unit as a whole to be able to serve the community," Yingling said.[[In-content Ad]]He said there is training the cadets receive before they are allowed to respond to emergencies.
David Poage, squadron emergency services and safety officer, chartered the Warsaw squadron in August 2006.
Poage spent 18 years in the Indiana Guard serving as an infantry soldier and telecommunications technician. He got out of the Guard in 2003 after serving at Camp Atterbury.
The squadron's goal is to work with Kosciusko County Emergency Management Services to utilize the squadron.
Poage said for those who have never had military experience, the Civil Air Patrol will train them.
There are currently 14 cadets and six senior members in Warsaw's chapter. Cadets are boys and girls 12 to 18 years old who become part of the squadron. They can be in the program until they turn 18 as a cadet, and then are promoted to a senior member.
The squadron meets once a week on Mondays from 6:45 to 8:30 p.m. at the Warsaw Armory.
The squadron trains 6 to 12 cadets per year. They start out as a basic airman, and learn about the civil air patrol's history and purpose initially. The squadron can operate on a local, county, state or national level.
The cadets also learn about military topics and military conduct, drill and ceremonies, chain of command and how to march.
The process is similar to the military where the cadets have physical and academic requirements to be promoted. As they improve their skills, they are given more responsibility similar to the military.
The purpose of the squadron has three main functions, according to Yingling.
One of the goals is to teach emergency services training to the cadets to serve their community if needed.
Once they are trained they can assist with flood relief efforts, search for planes if they go down, and learn about search and rescue techniques to locate a missing person.
The second goal is cadet services. The cadets attend encampments, which are basic boot camp training. At the encampments, the cadets learn basic military protocol such as military conduct, courtesies and traditions.
The third goal is to teach aerospace education.
Warsaw Civil Air Patrol graduates have gone on to accomplish many things.
A Civil Air Patrol graduate recently returned from Iraq with the National Guard, and a former senior member returned from Afghanistan. A Civil Air Patrol cadet graduate is currently in the Naval Academy, and others have gone to work in the private sector.
"I think the Civil Air Patrol is a positive thing for the kids to do and gives them something to be proud of and learn," Yingling said.
Squadron instructors teach the youth to serve their country or prepare them for the business world.
The cadets also learn about moral issues from Tim Koshnick, a leadership instructor.
"This training is to help them to think through and become familiar with some of the things they will struggle with not just as young men, but all their lives," Koshnick said.
The cadets discuss topics such as worry, lying, death and having compassion toward others in their personal lives.
Ben Koshnick, 15, Warsaw, has been involved with the squadron for two years, and he currently is a cadet staff sergeant. He said his goal is to go into the Air Force.
"The air patrol gives you a basic idea for what the military is like, and I want to go into a service academy, and I will have a good base for military protocol that will help me," Koshnick said.
He has learned how to operate radios and learned military drill and ceremony protocol.
John Heldreth, 17, Mentone, is a cadet senior master sergeant in the Warsaw Civil Air Patrol.
He has been in the squadron for three years and said his goal is to be in the military.
Heldreth started out as an airman, and worked his way up to senior master sergeant.
In 2009, he went to Camp Atterbury for National Emergency Services Academy for advanced ground team training and learned search and rescue techniques.
Mikel Hogan, 17, a cadet airman, Warsaw, has been involved with the squadron for three months.
Hogan said he has learned about first aid and marching.
Nathan Hart, 14, New Paris, is a cadet airman, and went to the Red Cross to learn CPR and first aid. He has been with the squadron for a year.
For more information about Civil Air Patrol, e-mail Yingling at [email protected]
The squadron also provides them with a stepping stone to enter into the military and workforce.
John Yingling, Warsaw, has served as the squadron's commander for the past four months.
Yingling said not all of the squadron's cadets have plans to go into the military, but the goal is to teach the cadets leadership, responsibility and how to serve their community.
"What we are trying to do is prepare our unit as a whole to be able to serve the community," Yingling said.[[In-content Ad]]He said there is training the cadets receive before they are allowed to respond to emergencies.
David Poage, squadron emergency services and safety officer, chartered the Warsaw squadron in August 2006.
Poage spent 18 years in the Indiana Guard serving as an infantry soldier and telecommunications technician. He got out of the Guard in 2003 after serving at Camp Atterbury.
The squadron's goal is to work with Kosciusko County Emergency Management Services to utilize the squadron.
Poage said for those who have never had military experience, the Civil Air Patrol will train them.
There are currently 14 cadets and six senior members in Warsaw's chapter. Cadets are boys and girls 12 to 18 years old who become part of the squadron. They can be in the program until they turn 18 as a cadet, and then are promoted to a senior member.
The squadron meets once a week on Mondays from 6:45 to 8:30 p.m. at the Warsaw Armory.
The squadron trains 6 to 12 cadets per year. They start out as a basic airman, and learn about the civil air patrol's history and purpose initially. The squadron can operate on a local, county, state or national level.
The cadets also learn about military topics and military conduct, drill and ceremonies, chain of command and how to march.
The process is similar to the military where the cadets have physical and academic requirements to be promoted. As they improve their skills, they are given more responsibility similar to the military.
The purpose of the squadron has three main functions, according to Yingling.
One of the goals is to teach emergency services training to the cadets to serve their community if needed.
Once they are trained they can assist with flood relief efforts, search for planes if they go down, and learn about search and rescue techniques to locate a missing person.
The second goal is cadet services. The cadets attend encampments, which are basic boot camp training. At the encampments, the cadets learn basic military protocol such as military conduct, courtesies and traditions.
The third goal is to teach aerospace education.
Warsaw Civil Air Patrol graduates have gone on to accomplish many things.
A Civil Air Patrol graduate recently returned from Iraq with the National Guard, and a former senior member returned from Afghanistan. A Civil Air Patrol cadet graduate is currently in the Naval Academy, and others have gone to work in the private sector.
"I think the Civil Air Patrol is a positive thing for the kids to do and gives them something to be proud of and learn," Yingling said.
Squadron instructors teach the youth to serve their country or prepare them for the business world.
The cadets also learn about moral issues from Tim Koshnick, a leadership instructor.
"This training is to help them to think through and become familiar with some of the things they will struggle with not just as young men, but all their lives," Koshnick said.
The cadets discuss topics such as worry, lying, death and having compassion toward others in their personal lives.
Ben Koshnick, 15, Warsaw, has been involved with the squadron for two years, and he currently is a cadet staff sergeant. He said his goal is to go into the Air Force.
"The air patrol gives you a basic idea for what the military is like, and I want to go into a service academy, and I will have a good base for military protocol that will help me," Koshnick said.
He has learned how to operate radios and learned military drill and ceremony protocol.
John Heldreth, 17, Mentone, is a cadet senior master sergeant in the Warsaw Civil Air Patrol.
He has been in the squadron for three years and said his goal is to be in the military.
Heldreth started out as an airman, and worked his way up to senior master sergeant.
In 2009, he went to Camp Atterbury for National Emergency Services Academy for advanced ground team training and learned search and rescue techniques.
Mikel Hogan, 17, a cadet airman, Warsaw, has been involved with the squadron for three months.
Hogan said he has learned about first aid and marching.
Nathan Hart, 14, New Paris, is a cadet airman, and went to the Red Cross to learn CPR and first aid. He has been with the squadron for a year.
For more information about Civil Air Patrol, e-mail Yingling at [email protected]
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