Five Palm Springs cadets advance to California competition
(Palm Springs, Calif.) – Five area teenagers will compete this weekend, March 12-13, in the California Wing Cadet Competition being held at Vandenberg AFB near Lompoc, Calif. The cadets are all color guard team members and from Palm Springs Composite Squadron 11, the local unit of Civil Air Patrol.
The quintet are advancing to the state championship after winning an area competition held February 26 in Riverside. The cadets were named the Civil Air Patrol's Inland Empire Group 3 Color Guard and represent both Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in this weekend's competition; they are one of six teams competing at the state level.
Team members include:
Cadet Airman First Class Isaias Castro, 17, team commander and U.S. flag bearer
Cadet Senior Airman Patrick Rovney, 16, flag bearer
Cadet Airman Jacob Smith, 13, lead rifle bearer
Cadet Airman Danielle Peltier, 12, rifle bearer
Cadet Airman Michael Mayo, 12, alternate
The team is coached by Cadet First Lt. Ashley Mayo, 16, and Cadet First Lt. Cody Premus, 17.
During the weekend competition, the cadets will be tested both physically and mentally. Competition events include an in-ranks inspection, a mile run, and a standard drill performance including a 25-command parade style sequence conducted in order and from memory. The cadets will perform innovative color guard presentations both indoors and outdoors with only five minutes to view the performance area and plan their performance. Academic events include individual written tests over leadership, uniform regulations, military drill and ceremonies, and organization history. A team panel quiz will test the cadets' aerospace knowledge of aircraft systems, flight dynamics, rocketry, spacecraft, as well as aviation history and current events.
Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 57,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) and was credited by the AFRCC with saving over 100 lives in fiscal year 2010. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the nearly 26,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America since 1941.
The organization’s local unit, Palm Springs Composite Squadron 11, meets every Wednesday night from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. in the south hangar of the Palm Springs Air Museum. Squadron 11’s membership is comprised of cadets ages 12-20 and adult members 18 and older. For more information about Civil Air Patrol visit www.GoCivilAirPatrol.com
Posts
