WG/CC Announcements
March 26, 2021
To ensure that Civil Air Patrol remains within the bounds of our Congressional charter, Public Law, and Air Force Instructions, please review the points regarding cyber training and operations from Major General Smith. The memorandum can be found here CAP Cyber Training and Operations.
July 9, 2020
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Alaska Wing,
In light of current public health trends, Federal, State of Alaska and Civil Air Patrol guidance, the 9-15 August 2020 AKWG Summer Encampment is cancelled.
Those who have paid for their registration will be refunded in full over the next weeks.
Planning has now begun for our wing's next in-state encampment opportunity, 13-20 June 2021, to be hosted at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
Expect the Cadre Selection process to begin in December 2020 with student (first-time & advanced training flight) registration opening in January 2021. Priority will be given to those cadets who were selected for cadre for this year's encampment, as well as for those cadets who registered for this year as either first-time or ATF students.
For those cadets concerned about missing their opportunity to earn the Mitchell Award and promote to the rank of C/2d Lt, there is a waiver to consider. In accordance with CAPR 60-1 waiver memo dated 6 May 20, cadets holding the grade of C/MSgt to C/CMSgt as of 1 May 2020 may earn the Mitchell Award without having completed an encampment until 1 May 2021 (link to the memo below):
https://www.gocivilairpatrol.
Your Cadet Programs Team and the Encampment Planning Team appreciates the hard work and diligence of all cadets and senior members who worked hard to prepare for this year's encampment, having come the closest wing across the nation to hosting an encampment during COVID-19 operations. The decision was difficult, but driven by our uncompromising commitment to the health and safety of our members. Know that all their outstanding work will serve as a foundation for success in 2021.
If you have any questions or concerns, please speak with your unit leaders or contact me to discuss further.
V/r,
Lt Col James McIntyre, CAP
Encampment Commander
2020 AKWG Summer Encampment
(C) 907.831.9102
U.S. Air Force Auxiliary
June 18, 2020
Members of Alaska Wing,
AKWG has been approved to enter into Phase 2 of remobilization.
I have attached 2 documents - the AKWG Phase 2 Ops Plan with NORTHCOM reference materials, as well as a 2-page reminder of the Phase 2 Rules of Engagement (ROE).
In short, we as a wing may now:
- Allow low-risk members to resume unit meetings, activities, and missions as long as <50 members, socially distancing is practiced, and the activity is one-day in length
- All public health protection measures continue
- Self identified high-risk Members will continue to participate virtually
- Aviation: face coverings, aviation gloves, and aircraft disinfection between sorties. Includes small-group local crew training, flight evaluations/check rides, crew proficiency, dual instruction and CAP cadet orientation flights (assuming all members are low-risk and all flights are in low-risk areas).
- Continue public health protection measures such as: hygiene education, social distancing reminders, temperature checks, face coverings when social distancing is unable to be maintained, and common surface cleaning
- Place seats 6-feet apart, double arm interval distancing, open air meetings, if possible.
- Food preparation should be done individually – no family style or buffet meals due to the possibility of utensil cross-contamination
Wing staff and unit members may continue planning overnight activities reserved for Phase 3 operations (but cannot execute those plans until the wing is approved for Phase 3 operations).
Your health and welfare remain my paramount concern, and if conditions change I will direct a regression to Phase 1 or 0, if warranted. I ask everyone to read the plan and the ROEs. Many thanks to Senior Goedert and the COVID Planning Team for putting this Phase 2 plan together.
If you have questions, I encourage you to reach out to your unit leadership and if you can't resolve it, please contact Lt Col Porter, 907-717-9184, 341570@akwg.cap.
I appreciate all you are doing to take care of each other as we continue to support our many missions. Stay healthy and stay safe.
Semper vigilans,
Colonel McClure
June 6, 2020
Alaskan CAP Members,
I hope this 76th anniversary of Operation Overlord (aka "D-Day") finds you and yours happy and healthy, and enjoying our Alaskan summer. We should take a moment to reflect on the sacrifices made by those who came before us, and honor their service by focusing ourselves on our continuing missions that support our community, state and nation:
I am pleased to announce that our wing has been approved for Phase 1 Remobilization. Now it is time, with diligence and deliberate risk management, for us to get back to some of those activities that have been on hold.
In short, we as a wing may now:
- Continue to execute mission-essential activities as in Phase 0
- Resume meetings and training activities (< 4 hours induration) for select low-risk personnel. Self-identified low-risk category members may return to meetings as long as groups are less than 10, social distancing and wearing cloth face coverings are in effect, hygiene/health status checks through questions and temperature checks are performed, and public health reminders are in place.
- Conduct the following aviation activities; all single pilot proficiency flights, flight evaluations, 2-person crew training and proficiency, dual instruction (assuming all members are low-risk and all flight operations are in low-risk areas), and cadet flight training. The following flight activities are not allowed at this time: cadet orientation flights and all non-essential flights with a crew of 3 or more.
- Plan for Phase 2 single-day events with less than 50 members and Phase 3 events (Larger, single-day activities will only be allowed in Phase 2, and overnight activities will not be permitted until Phase 3. Meanwhile, wing members can begin their planning in anticipation of future entry into those phases.
Your health and welfare are my paramount concern, and if conditions change I will direct a regression to Phase 0, if warranted. I ask everyone to read the attached documents. Many thanks to Senior Goedert and the COVID Planning Team for pulling this all together:
- CDC Posters, Guidance and Reminders
If you have questions, I encourage you to reach out to your unit leadership and if you can't resolve it, please contact Lt Col Porter, 907-717-9184, 341570@akwg.cap.
I appreciate all you are doing to support our CAP missions and look forward to seeing you back in the field!
Semper vigilans,
Colonel McClure
May 27, 2020
An opportunity for our members:
From: Hazeltine, Richard A Maj
Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2020 1:52:04 PM
To: Col Virginia Nelson
Cc: Margeson, Robert J Cap
Subject: Virtual TLC Basic in Nevada next month
Hi there,
I wanted you folks to know that we are planning a TLC Basic course over 2 Saturday mornings. 0900-1300 each day on Saturday 06 JUN and 13 JUN.
Any members you know of can register for free at this link: https://www.eventbrite.
Feel free to post the link where your members can see it.
Thank you!
v/r
Maj Richard Hazeltine, CAP
Nevada Wing Vice Commander
May 19, 2020
This email is being sent on behalf of Maj Gen Mark E. Smith:
Fellow Command Council Members –
There are a number of topics that I would like to chat with you about today. First, I am excited to see us at the point where wings are able to develop regeneration plans as their state-specific circumstances allow. This past week saw our first two wings receive approval for their Phase I plans: Montana and West Virginia Wings are approved to move to Phase I. Additional wings in our first group of beta testers include Idaho, North Carolina, and Hawaii, all of whom are actively working on their plans. Feedback from these wings has been valuable and has helped us to improve the checklists and templates that are posted on our remobilization website: https://www.gocivilairpatrol.
Next, let’s talk about the National Conference scheduled for 14-15 August in Louisville, KY. I held off for as long as possible in making a Go/No-Go decision to see how the COVID-19 would evolve across the United States. Bottom line is that I do not have confidence that the COVID-19 situation will be behind us to the point where we can reasonably safeguard our members’ health at a large, in-person conference. As a result, we will present a virtual conference to our membership. We have seen exciting and robust capabilities offered for virtual conferences. I am convinced that we can offer an exciting and engaging event that even more of our members can enjoy than we would garner in a normal, in-person event. We would like to stay with the originally scheduled dates, but we will take enough time to work through the details to ensure we put on a first-rate event. That might result in our need to slip the date a bit. I will keep you posted.
So, what about the Summer Command Council meeting? We will do a virtual meeting, and you will help me to shape what it looks like. We can and will throw the traditional approach to the meeting out the window since we won’t be conducting it in-person all day the day before the conference. We can do any number of things that we just haven’t had the flexibility to do before. We have the chance to make it no-kidding engaging and fulfilling for all of us while still enabling you to perform your role of assisting me in matters pertinent to the organization. Expect me to send you a survey to help gather your ideas on what the meeting should look like.
Here’s a good news story. One of the recommendations for the Working Group tackling how to reduce the burden on squadron commanders was for us to develop a national calendar on when various reports and actions are due. IT has built it, and it will go live on May 26th. This feature builds on existing capabilities to allow national deadlines/due dates to be set up in an eServices calendar. Notifications will be sent automatically to commanders when the event is entered into the calendar and via an end of month report detailing all events due within the following 45 days.
Finally, here’s an item that I really need your help with. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about our starting the process to fill a CAP Board of Governors (BOG) Member at Large position. Closeout date for self-nominations is 31 May. I’ll put it this way, we have not set the world on fire with a flood of highly qualified candidates for the position. So, please help me out on this. The four CAP BOG Members at Large positions are absolutely critical to the success of both the BOG and to CAP, and it’s imperative that we come up with especially strong candidates. I’ll wager that you know someone in your wing or region who would do a very good job of selfless service as a member of the BOG. Please talk with the person and help to convince her or him to get a nomination package in before the deadline.
That’s plenty for now. Be well. Be safe. Be strong.
ms
Major General Mark E. Smith, CAP
Chief Executive Officer/National Commander
(C) 505.710.4380
U.S. Air Force Auxiliary
May 12, 2020
This email is being sent on behalf of Maj Gen Mark E. Smith:
Fellow Command Council Members,
I have a number of things to share with you today. The biggie is the long-awaited CAP remobilization plan (memo attached). I’ve been talking about this for a while. We took the federal three-phased approach and “CAP-ized” it. We are in Phase Zero at present. You will see the guidelines to be followed in developing wing-level plans for national review/approval by a team lead by Gen Phelka. We engaged a handful of wings early, those that looked closest to being able to ease restrictions, to jump start the process. You will have seen an invitation to a Command Council + Friends meeting Thursday evening/afternoon. Hard to cover all time zones without impacting day job schedules for our out-west folks. Sorry. Please make sure that you have good representation at the meeting. It’ll be recorded for those who miss it.
Next, you will see a memo that addresses nuances for updating CAP driving privileges during COVID-19 restrictions. There’s a wonderful attachment that provides by-state details on getting license renew also extensions. Great job by the LG Team.
Finally, you will see a copy of an email that John Desmarais will send to the DO community across CAP. In Moose’s words, “The FAA has issued a Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) providing regulatory relief to persons that have been unable to comply with specific FAA requirements due to COVID-19 impacts.” Good info for our pilot community.
Let me close with a personal note. This has been a long, hard road we have been traveling. Many states are easing restrictions and I am sure that we are all itching to get out and get on with life. However,please be safe in taking care of yourself and your loved ones. While performing our CAP leadership duties let’s remember that our primary imperative is safeguarding our members. Help me so that we, as an organization, can keep our collective eye on the ball as we maneuver through the ups and downs of easing out of COVID-19 restrictions.
Thanks for what you continue to do. And be well. Be safe. Be strong.
Major General Mark E. Smith, CAP
Chief Executive Officer/National Commander
CAP/CC Memo re COVID-19 Driving Privilege Renewal
CAP/CC COVID-19 Remobilization of Membership
CAP/DO Email on SFAR Implementation
May 7, 2020
Latest update regarding COVID-19 from NHQ: CAPR 60-1 Waiver Memo and Memo for Updated Travel, Meeting, and Mission Guidance.
April 29, 2020
The Civil Air Patrol Education and Training program is undergoing an incredible transformation with the roll-out of the Civil Air Patrol Volunteer University. A crucial aspect of this new program is filling the ranks of instructors who will be facilitating the updated curriculum in both a Face-to-Face (onsite) and Online learning environment(s). If you are interested in joining the team, and helping to take CAP Education and Training into the future, please complete the application below. I know we have many talented members in our organization and I look forward to seeing your wing lead the nation with the roll-out of this much needed program enhancement.
April 21, 2020
Alaska Wing, please read the NHQ's memo on Aircraft Engine Preservation Flights during COVID-19 Limited Operations.
April 17, 2020
Alaska Wing, please read the National Commander's Letter on COVID-19 RM for Multi-Day Training Activities and his email to the commanders below:
This email is being sent on behalf of Maj Gen Mark E. Smith
Fellow Command Council Members,
Attached is a memo that will soon be sent to commanders at all echelons as well as directors of summertime cadet activities. On April 6th Cadet Programs met with me and the Command Team to brief me on the criteria and timelines they proposed to use in making go/no-go decisions for upcoming National Cadet Special Activities. I approved their proposal and tasked them to detail their process in writing so it could be disseminated to you for your use at the wing and region levels. The process, coordinated with Safety, Operations, and others, allows for a thoughtful examination of factors that can help us come to wise decisions on whether to continue with, cancel, reschedule, or move a summertime cadet activity. Please take this guidance to heart and make wise decisions.
I ask you for one other thing. In the early days of the growing COVID-19 pandemic I asked region commanders to inform me of what events at wing and region level were being cancelled. Of course, the answer soon became “everything.” At this juncture, what I ask is that you – wing commanders and region commanders – inform me of what events you still plan to conduct. I do not care to micromanage, but I do want to be aware so that I can consider how risk management is being handled across the entire organization.
Thank you for your proactive, positive leadership during these challenging times.
ms
Major General Mark E. Smith, CAP
Chief Executive Officer/National Commander
April 14, 2020
Commanders, please pass on to you members. The attached letters should be in vehicles book for reference, CAP Vehicle Mishap Procedures Under COVID-19 and Message to Command Council.
April 10, 2020
Alaska Wing, please be aware of the 2020 Alaska Wing Strat Plan and 2020 Pacific Region Objectives & Commander's Intent - Alaska.
April 7, 2020
Alaska Wing, attached is the latest Mission Essential Operations Only during Coronavirus COVID-19 memo from NHQ.
April 5, 2020
Attached is a letter from Gen Smith to CAPR 39-1 (Uniform Regulation), additional temporary waivers have been made.
Col Kevin McClure, CAP
April 4, 2020
Alaska Wing, the following is the new information from NHQ: National Command Team Drop-In Meeting Requests, Cadet Training and Orientation Flights Memo, 190-1 PA Plan Submission Deadline Extension.
April 3, 2020
Commanders and staff, attached is a new CAPP 80-4. Please pass on to your unit members.
