Training In Indiana For Over 600 Volunteers

More than 600 of Civil Air Patrol's citizen volunteers are receiving premier multidisciplinary training over the next two weeks at the National Emergency Services Academy (NESA).

Now in its 14th year, NESA got underway Saturday with two week-long sessions at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center, a 35,000-acre Indiana National Guard facility in Edinburgh, IN. The academy combines task-based training with practical application that has become the standard for CAP wings nationwide.

"It is incredible to see how much NESA and CAP have grown and changed over the last 14 years," said Lt. Col. John Desmarais, NESA's founder and deputy director of operations at Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters. "The first two sessions of NESA held in 1996 and 1997 had less than 100 personnel, including both staff and students, and only focused on ground search and rescue. This year we expect more than 300 personnel each session week, and will have personnel from every state in the nation participating in all of the emergency services mission areas that CAP supports."

NESA consists of three schools - National Ground Search and Rescue School, Incident Command System School and Mission Aircrew School. Each school consists of several courses conducted as one-week sessions focusing on specific skills. A total of 20 courses, including a new basic training session for prospective public information officers, are offered. The public information officers course, like most courses at NESA, is modeled after training provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other emergency response organizations.

National Ground Search and Rescue School provides members the skills they need to expertly perform ground searches for missing people and aircraft. Incident Command System School covers the skills needed for members to be top-notch leaders and staff officers at the incident command post and manage operations involving varying degrees of difficulty. Mission Aircrew School teaches critical skills needed for pilots and other crew members to stay at the top of their game and support some of CAP's primary missions, like conducting airborne reconnaissance and delivering imagery for impact assessment after disasters like the current oil spill response on the Gulf Coast.

CAP performs 90 percent of all inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Tyndall Air Force Base, FL. In fiscal year 2009, CAP was credited with saving 72 lives. To date in fiscal year 2010, CAP has been credited with an additional 97 saves.

"NESA has truly become a role model program for CAP, and showcases the capabilities of our dedicated volunteers to support their communities," said Desmarais.

The academy operates with a staff of about 150. It includes mostly CAP volunteers, complemented by instructors representing various federal, state and local agencies, including CAP-U.S. Air Force reservists who monitor the training to ensure it meets Air Force standards.

FMI: www.gocivilairpatrol.com