Four members of the Peachtree City-Falcon Field Composite Squadron were recently decorated for finding a downed aircraft. On Saturday, April 28, 2007, while preparing to participate in a statewide practice search and rescue exercise, these members scrambled on an actual mission to locate a missing aircraft. They found the downed aircraft with only minimal information as to its route of flight.

Squadron members Lt. Col. Greg Clasen, Maj. Brett Slagle, Maj. Thomas McBroom, and 1st Lt. Bob Johnson were decorated with the CAP Find Ribbon given for “making a find (distress or non-distress) on a search and rescue mission.” Former squadron member 1st Lt. Sam Levie, now serving on the Georgia Wing Headquarters staff, also received a Find Ribbon award for this mission.

Squadron members train almost constantly to be prepared to locate downed aircraft and aircrew in distress. One method of training is participation in a multi-squadron practice exercise operated by the CAP state organization, Georgia Wing. Just such an exercise was planned for April 28 in Columbus, Ga. Local squadron members departed Peachtree City early that morning and set out for a day of training and operational practice with members from across the state. Then, duty called – an actual aircraft was missing and its possible route of flight was across northern Georgia. Peachtree City-Falcon Field Squadron members promptly dispatched to the search area in two aircraft.

At about 2:46 p.m. on April 28, one of these search aircraft visually located the downed aircraft on a ridge near Dawsonville, Ga. Quickly, the other aircraft was on station to assist in coordinating ground search teams and radio traffic. Unfortunately, the pilot of the downed aircraft was deceased. The NTSB investigation of the cause of the crash is currently in progress.

Although intending to practice, the Peachtree City-Falcon Field Squadron achieved many goals through actual real world service.

Civil Air Patrol is the official U.S. Air Force Auxiliary. It performs more than 85 percent of the search and rescue missions assigned by the Air Force’s Rescue Coordination Center. More information on the Civil Air Patrol and the Peachtree City – Falcon Field Composite Squadron can be found at www.gawg.cap.gov/GA116.