Hawaii Wing Civil Air Patrol to conduct emergency services training

KAPOLEI — Dec. 7 is a day of somber commemoration for Hawaii, with ceremonies and parades occurring throughout the day.

This year, cadet youth and adult volunteers from several squadrons of Hawaii Wing Civil Air Patrol will gather at John Rogers Field, also known as Kalaeloa Airport and the host site for Hawaii Wing’s West Oahu Composite Squadron, for their own commemoration of the attack on Pearl Harbor. For Hawaii Wing, however, it will also be a day of preparation.

Civil Air Patrol has three missions — cadet programs, aerospace education and emergency services.

The training on Dec. 7 will focus on emergency services preparation. Hawaii Wing’s primary emergency response focus is its lifesaving tsunami warning mission. During such a mission, CAP air crews take to the skies over remote coastal areas not serviced by Civil Defense warning sirens. The pilot and crew use aircraft-mounted warning sirens and microphones to warn people of an approaching destructive wave or waves.

In addition to its vital tsunami warning mission, Hawaii Wing is routinely involved with searching for distress beacons such as those found on aircraft and boats, or carried by hikers. CAP members training on Dec. 7 will hone mapping skills, do communications exercises, and practice using emergency locator transmitter direction finders.