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The Ramstein Cadet Squadron from the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary Civil Air Patrol hosted the sole international encampment on Ramstein Air Base recently.
Six instructors and 27 cadets learned discipline, physical fitness, aerospace principles and survival skills during the immersive eight-day training and camping trip.
Participants from Germany’s Ramstein Air Base, Spangdahlem Air Base, U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart, U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden, and England’s Royal Air Force Mildenhall attended the international encampment. Volunteer instructors from the Civil Air Patrol and the Kaiserslautern Military Community facilitated the international encampment.
The 435th Air Ground Operations Wing provided the training facilities, to include the classrooms, tents and dining facilities. The 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing provided a tour of their facilities and instructed cadets on mobility capabilities.
Personnel from Landstuhl Regional Medical Center conducted woodland training and emergency self-aid, while volunteers from the 86th Airlift Wing taught aerospace education lessons and provided transportation across the area.
U.S. Air Force Col. Michael Rawls, 435th AGOW and 435th Air Expeditionary Wing commander, conducted a formal pass and review to the facility host and review official.
“I am incredibly impressed how much the cadets learned in a week,” Rawls said, after the cadets completed a formal pass and review. “They rivaled the quality of active-duty members.”
U.S. Air Force Maj. Michael Livesay, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary Civil Air Patrol Ramstein Cadet Squadron encampment commander, presented awards to the top performers for the third year in a row.
“(The encampment is) one of the defining moments in a cadet’s career, whether it is the first time they are away from home or the first time they command a flight,” Livesay said. “This program helps young men and women grow and challenge themselves.”
Encampment is a required part of the Civil Air Patrol cadet program and allows cadets to progress to the senior leadership ranks. Cadets who complete an encampment are eligible to return to instruct junior cadets in future years. Civil Air Patrol host encampments in every U.S. state annually.
“Civil Air Patrol is a great organization,” Rawls noted. “It gives volunteers an opportunity to get involved and serve others.”
Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 60,000 members nationwide, operating a fleet of 550 aircraft. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs about 85 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 70 lives annually. Its unpaid professionals also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 25,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet programs. The Ramstein Cadet Squadron manages flights at USAG Wiesbaden and USAG Stuttgart. CAP also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. For more information, visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com or www. capvolunteernow.com.
