Marc Stanley, 2d Lt., CAP
1st Lt. Scott McKnight recently completed the search management course offered by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC). This course is periodically taught in different regions of the country by Dan Conley, search and rescue program manager for the AFRCC at Tyndall AFB. It has been designed for experienced emergency services personnel; the goal is to train CAP incident command staff how to plan and execute a search. A real benefit of these sessions is that they provide important opportunities for networking.
The course attended by 1st Lt. McKnight was held over 2 days at the headquarters of the Vanderburgh County Emergency Management Agency in Evansville, IN. A majority of the students were members of the Indiana Wing of CAP; there were also some local government personnel in attendance.
On the first day the curriculum included an overview of AFRCC along with a discussion of mission types, SAR resources, mission coordination and ELT's. Also discussed was the imminent changeover of ELT transmission frequencies from 121.5 to 406 MHZ.
On the second day the class was broken down into teams each with its own incident commander. 1st Lt. McKnight assumed charge of his group which simulated a search taking into consideration the roles played by CAP, AFRCC, as well as local, state and other federal agencies.
1st Lt. McKnight is concerned that we be prepared for potential problems that could arise as a result of the upcoming ELT frequency changes.
