Oklahoma Civil Air Patrol Hosts Winter Training Exercise In Yukon

The men and women who play a critical, but often unnoticed role, in search and rescue missions in Oklahoma are going through a full-scale training exercise this weekend. They're practicing emergency responses in winter conditions.

Saturday, February 8th 2014, 7:58 pm

By: News 9


The men and women who play a critical, but often unnoticed role, in search and rescue missions in Oklahoma are going through a full-scale training exercise this weekend. They're practicing emergency responses in winter conditions.

The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is holding a training exercise at the Sundance airport so that they're ready when the time comes for an emergency. CAP members roll out one of their airplanes, checking it over to make sure it's ready for the next flight. They're training for the next emergency in Oklahoma.

"We broke a record in October. We actually did five separate missions in less than 48-hours," said CAP Capt. Rick Rutledge.

From missing persons' cases to narcotics surveillance to natural disasters like wildfires and tornados, the CAP responds.

"I mean every mission is different. There's always stuff that comes up and there's things that happen during the mission that changes how you're going to get the job done," Rutledge said.

Crews have to be ready when they're called in. They donate their time to maintain aircraft provided by the Air Force and stay up-to-date with the latest ground search technology. Today they're practicing with new GPS capabilities to direct resources to an emergency scene.

"You're going to make a left here then you're going to go down to miles then you're gonna make a right and let me know when you're there."

Each of these men and women are volunteers, using off time from their day jobs to serve Oklahoma.

"It's just because it's the right thing to do. It's an opportunity for us to escape from our regular day jobs and go give back."

Two of the CAP airplanes are based at Sundance. Several other ones are all across the state, so they're ready to respond anywhere when an emergency happens.

The Civil Air Patrol accepts volunteers for the cadet program at age 12. They need more men and women to sign up so they can be ready to respond to any event.

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