MEETING CANCELED

The regular meeting of the Ascension Composite Squadron, for Monday 15 Feb 2010 had been canceled due to the Mardi Gras Holiday.
Lt.Pike will be at the airport during the regular meeting time and all cadets are invited to come for extra training and to assist with planning for the year.

Upcoming Leadership Academy - Lafayette

Don't forget to register for Academy! The next Academy is scheduled for the weekend of 27 Feb 2010. If you have lost the email, contact Capt Richmond for the information and course listing. This is a great opportunity to get valuable training. Don't be left out.

Welcome new Members

Ascension Composite Squadron would like to welcome the following new members:
- Ms. Brandi Covington as our newest Senior Member. Ms. Covington has joined at the Parent Sponsor Level and is assisting with the Cadet Program.
- Cadet Airman 1st class Conner Berry who is returning to the squadron.
- Cadet Basic Tanner Smith, recruited by Cadet Airman Kelley.
We are pleased to have these new members join us and look forward to getting to know them.

Color Guard off to Competition

Ascension Composite Squadron cadets are scheduled to travel to Barksdale Air force base in Bossier city, Louisiana to complete with squadrons from around the state in the Annual Louisiana Wing Color Guard Competition. This is the first time Ascension has had a color guard in the competition but if they win, they will move on to the Regional and perhaps National competition level. “I don’t know if we will make it that fare this year, beings this is our first competition, but these guys have worked hard to learn the drill and sharpen their skills so we will just have to see,” said Lydia Caillouet Pike, 2Lt and Deputy Commander of the Cadet Program in Ascension Parish. Members of the Color Guard are: C/MSgt My-kel Pardue of Walker, C/A Nicholas Delbasty of Paulina, C/A1C Joseph Phillips of Baton Rouge, C/A1C Chase Blank of Lutcher and alternate C/A1C Codey Pike of Gonzales. Others accompanying them on the trip were: C/AB Merric Brooks of Watson, C/A1C Conner Berry of Prairieville, 2Lt Pike and Squadron Commander, LtCol Phillip Collins.

Ascension Composite Hosts Flight Ops Clinic

Louisiana Regional Airport in Gonzales was a buzz with activity on Saturday morning as 9 Civil Air Patrol aircraft were arriving with members aiming to attend the Flight Ops Clinic hosted by the Civil Air Ascension Composite Squadron. Col. Mickey Marchand and Col. Harry Stafford, both long time members of the Civil Air Patrol and pilots themselves, organized and conducted the clinic with the classroom portion conducted at the Gonzales Public Safety Center and the flight portion out of LA Regional Airport. The clinic was designed to train pilots and none pilots alike, on the procedures and responsibilities of each member of the Flight Crew. Whether mission pilot, Observer or Scanner, all must work together as a team to accomplish the mission. “The Pilot needs to focus on flying the plane; he or she must depend on the Observer who is responsible for navigation and communications and Scanner is responsible for scanning for targets, takes photos, uploads them onto a laptop and keeps a log on photo information. Each person must be well trained to work interchangeably with any other crew member they are teamed up with. According to numerous reports from visitng air crews, Ascension Composite did an all around excellent job.

Promotion Ceremony a big success:

Ascension Composite Squadron proudly announces promotion of five cadets during a special ceremony during our weekly meeting Monday night, 1 Feb 2010, at the Gonzales Public Safety Center.
Those receiving promotions were: David Kelly of Dutchtown, achieving the Maj. Gen. John F Curry award and promoted to the rank of C/Airman; Chase Blank of Lutcher, Joseph Phillips of Denham Springs and Codey Pike of Gonzales, all received the H.H. “Hap” Arnold award and promoted to the rank of C/Airman 1st Class. My-kel Pardue, currently the squadron’s highest ranking cadet, received the Lindbergh award and rank of C/Master Sergeant (pictured), making him a Senior Grade NCO. In order to meet the requirements for these achievements and earn promotions, each cadet must demonstrate a certain level of understanding and display of the core values as well as customs and courtesies. They pass written tests on Leadership and Aerospace education and meet minimum requirements for PT. In return for their hard work and enthusiasm, the cadets go on camping trips, field trips, attend encampments, leadership academies, orientation flights and they participate in emergency service training.