Civil Air Patrol, North Carolina Wing

 

* A flight simulator

 

* Radio controlled airplane simulators

 

* Displays of radio controlled airplanes and model rockets

 

* Gear used for search and rescue

 

* The North Carolina Wing Recruiting display – brought through by 2d Lt Dawn Stange, North Carolina Wing Director of Recruiting and Retention

 

* Generous contributions of light refreshments from parents of cadet members of the squadron

 

The evening was well received by attendees, and also drew attention from reporters from local media – so far 2 very positive articles have appeared in the Greenville press - http://www.reflector.com/Crime-and-Rescue/2016/09/28/Cadets-learn-leadership-aviation-and-community-service-in-Civil-Air-Patrol.html, and http://www.witn.com/content/news/Civil-Air-Patrol-Cadets-show-off-their-expertise-during-open-house-395039931.html.

 

Approximately 10 parents of cadets supported the Open House, and were on hand talking to prospective members about the great experiences their children have had in the cadet program. Sonya Wells, mother of C/Amn Hunter Dawson Wells, describes the CAP cadet program as “an awesome program.” She went on to say she likes how it “teaches leadership, discipline and all aspects of flight training.”

 

Cadets were involved in showing off the emergency services display, and various flight simulators, and also enjoyed sharing their experiences in Civil Air Patrol with visitors. C/MSgt Benjamin David Michael said he was “excited to see the effects of this open house - because having more cadets and senior members will allow us to teach more people, serve more people, and do more fun things.” C/CMSgt Morgan Glosson says: “I am personally excited to see CAP, especially our squadron, grow.” He went on to describe CAP as “an incredible opportunity for youth to grow and advance in a structured setting that will assist in their future. I am also excited to see new cadets that I can pour wisdom and knowledge into and personally have an impact on their education and training for the future.” C/SSgt Joshua Stange, one of the cadets visiting from the Franklin County Squadron, describes the Civil Air Patrol cadet program as “a great opportunity in many aspects for youth across the nation."

 

2d Lt Dawn Stange, North Carolina Wing Director of Recruiting and Retention, said that she was “very excited that Pitt Greenville invited us back to help with recruitment,” and said further that “Pitt Greenville put on a great open house!” Maj Dave Nelson said, “It’s great to be able to showcase the program to the community. Once people have the opportunity to see what we do and meet the members, we have a great track record of converting visitors into active members. The time and effort spent to put this together really reflects in the success of the open house. I’m very proud of the squadron and what we accomplish here and it’s great to be able to present it to the community.”

 

Capt Brian J. Hecker, Deputy Commander for Seniors, complimented the Open House organizer, 2d Lt Rimmer on the evening, saying “Lt Rimmer did an outstanding job at getting this function planned.” He also expressed appreciation to the parents of cadets who “made very important before, during and after contributions.” He also appreciated the contributions of 2d Lt Stange and her 2 cadets, describing their contribution as “large” and said too that he “had comments from parents as they were leaving as to how impressive her guys were as well as our cadets when they spoke to the visitors. One mom said she was glad to see youths speaking as professionals. What a compliment for the Cadets.”

 

The Recruiting Officer and organizer of the Open House, 2d Lt Robert Rimmer, described it as an “awesome evening” and said “we have an awesome squadron, they always rise to the occasion.” Capt Rick Jones, Pitt-Greenville Composite Squadron Commander, echoed his sentiments, and said “Everyone really pulled together from start to cleanup.”