Civil Air Patrol cadets train for dangerous situations

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - When a missing hiker needs to be located or people in a downed aircraft need rescued, the U.S. Civil Air Patrol takes action.

Cadets with the U.S. Civil Air Patrol specialize in air and ground searches. In order to become good at what they do, those cadets must train. That's exactly what they did Sunday at the Purdue University Airport.

Lieutenant Tim Curtin said putting cadets in real-life situations prepares them for potential emergencies.

"We conduct search and rescue, counter drug missions, reconnaissance for Homeland Security. It's unique in that we have both cadets ages 12 to 18 who are trained, as well as senior members who are 18 and older," said Curtin.

Curtin said Sunday's training mission involved a missing hiker search and rescuing people from a downed aircraft. He said part of training the Civil Air Patrol included partnering with other agencies.

"Today is the first time we've operated with the TEMA MOC as a joint venture. We are looking to see how we can operate together and inter operate during actual disasters," said Curtin.

Pilot of the mission training plane Jeremy Hostetler has been flying a plane for 16 years. He said his job in Sunday's mission training was to fly the plane safely.

"For me as a mission pilot, my responsibility is to fly the airplane and look for air traffic so the observer and scanner that are flying with me can do their job safely," said Hostetler.

Lieutenant Curtin said mission training takes weeks of planning. He said the planning is worth the pay off. That pay off means more cadets prepared to handle dangerous situations.