St. Mary’s County Squadron Civil Air Patrol (CAP) member Capt. Ron Glockner, far right, flew relief supplies to North and South Carolina after Hurricane Florence blew through causing wide-spread flooding and power outages. Glockner is joined by fellow CAP members (left to right): Maj. Derek Rustvold, 1st Lt. Mike Heuss, and 2nd Lt. Devtulya Kavathekar. Glockner’s day job is the Test and Evaluation lead for the Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Office, located at Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Md. (Photo courtesy Maj. Derek Rustvold, CAP)
NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – When Hurricane Florence hit the Carolinas several weeks ago, one NAVAIR employee immediately took to the skies to lend a hand.
Ron Glockner, the Test and Evaluation lead for Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (PMA-263), flew relief supplies to cities throughout North and South Carolina with Maryland’s Civil Air Patrol (CAP).
“I flew a Maryland Wing, CAP-owned Gippsland GA8 Airvan, delivering supplies to Columbia, South Carolina and to several locations throughout North Carolina, including Wilmington, Kingston, Burlington, Raleigh-Durham, Pinehurst and Charlotte,” Glockner said. “Supplies included MREs, cots, bottled water, life jackets and communications equipment.”
Glockner said more than 75 members from the Maryland Wing provided support to the Air Force, Army, Federal Emergency Management Agency, North Carolina Department of Emergency Management, and other federal, state and local governments. Ground crews supported operations at points of distribution, where the public had access to meals, clean water and tarps. Aircrews supported search and rescue operations, damage assessment flights, and delivery of disaster relief supplies.
As a member of the St. Mary’s County squadron since 1998, Glockner has conducted searches for emergency locator transmitters (from boats and aircraft); participated in missing person searches and missing aircraft searches in Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia; and supported two flooding-related disaster relief missions in South Carolina.
Supplies are loaded into the Civil Air Patrol Gippsland GA8 Airvan that was being flown to North and South Carolina immediately after Hurricane Florence providing everything from food and cots, to bottled water and communications equipment. (Photo courtesy Capt. Ron Glockner, CAP)
He has accumulated more than 800 flight hours with the CAP.
“Not only do we conduct 90 percent of inland search and rescues in the U.S., but the cadet programs provide excellent opportunities for members who are 12 to 20 years old, especially in the areas of leadership and aerospace education,” said Glockner, CAP mission pilot. “CAP provides me with an opportunity to give back to the community, while advocating benefits of the armed services to future aviators. Another bonus is the ability to provide cadet orientation flights in some really nice aircraft, equipped with the latest in avionics.”
CAP is congressionally chartered nonprofit organization and performs services for the federal government as the official civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force and for states and local communities. It is made up of eight geographic regions consisting of 52 wings (the 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia) and is a strategic partner of the Air Force, serving as a member of its Total Force. CAP has three primary missions — Emergency Services, Cadet Programs and Aerospace Education.
The St. Mary’s County squadron meets every Wednesday at 7 p.m., at the St. Mary’s County Airport, large terminal building, 44200 Airport Rd., California, MD 20619. More info can be found at www.gocivilairpatrol.com.