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Squadron Leadership School held in St. Mary's

Participants from Maryland and National Capitol Wings

By Maj. David W. Dove, CAP
Course Director

1/30/2012–FREDERICK, MD–Fourteen members of the Civil Air Patrol from both Maryland and National Capitol Wings graduated from a Squadron Leadership School (SLS) held at the Frederick County Law Enforcement Center on January 14 and 15.

The course, hosted by Maryland Wing’s Group 1 and presented by Frederick Composite Squadron, was attended by Civil Air Patrol (CAP) members from all three groups within Maryland Wing, along with one member from the National Capitol Wing.

The SLS course, directed by Maj. David Dove of Frederick Composite Squadron, was designed to instruct members about the squadron and their roles as squadron staff. Classes included professional development, squadron operations, leadership, creative thinking, and communication. In addition to the normal course curriculum, the students and staff all enjoyed a lunch at a local restaurant, which provided for networking and bonding outside the classroom environment.

Graduates of the course include:

Lt. Col. Robert Deifel (Frederick Composite Squadron)
Lt. Col. Michael McEleney (Bethesda-Chevy Chase Composite Squadron)
1st Lt. Joseph Manning (Carroll Composite Squadron)
1st Lt. Ferman Travers (College Park Composite Squadron)
2nd Lt. Kristen Lehman (Frederick Composite Squadron)
2nd Lt. Laurence Martinez (Frederick Composite Squadron)
2nd Lt. Douglas Rhodes (Apollo I Composite Squadron)
2nd Lt. Richard Rudnicki (Charles County Composite Squadron)
2nd Lt. Robert Thompson (College Park Composite Squadron)
2nd Lt. Susan Valett (Apollo I Composite Squadron)
Sr. Member Sara Dillier (Bethesda-Chevy Chase Composite Squadron)
Sr. Member Walt Edwards (Arundel Composite Squadron)
Sr. Member Aaron Newman (Arlington Composite Squadron)
Sr. Member Melvin Schall (Frederick Composite Squadron)

The instructors were:
Maj. Mark Piersall (Frederick Composite Squadron)
1st Lt. Aaron Horton (Frederick Composite Squadron)
2nd Lt. Gene Olinger (Frederick Composite Squadron)

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 61,000 members nationwide. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 113 lives in fiscal year 2010. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the more than 26,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for 69 years. It is the largest sponsor annually of Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. For more information on the Civil Air Patrol, visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com or www.capvolunteernow.com.

There are more than 1,500 members of CAP in Maryland. Last fiscal year wing members flew 42 search and rescue missions and were credited with 31 finds. For more information about the Maryland Wing CAP, visit www.mdcap.org.