By Eric McCarthy

Perhaps best known for its search-and-rescue efforts, CAP flies more than 85 percent of all federal inland search-and-rescue missions directed by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. (Photo credit: Civil Air Patrol)A couple of weekends ago, my Civil Air Patrol squadron hosted a SAREX/APEX (Search And Rescue EXercise/Airborne Photography EXercise). These events are designed to simulate emergency situations so that CAP members are prepared in the event of an actual emergency, and so that members can acquire the experience needed to serve in various roles. This means that a lot of us participate in ‘trainee’ (t) roles at these exercises.

These exercises require the coordination of lots of members in different roles, many of which are ‘behind-the-scene,’ but crucial to the success of a mission. These unsung heroes make it all possible, working tirelessly to ensure everything is prepared to allow the mission to be completed successfully. Most of these exercises are planned well in advance, but their purpose is to prepare CAP members to be able to deploy at a moments’ notice. In the event of an actual emergency or disaster there won’t be more than a few hours to assemble a team and respond.

I’ve participated in several of these exercises over the years, but I won’t pretend to know all there is to know about the machinations that make an operation successful. I’ll try to ‘lift the curtain’ a little to give you at least some idea of the effort that goes into one of these exercises. 

At the top of the pyramid is the Incident Commander (IC) who will oversee the entire operation; he or she will assemble a team of directors responsible for the smooth running of the various departments and their personnel.