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Senior Members Needed for Hawk Mountain Ranger School

January 6, 2020

From MSgt Kris Matthews

Illinois Wing Seniors, 

The last two summers ILWG has had a larger presence at Hawk Mountain Ranger School.  Last year transporting 7 members & gear required a 7-passenger van and a 13-passenger van, both filled to the brim.

Since I'm planning on attending as staff, I offer a ride to the activity for cadets that want to go.  Last year we ran into an issue with driver availability, as SMSgt Perham was the only other senior attending.  This put only one driver per vehicle, and meant we had to make extended stops, nearly missing the deadline to report in.

I'd like to start building up a group of seniors to go this year as students, enabling us to take more cadets and assign more drivers per vehicle. Seniors have multiple opportunities to serve or train at this activity.  The basic senior course is good for those with limited experience with ground search and rescue, while the team commander course is geared towards those who are training for or qualified as ground team leaders.  There are communications courses, medical courses, and incident command courses as well.  There are also support staff functions seniors can fill such as food services.

For ANYONE interested in attending the Hawk Mountain Ranger School this summer, please sign up on the interest form:

https://forms.gle/BL8Ztin8rA3UPSGw7

This isn't a commitment to go, just getting names for potential drivers, passengers, etc to plan our transportation.  ILWG has had growing numbers at this activity and I want to make sure we enable as many to attend as possible by removing obstacles.

Please note: 

- signing up on the Google form is NOT the same as signing up for Hawk Mountain.  The Google form is simply to form an initial headcount for how many vehicles we may need.  If you want to attend, you MUST sign up via eServices like any other NCSA.  Your local chain of command can assist you if you haven't done this before.  

- The HMRS website is www.capranger.organd there are descriptions for each course along with a packing list, event cost, etc.  The biggest barriers to cadet entry are having attended a basic encampment (you must have graduated encampment prior to HMRS start date, go ahead and sign up on the google form and contact me if you want to apply but can’t yet) and getting the required gear (triple check the packing list).

- Transportation costs: in 2019 we used unit funds to cover fuel and camped on the way there and back.  This was pretty complex and we will probably need to use more vehicles this year.  No decision has been made yet, but plan on paying a certain amount of cash to cover travel/fuel/lodging/etc.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Tagged As: Cadet Program

For More Information:

KRIS C. MATTHEWS, MSgt, CAP

Bravo Flight Chief (Red Brick School)

Scott Composite Squadron

C: 662-934-2943

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