Portland air patrol tapped for security Teams to prepare for reconnaissance

PORTLAND – The Portland-based squadron of the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary/Civil Air Patrol has formed “Rapid Response Teams” to assist in homeland security.

Individual teams will be on call 24 hours a day for two-week periods and will be prepared to respond within an hour of activation for reconnaissance and other activities.

The teams were formed at the request of Maj. Gen. Richard Bowling, the national Civil Air Patrol commander. Within the next few months, similar response teams will likely be established at other selected units in the state and nationwide.

The Portland squadron, commanded by Maj. Chris Hayden of Cape Elizabeth, has two single-engine aircraft, a Cessna 172 and Cessna 182, based at Portland International Jetport.

The planes are equipped with advanced navigational gear and search-and-rescue equipment not normally found on similar aircraft, said Capt. Jeff Weinstein of Yarmouth, public affairs officer for the 135-member squadron.

“What we’re trying to do now is to substantially reduce the response time,” Weinstein said. Squadron members who are on call would have to be near a telephone, cell phone or pager at all times and have a “ready bag” containing personal effects and flight-related items such as charts and navigational aids, he said.

The Civil Air Patrol has a total of eight planes scattered statewide. Although locations occasionally change, the planes are usually based in Portland, Augusta, Bangor, Bar Harbor and Eastport, Weinstein said.

Nationally, he said, the Civil Air Patrol constitutes “the sixth-largest air force in the world.”

Established more than 60 years ago, the Civil Air Patrol had not been used to counter any direct threat to the United States since its members flew reconnaissance over coastal waters during World War II for signs of enemy submarines.

Over the years, the Civil Air Patrol’s mission has focused in large part on search and rescue. Most recently, its pilots were assigned to help in finding remains from the crash of the space shuttle Columbia in east Texas.

While fishermen and truckers have been urged to keep their eyes peeled for suspicious activities after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Weinstein said, the Civil Air Patrol’s role goes a lot further.

“It’s more than that. This is a substantially well-organized, fixed entity,” he said. “We’re right out there in terms of having visibility.”