174th Attack Wing hosts Civil Air Patrol Domestic Response Exercise and Emergency Services Training Academy

DVIDS – News – 174th Attack Wing hosts Civil Air Patrol Domestic Response Exercise and Emergency Services Training Academy

174th Attack Wing hosts Civil Air Patrol Domestic Response Exercise and Emergency Services Training Academy

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES

06.29.2026

Story by Tech. Sgt. Alexander Rector 

174th Attack Wing

(SYRACUSE, NY) – The 174th Attack Wing of the New York Air National Guard, headquartered at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, hosted a regional training exercise June 24 – 26, 2026 for the United States Civil Air Patrol (CAP), the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force

The exercise, which was planned and led by Civil Air Patrol’s Northeast Region, saw participation from more than 20 CAP Wings across multiple regions

“This is a very large-scale exercise,” said Lt. Col. David Samuel, the director of operations for Civil Air Patrol’s Northeast Region. “It takes a really dedicated team of volunteers to make it work.”

During the exercise participating Wings were tasked to perform domestic response tasks and operations they could be called on to complete while performing civil support operations

“This is essentially an airborne photography exercise, so the output, the end product is going to be aerial photography and pictures that we’re taking,” said Samuel. “But the real, the real thing we want to train and practice, is the coordination between the Wings. That’s what’s really important to us, because most Wings train on their own, it’s rare that they train across state lines, so this exercise kind of forces that collaboration.”

During the exercise, CAP members were tasked with operating out of their normal areas of responsibility to test their effectiveness in unfamiliar environments. “We had a team of probably 20 mission pilots across the region that were each tasked with picking out targets outside of their home Wings,” said Samuel. “It gets people out of their comfort zones, it gets the Wings out of their silos, and it ensures that in the event of a real-world emergency, we’d be able to respond quickly, and we’d be able to work well together.”

CAP’s Northeast Region is composed of more than 9,000 members from the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania

“The overarching goal of this exercise is to prepare for disaster relief missions that we would typically get from FEMA.” said Samuel. “During hurricane season, which we’re in now, a large-scale disaster could impact multiple Northeast region states. So, FEMA would typically come to us and would task us with airborne photography to do disaster recovery and damage assessment. So, while we, while we’re able to respond within our region, we want to practice working outside our region as well.”

Running concurrent with the exercise was the Northeast Region’s Emergency Services Academy where 23 CAP members worked on earning a variety of CAP certifications across three different education tracks; the air track, the ground track, and the drone track

“This is all under our emergency services mission,” said Civil Air Patrol Lt. Col. Candi Jones, the Northeast Region’s emergency services training officer

During the academy, six of the region’s nine states were represented; Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Vermont

“Our goal is to help our community, state, and nation,” said Jones. “We have such a robust program here that other states have all started to come to the Northeast Region so that they can help participate and make a difference, but the end goal is to have more trained personnel.”

Participating in the academy was a mix of adult senior members and youth members in the organization’s cadet program

“The academy I’m currently going through is focused on the science behind working with people in leadership,” said Cadet Lt. Col. Corrine Taylor, a member of CAP’s Putnam County Composite Squadron. “It talks about organizational behavior and why people perform the way they do in certain work environments, as well as team environments.”

During the academy, Taylor completed her ground team leader certification, enabling her to lead ground search and rescue teams in the field

A CAP ground team leader is charged with leading a team of at least four individuals out on search and rescue missions. A search and rescue team could be mobilized to look for a downed aircraft, a missing hiker, or any other missing individual

“The role of a ground team leader is to make sure the team is fully prepared and ready to go out and all their gear is good to go,” said Taylor. They’re well rested enough to go out and perform these searches. Additionally, I’m helping make sure that they’re taking care of themselves, handling all the paperwork, and making sure the team is on task and doing what needs to be done.”

The Civil Air Patrol is the official auxiliary of the United States Air Force. Founded in 1941, CAP’s three mission areas are disaster relief, search and rescue, and aerospace education. CAP has more than 65,000 volunteer members across the country

The 174th Attack Wing is one of 5 Wings that comprise the New York Air National Guard. Headquartered at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, NY, the Wing’s primary mission if to operate the MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft

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