23 June 2008

CIVIL AIR PATROL ESCORTS
U.S. CONGRESSMAN ACROSS IOWA

Congressman Steve King points out an area that he'd like to fly over to Captain Kim Kirschman and Crawford County Engineer Paul Assman.   Photo by: Capt Christopher Colvin.

'I'd have to rate today a ten on a scale from one to ten,' said U.S. Congressman Steve King. 'The Civil Air Patrol was able to take us to all of the places we wanted to go and make it count.'

For the second time in a week, members of the Iowa Wing were asked to transport a high-ranking government official across the state to view areas devastated by the recent floods and tornados. Last week U.S. Senators Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley visited several cities and met with local townspeople affected by the floods.

After seeing Crawford County and the surrounding areas by air Crawford County Engineer, Paul Assman, remarked, 'Not only did this aircrew come on short notice, they delivered what we needed and more. I have a better appreciation for the flood control efforts put forth because of CAP'

Colonel Ronald Scheitzach, Wing Commander, stated, 'it is a privilege to provide these gentlemen with a perspective that allows them to personally experience first hand the devastation across our State.'

The Iowa Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with over 340 officers and cadets across the state. Resources include qualified ground and aircrews, CAP aircraft, ground vehicles and communication equipment, distributed across the state for rapid deployment. CAP volunteers also performs homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies.

For more information about the Iowa Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, please contact the Iowa Wing Director of Public Affairs, Captain Christopher Colvin. He can be reached at pa@iawg.cap.gov