By Charlotte Oliver, Community News Service
Two cadets opened their mouths like letter Os as they walked toward the helicopter cockpit. The pair — sisters Abigail and Shoshanna Coover from Maine — played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would go first. The younger girl won and climbed in while the other peeked her head through the doorway as the two geeked out in shy whispers.
It was their second time in a Black Hawk and their second time at an encampment for the cadet program of the Civil Air Patrol, a civilian auxiliary to the U.S. Air Force made up of 65,000 volunteers. The federally-funded aviation group undertakes search and rescue missions, helps humanitarian efforts after disasters and collects data from the skies for emergency management agencies.
Camps are held across the U.S. every summer, gathering cadets from within and outside the host states. This year’s Vermont encampment was a weeklong overnight retreat hosted at the Waterbury Armory July 14-21.
The camps are designed to put kids in a military-like environment while teaching them about aviation, leadership, discipline, and community. The around 75 cadets who attended the Waterbury program ranged in age from 12 to 19 and came from all over the country, one from as far as New Mexico.
The sisters gawking at the helicopter were two of nine cadets on the group’s visit to a Vermont Army National Guard compound in South Burlington last Tuesday. Cadets filed into the front hallway of a hangar and gathered around cardboard boxes filled with their freeze-dried lunches, the same service members eat in training camp.
“Does anyone have a beef patty?” asked one cadet, shouting out as the group buzzed around the room trading food.
Upstairs Cadet Aden Kushman ripped open his brown plastic bag to find “recovery beef jerky,” Italian sausage and trail mix.
They munched on M&Ms and the smell of baked beans grew as kids listened to Vermont Army National Guard Col. Doran Metzger, director of aviation and safety, present on how Black Hawk helicopters are used.
The ones in South Burlington are all used for medical evacuation. In Vermont, crews fly them to rescue injured hikers, search for people missing in the backcountry and transport people during natural disasters.
Civil Air Patrol cadets and members can assist with rescue missions once they complete training and turn 18. The cadet program gives young people a path to getting a private pilot license, getting into an ROTC program, or going to a military academy after high school, said Cadet James Probolus of Connecticut.
“What we learn isn’t just useful for the military, it's useful for the real world,” Probolus said. Not all kids want a future in aviation or the military, he said. Some just see the Civil Air Patrol as an opportunity to learn new things and become a leader.
The camp is led by cadets who have done the encampments before and climbed the ranks. “It’s by cadets for cadets,” said Cadet Ronen Kelly of Maine, a middle schooler who had done one other encampment before. Capt. Michael Bachand, one of the adult senior staff members for the camp and a former cadet, said: “We’re really just here to supervise.”
Cadet Nathanael Conyers, a 17-year-old from Waterbury, described the camp as a “leadership laboratory.” Multiple staff members pointed to Conyers as the real person in charge of the camp. The rising Harwood Union High School senior has done the cadet program since 2021 and he said he hopes to continue his passion for aviation in the U.S. Air Force Academy after graduating.
“It’s this idea of serving your people,” said Conyers, explaining he wants to push other cadets to work as a team. He likes being involved with everyone, he said, rather than “that person nobody sees.”
Organizers were happy to have the old Waterbury Armory for their encampment, Bachand said. The building recently was renovated by the state to be a homeless shelter, designed to sleep 40 to 50 people, but hasn’t been used as one yet.
Last week, cadets settled into the new wooden cubicles with individual bunk spaces outfitted with cots loaned to the camp by the Vermont National Guard. While the temperature reached the high 80s outside, indoors was comfortable with the upgraded HVAC system in use. The facility now has expanded bathrooms and showers and the kitchen has been upgraded.
The Waterbury location served as home base with cadets taking weekday trips, leaving the armory to learn from the pros. On a July 17 visit to the Barre police and fire departments, cadets helped the Red Cross unload flood-relief supplies at the Barre Auditorium set up as a shelter for Vermonters whose homes were damaged by heavy rains this month.
At the National Guard facility in South Burlington, cadets climbed into a Black Hawk for themselves. They oohed and aahed at the seats and panels of buttons on the ceiling. One girl with glasses asked lots of questions: Where would a stretcher be if a patient was loaded on board? What would it be like to treat them?
If she sticks with the Civil Air Patrol, she might find out.
