Loudermilk Leads CAP Disaster Relief Team

CARTERSVILLE –The storms that ripped through Bartow, Floyd and Polk counties on Saturday damaged hundreds of homes, some of which were totally destroyed. Citizens within the storm’s path were left with a desperate need for emergency supplies, but many of the roads leading into the disaster area were impassable, leaving citizens stranded.

The Emergency Management Agencies in all three counties were quick to respond and each efficiently coordinated their local emergency relief efforts. Bartow County EMA director, Johnny Payne, was quick to assess the vastness of the damage in Bartow and called upon the local Civil Air Patrol to assist in getting emergency supplies to citizens in the disaster area.

Civil Air Patrol Senior Member, Hayden Collins of the Bartow Squadron took the leading role and began organizing a disaster relief team to get the supplies to those who needed them. State Representative Barry Loudermilk, who is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the Civil Air Patrol and a certified search and rescue Ground Team Leader, was contacted by Collins and asked to lead a disaster relief mission to deliver emergency relief supplies. Collins and Loudermilk organized a disaster relief ground team comprised of CAP members from the Bartow and Rome CAP Squadrons. Lt. Col Barry Loudermilk and sons, 2Lt Travis Loudermilk and Cadet 2Lt Michael Loudermilk of the Rome Composite Squadron, joined forces with Cadet 2Lt Dwayne Collins, Cadet 2Lt Zane Collins, Cadet CMSgt Blake Collins and Cadet MSgt Cory Collins of the Bartow Squadron to get relief supplies into the disaster area.

Supplies such as water, tarps, roofing nails, rope and other essentials, donated by Home Depot and Euharlee Baptist Church, were delivered to the Euharlee Fire Station which served as the mobile incident command post for the operation.

The CAP team launched multiple missions (sorties) into the disaster area from around 4:30pm until after midnight. Around 9:30pm Capt. Phil Boylan and Senior Member Sara Rutten, of Rome Squadron, and Capt. Don Colson and Cadet TSgt Catherine Colson, of Bartow Squadron, joined the ground team to assist.

Civil Air Patrol aircrews were also alerted to provide aerial reconnaissance of the disaster area, but weather kept all aircraft grounded until early Sunday morning.  Two air crews were airborne early on Sunday, photographing the disaster area for Bartow EMA officials. Aircrews consisted of Mission Pilots Capt. Brian Starr and Maj. Tom Cavanelli; Mission Observers in the aircraft were Maj. Keith Walker, 1Lt Don Hamrick; and Mission Scanners, 1Lt Stephan Cavarra, 1Lt Link Panettiere.

 “Every CAP team member worked with the utmost professionalism during the mission,” stated Loudermilk. “I was very impressed with the efficiency of the Bartow EMA and our first responders. It is common for our teams to respond to mission base and wait around for a couple of hours before being dispatched; however, within fifteen minutes of arriving at mission base, we were being sent into the field.”

The Civil Air Patrol, which operates its national headquarters at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama and State Headquarters at Dobbins ARB in Marietta, is the civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force. CAP is a volunteer organization which provides critical emergency services such as search and rescue, disaster relief, and humanitarian assistance at the national, state and local levels. Civil Air Patrol air and ground teams perform approximately ninety-one percent of inland search and rescue missions for missing aircraft tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center.

Loudermilk initially joined the Civil Air Patrol in 1986 while he was serving in the United States Air Force. He and all five members of his family rejoined the CAP in 2005. Each of them is certified as a ground search and rescue team member, and Rep. Loudermilk is also a search and rescue air crew member and a CAP pilot.

The Civil Air Patrol, Georgia Wing operates active local squadrons at the airports in Cartersville, Rome and Calhoun. For more information about Civil Air Patrol visit www.cap.gov

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