Editor's note: This is the first of a proposed multi-part series. The Hawk Mountain Ranger Training Facility is a legendary place among members of the Civil Air Patrol, especially among Cadets. It has been in existence for nearly fifty years and proudly claims to be the "oldest continually run school of search and rescue" in the country. However, Hawk is as infamous as it is famous. CadetStuff.org, with the full cooperation of the Pennsylvania Wing and the staff of Hawk Mountain Summer School is going to try to lift the veil and separate the myth from the reality that is Hawk Mountain...

Hawk Mountain Ranger Staff training is a tradition that has been around for many years. Of course, as everything does, there have been changes; some for the worse and some for the better. In past years Hawk Mountain Staff Training was eight weekends of training, seven at Hawk Mountain (or some other outdoor field environment), and one at Fort Indiantown Gap (FIG).

This year the schedule has been altered a bit to make room for the first PA Wing Joint Staff Training. The basic arrangements of the training are as follows: four weekends of joint training at FIG, and four additional weekends specifically for Hawk Mountain Staff Candidates, held at Hawk Mountain. All cadets wishing to staff PA Wing Encampment, Cadet Leadership School (CLS) and Hawk Mountain are required to attend the first four weekends at FIG.

Weekends one through four (which are held about every other weekend) are packed full of leadership training. Skills such as leading a team, motivation, working with large groups of students, personal management, and team building are among the many things taught. We try to create many new ways to teach the students, we try to have them out of the classroom as much as possible, doing hands on exercises.

The students are required to give everything they have during all the weekends. They are given homework assignments, and have a responsibility to advance in grade during the training. The training is very demanding and time consuming; you have to be dedicated to complete it.

The students are constantly evaluated. We look for students that stand out: Do they go out of their way to help others? Are they motivated? Are they willing to try? Do they have knowledge and skills to get the job done?

Selecting staff for Hawk Mountain is similar to selecting staff for other activities like encampment: you look for persons with strong leadership traits. The difference between Hawk Mountain and others is the environment. Encampment is a local, controlled environment. Hawk Mountain is a large site and we are in the woods for the duration of the school; you never know what the day could bring. We look for cadets that can think outside the box, cadets that can make good, quick judgments while keeping safety and survival in mind.

A good staff cadet wants to learn more and do more and be better than they were a week ago. They want to be the best and are willing to do what they must to be the best at what they do. A staff cadet knows what he or she wants and is willing to work to get it. A good staff cadet takes the Ranger Creed to heart and believes what it says and lives to meet what it asks them to do. They believe that "these things we do so that others may live" means that they realize they have to train and be better and faster and smarter because someone else will depend on them in their hour of need.

As a staff cadet there are certain traditions that we take pride in, things such as our scarves, belts, and keystone covers. There is the "Curse of the Mountain", and memorials of the staff cadets that came before us, the memories of how the mountain used to be five years ago, ten years ago, or even twenty for some. These traditions are important to us and we want them to be important to the new staff as well; they will be taught all of them as they become the advanced staff.

For some being on Hawk Staff is just another activity, but for most it becomes part of your life, something you will never forget, the memories of the time you spent on the mountain are some of the best times of your life, and the friends you have met there will be friends for life.

Thanks to Capt H. Weiss (Expert #203), 1Lt N. Walters (Advanced Ranger), C/Lt Col E. Wirth (Expert #208/School Commander), C/1Lt J. Blumenfield (Orange Scarf/Basic Commander), C/1Lt K. Cressman (Orange Scarf/Basic XO) for your input.