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Winter Hawk 2003: Return to the Land of the Orange Hats!Shawn Stanford |
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"Welcome to Winter Hawk," PAWG's Major Bill Gibbons said from beneath his orange hat. "As you can see, the snow arrived right on schedule." True enough. Several inches of new snow had fallen less than forty-eight hours before. It still hadn't been cleared off the small, county roads that lead out to Pennsylvania Wing's Hawk Mountain Ranger Training Facility. In fact, the roads were so bad that the van full of folks from Hazelton Composite Squadron 203 was unable to make it to the top of the ridge on the approach from the west. Instead, they were offloaded and brought into Hawk by a four-wheel drive Suburban. Their van, driven while wearing an orange hat by squadron commander Capt. Bret Stemrich, was beginning a graceful pirouette in the road when he was met by the four-vehicle convoy made up of Squadron 209 and Capt. Dan Brodsky and his two Cadets from NYWG (neither of whom were wearing orange hats). "We got this far up the hill and that was it," Capt. Stemrich explained, his orange hat grimacing in frustration.
(We apologize for the stuff about the orange hats. Those responsible have been sacked. - Ed.) Hawk Base The parking lot at Hawk was as full as it has been for a Winter School in the last five years - an excellent turnout considering the expected weather. Clearly, CadetStuff.org's last visit to Winter Hawk had encouraged maximum attendence!
(We apologise again for the stuff about the orange hats. Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked, have been sacked. - Ed.) It was after formation and the safety brief that Maj. Bill Gibbons, who was again the gentle shepherd for Squadron Echo - the Special Advanced students - gathered his flock for his opening remarks. Special Advanced this year consisted of C/SMSgt Anthony Umfer - of CadetLife fame, PAWG; C/Capt Kim Sorber, PAWG; C/Lt Col 'Skip' Schwartz, NJWG; 1Lt Anthony Tartalone, PAWG; Capt George Wardly, NJWG; Capt Mike Kelly, NYWG; Capt Dan Brodsky - CadetStuff moderator and returning Winter School veteran, NYWG; and Capt Shawn Stanford, PAWG. "Welcome to Winter Hawk," Maj. Gibbons said. "As you can see, the snow arrived right on schedule." Maj Gibbons then went into his own welcoming talk for the members of Squadron Echo, explaining that as Special Advanced students they would mostly keep their own schedule and make their own curriculum decisions. He demonstrated this independence immediately by giving Echo the power to decide on their own if they were going to carry full packs or day gear up to Three Pipes. "I'll always vote for traveling light," I ventured. There was a general sense of agreement from the others. "Well," Maj. Gibbons said. "Let's consider the example we need to set, as team leaders, for our people." "Hey," Capt. Brodsky volunteered. "Based on last year, I only brought a full pack. So, no matter what, I'm bringing everything." "So I guess we're going with full gear," someone else ventured. "Let's get our gear and get going," Maj Gibbons said, by way of confirmation. One of the nicest things to note was that last year's CadetStuff representatives were remembered fondly by Maj. Gibbons. During his opening talk he pointed out that sometimes people come to Special Advanced and find out that they weren't quite in as good shape as they thought they were. CadetStuff.org: setting the standard by which others are measured! Our first stopping point would be the Pavillion, although anyone who's been to Hawk knows that it ceased to be a real pavillion many years ago. It was now little more than a vaugely pavilion-shaped pile of wood. Be that as it may, it was our first stop and we made it in good time. The Pavilion At the Pavilion, Echo caught and overtook several of the basic squadrons, who were busy splitting up the gear of one of their members who'd already died on the walk from Hawk Base (all of a kilometer or so). I was on-hand with my digital camera, photographing the grisly scene:
(Okay, they're just pix of people hanging around. But you have to admit you took a look at them to see what was going on! - Ed.) "Your next target is N 40°36'42.0", W 75°57'45.0"," Maj Gibbons announced after Echo arrived at the Pavillion. With computer-like speed, the coordinates were keyed into the GPS units two members were carrying and a bearing-to-target appeared. Off Echo went! Cadets Umfer and Schwartz set a blistering pace and shot a course up the hill to Three Pipes that was dead on the money. After three kilometers across country negotiating fields of the dreaded Mountain Laurel along the way, the target bearing only ever varied by five degrees. Deer Sign
He went on to explain how to recognize deer tracks and how to know which direction the deer was going, as well as to judge its size. "Part of earning a Black Belt (Expert Ranger qualification. - Ed.) is a knowing how to track, trap and snare." He made sure to discuss the way the look of footprints changed as a track aged, because that had bearing on other ground missions, such as a missing persons search. Later, Echo would come across an area where several deer had bedded down for the night, leaving clear impressions of their bodies in the foot-deep snow. Maj. Gibbons explained that if a site like this is left alone, the deer might return and could then be hunted more easily.
Although the thickets of Mountain Laurel were an obstacle and were difficult to negotiate, the true horror of the Special Advanced route to Three Pipes was only just beginning. At this point the bearing lead up a wide, rocky draw. It was here that things started to get dicey for some of the members of Squadron Echo. Cadets Umfer and Schwartz continued to forge ahead at a killer pace; a pace which couldn't be matched by everyone in the squadron. Before long, Maj. Gibbons called ahead to have the two slow down. But even slowing down wasn't enough for some, and it wasn't an option for others... An Interlude It was at this point that I stopped and leaned over to rest; my thighs were on fire. I also felt compelled to look back down hill at the half of the team coming up behind me and to announce loudly, "Okay, this officially sucks!" I didn't hear any arguments... Later, Cadet Sorber said, "I didn't think I could make it up that hill. But every time I looked up you were still going. So I said if he can keep going, so can I!" Behold: the power of teamwork and the fear of getting left in the dust by a guy more than twice your age (and wearing an orange hat)... Lunch It was a short time later that Maj. Gibbons gathered his flock and announced lunch. Squadron Echo stopped in place on the side of the draw and dropped their packs, pulling out lunch. Maj. Gibbons fired up a small stove and explained the importance of eating a hot meal whenever it was available in these conditions.
A short time later Echo packed up and pulled out. "We're making really good time," I remarked to Maj. Gibbons. "Much better than last year, I think." "Well, there were a couple people last year I didn't think would make it," he replied. "Wasn't that one guy with you active duty army?" "Well, yeah," I replied. "But that was like ten years ago. Things start to go south if you don't stay on top of them. Why did you assume he was still active?" "Well, he had all the gear and it all fit, so I thought..." Maj. Gibbons shrugged. CadetStuff.org: Even after the horror is over, the memory lingers on! Three Pipes Finally, Squadron Echo crested a last rise and found themselves on the trail a hundred meters or so below Three Pipes. Moving up the trail, Echo passed the medics working on a Cadet in the middle of the trail. At Three Pipes itself (So-called because of the three big pipes, remember? - Ed), Echo found several groups already present, including Squadrons Sierra - the Senior squadron, Alpha - the Advanced students and Bravo - one of the three Basic squadrons. Sierra Squadron had finished tagging the marker and were on their way back to Hawk Base down the trail. Alpha was also mounted up and on their way out.
"I broke three already," he said when asked how his group was doing. "One with asthma, one with a twisted ankle and the other I don't remember. But they're mostly doing all right." "That one with the bad ankle doesn't have an orange hat," Capt Graves continued. "So we're sizing him up for lunch. He's got a nice pair of drumsticks and he'll look good with an apple in his mouth..." (The people hired to continue this article after the other people had been sacked, wish it to be known that they have just been sacked. This article has been completed in an entirely different style at great expense and at the last minute. - Ed.) Bravo was busy at this point gathering wood for the fire they would use for their lunch. "Get going!" one of their instructors urged them. "You need wood to have a hot meal!" "Actually, you need fire to have a hot meal," one wag from Echo pointed out. "A pile of wood isn't going to do you any good if you don't set it on fire." I took the opportunity of the break in the action and the large number of groups in the area to run around and take some snap shots. If you were there, you might be here (The full size images are in the neighborhood of 150k each. - Ed.):
After spending a few minutes at Three Pipes shaking hands and kissing babies, Squadron Echo saddled up to return down the mountain and eventually to their camp site. Maj. Gibbons decided to be generous, and Echo set off down the trail. The Pavilion (redux) "Okay," Maj. Gibbons said to the team, once Echo had gathered around him again at the Pavillion. "We're Special Advanced, so we need to put on a good show and march in out of the woods rather than coming up the road. Somebody get out a compass..." Camp After a stop at Hawk Base to exchange or supplement gear, Echo arrived uphill at their camp site. "At least three field expedient shelters," Maj. Gibbons ordered. "You don't have to sleep in them, but you have to make them. When you're done putting up your shelter, it's time to gather wood." Before long, the make-shift shelters were up and the tents were pitched and Echo was scrabbling around pulling wood out from under the snow. A fire circle was cleared and shortly a fire was crackling merrily.
And was restarted... And it went out... After the fourth attempt to get a fire going using natural elements and a match or two (and magnesium shavings and lint and...): Capt. Wardly said, "Here, let me dump some Sterno on it." And shortly a fire was crackling merrily. At this point several people added: "Something to start a fire" to their list of stuff for next year's Winter Hawk. The word 'road flare' was heard more than once... The fire going and the fire wood collected, Echo started eating. "What happened to that English guy you had with you last year?" Maj. Gibbons asked. "He got deported for contributing to the delinquency of minors," I joked. Maj. Gibbons didn't seem surprised. "Too bad, he was funny," he said. About halfway through the meal, Maj. Gibbons radio crackled to life and a request came from Hawk Base that everyone on the mountain blow their whistles. In a moment or two, everyone was. A few minutes later, the order came through to stop and almost immediately, Capt. Graves wandered in to Echo's camp site from up the hill. "Thanks for the whistles! We were on that ridgeline and we were already past you." He turned back up hill, "Guide in on this fire!" And before long, Squadron Bravo emerged from the inky blackness looking much the worse for the wear. "Somebody gave us the wrong bearing from Three Pipes," Capt. Graves said. "If we hadn't heard you we'd be halfway to Allentown by now." Bravo set up camp about one hundred meters across the slope from Echo, which proved to be a Good Thing... When someone mentioned a fire watch, A valiant effort was again to talk Maj. Gibbons into letting Echo extinquish the fire completely and skip firewatch. However, the Boss vetoed that idea and pointed out that even if it wasn't the popular option, it was a good way to make sure everyone was okay during the night. A compromise was reached and Squadron Echo would share Squadron Bravo's fire a hundred meters or so down hill. At least there'd be someone else gathering wood! That being said, and dinner being over, Squadron Echo set up a firewatch list and turned in for the night at the eye-poppingly late hour of 2130... Fire Watch I awoke to Cadet Sorber calling his my. "Your turn for fire watch, sir." "Captain! I'll give you a dollar if you'll take my shift." "No sir!" she replied. "Two dollars?" I pleaded. The only answer was the sound of the zipper on Cadet Sorber's tent as she climbed in. This left me to face the greatest challenge of any winter activity: leaving the warmth of the sleeping bag. I steeled myself for a few moments, then emerged into the blistering cold and pulled on my 'bear suit' and boots and trudged toward Bravo's fire. Arriving at Bravo's fire, I was greeted by the sound of a battery-powered air pump coming from a large tent set a short distance from the fire. In a few moments, Capt. Graves' emerged and told his XO, "The air matress is full. I think we can start cooking now."
"Veggies and French Onion dip?" he asked me, offering a plate with sliced vegetables and a container of dip. The wings and steaks were done shortly and these were also shared by the good captain, who clearly knew how to camp in style. A Cadet approached with a used MRE heater. "Sir, should this go on the fire?" "Will it burn?" Capt. Graves asked. "Uh, yes sir. But it has magnesium in it." "Then it ought to burn pretty well. What's my motto?" "If it will burn, it goes on the fire, sir." "That's right - so throw it on," Capt. Graves instructed. The Cadet did as ordered and as the fire took it the magnesium burned off into a shower of tiny sparks that sprayed out a few inches from the heater itself. "Ooh! A fireworks show!" Capt. Graves said. Shortly afterward, the Bravo firewatch woke up their relief. At this point a rather forlorn and cold looking Cadet limped up to the fire. He was clearly having a little trouble with his boots: he had managed to get a foot into one but it wasn't flexing as he walked. The other foot was only into the throat of the boot. "Sir, my boot is frozen. I can't get my foot into it," the Cadet said in a pathetic voice. Capt. Graves replied in a rather kindly tone, with a hint of admonishment: "Did you put them into the bottom of your sleeping bag like the staff told you to?" "No sir. They were wet and I didn't want them in my sleeping bag." "Well, if you had, you'd be able to get your feet into them. The staff doesn't tell you to do things just because. You see that now, right?" The Cadet nodded. "All right, Cadet. Take your boots off and put them near the fire. Sit down and keep an eye on them while they thaw. Okay?" "Yes sir." At then end of my firewatch, I returned to the shelter of my sleeping bag. But I did wake up several times during the night, a little too cold for comfort despite being cocooned into a Hollofil sleeping bag lined with a fleece sleeping bag. It was shaping up to be a truly frigid night out. The next morning...
It turned out that Winter Hawk 2003 precisely coincided with the two coldest days in February - now that's planning! The temperature overnight was in the low single digits, perhaps as low as zero. Nobody was happy about having to get out of their sleeping bag for any reason and some weren't happy about being in them. However, nobody in Echo suffered too greatly during the night. Or did they?
I took that opening to talk about how wonderful field-expedient shelters were. Since mine didn't have a side it was a simple matter to roll to the edge of the shelter, unzip my sleeping bag half way and let 'things' end up off the ground pad and safely into the snow. "I got out of that sleeping bag exactly once: for fire watch!" I crowed. Capt. Brodsky, the other man in my shelter, was brought face-to-face with the horrible truth in those statements while taking down our shelter. "Well, I guess I believe you now," he said, looking down at the snow. As horrible as it was, this wasn't the worst event involving 'calls of nature': there was a HAZMAT-level incident in another squadron when someone in a tent full of people - not his own tent - decided to stand in the doorway of the tent and go instead of stepping out to a safe distance. Unfortunately, this Cadet was clearly not the expert that I am and he misjudged the distance or the angle and ended up testing the waterproof integrity of the tent itself. Eww... Low-angle Rescue Site After breakfast and breaking camp, Echo returned to Hawk Base to fetch the equipment for the low-angle rescue rig.
There was an interesting discussion of the incident a few years ago that resulted in a Hawk Staffer losing a part of one finger and breaking a couple more when a rope 'blew up'. Some Staffers were pulling a leaning tree down and mismatched their pull with the sway of the tree they were pulling. This overstressed the rope and when it broke the energy traveled down and impacted the first thing it hit, which happened to be the hand of the man at the front of the haul team. Maj. Gibbons equated it to the energy of a large firework going off in his hand... This was meant to show the importance of not overstressing your rope (critical when using a force-multiplying haul rig) and of using devices such as Prussiks, which not only provide a braking effect but will also absorb the energy of a breaking rope. The lesson done and the morning almost over, Squadron Echo broke down the system and returned to Hawk Base. The Chapel Echo was done ahead of most of the groups and there was some time before final formation. Maj. Gibbons gave Echo time to shed their gear, grab a hotdog and visit the Hawk Store while he made sure the completion certificates were complete and correct. After a little while, he gathered Echo at the Chapel just up trail from Hawk Base. Last year, Maj. Gibbons shared some of the Secrets of Hawk Mountain. This year, he outdid himself talking about the goals of Hawk Mountain and the Ranger Program. In the course of a half-hour discussion, with the other groups busy on all sides of Echo, Maj. Gibbons explained the following: The day-to-day close supervision at Hawk is provided mostly by the Cadet staff. The Seniors are there for support, guidance and continuity, but Summer and Winter Schools are Cadet run. This provides the "real life" leadership laboratory for Cadets to practice and hone their skills; a lot like encampment. The schools themselves are set up to be progressively more challenging, but not in the way you might think. The Basics at Summer and Winter concentrate on very low-level tasks; Maj. Gibbons called it "learning how not to die". They are supervised very closely by the Cadet staff. The challenges for the basics are largely physical: the hiking, the staying at a comfortable body temperature, staying hydrated and nourished. Each school, or level of school, builds on the one before. Each rewards the student with more autonomy than they had before, but the challenges are also greater. The tasks become increasingly complicated. These high-level activities may not be as physically demanding - or the students are more adjusted to physical demands, but the demands on their thinking and problem-solving abilities increase. They have to be able to correctly complete tasks on their own with little supervision. For a school like Winter Hawk Special Advanced, the challenge is to identify what skills need to be sharpened and concentrate effort there. For example, the low-angle rescue is something that most Special Advanced students have seen, but not had much time setting up or considering how and when to use it. At that level of school, that's the challenge. The Hawk curriculum is very mature and is in written form. It has been refined over the years so that anyone who has completed the training can pick up the instructor materials and immediately begin to teach. This provides continuity and consistency for the students. This is very important because the Cadet staff does most of the training and their is a lot of turnover there from year to year. Maj. Gibbons finished up his talk by asking that everyone at Special Advanced seriously consider coming back and serving as a member of Hawk Staff. In the end, that's the goal for every Basic student that comes to the Mountain for the first time: to look forward to serving on Staff. This is because while the Basic Schools and Advanced Schools teach survival and SAR skills, the real learning - both of SAR and leadership - happens for Hawk Staff. Members of Staff attend many training weekends throughout the year. These weekends are critical because they allow new Staff members to learn how the culture of Hawk; how the program runs, how the teaching is provided, SAR tips and tricks to pass along, even obvious stuff like where things are in the training area. This is on top of the leadership and advanced SAR and survival techniques that every staffer has to know in order to pass it along. In the end, the SAR skills learned are not likely to ever be put into practice. The SAR optempo simply isn't there. What Hawk truly wants to teach is self-reliance, decision making, how to apply yourself and learn, how to set and reach goals, how to be a part of a team and how to teach, assist, nurture and lead others. These are are the real goals of the Hawk Mountain program. I can't speak for everyone in Echo, but I left our little chat with Maj. Gibbons with a renewed excitement about Hawk and a determination to join the Staff. Hasta la Vista, Baby!
Squadron Echo shook hands and exchanged contact information and I managed to unload a few Special Limited Edition spacedog "Got Hawk?" t-shirts - with the eager help of Cadet Umfer. And before long we had our trash packed and we were on the road. So, CadetStuff.org bid goodbye after another successful weekend conquering Hawk Mountain. Once again, the only casualties were the feelings of those with too-thin skin (and one non-Orange-hatted Cadet who either "just wandered off" or "was delicious" depending on who you asked).
Thanks also to the Majors Gibbons and the rest of the Hawk Staff for an enjoyable, educational and challenging weekend. Hooah! Cue the music and the closing credits; I'm outta here! See you next year, kids! |
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Work over the weekend was going to keep Capt. Stemrich from enjoying the orange hat paradise that is Hawk Mountain and he was just was on his way back to his squadron, but he graciously agreed to lead the two front-wheel drive vehicles in the 209 convoy around to the east entrance. Having stopped and lost their momentum, they were now done going up the mountain as well. The all-wheel drive Subaru and Saturn continued on to Hawk as an 'advance guard' and to demonstrate the Beauty of All Wheel Drive - and orange hats. Yeah, baby!
The nine o'clock formation went off right on schedule at ten o'clock. The training squadrons marched onto the snow-covered parade deck - one Cadet falling flat on his back rounding the corner in the parking lot, his orange hat leaping clear at the last second. The Cadet commander, Cadet Lt Col Beth Wirth, received the report from the squadron commanders. The colors were raised and the school commander, Major Hugo Ficca - wearing the dashing orange hat known far and wide as the chapeau l'orange, welcomed the students and gave his opening remarks. Here, presented in its entirety, is the opening speech by Major Ficca: "I'm Major Hugo Ficca, commander. Welcome to Winter School East. Squadron commanders, take charge."
"Always keep in mind," she concluded, "that safety is paramount and that everyone who came will be going home, but only if you have an orange hat. Those without orange hats will be left for dead or, in a real emergency, eaten by Ranger Staff." Throughout her talk, an orange hat was perched firmly atop her head as a reminder that there was only One True Headcover, and that He was Orange. "Orange hats forever!" She cried, raising her right fist in the Orange Power Salute. The members of the school circle deafeningly answered in unison, "Orange! Orange! Give me orange or give me death!"
"I hate being a girl in the winter," Cadet Sorber complained. "You have to get everything cold just to pee. I made sure I only went once last night."
Shortly after, it was time for closing formation. Maj. Ficca had the colors lowered Cadet Lt Col Wirth dismissed the Cadets and that was it for Winter Hawk 2003.
Here's the tally, straight from Hawk Staff: 152 people total (100 students and 52 staff), 18 PAWG squadrons were represented, as well as NY, NJ, MD, SC, CT, and MI wings.
I'd like to thank Dan and his Cadets - Andrew Harris and Nick Engle - for coming and it was also nice to run into El Jimbo - a forums lizard - and his fellow Cadets from my original squadron Stratford Eagles Composite Squadron in CTWG. Thanks for making the trip out, guys!
Capt. Shawn Stanford is a long-time Civil Air Patrol member and is (as of this writing) a squadron commander in PAWG. He was a Cadet in Stratford Eagles Squadron during the Lessard era and an office pogue in the Marine Corps. He has a wife, a son and two daughters and, as one of the founders of CadetStuff.org, he is allowed to write his own bio.