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Maryland members help beautify military installation

Two cadets pick up trash
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Fort McHenry Composite Squadron cadets Earl Watson and Bronte Goldsmith assist at Fort Meade base clean-up. (Photo credit: Capt. Don Ells, CAP)

Members of Groups 2 and 3 have work day at Fort Meade

By Capt. Donald Ells, CAP
Commander, Fort McHenry Composite Squadron

5/3/2010–Fort Meade, MD–Ten members from Groups 2 and 3 of the Civil Air Patrol Maryland Wing recently accompanied the Fort Meade Enlisted Spouses Club with the 2nd annual base clean-up. Members that represented Maryland Wing included the Group 3 commander and members from the Fort McHenry Composite Squadron and the Arundel Composite Squadron. 

Maryland Wing members spent three hours picking up trash and recyclables with members from the local Fort Meade community. They filled a total of 12 trash bags winning first prize for the section of the base they were assigned. The Fort Meade Enlisted Spouses Club presented the Fort McHenry Composite Squadron with a reusable bag filled with planting supplies and seeds which will be used for further community beautification. 

Capt. Donald Ells, commander of the Fort McHenry squadron, said “It was a great day to be outside helping clean-up and help the environment.” The cadets and senior members enjoyed being outdoors and giving back to the local military community. The enthusiasm the cadets showed inspired local members to continue picking up trash longer than they expected. Lt. Col.  Wes LaPre, Group 3 commander, stated “It’s wonderful giving back to the military community that gives so much for the citizens of the United States.” 

This is the first year that Maryland Wing assisted with the annual Fort Meade clean-up. The Fort Meade Enlisted Spouses Club organized the event and supplied water and snacks for volunteers with donations from Picerne Military Housing, United Services Organizations (USO), and Fort Meade Environmental Services. 

Assisting from the Fort McHenry Composite Squadron were Capt. Donald Ells, Capt. Larry Moore, 2nd Lt.  Andrew Wortman, 2nd Lt Joshua Neel, Cadet Airmen Malcolm Scott, Lucas Pattison, Bronte Goldsmith, and Earl Watson; from the Arundel Composite Squadron was Maj. Scott Harris; and Lt. Col. Wes LaPre, Group III Commander. 

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 58,000 members nationwide. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 72 lives in fiscal year 2009. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 23,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for 68 years. 

More than 1,500 members of CAP serve in Maryland. Last fiscal year wing members flew 42 search and rescue missions and were credited with 31 finds. For more information, visit www.mdcap.org.

The Fort McHenry Composite Squadron meets weekly on Tuesday evenings at the  Catonsville Armory, 130 Mellor Avenue in Catonsville.  For more information, visit www.ftmchenrycap.org.