Alex Adams
Homeland Security since 9/11/01
A Civil Air Patrol C-172 performing Photo Reconnaissance Flights of Ground Zero. Photographer unknown
According to David North, “Civil Air Patrol aircraft were some of the first non-military aircraft to operate over Manhattan following the lifting of the ban installed immediately after Sept. 11, 2001. The organization performed 564 hr. of transportation, reconnaissance and airborne imagery missions in the New York area. This picture of the World Trade Center disaster site was captured by CAP volunteers during a video support mission.” Photo-Recon missions of Ground Zero provided detailed analysis of the wreckage and aided in recovery efforts.Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Civil Air Patrol is spending more time and money honing its skills for homeland security missions. This signals a return to the role that initiated the volunteer organization. One of its first uses was to search the Atlantic coast for German submarines at the outset of World War II in December 1941. In the past 62 years, the nonprofit organization has grown in the type of missions flown and in the number of aircraft and volunteers. By incorporating updated technology into newer aircrafts they now have the ability to focus attention towards homeland security. Congress recently appropriated $6 million for CAP to acquire hyperspectral-imaging equipment. Unfortunately this sensor technology will only work in the daytime and will not detect objects underwater, underground, or buried in snow.
North, D. 2004. Civil Air Patrol expands mission. Aviation Week & Space Technology 160(1): 52-53.
Wikipedia link
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11%2C_2001_Attack
By Alexandra Adams
Homeland Security since 9/11/01
A Civil Air Patrol C-172 performing Photo Reconnaissance Flights of Ground Zero. Photographer unknown
According to David North, “Civil Air Patrol aircraft were some of the first non-military aircraft to operate over Manhattan following the lifting of the ban installed immediately after Sept. 11, 2001. The organization performed 564 hr. of transportation, reconnaissance and airborne imagery missions in the New York area. This picture of the World Trade Center disaster site was captured by CAP volunteers during a video support mission.” Photo-Recon missions of Ground Zero provided detailed analysis of the wreckage and aided in recovery efforts.Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Civil Air Patrol is spending more time and money honing its skills for homeland security missions. This signals a return to the role that initiated the volunteer organization. One of its first uses was to search the Atlantic coast for German submarines at the outset of World War II in December 1941. In the past 62 years, the nonprofit organization has grown in the type of missions flown and in the number of aircraft and volunteers. By incorporating updated technology into newer aircrafts they now have the ability to focus attention towards homeland security. Congress recently appropriated $6 million for CAP to acquire hyperspectral-imaging equipment. Unfortunately this sensor technology will only work in the daytime and will not detect objects underwater, underground, or buried in snow.
North, D. 2004. Civil Air Patrol expands mission. Aviation Week & Space Technology 160(1): 52-53.
Wikipedia link
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11%2C_2001_Attack
By Alexandra Adams