MORRIS COUNTY — Seventeen year old Mountain Lakes High School student Sloane Liput, who will be a senior next year and hopes to attend West Point, was chosen to attend the prestigious Hawk Mountain Ranger Training School in Kempton, Pennsylvania. Ms. Liput is a member of the Picatinny Squadron of Civil Air Patrol, United States Air Force Auxiliary where she holds the rank of Cadet Master Sergeant.
Hawk Mountain Ranger School is the longest running Search & Rescue School in the nation. For over 60 years, the school has provided some of the best wilderness SAR training throughout the country. Courses include leadership training, compass and map reading, shelter construction, basic first aid, inland search and rescue, wilderness survival, and rigorous physical obstacle course exercises. To be qualified for the school an applicant must meet strict requirements that include physical conditioning and specialized classroom and practical skills. This year 140 teenagers from across the United States are participating in the nine day course.
The Picatinny Composite Squadron NJ-093 of the New Jersey Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, the nation’s official United States Air Force Auxiliary, celebrates 45 years of service this year.
During the past 45 years the New Jersey Squadron has helped locate lost hikers, tracked down and recovered missing planes, ferried sick children for specialized hospital treatment, and trained hundreds of young men and women in military customs and courtesies, powered and glider flight, aerospace history and the basics of flight, emergency services, and search and rescue.
Like its predecessors, today’s Picatinny Squadron is providing young people with the opportunity to experience flying, receive STEM training in aerospace, cyber-security, and scientific advancements, as well as supporting the community in Northern New Jersey with search and rescue and emergency service preparedness.
The national organization of Civil Air Patrol is a congressionally chartered, federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force. CAP has 58,000 adult and youth members nationwide, and maintains more than 500 aircraft throughout the country. In 2014, Congress awarded CAP members who served during World War II with a Congressional Gold Medal recognizing their contributions towards the war effort stateside.
The Picatinny Composite Squadron is part of the CAP Northeast Region, New Jersey Wing. Its members are comprised of adults as well as teens from 13-17 from Morris, Warren and Sussex Counties. The group meets every Tuesday night from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. For more information click here or click here.
