Which way?

Knowing how to read a map is important, especially so for members of the Civil Air Patrol. After all, there aren’t any street signs in the sky.

At the Saline County Composite Squadron in Marshall, aerial map reading lessons are usually conducted by Maj. Mark Butner, himself a long-time pilot. Butner uses the lesson times to give the cadets practical information that they will be able to use  when the squadron is called into action.

These skills will be critical because CAP flies more than 85 percent of all federal inland search-and-rescue missions directed by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. CAP crews are also called into action during natural disasters, providing air and ground transportation and an extensive communications network.

You can see more pictures from this exercise here.