Lt Col Long has 19 years experience in CAP, including 5 years as cadet in Alabama Wing. He was a cadet at the Maxwell Composite Squadron, earning his Earhart award in 1991. After time off for college, he rejoined CAP as a senior member in 1996, initially serving as AL-032's Deputy Commander for Cadets. Over the next 10 years, he served in a variety of capacities in the local squadron. In 1998, he joined John Desmarais to create the WESS program, initially serving as the Operations Officer for the program; in 2001, he took over as the Activity Director. He has served on the staff of NESA for 9 years, three of them as a Field Training Advisor for the Advanced School, and the last six as the Ground Search and Rescue School Commandant. He also holds the position of Ground Operations Officer for Alabama Wing. He is currently qualified as a GTM 1,2,3, UDF, GTL, GBD, PSC, MRO, MO, FLM, and CUL.

Lt Col Long's role as the Activity Director provides continuity between programs. He establishes goals for each event and each cycle, and is the main exercise director in the field. He works with the wing operations staff to educate them on the capabilities of the students and graduates, and coordinate mission numbers for the mission participation requirement of the training. With the addition of the Team Leader course, Lt Col Long serves as the chief instructor/evaluator for the members who will lead teams on actual operations. The move to scenario based training was due in large part to his desire to accelerate the experience curve for these members who will not have to wait many years over many actual missions to develop the insights that Lt Col Long has gained over his career in CAP.

Although he went to school at Georgia Tech and Auburn, he was born and raised in Nebraska, and is a lifelong Cornhusker fan.

Lt Col Curry serves the organization both as a volunteer and as a Program Manager for National Special Activities at CAP HQ.

During his volunteer career, he earned the Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award in 1997 as a cadet in Nebraska Wing; and served as a Squadron Deputy Commander, Director of Senior Training, and Director of Cadet Programs in Iowa and Alabama Wings. He has attended 16 encampments and 16 National Special Activities, including the 50th exchange year of the International Air Cadet Exchange in 1996.

Lt Col Curry has been the WESS Operations Officer since moving to Alabama and joining the staff in 2002. A self-described "idea man" his role is to oversee the WESS Operations Plan and infrastructure by arranging classrooms and technical support and helps program the training scenarios.

Lt Col Curry's operational specialties include Ground Branch Director and he has worked on several Presidential Disasters, including the recovery of Space Shuttle Columbia and CAP's hurricane responses in 2003, 2004, and 2005.

Lt Col Curry is originally from Sioux City Iowa, and graduated from the University of Iowa. He pulls for the Hawkeyes every chance he gets.

Captain Sam Ogilvie is an 11 year member of CAP. He spent 4 years as a cadet in the program, earning his Earhart award in 2003. He has been heavily involved in Emergency Services his entire CAP career, gaining his GTM 1/2/3, UDF, GTL, and Mission Scanner rating. Capt. Ogilvie has participated in 7 years at NESA, two years as a student, and five years on staff, most recently serving as a Lead in the basic school.

He has been involved in the WESS program since the 2001-2002 cycle, and has staffed the activity since 2003.  His duties include managing the Team Leaders and the FTAs for the Basic School.  He also works closely with the Basic Training Officer to ensure training objectives are met.

Captain Ogilvie is a firefighter by trade, and he holds certifications as a Hazardous Materials Technician, Fire Instructor I, Fire Fighter I/II Fire Inspector, Technical Rescue, Apparatus Operator Aerial/Pumper and Emergency Medical Technician. Captain Ogilvie brings industry standards for patient packaging and movement; occupational safety and bloodborn pathogens; and support to Emergency Medical Services to our training events.

A eight year member of CAP, Maj. Amanda Anderson is in her seventh year staffing the WESS Cycle. After joining CAP in 2001, she attended the WESS program as a student during the 2001-2002 cycle. After serving as an FTA for two years, she settled on serving as the program's administrative officer. As the administrative officer, she is responsible for all the paperwork and administration of the program. This includes tracking attendance, qualifications, and tracking all tasks for each student during the training cycle. She is the resident "fake blood" making expert for the program.

She has also attended NESA as a student, graduating from the Basic GSAR, Basic ICSS, and Advanced ICSS. In recent years, she has staffed NESA doing logistics, communication, training, and administrative tasks.

Capt. Gary Ernest is in his fifth year staffing the WESS program, after spending two years as a student. He gained his GTM 2/3 rating during the 2004-2005 cycle, and his GTM1 and GTL ratings during the 2005-2006 event.  Capt. Ernest has also served on staff at NESA for the past four years serving as a Field Training Advisor in the Basic and Advanced schools and most recently as the Advanced Training Officer. He joined CAP in 2004, and currently serves as the Commander at the Chilton County Squadron. His son, daughter, and wife are all involved in CAP.

He serves the WESS program as the Advanced Lead. He is responsible for managing the Advanced school and ensuring that the training objectives are met. Capt. Ernest also serves a tech role developing software to track student progress through the required tasks and maintains the WESS Program’s web site.</p>

Capt. Ernest, originally from Nebraska, grew up in southern California and moved to Alabama in 1990. He has worked with computers for years and runs his own computer consulting company.

Capt Jan Hulsey joined Civil Air Patrol in 2001 and worked with the cadet program.   She attended NESA in 2003 and 2004 as a NGSAR student in the Basic and Team Leader schools and attended the Basic and Advanced ICS schools in 2008.  Qualifications include GTM 1/2/3, UDF, GTL, GBD, MSA, MRO, CUL, MSO, FASC, LSC, PSC and LO.

While attending NESA as a student, Capt Hulsey began working as the Administrative Officer for the school and have continued in that position since 2004.  She became a member of the NESA Squadron in 2006.  Beginning in 2009, she has been the Administrative Officer and an Instructor for ICSS at NESA.

Over the years Capt Hulsey has assisted in the FTX Cycle (now WESS) in different capacities.  During the 2008-2009 cycle, she operated as the Finance/Admin Section Chief and was one of the ICS instructors for the staff.  Currently, she assists in teaching IS-100, 200, 700, and 800 to the staff and signing off tasks for MSA, MRO, and MSO.  In addition, she coordinates all the air and ground sorties in WMIRS for the activity, and assists the activity director with the activity's finances.

Lt Col John Hall has been a CAP member since 2006. He served as the Deputy Commander for Cadets in the Redstone Composite Squadron in Huntsville and is currently the Alabama Wing Director of Cadet Programs. He has three sons that are cadets in CAP.

In his role as the WESS Safety Officer, Lt Col Hall advises the Activity Director and staff on risks associated with training events and recommends measures to eliminate or mitigate these risks. He provides safety briefings to all participants each training weekend and observes training events in the field to ensure safety. Lt Col Hall completed the Basic Ground Team Member and Ground Team Leader Courses at WESS and is qualified as a GTM 1,2,3, UDF, and GTL.

Lt Col Hall is a native of Alabama. He retired from the US Army Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel after serving over 25 years in active and reserve assignments as an Air Defense Artillery Officer and Operations Research Analyst. He is a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point. He holds a MS in Industrial Engineering from California Polytechnic State University and a PhD in Industrial Engineering from Mississippi State University. He currently works as a defense contractor in Huntsville.

Maj Randolph has 19 years experience with CAP. Joining in 1967 as a Cadet in Michigan Wing, he earned his Earhart in 1971. He earned the Communicators Badge while a Cadet, operating his own HF fixed and mobile station and qualifiied as a ground team radio operator. After turning "Senior" he was active for 5 years in Michigan and 4 years in Georgia Wing. During this period he served in the positions of Squadron Admn Off, Comm Off, Ops Off, Deputy for Cadets, Deputy for Seniors and Squadron Commander.

After retiring from the Navy as a LCDR he moved to Alabama in 1998, and joined the Pell City Squadron in 2005, along with his wife, Ellen, and two youngest sons. He currently holds the positions of Emergency Services Officer, Professional Development and Communications. Qualifications include GT3, 2, 1, GTL, UDF, GBD, MS, MRO and CUL. His next goals are PSC and OSC.

His involvement in the FTX Program began in the 2005-6 cycle as a student in the Basic school. Completing the Team Leader school in 2006-7, he helped staff the activity in the 2007-8 and 2008-9 cycles as a Field Training Advisor and Advanced Lead for the Advanced School, and served on Staff at NESA in 2009. He is also involved with St. Clair County EMA through Amateur Radio Emengerncy Services.

Originally from the Detroit area, Major Randolph has lived in Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Kentucky and Alabama. When compelled to choose from many good teams he is likely to go with the Wolverines but can be unpredictable in this area!

1st Lt  Brian P Meier  has been a dedicated CAP member since October 2006 where he joined the Chillicothe, Ohio Senior Squadron.  He transferred to the Auburn, Alabama Composite Squadron in August 2007 after receiving his pilot training through World Class Plastics in Russells Point, Ohio.

Lt. Meier received his GTM3 rating in the 2008-2009 WESS cycle, then received his GTL rating at NESA in 2009. Although he moved to Texas in 2009 he continued to support the WESS cycle, traveling 1322 miles round trip to staff the 2009-2010 cycle as an assistnat to LTC Curry.  He was awarded the Honor Staff member award for the 2009-2010 cycle.  He has most recently served as a Field Training Advisor for the 2010 Team Leader School at NESA.

Lt Meier graduated in 2000 with a BS in Plastic Engineering Tech and worked in the Automotive Industry for nine years before joining Igloo Corporation in Katy, TX.  He has lived in Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, Alabama, and now resides in Texas where a  3 ½ day work week allows him the opportunity to train in Texas and Alabama.  When not working or involved in CAP he enjoys Scuba Diving in South Padre Island, riding motorcycles, and traveling.

Lt Meier's goal for this year is to get his Form 5 check ride and reduce the travel time from Texas to Alabama.