On Wednesday, May 7, 2008 Capt. Russell Grell of the Civil Air Patrol was awarded the Meritorious Service Award. The presentation was given by Colorado Wing Commander Col. Edward D. Phelka at the weekly meeting of the Mustang Cadet Squadron. The Meritorious Service Award was given to Capt. Grell to acknowledge his twelve years of service as the Aerospace Education Officer of Mustang and to commemorate eleven consecutive years of earning the Aerospace Excellence Award for the Mustang Cadet Squadron. Also mentioned was his built-from-scratch Flight Training Device that the cadets are very excited about. Earning the Aerospace Excellence Award each year that he has been the Aerospace Education Officer is a testament to Grell’s hard work and love of teaching. Mustang Cadet Squadron is fortunate and proud to have him as their educator.

The Civil Air Patrol’s Mustang Cadet Squadron (MCS) ushered in 2008 with a Change of Command Ceremony on January 9th that included many promotions for both Cadets and Senior members, and unveiled a new addition to the squadron that will be of service for many years to come. Over one hundred friends, family members, and CAP dignitaries joined the celebration on the Squadron’s first meeting night of this new year. Some of the honored guests included Col. Edward Phelka, Commander of the Colorado Wing and Lt. Col. William Aceves, Commander of Group I. Also in attendance were Lt. Cols. Barbara and William Gentry, Co-Directors of Cadet Programs for the Colorado Wing and founders of the Mustang Squadron.

The January 9th celebration started with 22 promotions of Mustang Cadet Squadron members. Sixteen cadets were promoted and six Senior Members. Of the 16 Cadet promotions, six were Milestone Achievements including four Mitchell Awards presented by Col. Phelka and two Wright Brothers’ Awards presented by Lt. Col. Aceves. Aceves also handed out three Special Group I Awards that evening.

A special highlight of the evening was the unveiling of Mustang’s Flight Training Device (FTD), a Flight Simulator built by hand from the ground up by their Aerospace Education Officer, Capt. Russell Grell. He estimates that over 300 hours of hard work was put in to the design and construction of the FTD, all while he is building his own aircraft at the same time.

The Flight Training Device is one-of-a-kind, fully enclosed, and built from scratch around a 1955 Cessna 170A seat (from Wentworth Aircraft). It is 7 ½ feet long, 53 inches high and 26 inches wide. These dimensions will accommodate all shapes and sizes, from the smallest Cadet to the largest Senior Member. The CPU was upgraded by the Squadron and runs Microsoft Flight Simulator™ using CH™ yokes and pedals and the visuals are on a 19 inch Viewsonic™ flat-screen monitor. All funding came from within Mustang Squadron and yearly gifts from the Colorado CAP foundation.

The week of June 18-24, 2007 was the 12th Annual “Missing Children’s Week”. As is customary, the Mustang Squadron was asked to help out Dave Rogers and the Missing Children Task Force in many ways. Even with so many Cadets and Senior members gone to Encampment and an EAA fly-in that Saturday, the Mustang Squadron stepped up to make it a great week for the MCTF. It started on Monday night with a Candlelight Vigil at the State Capitol. Cadets were there to set up and take down tents and banners and also provide a Color Guard for the ceremony.

On Thursday Cadets helped to run the KOOL 105 Golf Classic. On Friday Cadets Coupal and Rowell manned the race truck simulator in Greeley. The week culminated on Saturday with 6 Cadets and 2 Senior Members providing support at the Colorado National Speedway for the 8th Annual “Race to Find Missing Children”. At the Speedway, Mustang Squadron hosted the race truck simulator, took bids for the silent auction, provided a Color Guard, and collected money from the fans who donated to the MCTF by putting money in the helmets of their favorite drivers.

Overall it was a great time for a great cause.

On Saturday, May 26, 5 Cadets from the Mustang Squadron joined with other Cadets from Group I for the Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony at the Capitol Building in downtown Denver. After a few minutes of Drill Instruction to tune up, the parade began. With the color guard leading the way, 21 Cadets and Senior Members marched down the parade route.

At the conclusion of the parade, all Cadets were asked to form a human circle around the flagpole as the flag was raised. The flag had been marched to the Capitol from Fort Logan cemetery by veterans of the U.S. Military. They had taken most of the night to make the journey.

The Cadets continued to work during the ceremony for the “Families of the Fallen” passing out water to the crowd and holding up a poster with the pictures of the loved ones. Their effort and presence was appreciated by many.