March 29, 2024

Local Man Flies Supplies for Hurricane Relief

Hurricane Relief
St. Mary’s County Squadron Civil Air Patrol member Capt. Ron Glockner, far right, flew relief supplies to North and South Carolina after Hurricane Florence blew through causing widespread flooding and power outages. Mr. Glockner is joined by fellow CAP members from left, Maj. Derek Rustvold, 1st Lt. Mike Heuss, and 2nd Lt. Devtulya Kavathekar. Capt. Glockner’s day job is the Test and Evaluation lead for the Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Office, located at Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Md. (Photo courtesy Maj. Derek Rustvold, CAP)

A NAVAIR employee took to the skies to lend some Hurricane Relief after the Carolinas were hit by Hurricane Florence, according to a press release from Kristine Wilcox of the Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Office of communications.

Ron Glockner is the Test and Evaluation lead for Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Mr. Glockner took relief supplies by plane to cities in North and South Carolina along with Maryland’s Civil Air Patrol.

“I flew a Maryland Wing, CAP-owned Gippsland GA8 Airvan, delivering supplies to Columbia, South Carolina and to several locations throughout North Carolina, including Wilmington, Kingston, Burlington, Raleigh-Durham, Pinehurst, and Charlotte,” Mr. Glockner said in the press release. “Supplies included MREs, cots, bottled water, life jackets, and communications equipment.”

Mr. Glockner said more than 75 members of the Maryland Wing offered support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Air Force, Army, North Carolina Department of Emergency Management, and other state, federal, and local governments. Crews on the ground supported operations at points of distribution, where the public was able to have access to meals, tarps, and clean water. Aircrews offered support to search and rescue operations, damage assessment flights, and helped with delivery of disaster relief supplies.

Mr. Glockner has been a member of the St. Mary’s County squadron since 1998. He has conducted searches for emergency locator transmitters (from boats and aircraft); helped with missing person searches and missing aircraft searches in North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia; and has been on the teams supporting two flooding-related disaster relief missions in South Carolina.

Hurricane Relief

Supplies are loaded into the Civil Air Patrol Gippsland GA8 Airvan that was being flown to North and South Carolina immediately after Hurricane Florence providing everything from food and cots, to bottled water and communications equipment. (Photo courtesy Capt. Ron Glockner, CAP)

Mr. Glockner has accumulated more than 800 flight hours with the Civil Air Patrol.

“Not only do we conduct 90 percent of inland search and rescues in the U.S., but the cadet programs provide excellent opportunities for members who are 12 to 20 years old, especially in the areas of leadership and aerospace education,” said Mr. Glockner, a mission pilot for CAP. “CAP provides me with an opportunity to give back to the community, while advocating benefits of the armed services to future aviators. Another bonus is the ability to provide cadet orientation flights in some really nice aircraft, equipped with the latest in avionics.”

Civil Air Patrol is chartered by Congress as a nonprofit organization and performs services for the federal government, being the official civilian auxiliary of the US Air Force, plus for states and local communities. It consists of eight geographic regions including 52 wings (the 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia) and is a strategic partner of the US Air Force, serving as a member of its Total Force. Civil Air Patrol has three main missions — Cadet Programs, Emergency Services, and Aerospace Education.

The St. Mary’s County squadron meets on Wednesdays at 7 pm at the St. Mary’s County Airport’s large terminal building at 44200 Airport Road in California, Md. Find more information on the Civil Air Patrol website.

To learn more about Lexington Park, visit the St. Mary’s County Community Development Corporation’s Leader member page.

St. Mary’s County Community Development Corporation

46940 South Shangri-La Drive, Suite 7

Lexington Park, MD 20653

301-863-7700

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