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Show Sheriffs Air Squadron Cedar invaded by Cessnas By I.EE WARNICK Record Editor If it was an invasion force, the weapons they were using would be a bit out of the ordinary. Piper Cubs, Cessnas, and Beechcrafts are hardly typical of such an activity. ac-tivity. Yet they did come en masse Friday afternoon af-ternoon to Cedar City, and yes, many of those people spotted stepping off the caravan of planes were wearing some sort of uniforms. ' But rather than needing to scramble for cover, local residents could well have slept a little easier that night knowing that an additional ad-ditional 80 fully-deputized police officers were within their borders. This group, flying into Cedar with over 20 small airplanes of all types, was the Western States Association of Sheriff's Air Squadrons, on one of their regular"Fly-in seminars" activities. While in town for the seminar, the first ever held in Utah, the officers conducted association meetings, had a police course shooting competition, com-petition, attended a Shakespearean Festival production, heard from Salt Lake's KSL-TV weatherman Bob Welti, took a tour of surrounding mountain areas, and basically seemed to enjoy themselves and each other. What is this unique association? A group of volunteer workers aiding sheriffs "in any way that we can" in 27 counties in California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. Most of the services they provide center around the small airplanes most association members own or fly. The WSASAS officially began at Bass Lake (Fresno Co.), Calif., in 1947. From those beginnings in the foothills of the high-Sierras, high-Sierras, the group now includes over 700 member. What do they do? Their purpose, states Commander Com-mander Gil Riddle of Orange County, Calif., "is to assist county sheriffs in any way possible." That assistance comes, he says, in the form of search and rescue of downed aircraft4 or lost persons, help in time of local or national emergencies, air photo services for local police, and prisoner transfer, among others. Though their service takes them primarily to their county's skies, group members, who nearly all are officially deputized in their counties, have at times been called on to handle everthing from crowd control to aid in drug investigations. "We are required to be trained to meet any one of a number of unusual cir-cumstances,"says cir-cumstances,"says Riddle. This, along with the "fun of it," prompts Members of the Western States Association of Sheriff's Air Squadrons compete in Practiced Prac-ticed Police Course shooting. The association meets regularly to tram mem- I bers in police and air search procedures. I Association members to conduct shooting competitions com-petitions at each of their regular seminars, scheduled four to five times yearly. The shooting meets are highly competitive with counties vying for the prestige of the top award each time. Like their "cousins" in the Jeep Patrol, Sheriff's Air Squadron members work voluntarily, for no pay at all usually, and donate the use of their own equipment. While the WSASAS is widely know in the other three states, people outside Cedar City and Parowan more than likely have never heard of it. That's because Iron County is the only county in Utah to belong to the organization. Dan Robinson, Iron County commander, explains why the county joined, "We became interested because of the good work we had seen the Clark County (Las Vegas) group accomplish." ac-complish." Since that time, Robinson says, his 10-member Iron County team has been involved in a number of activities, mostly involving wintertime win-tertime and Deer Season search and rescue missions in the mountains moun-tains east of Cedar City and Parowan. Last weekend's seminar was the first crack the county has had at sponsoring a seminar since it joined the association nearly four years ago. "It's kept us running-planning events and keeping all these people busy," smiles Robison. Why aren't more Utah counties represented? "It's their decision entirely," en-tirely," Riddle says. "It's not a matter of our group coersing counties, to join; they come to us when they're interested in joining." Among the 27 counties in the organization, some have gained widespread reputations for their specialized services. Riddle notes that in California's Fresno County, for instance, the team is noted for its ability to locate stranded or lost hikers in the Sierras, and accurately ac-curately drop messages and supplies to them until additional help can be summoned. San Diego County's force, due to their good relationship with the Mexican government, is frequently called upon to conduct search and rescue missions in Baja California. One such mission saved the life of 1 another police officer lost on . motorcycle trip, Riddie recalls. All groups, he adds are trained to run down Emergency locator Transmitter signals, required on all privates aircraft, in event of crash or forced landing. "We have regular seminar activities to sharpen our skills in this area," Riddle says. The group left almost as they came-in near-caravan near-caravan style-Sunday morning, and headed for home. Next destination-Scottsdale, destination-Scottsdale, Ariz., next month. i Small planes of every type flew in to Cedar City Friday for the WSASAS "Fly in Seminar". The group meets in member county cities four to five times a year. |