Emergency Services Ratings

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Last Updated on Monday, 09 January 2012 22:25

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One of CAPs three missions is Emergency Services (ES). In Civil Air Patrol we allow members to specialize in areas of ES that appeal to them. For example pilots may choose to become Mission Pilots and Ham radio opertors may become Misison Radio Operators and Comm Unit Leaders. There are opportunities for everyone to participate both in the air and on the ground. But we take our training and qualifications seriously. The ability to takeoff and land an airplane safely, doesn't qualify a pilot to fly a search and rescue mission. That requires a fairly rigorous training program.

For each ES rating, there is a list of training requirements that must be completed satisfactorily in order to earn that rating. In CAP we list all of those requirements on a summary document called a "Specialty Qualification Training Record" (SQTR) pronounced squitter. All ES ratings have an associated SQTR. On the SQTR, each task will be listed by title and task code. For example: "O-2015 Demonstrate ground operations and safety." The member must then look up each task code, in this case O-2015 to understand what exactly is required. There are two task guides; one for aircrew ratings and one for ground positions.

If you want to pursue a new ES rating, the first thing you need to do is obtain a copy of the particular SQTR you are interested in. Then review the form and start working on completing all of the specific tasks listed. In many cases one SQTR is dependent on another. For example, the Mission Pilot (MP) SQTR requires you to become a Mission Scanner (MS) first. So you must first complete the MS rating before you can work on your MP squitter.

The process for all ES ratings is basically the same as outlined in the various SQTRs. Here are the key points for completing each SQTR.

• You must have already completed the prerequisites listed at the top of the SQTR
• Obtain the Commanders approval and signature to begin the SQTR training tasks
• Train and satisfactorily complete the Familiarization and Preparatory (Fam/Prep) tasks with an instructor.
• Obtain the Commanders approval and signature to continue with the advanced training tasks. 
• Participate in your first exercise and get a signature by your instructor. 
• Participate in a final exercise or mission and demonstrate that you can fulfill the duties of that ES rating un-aided and with a high degree of proficiency. This may be your second excercise, but it may be longer. The second mission signature by an evaluator will document you as fully qualified in that rating.

Below is a list of some ES ratings and specific information about each one.