The Civil Air Patrol helped aide in the search for the missing Somerset snowmobiler alongside state police and fire officials.

Nearly one hundred cadets in the Civil Air Patrol ages 12-18 gave up their weekend to train among air patrol specialists and other EMS and Paramedic professionals. They are taught skills in ground search and rescue, learned new techniques, and other real-life staged scenarios.

“Chance to do a mock search where they are going to spread out and we are going to send a guy out there to pretend to be lost and we are going to find him,” Civil Air Patrol C/Lt. Col. Davis Nazzaro said.

But in doing so, they had a harsh visit from Mother Nature.

“The biggest problem is the cold and there is nothing you can do about it,” Public Information Officer Anthony Derubeis said. 

“And so what we are trying to do is teach them to push past their discomfort, because whoever is out there lost like a lost hunter or like the snowmobiler last last week or plane crash victim, they don’t care that you are cold or wet,” Civil Air Patrol SSGT Christopher Yaroch said.

The Civil Air Patrol hopes that these cadets take away a sense of leadership from this three-day experience.

“Hopefully this will inspire some young people to go out and seek training down the road,” Civil Air Patrol Lt. Col. Edgar Flick.