EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first in a two-part series.

At age 12, Meredith Simon found herself lost in a Mercer County swamp.

Before being officially declared a missing person, Meredith eventually was rescued hours after wandering from her campsite. The experience taught the Franklin resident the importance of staying focused and being aware of her surroundings -- observation skills the 16-year-old cadet now uses as a second lieutenant with the Pennsylvania Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.

Meredity, along with about 150 cadets and senior officers, participated in a recent search-and-recovery training mission at Prince Gallitzin State Forest in Somerset. The intensive exercise offered a mock scenario of a plane crash designed to provide practical field experience for cadets, as well as sharpen their skills in radio communications, emergency medical training and logistics.

For senior members -- adults 18 years and older -- the training presented an opportunity to work within a structure called the incident command system, a coordinated emergency management effort with police, firefighters and rescue workers that is activated during a crisis.

As the official auxiliary of the Air Force, the Civil Air Patrol remains committed to providing emergency services to local and national agencies since its inception in 1941 -- one week prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

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