March Field Museum Open Cockpit

Squadron 45 Serves at Open Cockpit

Senior members and cadets from March Field Composite Squadron 45 assisted the docents of the March Field Air Museum during their “open cockpit” program on April 23 and 24, 2005. The Museum and planes were open from 9am to 4pm each day. The event was well attended with hundreds of people viewing our air history up close. Cadet volunteers from the squadron served as assistant docents staffing planes, which were open to the public. In addition to this assignment, the cadets performed crowd control during the parachute landing exercise on Saturday, kept children from throwing rocks at the planes, and assisted in the movie presentation on the history of March Field. Major Stark was able to brief the cadets on their assigned planes with books from his private collection.

Saturday’s program found nine cadets and four senior members in attendance and on Sunday, there were five cadets and five senior members on duty. The cadets were well received by both the public and the Museum staff. Staff members commented on the reliability, efficiency, and courtesy of the cadet members. They appreciated their willingness to help in any way to make the open cockpit days a success. When asked why they attended the day’s activity, the cadets responded that they “wanted to help educate the public about our country’s air force history and secure aircraft and keep them safe from vandalism.” Of course, the big draw for both the members of our squadron as well as the public was the opportunity to sit in the cockpit of the SR-71 Blackbird.

Participation by Squadron 45 in the March Field Air Museum open cockpit was a success and demonstrated the squadron’s commitment to community service, aerospace education and leadership training.

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