SIOUX FALLS, S.D.—Two Sioux Falls men have been named to the top positions of the South Dakota Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.
John Seten, 49, a 14-year member of Sioux Falls Fire Rescue, has been named commander of the South Dakota Wing. He will hold the rank of Colonel in CAP and will be in charge of the 300-plus member South Dakota wing.
As a member of CAP, Col. Seten most recently held the position of Wing Director of Operations. He is an incident commander and mission pilot. During the extensive flooding in South Dakota in 2011, Col. Seten flew many photo sorties in support of the state of South Dakota’s and FEMA’s disaster relief efforts as well as directed other missions as an incident commander.
Rick Larson, 49, a senior master sergeant in the S.D. Air National Guard, has been named the wing’s vice commander. A long time member of the CAP, Larson holds the CAP rank of lieutenant colonel.
Lieutenant Colonel Larson is a graduate of Fargo South High School in Fargo, N.D., attended North Dakota State University, and has achieved certifications and advanced training in a number disaster and emergency response related fields. He is the installation emergency manager for the Sioux Falls ANG base.
He is a former commander of the Sioux Falls Composite Squadron and most recently was the wing’s assistant operations director.
The South Dakota Wing of the CAP has approximately 300 cadet and adult members with squadrons in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Aberdeen, Pierre, Brookings, Custer, and Spearfish. In 2011, the wing flew numerous photo reconnaissance missions for the state of South Dakota and FEMA during flooding across South Dakota and received the national commander’s commendation for its efforts.
Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 61,000 members nationwide, operating a fleet of 550 aircraft. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs 90% of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 54 lives in fiscal year 2011. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to nearly 27,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet programs. CAP received the World Peace Prize in 2011 and has been performing missions for America for 70 years.
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