NEW HAMPSHIRE—
Prior to a potluck Christmas and farewell party in December the Seacoast Composite Squadron of Civil Air Patrol (CAP) installed a new Commander. Col Donald C. Davidson, N.H. Wing CAP commander presided over the Change of Command ceremony in which Maj. Dominic Goupil of Kittery relinquished command and Capt. Blain Cote of South Berwick accepted command. This ceremony is an age old one where the flag of the unit is handed to the outgoing commander by the wing commander. The outgoing commander then states they are relinquishing command and returns the flag to the wing commander who then hands the unit flag to the new commander who states they accept command. Maj Goupil had served as squadron commander for the past six years.
Capt. Blain Cote, a lifelong resident of South Berwick, has been a CAP senior member since March 2007. He previously had been a CAP cadet joining the former Liberty Cadet Squadron in 1980. He was the cadet commander of the squadron from 1984-1986. He earned the Billy Mitchell Award in May of 1984. He left CAP in 1986 when he graduated high school and rejoined in 2007. He has previously been the Emergency Services Officer for Seacoast Composite Squadron which meets at the Pease ANG Base in Portsmouth in Bldg. 252.
Outside of Civil Air Patrol, Cote has been a member of the South Berwick Fire Department for 27 years and the town’s Emergency Management Director for the past 4 years. He is employed by Wilcox Industries Corp. in Newington, N.H. as a quality inspector/lead auditor. He and his wife Kathleen have five children who they hope will join CAP when they are older.
As the new Seacoast Composite Squadron commander, Capt Cote hopes to focus more resources on community service and disaster relief. He also hopes to have the squadron heavily involved in the upcoming Air Show at Pease this coming August.
Civil Air Patrol is an all volunteer auxiliary of the United States Air Force and is tasked with 90% of the inland search and rescue missions within CONUS. It’s other missions are disaster relief, aerospace education and cadet programs. CAP was credited with 51 saves in 2009. It has over 55,000 members from ages 12 to 90+, about 300 of which are members of N.H. Wing. FMI: www.gocivilairpatrol.com.
Photo caption: Col Donald C. Davidson N.H. Wing Commander, Capt Blain Cote. (Maj. Penny H. Hardy photo)
Prior to a potluck Christmas and farewell party in December the Seacoast Composite Squadron of Civil Air Patrol (CAP) installed a new Commander. Col Donald C. Davidson, N.H. Wing CAP commander presided over the Change of Command ceremony in which Maj. Dominic Goupil of Kittery relinquished command and Capt. Blain Cote of South Berwick accepted command. This ceremony is an age old one where the flag of the unit is handed to the outgoing commander by the wing commander. The outgoing commander then states they are relinquishing command and returns the flag to the wing commander who then hands the unit flag to the new commander who states they accept command. Maj Goupil had served as squadron commander for the past six years.
Capt. Blain Cote, a lifelong resident of South Berwick, has been a CAP senior member since March 2007. He previously had been a CAP cadet joining the former Liberty Cadet Squadron in 1980. He was the cadet commander of the squadron from 1984-1986. He earned the Billy Mitchell Award in May of 1984. He left CAP in 1986 when he graduated high school and rejoined in 2007. He has previously been the Emergency Services Officer for Seacoast Composite Squadron which meets at the Pease ANG Base in Portsmouth in Bldg. 252.
Outside of Civil Air Patrol, Cote has been a member of the South Berwick Fire Department for 27 years and the town’s Emergency Management Director for the past 4 years. He is employed by Wilcox Industries Corp. in Newington, N.H. as a quality inspector/lead auditor. He and his wife Kathleen have five children who they hope will join CAP when they are older.
As the new Seacoast Composite Squadron commander, Capt Cote hopes to focus more resources on community service and disaster relief. He also hopes to have the squadron heavily involved in the upcoming Air Show at Pease this coming August.
Civil Air Patrol is an all volunteer auxiliary of the United States Air Force and is tasked with 90% of the inland search and rescue missions within CONUS. It’s other missions are disaster relief, aerospace education and cadet programs. CAP was credited with 51 saves in 2009. It has over 55,000 members from ages 12 to 90+, about 300 of which are members of N.H. Wing. FMI: www.gocivilairpatrol.com.
Photo caption: Col Donald C. Davidson N.H. Wing Commander, Capt Blain Cote. (Maj. Penny H. Hardy photo)
