Local Squadron Performs Community Service

by ANN Staff

You might mistakenly think it’s a ‘boot block’, a type of charity drive used by volunteer fire companies. In a boot block, firefighters seek donations from passing cars by posting at intersections and holding out their rubber boots to passing cars. Motorists pause briefly to drop handfuls of the loose change that tends to collect in cars into the open tops of the boots.

But that’s not what’s going on here. None of the Cadets is holding out a boot. They’re not even moving. Even as cars slow and windows roll down, they stand stock still, each wearing a bright orange vest. Deputy Commander for Cadets Maj Grace Fellows explains.

“What the Cadets are doing here is a community service function,” she says. “We’re contracted with the county highway department to have Cadets posted at road work sites to serve as kind of traffic control devices. We see it as a logical extension of our air show parking detail duties, and in exchange we get full use of the store room at the parks and rec building as a squadron office.”

Karl Miles, who is the county’s Public Works Administrator, is enthusiastic about the success of this initiative.

“With those orange vests, these kids make great traffic cones. We don’t have to lay them out, we just tell them where to stand,” he says. “And if a car does hit one, the damage is to the Cadet, not the car, which saves us money.”

Miles scans the job site, where a county road crew is standing smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee, watching while one of their number fills a small pothole with delicate shovel loads of cold patch. A line of Cadets is visible for a hundred yards in either direction, funneling traffic into a single lane.

“As an added bonus, a Senior Member can man the radar gun, since he was going to spend the whole operation eating in the van anyways.”

“It’s a nice gig,” says Capt John Smothers as he works to open a second bag of little chocolate donuts. “I just make sure the gun is lined up with traffic and put a rubber band on the trigger. The gun does all the work.” With a small grunt of effort, he tears the bag open, and some of the donuts roll down Smothers’ chest and land in the driver’s footwell. Smothers glances down at the donuts at his feet, then looks at what remains in the bag, and shrugs dismissively.

“Drivers think it’s a boot block or something, so they slow down to give the cadets change. That’s nice for the workers, because slow traffic is safer. But the drivers end up getting frustrated and flinging the coins, so the Cadets sometimes go home with welts and bruises.”

“Oh, hell,” Smothers says. “There’s that guy again. Hang on.” Smothers yells obscenities at a disreputable looking van with the words ‘FREE RANGER TABS’ crudely spray painted on the sides that has stopped near one of the Cadets. The van speeds off when the driver spots Smothers.

“Third time this week,” Smother says, after checking on and repositioning the Cadet. “Nothing is perfect, but there are a lot of positives. Besides access to the county facilities, it’s pretty good practice for our drill team, since they have to stand at parade rest and we tend to move them around the work site in unison. And with COVID and everything, they’re spaced wide enough around the maintenance site to meet social distancing requirements. Plus, the Cadets with the ‘STOP’ and ‘SLOW’ signs practice the guidon manual.”

Miles sees nothing but upsides.

“We think there’s a lot of potential for this relationship,” he says. “We’re talking with the squadron about providing Cadets to the county’s Animal Control Office. Lou over there asked me if I thought the Cadets could be skunk and racoon wranglers. A lot of the Cadets are small enough to get in the crawlspace under a house, and light enough to boost into an attic trapdoor. Lou says all they need is leather gloves and a headlamp.”

When asked about his experience, Cadet Justin Cleary says, “I wear each tire mark on the back of my ABU blouse as a badge of honor. Each one represents five bucks that the county saved by not having a real traffic come get destroyed. It feels good to make a difference!”