Wanted: pilots willing to be targets

[resqgeek]

Volunteers from the Civil Air Patrol are working with the Coast Guard and Air Force to provide training for those charged with protecting the restricted air space around Washington, DC. During nighttime exercises, the CAP pilots fly their Cessna over the DC area, providing targets for the Coast Guard helicopters and Air Force F-16s. This marks a return to the past for the Civil Air Patrol, which was formed during WWII to patrol for German submarines along the U.S. coast. I wonder what its like, to be up there intentionally playing target for all that military firepower?

[from the Washington Post via MSNBC.com]