CAP Features

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The high waters of the James River run through Huron in this photo, taken Wednesday by a South Dakota Wing aircrew.

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Floodwaters are visible near Trent in this South Dakota Wing photo taken earlier today.

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A South Dakota Wing photo shows flooding around Westport, about 12 miles north of Aberdeen.

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Floodwaters encircle the Forest River Dam (left) near Fordville in this North Dakota Wing photo taken Wednesday.

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In another photo taken Wednesday by a North Dakota Wing aircrew, the rising Red River snakes its way through a rural area near Pembina.

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This photo, taken Monday by a North Dakota Wing aircrew, shows the Missouri River flowing through the state capital, Bismarck.

Maj. Al Pabon
National PA Team Leader

NORTH  DAKOTA – Civil Air Patrol is providing aerial reconnaissance as an auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force as rivers and tributaries in North Dakota and South Dakota continue to rise. 

Current media reports indicate the Red River will crest this weekend at 38 feet in the Fargo, N.D./Moorhead, Minn., area. Members of the North Dakota and South Dakota wings have assisted with preparations for flooding in the two cities by helping fill more than 1 million sandbags.

“We knew ahead of time this mission was coming our way, and we were ready for it,” said Col. Steve Kuddes, North Central Region commander. “I am proud of our outstanding members in all of the affected wings. They took their own time to prepare before these floods, and their work is outstanding.”

The mission has now changed its focus from filling sandbags to aerial surveys, Kuddes said. Today, the North Dakota Wing is flying a survey mission of Absaraka near Casselton to check reports that the dam has failed.

On Wednesday, North Dakota aircrews surveyed Beaver Creek from the Missouri River to Linton, Spring Creek from Linton to the northeast, and Heart River. They also surveyed the Cannonball River to the Missouri River and Upper Heart River.

The wing conducted surveys Tuesday of the Missouri River from Bismarck to Garrison Dam. It also surveyed Apple Creek from three miles north of Interstate 94 to the Missouri River and the Knife River from Marshall to Hazen. 

Aircraft and crews are assembling at the “skunk works” mission base at Fargo’s Hector International Airport. A plane from the Minnesota Wing equipped with CAP’s ARCHER aerial imaging system will survey the Red River from the South Dakota border to the Canadian border for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state of North Dakota.

Down the river in South Dakota, survey flights continue in support of the state Office of Emergency Management.

Today the wing will fly survey missions of the rivers in the eastern and western parts of the state. Areas of emphasis include Watertown, Brookings, Aberdeen and Huron in the east. In the western part of the state, where flooding has not been as severe, the focus is on capturing images around Moreau, Grand Forks and the Cheyenne River to establish a baseline for potential damage assessment if floods affect those areas.

Two aircrews surveyed the James River north of Mitchell and the Big Sioux River, Big Stone Lake, the Yankton River and an area around Groton, S.D., on Wednesday. The wing had surveyed flooding on the James, Big Sioux and Vermillion rivers Tuesday.

“The state (of South Dakota) is greatly impressed by the photos they have seen.” said Col. Mike Beason, the South Dakota Wing’s mission’s incident commander.

Earlier this week, 75 members of the Minnesota and North Dakota wings assisted with sandbagging. They totaled more than 750 hours of flood support and worked on protecting 30 homes in the Fargo-Moorhead area. 

“Their support was very impressive,” said Lt. Col. Erik Ludlow, the North Dakota Wing’s ground operations director.

Operations were scaled back today as Fargo, Moorhead, Cass and Clay counties reported their sandbag barriers are almost complete.

“We will be monitoring the situation throughout the evening and tomorrow morning,” Ludlow said. 

 

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(From left) Cadet Staff Sgt. Lawrence Gerads, 1st Lt. Steven Parker and Cadet Master Sgt. John Dvorak prepare to begin ground team operations during the St. Cloud Composite Squadron’s winter training exercise.

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Cadet Chief Master Sgt. Dylan Maselter handles communications during the exercise.

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Cadet 2nd Lt. Ben Leaf and Cadet Master Sgt. John Dvorak prepare a winter shelter.

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Cadet 2nd Lt. Ben Leaf locates an electronic locater transmitter during a search exercise.

Photos by Maj. Richard Sprouse


Maj. Richard J. Sprouse
Public Information Officer
Group II
Minnesota Wing

MINNESOTA — When residents of the Red River Valley in western Minnesota and eastern North Dakota were inundated with floodwaters last March, forecasters were predicting the river would exceed the record flooding that devastated the area in 1997.

Heavy snow fall and storm-whipped winds shoved driving waters into the miles of levees constructed in the flood zone, placing numerous homes and businesses in the Fargo-Moorhead area in peril.

When the call for assistance came in, 200 members of the Minnesota and North Dakota wings were ready to assist with sandbag operations. Others made dozens of flights capturing hundreds of visual images of the affected areas.

Nearly a year later, Civil Air Patrol members are still proving their winter skills, because they never know when they might be called on to support local communities again. So, braving the cold of a Minnesota winter, ground team members of the St. Cloud Composite Squadron recently took part in a unit-based exercise at nearby Lake Warner Park while pilots from the unit conducted flight operations from St. Cloud Regional Airport.

“Like many other Minnesota squadrons, we annually carry out a training exercise on winter search and rescue techniques, as well as winter survival,” said Maj. Pat Cruze, squadron commander. “It’s not a highly tactical exercise; it’s more of an opportunity for us to familiarize ourselves with the context of winter operations, air-ground communications, the tactical and nontactical use of assets, and survival.”

Most CAP units conduct such training in more moderate climates year-round. Minnesotans don’t have the luxury of waiting for better weather, so opportunities to train in winter are important and enable members to familiarize themselves with the different necessities of a winter operation.

In addition to the exercise itself, squadron members took part in a mock search and rescue mission where they waded through heavy snow on foot, then later building a shelter as quickly and as agilely as possible to protect themselves from below-zero temperatures and wind-chills.

It's one of the important lessons learned from the flooding last year: You never know the time and place of the next emergency or disaster.

“Right now, we’re in the preparation phase to ensure the right people, equipment and aircraft with the proper training are ready and available if the call for assistance is issued,” Cruze said.

“This is why we train.”






 

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Air Force Col. Eric Boe (left) receives two new Spaatz award coins to carry with him when he returns to space as the shuttle pilot for STS-133, targeted to launch in September. Brig. Gen. Richard L. Anderson, Spaatz Association president and former Civil Air Patrol national commander, made the presentation following Boe’s appearance as the featured speaker at the association’s 2010 Annual Dinner and Awards Event in Arlington, Va.

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The Spaatz Association’s president, Brig. Gen. Richard L. Anderson (right), presents Air Force Col. and Civil Air Patrol Senior Member Eric Boe with a framed montage displaying a new copy of the Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award coin Boe earned as a Georgia Wing cadet in 1983 and  carried on his Space Shuttle Endeavour flight in 2008. The original coin, signifying Boe as Spaatz award winner No. 648, is slated to be hung in the foyer of CAP National Headquarters once the building’s refurbishment is complete this year.

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Brig. Gen. Richard L. Anderson (right) thanks Daniel B. Ginsberg, assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, after his comments at the Spaatz Association’s 2010 Annual Dinner and Awards Events. Ginsberg praised the Air Force and its auxiliary, CAP, in his speech and encouraged Spaatz cadets to think about a career in the Air Force. “We need the best of the best. We need you,” he said. “Our Air Force is more capable now than ever, but we cannot afford to lose this fight for talent so we can remain the most powerful and capable Air Force in the world.”

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Col. Gerry Weiss (left), Maryland Wing commander, presents Cadet Col. Anna Bladey with her Spaatz coin following the annual dinner at Arlington. During the dinner, Bladey, a member of the Maryland Wing’s Frederick Composite Squadron, received Spaatz award No. 1751, making her the most recent CAP cadet to earn the honor. Cadet Col. Paul McNiel of the California Wing’s San Francisco Cadet Squadron 86 also was presented with his coin and certificate as the recipient of Spaatz award No. 1728.

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Cadet Maj. Kira Swerdfeger (second from left) of the California Wing’s Saddleback Composite Squadron 68 is recognized as one of two recipients of The Spaatz Association’s Aerospace Leadership Scholarship. Cadet Col. Stasia Rogacki of the New Jersey Wing’s Curtiss-Wright Composite Squadron was the other recipient. The $2,500 scholarships, given each year by the association, will help the recipients earn their private pilot’s licenses.

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Eight members of Gen. Carl A. Spaatz’s family pose with a portrait of him at the annual Spaatz Association dinner in Arlington — (from left) daughter Carla Spaatz Thomas; granddaughters Raechel Thomas Andreassi, Katharine Burell Gresham, Rebecca Thomas Palo, Rebecca Wayne Gresham and Edith Gresham Laver; grandson Carl Andrew Spaatz Thomas; and granddaughter Carla Barrett. During the dinner, Katharine Gresham, the Spaatz family historian, shared details from her grandfather’s war diaries.

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Maj. Gen. Amy S. Courter, Civil Air Patrol national commander, pins the Distinguished Service Medal on Col. Andrew E. Skiba for outstanding performance of duty as CAP’s senior adviser for operations. Courter made the presentation at the 2010 Winter National Board meeting in Arlington. Over the past two years, Skiba was directly responsible for the nine advisory teams established to provide advice and assistance to CAP’s national commander, National Board and National Executive Committee. Under his leadership, these advisory teams worked diligently to ensure the membership’s operational expertise continued to grow as CAP’s mission capability expanded. During his tenure, the online National Check Pilot Standardization Course was developed as an innovative approach to updating much needed standardized training. Skiba was also responsible for establishing safety requirements, water skills and overwater flight and survival skills required for flight crews participating in South East Watch II, which has become the standard for all CAP overwater flight crew training.
 
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Members of CAP’s National Board cast their votes on an amendment to the organization’s governing constitution and bylaws at their annual winter business session. The 69 members of the board – representing each state, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia – considered a full agenda during the two-day meeting.

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As is customary, Col. Lisa Robinson (left) of the Alabama Wing is welcomed to the 2010 Winter National Board as one of 10 new wing commanders. Others included Cols. Cassandra Huchko, Connecticut Wing; William Meskill, Massachusetts Wing; Jay Lindler, South Carolina Wing; Dennis Barron, West Virginia Wing; Richard Griffith, Indiana Wing; Tonya Boylan, Georgia Wing; Teresa Schimelfening, South Dakota Wing; Art Scarbrough, Louisiana Wing; and Jerry Wellman, Utah Wing. It is also tradition to recognize National Board members meeting for the last time – in this case, Cols. Ken Andreu, New York Wing commander; Gerry Weiss, Maryland Wing commander; Don Haffner, Wisconsin Wing commander; Robert Todd, Nebraska Wing commander; Karl Altenberg, North Dakota Wing commander; Carl Brown, Alaska Wing commander; and Dave Maxwell, Washington Wing commander.
 
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Col. Charles L. Carr Jr. (left), Great Lakes Region commander, presents a packet to Civil Air Patrol’s national historian, Col. Len Blascovich (right), for the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum in England. Blascovich, with the assistance of CAP National Vice Commander Brig. Gen. Reggie Chitwood (center), collected unit, wing and region patches from each of CAP’s eight region commanders for a CAP display at the museum.
  
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With the assistance of Maj. Gen. Amy S. Courter (left), CAP national commander, Capt. Grace Stapf of the Maryland Wing’s Mount Airy Composite Squadron, a former member of the National Headquarters Squadron, is promoted to major during a break at the 2010 Winter National Board meeting.
  
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Retired Air Force Col. David T. “Buck” Buckwalter, executive vice president of the Air Force Association, addresses CAP’s National Board during its annual winter meeting. Buckwalter talked about AFA’s involvement in helping prepare for the nation’s cyber defense. Over the past two years, the association has sponsored a CyberPatriot competition for teams from the nation’s CAP and Air Force Junior ROTC units.

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Cadet Col. Zach King of the New Jersey Wing, chairman of the National Cadet Advisory Council, updates National Board members on the council’s activities. Like the National Board, the council was in session for two days during the week of the 2010 Winter National Board meeting. As chairman of the 16-member NCAC, King serves as Maj. Gen. Amy S. Courter’s No. 1 source for cadet perspectives on challenges facing CAP. Collectively, the council represents more than 24,000 youth in CAP’s Cadet Program.

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Col. Brian Bishop (right), Oregon Wing commander, addresses fellow members of CAP’s National Board during their annual winter business session. Beside him is the Pennsylvania Wing’s commander, Col. Mark Lee.

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U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (left), D-Mich., visits with a large entourage from Civil Air Patrol on Legislative Day. The senator’s guests included the Michigan Wing’s commander, Col. Michael Saile (third from Levin’s left) and CAP’s national commander, Maj. Gen. Amy S. Courter (to Levin’s right), who lives in Michigan. Following the members’ presentation, Levin commented, “These missions that you perform are a great service to the nation. Your energy and commitment are reassuring.”

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Lt. Col. Paul Tweden (left), CAP’s national government relations adviser; Maj. Gen. Amy S. Courter, CAP’s national commander; and Col. Herbert Cahalen (right), Montana Wing commander, present U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., with his Congressional Squadron Certificate, a lifetime membership card and a  CAP polo shirt during Legislative Day activities on Capitol Hill. Tester responded, “Does that dog hunt or what,” adding, “We very much appreciate the work that you do.

Photos by Susan Robertson, CAP National Headquarters 


ARLINGTON, Va. -- Astronaut Eric Boe brought a familiar message Saturday to Civil Air Patrol’s most-honored past and present cadets when they gathered for The Spaatz Association’s 2010 Annual Dinner and Awards Event.

“Dream big! You have to be able to dream it before you can do it,” Boe said, offering words of encouragement to a convention hall filled with recipients of the Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award – CAP’s highest cadet honor.

Like many of the former and current cadets attending the dinner at the Crystal Gateway Marriott, Boe is also a recipient of the Spaatz award. He earned Spaatz award No. 648 as a Georgia Wing cadet in 1983 and retains his CAP membership today as a senior member. He credits CAP for first sparking his interest in flight and is a staunch supporter of the organization, serving as the motivational featured speaker for the Spaatz dinner.

Boe, a U.S. Air Force colonel, reached great heights in 2008 as pilot of Space Shuttle Endeavour. The 16-day mission, STS-126, was a great success, delivering equipment and supplies to expand the capacity of the International Space Station in late 2008.

He expects to return to space later this year as the shuttle pilot for STS-133, scheduled to launch in September. The eight-day mission will carry a pressurized logistics module to the space station.

The Spaatz dinner marked the end of a full week of activities for CAP members in Washington, D.C. ON CAP’s Legislative Day, Thursday, the organization’s 52 wing and eight region commanders, as well as cadets involved in CAP’s weeklong Civic Leadership Academy, personally briefed their congressional representatives on how CAP’s primary missions – search and rescue, emergency services, aerospace education and cadet programs – have made a difference in their communities during fiscal year 2009.

“Our legislators, and the citizens they represent, are CAP’s stakeholders,” said CAP’s national commander, Maj. Gen. Amy S. Courter. “We want them to know what an incredible job CAP volunteers are doing in their communities both in the air and on the ground.”

CAP resources were put to work in 2009 across America, making the organization of citizen volunteers a true force multiplier for the U.S. Air Force. CAP’s flying operations increased 6 percent last year, with volunteers logging 112,000 hours in the organization’s versatile fleet of 550 aircraft.

Members were credited with saving 72 lives through search and rescue missions, many using advances in technology in which CAP is the known leader. Through the use of cell phone forensics and radar technology, many lives were saved by getting search and rescue personnel to survivors quickly. This was accomplished entirely by dedicated volunteers using their talents and education to help others. 

CAP’s disaster relief teams also provided critical support to communities nationwide. Personnel flew reconnaissance flights to assist emergency personnel in combating forest fires, managing the effects of winter ice storms and dealing with massive flooding.

Legislative Day was conducted in conjunction with CAP’s Winter National Board meeting Friday and Saturday at the Marriott Crystal City in Arlington. CAP’s National Board consists of 69 members representing each state, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. The board is CAP’s policy-making arm and, in conjunction with the Board of Governors, proposes amendments to the governing constitution and bylaws.

Speakers for the Winter National Board included retired Air Force Col. David T. “Buck” Buckwalter, executive vice president of the Air Force Association, who talked about the association’s growing relationship with CAP. Buckwalter praised CAP for its recent participation in CyberPatriot II, an international cyber defense competition sponsored by the AFA.

Besides Boe, other speakers at the Spaatz dinner included Courter, who introduced keynote speaker Daniel B. Ginsberg, assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs; and Brig. Gen. Richard L. Anderson, Spaatz Association president and former CAP national commander, who also serves on CAP’s Board of Governors.

Katherine Gresham, the Spaatz family historian, also visited and shared details from her grandfather’s war diaries.

 

One of Hawaii Wing’s nine CAP Cessnas sits in a hangar in preflight, on stand-by before Saturday morning’s tsunami warnings.

NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS – The 13th Air Force in support of the state of Hawaii Civil Defense launched planes from Civil Air Patrol’s Hawaii Wing this morning for statewide tsunami warnings following an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile.

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Civil Air Patrol Lifetime Member Col. Mary Feik (second from right) tours the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C., with CAP cadets attending this week’s Civic Leadership Academy.

(2)
The 24 cadets attending the 2010 Civic Leadership Academy pose for a group photo with Col. Mary Feik (center), who accompanied them during their tour of the Air & Space Museum.

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Cadet Maj. Heather Gould of the Wyoming Wing and Cadet Lt. Col. Benton Beasley of the Tennessee Wing’ lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

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The cadets pose for another group photo at the Lincoln Memorial.

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U.S. Associate Justice Antonin Scalia (right) visits with Cadet 1st Lt. Joelah Bruccoleri of the California Wing’s Skyhawk Composite Squadron 47 after she presented him with a Civic Leadership Academy coin.

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Members of the CLA staff – (from left) Lt. Col. John Knowles of the Maryland Wing, Capt. Sharon Weeks of the North Carolina Wing, Lt. Col. John Erickson of the Alaska Wing, Lt. Col. Bill Brockman of the Florida Wing, Curt LaFond of CAP National Headquarters and Capt. Brenda Reed of the Maryland Wing – pose for a photo with U.S. Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.
Photo provided

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Former CAP National Cadet of the Year Darcy Burner (left) chats with Utah Wing Cadet Lt. Col. Cheston Newhall and Maryland Wing Cadet Maj. Eashan Samak after the cadets’ Pentagon tour. Burner, an Oregon congressional candidate in 2006 and 2008 who is now executive director of the political action committee ProgressiveCongress.org, visited with the cadets at Mott House, across the street from the U.S. Supreme Court building. She talked about the roles that political action committees play in the legislative process and elections.

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(From left) New York Wing Cadet Maj. Mark Teubl, Cadet Majs. Joshua Carr of the Missouri Wing and Alice Chan of the Maryland Wing, Arizona Wing Cadet Col. Matthew Bricker and Utah Wing Cadet Lt. Col. Cheston Newhall check out the ceiling of the Rotunda while touring the U.S. Capitol.

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U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (center), R-Alaska, a member of CAP’s Congressional Squadron, listens to South Carolina Wing Cadet Capt. Sarah Sill as Alaska Wing Cadet 1st Lt. Jennifer Coisman stands by during CAP’s Legislative Day on Capitol Hill. CLA cadets joined their wing commanders and others for the annual visit to the offices of their home state senators and representatives.

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(From left) Louisiana Wing Cadet 2nd Lt. Brett Denehan joins Cadet Master Sgt. Christin McCall, Maj. Christopher Roche, Cadet Capt. Kathleen Crockett and Cadet Chief Master Sgt. Anne Sisk, all of the Maryland Wing, for a pizza party in the office of U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md. Bartlett – a member of Civil Air Patrol’s Congressional Squadron – has treated CAP volunteers to a Legislative Day lunch the past four years.

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Cadet Capt. Jordan Watson of the Washington Wing receives her Cadet Leadership Academy graduation certificate from Brig. Gen. Reggie Chitwood, CAP national vice commander. Watson was one of 24 cadets graduating from the weeklong academy, held each year in the nation’s capital.

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CLA graduates pose for a group photo with National Park Service rangers at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. The cadets went to the park for an after-graduation party to mark completion of a full week of activities in the nation’s capital.

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Cadet Capt. Nicholas Cocco of the Pennsylvania Wing takes a break outside the Lincoln Memorial during the after-graduation party.

Photos by Capt. Brenda Reed, Maryland Wing, except where indicated


WASHINGTON, D.C. --Twenty-four of Civil Air Patrol’s top cadets from across the nation gained a head start in their public service careers Feb. 20-27 by participating in one of America’s leading civic education activities, the Civic Leadership Academy.

The CLA, an academically intense, interactive study of U.S. government in action, provides participants the opportunity to grow as citizens and young leaders through lessons in persuasive leadership, federal government, public service careers and American heritage.

“Civic Leadership Academy provides cadets an unrivaled opportunity to gain a well-rounded understanding of leadership, public service and the principles that guide our nation,” said Maj. Gen. Amy S. Courter, CAP’s national commander and the academy’s founding director. “This activity empowers our cadets to apply those principles in their own lives and to be thoughtful participants in our nation’s future.”

A real career thread runs throughout the program, said Lt. Col. Bill Brockman of the Florida Wing's SRQ Composite Squadron, CLA activity director and founding faculty member.

In addition to a blend of field trips, lectures, seminars and assigned readings from historic and current sources, the cadets visited the U.S. Capitol; the Supreme Court; the State Department; Arlington National Cemetery, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; the CIA; the Pentagon; legislative offices; and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, as well as the World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Women in Military Service and Lincoln memorials.

At these locations they encountered VIP speakers who provided them with insights designed to deepen their understanding of government in action.

“We hoped to provide the cadets attending CLA with a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of their government and how easy it is for an individual to interact with their government representatives,” Brockman said. “CLA is a challenging, intellectual study.”

“It is a weeklong total immersion into the world of government,” added Cadet Capt. Dannie Fountain of the Michigan Wing’s Selfridge Cadet Squadron.

The 2010 academy began Sunday with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington. Cadets had the opportunity to visit with the guards in the guardroom after the ceremony. They were briefed on the training process for new guards and given a history of the cemetery.

“The cadets were amazed to learn the amount of time each individual tomb guard spends on preparing his uniform for duty at the Tomb,” Brockman said.

On Monday, after a tour of the U.S. Capitol, the cadets met with retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Suter, the clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court, and U.S. Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.

 “The general spoke with the cadets about his position at the court and leadership,” Brockman said. “The general took some of the cadets to his office to see his picture of himself with Elvis Presley as a young soldier in Germany.”

Scalia spent an hour talking with the cadets about the landmark Marbury vs. Madison case, the significance of judicial review and interpreting the Constitution.

 “The success of CLA has been to keep the cadets engaged in activities they could not do on their own,” Brockman said. “The cadets are not just learning about government, but also how to interact with government, how they can be involved to make a difference and how to look for internship opportunities.”

On Thursday, the CLA cadets returned to Capitol Hill to participate in CAP’s 2010 Legislative Day by working alongside their wing commanders to brief U.S. legislators on how CAP’s primary missions – search and rescue, emergency services, aerospace education and cadet programs – have benefited their communities.

Legislative Day was held in conjunction with CAP’s Winter National Board meeting Friday and Saturday at the Crystal City Marriott in Arlington, Va.

Saturday evening, many of the cadets attended The Spaatz Association’s 2010 Annual Dinner and Awards Event. Featured speaker for the dinner was U.S. astronaut Eric Boe, the Air Force colonel and CAP senior member who piloted Space Shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station in November 2008.

The week’s activities seemed to be a hit with the CLA cadets.

“It is the top NCSA (National Cadet Special Activity) I have attended,” said Cadet 1st Lt. Joelah Bruccoleri of the California Wing’s Skyhawk Composite Squadron 47. “Visiting the memorials, with Lt. Col. Brockman’s personal connection to them, helped me feel an even greater appreciation for the sacrifices that have been made for us.”

Cadet 1st Lt. William Woodham of the Florida Wing’s Pasco County Composite Squadron found CLA “a rigorous but rewarding experience. It helped me learn to be a critical thinker. It gave me a new understanding of how the government and the democratic system work.”

For Cadet Lt. Col. Benton Beasley of the Tennessee Wing’s Murfreesboro Composite Squadron, “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I was delighted to discover that learning about our government and the American political system was enjoyable and invigorating.”

Cadet Lt. Col. Cheston Newhall of the Utah Wing’s Thunderbird Composite Squadron provided a much simpler evaluation of the weeklong experience: “CLA rocks!”

 
2010 Civic Leadership Academy graduates

• Alabama Wing — Cadet Maj. Jonathan Ernest, Chilton County Composite Squadron.
   
• Alaska Wing — Cadet 1st Lt. Jennifer Coisman, Mat-Su Valley Cadet Squadron. 
   
• Arizona Wing — Cadet Col. Matthew Bricker, Cottonwood Cadet Squadron 212. 
   
• California Wing — Cadet 1st Lt. Joelah Bruccoleri, Skyhawk Composite Squadron 47. 
   
• Florida Wing — Cadet 1st Lt. William Woodham, Pasco County Composite Squadron. 
   
• Kentucky Wing — Cadet 2nd Lt. Colin Burke, Campbell County Composite Squadron. 
   
• Louisiana Wing — Cadet 2nd Lt. Brett Denehan, Barksdale Composite Squadron.
   
• Maryland Wing — Cadet Majs. Alice Chan, Howard Composite Squadron, and Eashan Samak, St. Mary’s Composite Squadron.
   
• Michigan Wing — Cadet Capt. Dannie Fountain, Selfridge Cadet Squadron. 
   
• Missouri Wing — Cadet Maj. Joshua Carr, Springfield Regional Composite Squadron .
   
• Nevada Wing — Cadet 2nd Lt. Jeni Crandy, 70th Cadet Squadron. 
   
• New Hampshire Wing — Cadet Col. Vincent Van Dintel, Highlanders Cadet Squadron. 
   
• New York Wing — Cadet Maj. Mark Teubl, Ulster County Composite Squadron. 
   
• Ohio Wing — Cadet Capt. Bonnie Wilshire, Harrison Composite Squadron. 
   
• Pennsylvania Wing — Cadet Capt. Nicholas Cocco, Delco Composite Squadron 1007. 
   
• South Carolina Wing — Cadet Capt. Sarah Sill, Spartanburg Composite Squadron. 
   
• South Dakota Wing — Cadet 2nd Lt. David Small, Lookout Mountain Composite Squadron. 
   
• Tennessee Wing — Cadet Lt. Col. Benton Beasley, Murfreesboro Composite Squadron. 
   
• Texas Wing — Cadet Lt. Col. Jose Machuca, Plano Mustangs Composite Squadron.  
   
• Utah Wing — Cadet Lt. Col. Cheston Newhall, Thunderbird Composite Squadron.
   
• Virginia Wing — Cadet 2nd Lt. Mary Herman, Newport-News Composite Squadron. 
   
• Washington Wing — Cadet Capt. Jordan Watson, Green River Composite Squadron. 
   
• Wyoming Wing — Cadet Maj. Heather Gould, Cloud Peak Composite Squadron.