Cadets earn Civil Air Patrol awards

  • Published
  • By Stefan Bocchino
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Kirtland Air Force Base --  Three Civil Air Patrol cadets earned national awards at a ceremony May 24, presided over by Brig. Gen. Paul Pena, New Mexico National Guard deputy adjutant general, at the CAP headquarters here.
One cadet earned the General Carl A. Spaatz Award and two cadets earned the General Billy Mitchell Award. Gen. Pena spoke to the cadets during the ceremony prior to giving out the awards.
"Being here is special for me because I want to share with you what some of the things are for success that I have found," said Gen. Pena. "What I tell young people is that no matter what you do in life you've got to have recipes for success. You've got to have four things, an education, discipline, community and attitude."
Cadet Col. Daniel Bracken was awarded the General Carl A. Spaatz Award. The Spaatz award is the highest award in the CAP cadet program. The award is for cadets who successfully complete all phases of the CAP cadet program and the General Carl A. Spaatz Award examination. Only a small percentage of cadets have earned this honor since the inception of the award.
Two cadets earned the General Billy Mitchell Award. They were Cadet 2nd Lt. Kyrie Selph and Cadet 2nd Lt. Miquela Apodaca.
The award is earned by CAP cadets who have successfully completed the second phase of the cadet program.
It marks the end of the enlisted phase of the cadet program. Approximately 15 percent of CAP cadets achieve the Mitchell Award.
"You young men and young ladies are going to be leaders," said Gen. Pena. "Everybody else will be following you. You're the top one half of one percent of society. If you're willing to lead, there are plenty of people who will follow."