MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (PRWEB) July 25, 2013 -- Civil Air Patrol’s Ohio, Tennessee, and Utah and wings took home first-place honors during the organization’s National Cadet Competition held July 17-20 at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. The Utah Wing won the color guard crown, while Ohio and Tennessee wings shared first place among drill teams.
Cadets participating in the competition reach the national stage by winning group, wing and regional competitions. The eight CAP regions were represented by 124 cadets as either members of a four-member color guard or a 13-member drill team. Eight color guards and six drill teams competed.
“National Cadet Competition exemplifies the values of the CAP cadet program,” said Lt. Col. Steve Piehl, National Cadet Competition director. “Participants have the opportunity to demonstrate teamwork, aerospace knowledge, leadership skills and physical fitness in contests against their peers from around the country, and the winners are recognized as the best of the best.”
The cadets demonstrated their skills in events involving precision and teamwork, such as standard and innovative drill movements and indoor and outdoor posting of the American flag. Other activities tested creativity and knowledge of aerospace-related topics, including a written exam and panel quiz, as well as physical fitness challenges such as volleyball and a mile run.
In the color guard competition, Cadet Master Sgt. Damon Printz of the Southwest Region team paced males in the mile run with a 5:24 performance, while Cadet 2nd Lt. Jean Pendergrass of the Pacific Region team recorded the fastest time among females at 6:27. Printz is a member of the Texas Wing’s Thunderbolt Composite Squadron based in McKinney. Dickerson belongs to the California Wing’s Skyhawk Composite Squadron 47 in Pendleton.
For the drill teams, Cadet Tech. Sgt. Brian Haight of the Great Lakes Region had the fastest mile run among males at 5:13, and Cadet Lt. Col. Abigail Dickerson of the Southeast Region recorded a 6:16 mile to pace female runners. Haight is a member of the Ohio Wing’s Youngstown ARS Composite Squadron; Dickerson belongs to the Tennessee Wing’s Lewis County Cadet Squadron in Hohenwald.
Cadet 2nd Lts. Olivia Persing and Nathan Wilson, both representing the Middle East Region, earned the highest written exam scores among color guard and drill team members, respectively. Persing is a member of the Maryland Wing’s Carroll Composite Squadron in Westminster, and Wilson belongs to the North Carolina Wing’s Apex Cadet Squadron in Cary.
Other winners included the Pacific Region team from California, which placed second in color guard competition; teams from the North Central and Southeast regions – hailing from Nebraska and Florida, respectively -- tied for third. The third-place drill team award went to the Pacific Region team from the California Wing. Also, the Middle East Region Color Guard from Maryland and the Northeast Region Drill Team from New Jersey were recognized with Spirit Awards for demonstrating the greatest team spirit during the competition.
Teams of senior CAP officers from across the nation and members of the honor guard from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base judged the inspections and drill competitions, while volleyball professionals judged the volleyball competition.
The National Cadet Competition is one of more than 30 National Cadet Special Activities being sponsored by CAP across the nation this summer. These activities allow cadets to hone their skills in a variety of areas – including search and rescue, flight and emergency services, science, leadership fundamentals, citizenship and military courtesies – and to explore aerospace technology and aviation careers.
Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 61,000 members nationwide, operating a fleet of 550 aircraft. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 80 lives annually. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 26,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet programs. CAP received the World Peace Prize in 2011 and has been performing missions for America for 71 years. CAP also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. Visit http://www.gocivilairpatrol.com or http://www.capvolunteernow.com for more information.
Contact info: Julie DeBardelaben – jdebardelaben(at)capnhq(dot)gov – 334-953-7748, ext. 250
Steve Cox – scox(at)capnhq(dot)gov – 334-953-7748, ext. 251
Julie Debardelaben, Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters, +1 (877) 227-9142 250, [email protected]
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