Cadet Col. Andrea Batista
1st Lt. Jackie Zarrilli
Public Affairs Officer
Cadet Programs
Florida Wing
FLORIDA – Cadet Col. Andrea Batista of the Miami Springs Optimist Cadet Squadron has earned Civil Air Patrol’s highest cadet achievement, the Gen. Carl A Spaatz Award, five years to the day she joined CAP.
Batista has been very active during her half-decade in the organization, having completed her emergency service, radio operations, urban directional finding, CPR, first aid and automated external defibrillator certifications. She has served as her squadron’s color guard commander and cadet commander and earned such honors as the Air Force Association’s Squadron Cadet of the Year.
She has also served as Florida Wing Group 7’s Cadet Advisory Council chairwoman and assistant cadet programs officer. She has attended five wing encampments and held various leadership roles, most recently serving as cadet deputy commander at the 2009 summer encampment.
In addition, Batista is a graduate of Cadet Officer School and earned her solo wings at National Flight Glider Academy. She is also a certified scuba diver.
Batista passed the rigorous Spaatz tests at her first attempt – hardly a surprise to those who know her. A high school senior at the School for Advanced Studies, an intense dual-enrollment program of Miami-Dade College and Miami-Dade County Public Schools, she has already earned 22 college credits with a weighted GPA of 4.5.