Astronaut Eric Boe to address fellow recipients of top CAP cadet honor

 

 

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At the Civil Air Patrol conference banquet in 2009, Col. Eric Boe receives a framed montage displaying his Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award coin, earned as a cadet, which he carried on his Space Shuttle Endeavour flight. Making the presentation is Maj. Gen. Amy S. Courter, CAP’s national commander. The Spaatz Association has plans to provide Boe with a duplicate coin, while his original framed one is slated to be hung in the foyer of CAP National Headquarters once the building’s refurbishment is complete this year.
Photo by Susan Robertson, CAP National Headquarters

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Cadet Col. Natasha Cohen receives her 2009 Spaatz Association commemorative challenge coin from Brig. Gen. Richard Anderson, former CAP national commander and current president of the Spaatz Association. The presentation was made in front of a life-size photo of Spaatz, who was represented at last year’s Spaatz banquet by several family members, including Spaatz family historian Katharine Gresham.
Photo courtesy of Michael A. Murphy, Spaatz Association

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Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., listens as Col. Edward Phelka, Colorado Wing commander, presents an overview of the wing’s accomplishments, including 16 saves in 2008. On hand for the 2009 meeting on Capitol Hill were Col. Gary Tobey, the wing’s government relations officer, and Cadet Maj. Clay Amann of the Washington Wing’s Mount Rainier Composite Squadron.
Photo by Susan Robertson, CAP National Headquarters

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Cadet Capt. Timothy Lhota of the Florida Wing’s Gainesville Composite Squadron is promoted by U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., as Lt. Col. Bill Brockman of the SRQ Composite Squadron looks on during last year’s Legislative Day on Capitol Hill. Lhota, one of 24 cadets from across America attending the 2009 Civic Leadership Academy activities in the nation’s capital, was honored by his hometown congressman during Legislative Day activities. Stearns presented Lhota with the Amelia Earhart Achievement Award, which carries with it the rank of captain. Brockman served as activity director for the Civic Leadership Academy.
Photo by Ryan Easterling, CAP National Headquarters

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Civil Air Patrol’s national government relations consultant, John Swain (second from left), chats with U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (right), R-Pa., on 2009 Legislative Day as the Pennsylvania Wing’s commander, Col. Mark Lee (left), and chief of staff, Lt. Col. Walter C. Vertreace, stand by.
Photo by Ryan Easterling, CAP National Headquarters

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More than 20 cadets and senior members from the Maryland Wing enjoy a pizza party in the Capitol Hill office of U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., as part of 2009 Legislative Day activities in Washington. Visiting with the CAP members is Pudge Forrester (right), who works on Bartlett’s staff and is also a CAP second lieutenant in the West Virginia Wing’s Martinsburg Composite Squadron. Bartlett, a member of CAP’s Congressional Squadron, has treated the Maryland Wing volunteers to lunch for the past three years.  He met with the CAP delegation shortly after the photo was taken.
Photo by Ryan Easterling, CAP National Headquarters

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(From left) Col. Steve Kuddes, North Central Region commander; Col. Andrea Davis, Southwest Region vice commander; Air Force Lt. Col. Don Hensley. Southwest Liaison Region commander; Col. John Eggen, Arizona Wing commander; Col. Robert Britton, Arkansas Wing commander; and Lt. Col. Amos Plante, Louisiana Wing chief of staff, line one of the tables near the front of the 2009 Winter National Board meeting room. Davis represented Col. Joseph Jensen, Southwest Region commander, at the business session, and Plante was sitting in for Col. Michael DuBois, Louisiana Wing commander.
Photo by Susan Robertson, CAP National Headquarters

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At the 2009 board meeting, CAP National Commander Maj. Gen. Amy S. Courter presents an Exceptional Service Award to 1st Lt. Tolga Tarhan of the California Wing’s Saddleback Composite Squadron 68, who received the award for his development of a software program that automates much of the work involved with labeling CAP photos to 1st Air Force standards. It is now being used by many CAP wings and squadrons nationwide. 
Photo by Susan Robertson, CAP National Headquarters

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MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. – Civil Air Patrol’s most-honored past and present cadets will hear from one of their own, U.S. astronaut Eric Boe, when they convene Saturday for The Spaatz Association’s 2010 Annual Dinner and Awards Event at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va.

Boe, a U.S. Air Force colonel and Civil Air Patrol senior member, 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, targeted to launch in September. The eight-day mission will carry a pressurized logistics module to the space station.

Like many of the former and current cadets attending Saturday’s dinner, Boe is a recipient of the Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award – CAP’s highest cadet award. He earned the award as a CAP cadet in Georgia in 1983 and retains his CAP membership today. He credits CAP for first sparking his interest in flight and is a staunch supporter of CAP, serving as keynote speaker for the nonprofit, all-volunteer organization’s annual conference in San Antonio in September. 

At the annual conference, Boe encouraged both CAP cadets and senior members to “dream big! You have to be able to dream it before you can do it.” That is a message he is expected to bring to Arlington when he visits Saturday with his fellow Spaatz cadets as their featured speaker.

The Spaatz banquet is part of a full week of activities for Civil Air Patrol members. During CAP’s Legislative Day, on Thursday, the organization’s 52 wing and eight region commanders, as well as youth involved in the cadet program, will personally brief their congressional representatives in Washington 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 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 in support of communities 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 CAP’s versatile fleet of 550 aircraft.

Civil Air Patrol volunteers 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 managers in combating forest fires, managing the effects of winter ice storms and dealing with massive flooding.

Legislative Day will be conducted in conjunction with CAP’s Winter National Board meeting Friday and Saturday at the Marriott Crystal City in Arlington. The CAP 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 CAP Board of Governors, proposes amendments to the governing constitution and bylaws.

Speakers for the Winter National Board will include R. Philip Deavel, a member of the Senior Executive Service, who is deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for Reserve Affairs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), at the Pentagon. Within the Air Force, he is responsible for coordinating, planning and establishing policy for the Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve and Civil Air Patrol.

Besides Boe, other speakers at Saturday’s Spaatz banquet include Courter, who will introduce keynote speaker Daniel B. Ginsberg, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. Katherine Gresham, the Spaatz family historian, also will visit to share details from her grandfather’s war diaries.

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 59,000 members nationwide. 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 CoordinationCenter and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 72 lives in fiscal year 2009. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the more than 24,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for 68 years. For more information on Civil Air Patrol, visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com.