Civil Air Patrol - "Citizens Serving Communities: Above and Beyond"

The Commander of Civil Air Patrol’s Middle East Region (MER), Col Charles Glass, recently announced the selection of the Martinsburg Composite Squadron as the winner of the 2008 MER Squadron of Distinction Award. The award was presented, at the Civil Air Patrol’s 2008 Middle East Region Conference, held in Richmond, VA, last month, to Lt Col Robert Mills, Commander of the Martinsburg Squadron.

The Squadron of Distinction Award is presented annually to the CAP squadron within the Middle East Region that has the most outstanding cadet program. The CAP Middle East Region consists of units in Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. The winner of the region award goes on to compete nationally. WV Wing Commander Col Rodney Moore and Chief of Staff Lt Col Dennis Barron were on hand for the presentation.

The criteria for this award includes:

• A minimum of 12 cadets on 1 January (Martinsburg has 34 cadets)
• An active cadet recruiting and retention program
• Number of cadet milestone achievement awards
• Number of cadet first-time encampment attendees
• Participation in the orientation flight program

In receiving the Squadron of Distinction Award, Lt Col Mills stated that, "the cadets of the Martinsburg Squadron are very active and work hard to progress in their achievements. Our cadets are some of the best in the nation and this award shows what a great group of young people they really are." Mills also noted that in 2007, the Martinsburg Composite Squadron was also selected as the West Virginia Wing Squadron of the Year.

The Civil Air Patrol was founded on Dec. 1, 1941, less than a week before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the U.S. into World War II. CAP, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 55,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 95 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions, as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. Members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the more than 22,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet program. For more information, go to www.cap.gov.

The West Virginia Wing has approximately 680 cadet and senior officers comprising 12 squadrons based throughout the state. For information on the local squadron go to www.martinsburgcap.com or contact Russell Voelker (304) 267-6403.