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Osprey hosts celebration for Cadet Col. Mowery

Filipiak, Mowery, Walsh, and Parris pose for camera
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Maj. Patricia Filipiak, Cadet Col. Wayne Mowery, Brig. Gen. Guy Walsh, and Maj. Bill Parris during a recent celebration and Spaatz award presentation for Mowery at the Osprey Composite Squadron. (Photo credit: 1st Lt. Walter Murphy, CAP)

Brig. Gen. Walsh is special guest

By 1st Lt. Walter Murphy, CAP
Drug Demand Reduction Administrator, Maryland Wing

5/26/2009–Dundalk, MD–The Osprey Composite Squadron, part of the Maryland Wing Civil Air Patrol (CAP) recently held a Spaatz Award presentation and celebration for Cadet Col. Wayne Mowery, Jr., at the Dundalk Moose Lodge 1228.

Cadet Col. Mowery was presented the Spaatz Award, CAP’s highest cadet achievement, by Brig. Gen. Guy Walsh, USAF, Maryland Air National Guard 175th Wing Commander, who also served as the guest speaker for the event. Additional speakers included Maj. Patricia Filipiak, commander of the Osprey Composite Squadron, and Maj. Bill Parris, Group 2 commander.

Mowery joined CAP in February of 2004. He is currently attending the University of Maryland at College Park where he is a cadet in the AFROTC Detachment 330, where he is competing against 150 other cadets for a pilot rating in the USAF. He has a double major in Arabic and Spanish.

Mowery graduated the Maryland Wing Solo Academy in 2006 and the 2004 Tri-Wing Encampment. He returned to Tri-Wing serving on staff in 2007 as a flight commander and again in 2008 as a squadron commander. He was named Cadet of the Year in 2004 and 2006 for the Osprey Composite Squadron.

His is currently serving as cadet commander of the 2009 Maryland-Delaware Encampment, Chairperson of the Maryland Wing Cadet Advisory Council, and Cadet Drug Demand Reduction Administrator for Maryland Wing. Mowery was nominated by CAP National Headquarters for a flight scholarship from the Order of the Daedalians. Mowery is currently rated as Ground Team Member 1, Mission Observer, and Skills Evaluator. This summer, he will serve as a delegate to Hong Kong as part of the International Air Cadet Exchange.

The Gen. Carl A Spaatz Award is presented to cadets who have demonstrated excellence in Leadership, character, fitness, and aerospace education. Cadets qualify for this prestigious award after devoting an average of five years to the process through sixteen achievements in the CAP Cadet Program. Along the way they develop self-discipline, a strong sense of personal responsibility, the ability to lead and persuade, and the foundation necessary for pursuing a career in aviation, space, or technology.

The final step a cadet must complete to earn the Spaatz Award is a rigorous four-part exam consisting of a challenging physical fitness test, an essay exam testing their moral reasoning, a comprehensive written exam on leadership, and a comprehensive written exam on aerospace education. Upon passing the Spaatz Award exams, the cadet is promoted to the grade of cadet colonel.

The Spaatz Award is named in honor of Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, the first Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. One of the giants in the history of airpower, in 1929 Spaatz, together with another pilot set an important flight endurance record of 150 hours and 40 minutes in the early days of aviation. During WW II, he commanded the Allied air campaign against the Nazis. In the Pacific Theater, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki took place under his command. After retiring from the Air Force, General Spaatz served as the first chairman of the Civil Air Patrol National Board.

On average, only two cadets in one thousand earn the Spaatz Award. Since the award’s inception in 1964, Civil Air Patrol has presented the Spaatz Award to just over 1750 cadets.

Spaatz Cadets are expected to serve as role models for junior cadets, and become leaders in their communities as they enter adulthood. The first recipient of the Spaatz Award, Michigan’s Douglas C. Roach, became a pilot with the Air Force Thunderbirds.

The Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U. S. Air Force, 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 is a nonprofit organization with more than 56,000 members nationwide. The organization’s members perform 95 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, and were credited by the AFRCC with saving 90 lives in fiscal year 2008. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies.

Members take a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the almost 25,000 young people currently participating in the CAP Cadet Program. CAP’s cadet programs provide young men and women with a safe and motivating environment in which to grow and explore opportunities in the military and aviation industries. CAP has been performing mission for American for more than 63 years. There are approximately 1,400 members of CAP in Maryland. Last fiscal year wing members flew 42 search and rescue missions and were credited with 31 finds. For more information, visit www.mdcap.org.

The Osprey Composite Squadron meets weekly on Tuesday evenings at the Essex Skypark.  Additional information can be viewed at the squadron's website at www.ospreycap.org