Cadet Col. Jonah Torp-Pedersen, of Williamson County, passed the nationally renowned, four-part General Carl A. Spaatz Award exam this weekend.
Prior to the test and during his Civil Air Patrol career, Torp-Pedersen, a cadet since 2013, he has served from the local level to the national level. At age 17, he obtained his private pilot’s license, followed by his drone’s license.
This past summer, Torp-Pedersen earned the Expert Ranger rating at Hawk Mountain Ranger School in Kempton, Pa., the only ranger school offered to both adults and cadets in the nation. He is one of two cadets in the nation that currently holds the grade of Expert Ranger. He will be heading back to Hawk Mountain this summer to serve as Cadet Commander for the second time.
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. He will receive a nationally-recognized Spaatz number, state commendation, and local recognition for his outstanding accomplishment.
The General Carl A. Spaatz Award is the Civil Air Patrol’s highest cadet honor and only one-half of one percent of cadets attain this milestone.
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 www.gocivilairpatrol.com or www.cap.news for more information.
Please join our FREE Newsletter
