An Unexpected Surprise

An Unexpected Surprise

This post will be unusual and personal. You will learn why shortly. 

On Saturday, April 27^th the annual conference of the Arizona Wing of the Civil Air Patrol was held in Chandler, Arizona at the Wild Horse Casino. This year’s conference was special in that CAP Board of Governors meeting was held concurrently at the same venue. The national commander of CAP was present. A typical agenda for the wing conference is to initially have commanders provide an update on the past years’ achievements and current state of the Arizona Wing followed by awards for those unable to attend the evening banquet. Next there are breakout sessions that focus on the areas of special interest. This year included sessions for CAP cadets. The end of the day is highlighted by the annual awards banquet. Going in, I knew that I had won an award for aerospace so although I am usually introverted and shun parties, I decided to stay for the dinner.

Let’s backup a little. As an orthopedic surgeon by profession, how did I get interested in aerospace education? As a young boy my interest in space developed early. My bedroom walls were plastered with posters of the moon and the planets of the solar system. I started reading books about pilots in elementary school and I thought I would one day grow up to be one. At age 10 or 12 I ordered a serious, scientific book describing the search for extraterrestrial life. My dad worked for Convair, a company that later was absorbed into General Dynamics. He worked near the plant that built B-24 Liberators during WWII. He was a scientist with the division that developed the Atlas and Centaur launch vehicles. Even almost 60 years later these are some of the most reliable rockets in the US repertoire. My father did research on the combustibility of hydrogen and oxygen gas mixtures in the inter-stages of the Saturn V rocket. A highlight of my youth was the Apollo moon landing that happened 50 years ago this July. I sat around a black and white TV with a group of my high school friends to watch that epic event unfold live before a world-wide audience.

More recently I was an enthusiast of the space shuttle program. I spent many hours watching video feeds from the orbiters on NASA TV as astronauts carried out scientific research, serviced the Hubble Space Telescope, and assembled the bulk of the International Space Station. It was inspiring to watch America’s astronauts and support staff overcome hurdle after hurdle during this endeavor. I was sad to see the shuttle program terminated in 2011. The US has not had the hardware to launch people into space since.

So it was natural for me to assume a leadership role in aerospace education for Squadron 508 when a void developed in that area. I have had the support of senior members and cadets of the squadron. We have hit the highways on field trips travelling to Palomar Observatory, Midway Museum, Palm Springs Air Museum, and the Pima Air Museum. The Yuma Airport Authority has provided us with an excellent facility and support. The Yuma Library has provided telescopes and staff to educate cadets about the night sky. Our rocket launches have been featured in the local newspaper. We have fielded teams in the CyberPatriot competition the last two years. It takes a community to support our program!

Back to the conference. The banquet turned out to be very pleasant after all. Table mates were great company and the food was tasty. After dinner former astronaut Mike Mullane delivered an animated address concerning self-leadership, always striving to do your best without concern for rewards, and demonstrating determination regardless of the odds against you. A lot of what he said had resonance for me. 

Finally, to the awards. Most of the awards were for AZ Wing “of the year” achievement. Awardees were asked to line up by the side of the room until their name was called. Awards were given in alphabetical order, starting with administration. I thought that aerospace education officer would be next but my name was not called. I thought maybe there was a mistake and I had been forgotten but there were several of us left waiting after the Wing awards. Soon I was startled to learn that I had been selected as Southwest Region Aerospace Education Officer of the Year, the Brewer Memorial Award. I was extremely proud to receive my plaque from the National Commander of CAP, Major General Mark Smith.

2018 Brewer Memorial Award Plaque

Concluding, I would like to express my heart-felt gratitude to our squadron commander, Maj. Stuart Smith and professional development officer, Lt. Col. Seth Grenke who wrote up the award application. I also appreciate the attention of the staff at Arizona Wing and Southwest Region who made this recognition a reality.