Thursday, January 28, 2016

Jessica Strauss Wins Earhart Award

From the Capital Gazette:
    On December 22, 2015, Annapolis Composite Squadron (ACS) saw another cadet continuing in the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Core Value of Excellence, as Cadet Jessica Strauss of Davidsonville earned the prestigious Amelia Earhart Award. The award was presented to her by Lt. Col Christopher Howell, the Maryland Wing Chief of Staff.
    The Amelia Earhart Award marks a cadet's successful completion of Phase Three of the CAP cadet program and is accompanied with a promotion to Cadet Captain. Phase Three is known as the 'Command Phase' where cadets learn how to lead indirectly, as well as assisting junior cadets in pursuing their aerospace studies.
    Earhart Award recipients must pass aerospace and leadership tests, which draw questions from lessons learned through the entirety of their previous CAP career. There is also a difficult physical training test which demands excellence in all areas of fitness. In addition, they must also have acted as staff in one area of their squadron, learning to take new and greater responsibility.
    It is estimated that only five cadets out of one hundred are able to earn this award. It is a tribute to Cadet Strauss's dedication, holding herself to a high level of excellence, that she received this award.
    Cadet Strauss has been an active CAP member for three and a half years. She has held many important positions both within ACS and in the larger CAP setting, from acting as Flight Sergeant and Flight Commander during weekly drill at the squadron to serving as a cadet medic at Tri-Wing Encampment.
    Cadet Strauss lives in Davidsonville and is currently a homeschooled high school sophomore. She plans to attend Anne Arundel Community College, then John Hopkins to study health and medicine. She hopes to serve in the medical field in any capacity that will help change people's lives, especially through the military.

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