Three Oregon Civil Air Patrol members get national honors

Three members of the Oregon Wing of Civil Air Patrol are receiving national awards at the CAP National Convention in Nashville, Tenn., in August.

There are 52 Wings in CAP organized into eight CAP Regions. These award winners are considered the top in their specialty area in the nation for 2016.

Maj Bradley Naas will receive the Brig. Gen. Jeanne M. Holm Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Education Officer of the Year Award. This award recognizes outstanding performance in aerospace education by CAP Aerospace Education Officers assigned to duties at the squadron, group, wing or region levels. Maj Naas, a retired shop/technology education schoolteacher, is the Oregon Wing Director of Aerospace Education. He is a member of the Columbia Composite Squadron which meets at the Portland Air National Guard Base. Educating youth and adults about aviation is one of the three major missions of Civil Air Patrol.

“Maj Naas enjoys seeing cadets getting sparked by aviation,” said Lt Col Scott Maguire, Commander of the Columbia Squadron. “He teaches and encourages our cadets and helps the rest of our squadron members to do a better job of teaching the cadets.”

Lt Col Rogers Walker will receive the Counter Drug Officer of the Year Award. CAP performs counter drug missions in accordance with public law, implementing Department of Defense and Air Force policies, directives and instructions. CAP, with concurrence with USAF, has established national agreements with federal law enforcement agencies to assist in locating illicit drug trafficking and growing activities. Lt Col Walker is the Oregon Wing Counter Drug officer. He is a member of the High Desert Squadron, based in Bend.

“Lt Col Walker is a mainstay in our Squadron – someone we can always count on and who is very good at whatever work he takes on, be it in the airplane or in the Incident Command Post,” said Capt Mike Wissing, Commander of the High Desert Squadron. “I am thrilled that he has won this award and is being recognized for his incredible dedication to the Civil Air Patrol. He epitomizes all of our core values and is an indispensable asset.”

Cadet 2nd Lt Simon J. Chuang is the 2016 Air Force Sergeant’s Association NCO of the Year Award recipient. 2nd Lt Chuang is a member of the Aurora Composite Squadron, which meets at the Aurora State Airport. NCOs or non-commissioned officers are varying levels of sergeant and can serve as Flight Sergeants and other positions within a squadron. The selection process was based upon his numerous achievements within CAP and he received a favorable recommendation by his commanders. As this year’s recipient, he and two guests will get free lodging and registration for the national convention. After he was nominated for this award, Cadet Chuang was promoted to an officer rank (2nd Lt) after serving in several NCO positions.

“Cadet Chuang is a living example of the Civil Air Patrol Core Values,” said Capt Marc Minato, Commander of the Aurora Squadron. “He was an exemplary NCO in the Aurora Squadron, and a model of integrity.”

These three recipients were named as the Officer of the Year in their specialty area at the state level and were selected from among all the recipients of the six states in the Pacific Region as the top person in the whole region in that specialty. The Oregon Wing is the only state in the Pacific Region to have three people receive this level of national recognition this year.

These awards will be presented on Aug. 13, 2016, at the event to be held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville.

Civil Air Patrol was founded on Dec. 1, 1941, by a group of aviation enthusiasts and private pilots who wanted to donate their time and aircraft to protect the nation’s coastlines during World War II and to perform other critical civil defense missions.

CAP, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Force’s Total Force, which consists of regular Air Force, Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve, along with Air Force retired military and civilian employees. CAP, in its Total Force role, operates a fleet of 550 aircraft and performs about 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 78 lives annually.

Civil Air Patrol’s 56,000 members nationwide also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. Its members additionally play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 24,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet program. Performing missions for America for the past 75 years, CAP received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2014 in honor of the heroic efforts of its World War II veterans. CAP also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. Visit http://www.capvolunteernow.com/ for more information