Gen Carl A. Spaatz Award Recipients

THE GENERAL CARL A. SPAATZ AWARD is Civil Air Patrol’s highest cadet honor. It 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 progress 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 World War 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

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.

Recent CAWG Spaatz Recipients

#2595 C/Col Cody G. Layne	#2483 C/Col Kayden Maly
Previous Awards

 

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• #2483 Kayden R. Maly Earned Sept 2023

  Cadet Colonel Kayden Russell Maly has served in the Civil Air Patrol at Composite Squadron 14,Sacramento, CA, since May 2018.  He earned the General Carl A. Spaatz AwardSeptember 22, 2023. The son of Todd and Melissa Maly, Cadet Maly was bornand raised in Sacramento, CA.  His parents are both California natives.   Cadet Maly earned his high school diploma at Leroy Greene Academy in 2020 and went on to college from there.  After graduation he remained a member of Squadron 14.  Healso earned his Eagle Scout award from Boy Scouts of America in the process, a program which he served seven years. Cadet Maly earned his Private Pilot Certificate and graduated the CAP Cadet Wings Program (Graduate #159)in 2022. Cadet Maly presently holds a CAP Pilot Rating (Form 5), in a G1000 Cessna 182, and aspires to qualify as a Mission Transport Pilot.  Outside of flying, Cadet Maly has served in Cadet Programs as Squadron 14’s Flight Sergeant, Flight Commander, and became its Cadet Commander in 2022.  He served as Cadet Commander for the Capital City Air Show, Mather, CA, and Deputy Commander of Operations for the Desert Eagle Flight Academy, Ephrata, WA, both in 2022.   This year he served as Director of Admin for the California Wing Encampment, at Camp Richards, CA.  Outside of Civil Air Patrol, Cadet Maly is presently enrolled at California State University, Sacramento where he majors in Political Science, with a minor in Military Studies. He serves as a Cadet in the USAF ROTC Detachment 088, and is a member of itsProfessional Officer Corps.  He graduated from USAF Field Training held at Maxwell Air Force Base Alabama, and holds the position of Color Guard Commander for his detachment.  Cadet Maly desires to become a pilot in the USAF after he earns his commission from ROTC.  Cadet Maly has served Civil Air Patrol with distinction.  His achievements are a credit to himself and reflect highly upon CAP Cadet Programs.  He has left an extremely positive impression on Composite Squadron 14 and will be missed when he finally leaves.  We can only hope he chooses to rejoin Civil Air Patrol later in his career as a senior member.

Previous California Wing Spaatz Award Recipients

#2595 – Cody G. Layne – 2025 #2483 – Kayden R. Maly – 2023 #2480 – Francisco R. Cornejo – 2023 #2460 – Aidan J. Peck – 2023 #2446 – Austin S. McCoy – 2023 #2436 – Rafael A. Delgado – 2022 #2388 – Adithya U. Patil – 2022 #2365 – Jesse A. James – 2021 #2356 – Winston Maa – 2021 #2343 – Rebecca A. Mayer-Cherry – 2021 #2338 – Thea L. Kirkpatrick – 2021 #2337 – Luca V. Hoang – 2021 #2295 – Peter I. Hockel – 2020 #2292 – Andrew G. Hockel – 2020 #2255 – Jacob D. Jurkoic – 2019 #2215 – Dylan M. Hert – 2018 #2143 – William E. Irons – 2017 #2116 – Nicole J. Khattar – 2017 #2096 – Clayton D. Wikoff – 2017 #2094 – Robinson J. Hess – 2017 #2091 – Lydia R. Philp – 2017 #2051 – David M. Burke – 2016 #2039 – Josiah R. Bierle – 2016 #2017 – Rhett L. Spongberg – 2016 #2006 – Thomas Pendergrass – 2015 #2005 – Cameron M. Hamnquist – 2015 #1996 – Jean M. Pendergrass – 2015 #1978 – Andy D. Goodwin – 2014 #1967 – Sarah M. Gamble – 2014 #1966 – Trenton Bromenschenkel – 2014 #1950 – Anthony R. Cummins – 2014 #1933 – Bryce Kuykendall – 2014 #1919 – Joshua R. Flewellen – 2014 #1887 – Joshua C. Lanier – 2013 #1871 – Mary E. Barb – 2013 #1870 – Luke A. Beck-Fridell – 2013 #1863 – Evan Yanagihara – 2012 #1852 – Melanie E. Tunison – 2012 #1850 – Michael H. Chung – 2012 #1775 – Jonathan J. Khattar – 2010 #1773 – Sean L. Quigley – 2010 #1754 – Peter C. Kler – 2010 #1728 – Paul F. McNiel – 2009 #1720 – Megan G. Cleary – 2008 #1678 – Douglas S. Crawford – 2007 #1665 – Devon K. Boyle – 2007 #1626 – Jeffrey D. Buentgen – 2007 #1593 – Cody W.M. Upton – 2006 #1588 – Meagan L. Johnson – 2005 #1585 – Anthony S. Wong – 2006 #1569 – Ian G. Lord – 2005 #1554 – Brian T. Jensen – 2005 #1545 – Tamara M. Stuart – 2004 #1519 – Kyle B. McClure – 2003 #1499 – Philip R. Buckley – 2003 #1481 – Allison D. Thompson – 2002 #1455 – Heather M. Cook – 2002 #1433 – Laura N. Parsons – 2000 #1413 – Kevin L. Johnson – 1999 #1392 – Jorge M. Barriere – 1999 #1390 – Scott C. Matthews – 1999 #1389 – Andrew Meislin – 1998 #1288 – Mark E. Hoferer – 1996 #1254 – Timothy Ewing – 1995

#1235 – Aaron W. Kahn – 1994 #1226 – Erin Ashby – 1994 #1200 – Scott Englund – 1994 #1195 – Daniel Chatham – 1993 #1166 – Katrin Karamian – 1993 #1152 – Alexander Garrett – 1992 #1126 – Erike Young – 1992 #1105 – Michelle Pryor – 1992 #1103 – James McCrumb – 1992 #1098 – Daniel Gwaltney – 1992 #1093 – Timothy D. Voss – 1992 #1087 – Harold Buchanan – 1991 #1079 – Marvin Lee Chase – 1991 #1070 – Martin Sparks – 1991 #1039 – Juan Pena – 1991 #1014 – Laurel A. Quaile – 1990 #1011 – Carl B. Watson – 1990 #998 – David B. Farnham – 1990 #997 – Joseph P. Finken – 1990 #995 – David M. Stamps – 1990 #991 – Jeffrey R. Duncan-King – 1990 #963 – Zackary D. Artim – 1989 #918 – Richard Bingle Jr. – 1988 #880 – Dan Chandler – 1988 #865 – Robert Klimowicz – 1987 #863 – Phillip Kwong – 1987 #791 – John Sowter – 1986 #787 – Timothy Morton – 1986 #735 – George K. Demirjian – 1985 #732 – Waldo Silveyra – 1985 #718 – Dawn M. K. Habina – 1984 #713 – Jenny C. Fung – 1984 #704 – Wayne C. Brown – 1984 #693 – Roy T. Oberhauser – 1984 #692 – Tom M. Smith – 1984 #686 – Alexandra Ramirez – 1984 #677 – William E. Geesey – 1984 #654 – Steve A. Humphrey – 1983 #619 – Lisa M. Taylor – 1982 #618 – Mike Suk – 1982 #581 – Paul C. Starr – 1981 #566 – James R. Steinmetz – 1981 #529 – James Laurd Wallis – 1979 #504 – Steven C. Stanton – 1979 #486 – Mark A. Glatt – 1978 #473 – David M. Timm – 1978 #457 – Brian D. Wolf – 1977 #435 – Gary S. Martin – 1977 #420 – Michael R. Couillard – 1977 #368 – Michael D. Charlton – 1975 #356 – Edward F. Lee – 1975 #343 – Andrew K. Weaver – 1975 #332 – Jay L. Weinsoff – 1975 #308 – Steven A. Catron – 1974 #239 – Richard T. Reed – 1974 #235 – Christine O. Lee – 1973 #168 – Wayne M. Denesik – 1972 #156 – Douglas M. Hawley – 1971 #113 – Thomas M. McKannon – 1970 #109 – Charles S. Glaubach – 1970 #108 – Frederick Beasom – 1970 #103 – Mike A. Taylor – 1970 #99 – Anthony M. Upton – 1969 #83 – Stephen R. Ringlee – 1969 #14 – Stephen R. Bowcock – 1966 #3 – Robert L. Gray – 1965