Civil Air Patrol: August 2020

Civil Air Patrol Cadet Earns Earhart Award
SULLIVAN COUNTY– Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Cadet Galen Ferrara recently earned CAP’s Amelia Earhart Award. The Earhart Award is presented at the culmination of almost three years of work and is the third in a series of five awards available to Cadets as they progress in CAP’s Cadet Program.
A native of Barryville, NY, Cadet Ferrara joined CAP’s Sullivan County Cadet Squadron in September 2017. At that time he was the Squadron’s only Cadet but through his contributions, the unit has grown to 21 Cadets and Cadet Ferrara has earn a position as their Cadet Commander.
The Earhart Award is accompanied by a promotion to Cadet Captain and Cadet Ferrara was presented both by the New York Wing’s Commander, Colonel Thomas Carello in a virtual ceremony on July 16th.
“It was a lot of hard work and study, and it pushed me out of my comfort zone, but it was also a lot of fun with great friends. I have to thank my fellow cadets and the senior member volunteers who helped me get here,” Cadet Ferrara said.
Cadet Ferrara was motivated to join CAP because his older brother had been a CAP Cadet. His mother, 1st Lt Claire Sullivan is also a CAP member and said. “The persistence and hard work necessary, the team-building and leadership, the camaraderie, and all of the wonderful experiences that make up the Civil Air Patrol Cadet Program are wrapped up in each milestone achievement and I could not be prouder of him.”
The Earhart Award is named after aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart who set may aviation records before disappearing in the South Pacific during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe.
For information on Civil Air Patrol’s Sullivan County Cadet Squadron, visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/sccsnycap
Civil Air Patrol is the longtime auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force and as such is a valued member of its Total Force. CAP operates a fleet of 560 single-engine aircraft and 1,550 small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS). It performs about 90% 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 82 lives annually. CAP’s 66,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies.