Ten SC Civil Air Patrol Units Win National Award

Columbia, S.C.—The South Carolina Wing, Civil Air Patrol, is excited to announce that 10 of its Civil Air Patrol squadrons were awarded the Quality Cadet Unit Award for 2019. This National-level award is an objective-based accomplishment which all squadrons in Civil Air Patrol—over 1000—strive to achieve. The Quality Cadet Unit Award (QCUA) has been awarded for 10 years in an effort to improve the Cadet Program within Civil Air Patrol.
To be named a Quality Cadet Unit, the squadron leadership works to attain 10 goals—achieving a minimum of 6 benchmarks will earn a squadron this national award. The squadrons are measured on their growth and recruiting goals, as well as retention—did they retain cadets from one year to the next? Since every cadet is entitled to five free powered orientation flight, the squadrons are measured on whether they provided this free incentive to cadets in their first 90 days of membership. Other measurements include whether the squadron has a CyberPatriot team, whether the cadets have have completed basic emergency services training, and whether the Senior Members have completed a course on leading cadets and achieved their Yeager Award.
For some of the squadrons in the South Carolina Wing, winning the QCUA is routine—in fact, the Lowcountry Composite Squadron based on Hilton Head Island received this award for the 9th consecutive time. Others, including the Florence Composite Squadron and the Greenville Composite Squadron, received their 3rd consecutive award. This year the Lexington Composite Squadron has received their 5th award, which is their 4th consecutive year to be named a Quality Cadet Unit.
However, for two squadrons, including a re-chartered unit which did not even exist for the full 11-month measurement period, winning the Quality Cadet Unit Award is a new experience. The Aiken Composite Squadron, which was re-chartered in December 2018 after a years-long hiatus, was successful in winning the QCUA during its first year. In addition, the ACE Basin Composite Squadron won its first Quality Cadet Unit Award since its recharter in 2016.
The South Carolina Wing of Civil Air Patrol has 16 cadet or composite squadrons state-wide, including in cities like Spartanburg, Myrtle Beach, York, Hilton Head Island, Beaufort, Walterboro, and others. Specifically, the South Carolina Wing units winning the Quality Cadet Unit Award for 2019, according to Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters were:
*ACE Basin Composite Squadron, Walterboro, first award.
*Aiken Composite Squadron, Aiken; first award since re-charter; second award historically.
*Anderson Composite Squadron, Anderson; second award historically.
*Coastal Charleston Composite Squadron, Charleston; third award historically.
*Emerald City Cadet Squadron, Greenwood; fourth award historically.
*Florence Composite Squadron, Florence; fourth award historically; third consecutive award.
*Greenville Composite Squadron, Greenville; fourth award historically; third consecutive award.
*Lexington Composite Squadron, Columbia; fifth award historically; fourth consecutive award.
*Lowcounty Composite Squadron, Hilton Head Island; ninth consecutive award.
*Sumter Composite Squadron, Sumter; second award historically.
Civil Air Patrol, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Force’s Total Force. In this role, CAP operates a fleet of 560 aircraft, 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 80 lives annually. CAP’s 60,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. In addition, CAP plays a leading role in aerospace/STEM education, and its members serve as mentors to over 25,000 young people participating in CAP’s Cadet Programs. Visit www.GoCivilAirPatrol.com or www.CAP.news for more information.