Burke Civil Air Patrol Squadron Recognized With Statewide Award

BURKE, VA — In March, the Civil Air Patrol’s Virginia Wing presented the Burke Composite Squadron with the 2020 Squadron of Merit Award. The Civil Air Patrol’s Virginia Wing selects the top squadron from the 22 Virginia Civil Air Patrol squadrons across the state.

The Virginia Wing also recognized the squadron with the Colonel Dion E. DeCamp Ground Team of the Year Award for ground team efforts in emergency services. On multiple occasions, 15 squadron members supported local food warehouse distribution efforts, and some participated in ground team search and rescue training and conducted two real-world ground searches.

Individual squadron members were recognized for their contributions as well:

• Senior Member of the Year: 1st Lt. Kerry Kaplan
• Maj Gen Jeanne M. Holm CAP Aerospace Education Officer of the Year: 2d Lt. John Douglas
• Lt Col. T. Keith Riddle Aircrew Member of the Year: Lt. Col. Erik Karlson
• Public Affairs Officer of the Year: Cadet 2d Lt. Samuel Ten
• Professional Development Officer of the Year: Capt. Julie Demyanovich
• Safety Officer of the Year: 2d Lt. David Adams

"It is great to be recognized for our efforts to provide a quality program for both cadets aged 12-18 and senior members," said Capt. Sara Demyanovich, the squadron commander for Burke Composite Squadron. "Many of our programs provide unique aerospace, aviation and leadership opportunities."

The Civil Air Patrol is the auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. The Virginia Wing of the Civil Air Patrol has 22 squadrons around the state with approximately 2,000 members, 12 light aircraft, 29 multi-purpose vehicles and two cargo vans. With these resources, the squadrons are available for search and rescue, homeland security, disaster relief, humanitarian assistance and counter-drug missions for federal, state and local governments, emergency responders and law enforcement agencies.

The Burke squadron is made up of adult and youth members 12 and older who are interested in search and rescue, flying in Cessna aircraft, cybersecurity, and other opportunities through the Civil Air Patrol.

According to a news release, the Burke Composite Squadron have continued expanded unit activities in the past year despite the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the highlights was the squadron virtually hosting the president of the Space Force Association and the Astrobotics Mission director for the Peregrine Lander lunar mission. As part of the Peregrine Lander mission, the squadron worked on a project with a small payload containing names of Civil Air Patrol members and Air Force Association StellarXplorer’s competitors as well as the Civil Air Patrol patch design on the inscribed microchip that will be sent to the moon later in 2020.

Burke Composite Squadron cadets participated in two Air Force Association competitions in the past year. The CyberPatriot team competed at the Platinum level, the highest competition level, and two StellarXplorers teams competed in the semi-final round in February. All teams will compete again in fall 2021.