last modified: Thursday, May 20, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAXWELL AFB, Ala. — The Civil Air Patrol has won yet another national award for its work in aerospace education.

The all-volunteer auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force was selected to receive the 2002 Frank G. Brewer Aerospace Education Trophy from the National Aeronautic Association. The award was presented April 4 during a luncheon at the National Congress on Aviation and Space Education in Cincinnati.

CAP previously won both the 2002 Hoyt S. Vandenberg Award and the George D. Hardy Award from the Air Force Association. These national awards recognize achievement and contributions to aerospace education.

Established in 1943, the Brewer award recognizes “significant contributions of enduring value” in the field of aerospace education.  CAP won the Brewer Trophy for more than a half-century of leadership in educating the nation’s young people on the many opportunities available to them in the fields of aviation and space flight.

In announcing the winner of the Brewer award, NAA President Donald Koranda said, “This trophy bears witness to the ability of CAP’s people and programs to make a difference in the aerospace education field and to our society. They provide teachers with exceptional educational materials and inspire young people with the opportunities for aviation and space careers.  Their efforts are helping create aerospace-minded citizens who will be prepared for the challenges of the future.” 

Of special importance, Koranda said, are CAP’s efforts over the last five years to reach out to CAP cadets, high schools and colleges, with a new textbook entitled Aerospace: The Journey of Flight, and with a six-volume aviation and space curriculum, entitled Aerospace Dimensions, for middle schools. CAP prepared these materials largely with volunteer assistance, saving American taxpayers an estimated $350,000.

Koranda noted additional CAP programs that made the organization a natural choice for the Brewer Trophy. These include the Aerospace Education Excellence Award Program for CAP units and K-12 schools, the Aerospace Education Membership Program for teachers, and the new aerospace educational packets and Opportunities for Schools initiatives.  These programs are reaching a broad range of teachers and students through the persistent efforts of CAP’s staff and volunteer coordinators. CAP’s conferences and workshops reach over 10,000 teachers annually, who in turn touch over 300,000 students.

This is the second time CAP has been selected as a Brewer winner. CAP received the trophy in 1952 after developing CAP cadet and teacher training programs.

Frank G. Brewer established the Brewer Trophy in 1943 in honor of his two sons, Frank Jr. and Robert, and the million and a half other young people who were put into the air to serve our country during World War II. A distinguished panel of NAA members and aerospace educators, assembled each year by the NAA president, selects the winner.

NAA is a non-profit membership organization devoted to fostering opportunities to participate fully in aviation activities and to promoting public understanding of the importance of aviation and space flight to the United States. 

Civil Air Patrol, the official Air Force Auxiliary, is a nonprofit organization with more than 64,000 members nationwide. It performs 95% of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. Volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members take a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the almost 27,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 60 years.

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