Peters Township High School Senior Achieves One of Civil Air Patrol's Highest Awards

Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Adam Parker, a senior at Peters Township High School and Cadet Commander of Civil Air Patrol’s (CAP) Washington County Squadron 601, was presented CAP’s prestigious Eaker Award by State Representative Brandon Neuman during the unit’s banquet on January 11, 2014 at the Washington Elks Lodge.   Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Parker was also awarded a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for his achievement from Congressman Tim Murphy’s office. 

          CAP, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, has three missions:  Emergency Services, Aerospace Education of the American people and the Cadet program which provides opportunities for the learning and nurturing of leadership to nearly 26,000 young people ages 12 to 18 years of age nationwide. Less than 1.2% of cadets ever earn the Eaker Award, the second highest a cadet can achieve.

          “As I get closer to the end of my CAP career, I keep on reflecting on my journey,” said Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Parker. “I find it very satisfying that I have come so far, and that I can now focus on helping other cadets reach the same goal.”

          Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Parker is also the first cadet in Washington County Squadron 601’s history to earn the award which was named to honor the late Air Force General Ira C. Eaker, one of the chief architects and visionaries of the U.S. Air Force.  To earn the award, cadets must complete all levels of the cadet program and demonstrate exceptional leadership qualities.

          “Less than 200 cadets a year achieve this honor nationwide.

We are incredibly proud of Cadet Lt. Col. Parker’s achievement,” said Capt. Edward Silassy, Commander, Washington Squadron 601.   “He is an outstanding young man and a dedicated leader within our squadron, Civil Air Patrol and his community.”

Cadet Lt. Col. Parker has been a member of CAP’s Washington Squadron 601 since 2008.  In addition to his role as Cadet Commander for his unit, he also serves as a representative on CAP’s Pennsylvania Cadet Advisory Council.  Amongst his many CAP accomplishments, he includes graduation from CAP’s Northeastern Regional Leadership Academy in Cape Cod, MA, the U.S. Air Force Civil Engineering Academy at Tyndall Air Force Base, Panama City, FL and the U.S. Air Force Space Familiarization Academy in Cape Canaveral, FL.

Washington Squadron 601 is the county’s local chapter of the Civil Air Patrol, an all-volunteer, civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force that provides emergency services, search and rescue, youth leadership programs and more to the community.  Members include adults and students from all over the Washington County area.  Washington Squadron 601 holds their weekly meetings on Wednesdays from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the National Guard Armory, 125 Goodridge Rd., Washington, PA.  For more information on the unit, go to   https://sites.google.com/site/pasquadron601/ or on facebook at CAP Washington Composite Squadron 601.

CAP, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 57,000 members nationwide.  CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center.  Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 26,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for 70 years.  For more information on CAP, visit www.GoCivilAirPatrol.com.