U.S. Air Force Col. Aaron Reid, commander of Civil Air Patrol-U.S. Air Force, was recognized by his alma mater, Middle Tennessee State University, at a ceremony at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, the world’s largest aviation celebration.
Reid, a 2002 graduate of MTSU’s Aerospace Department and a former Tennessee Wing cadet, was honored for his service as a combat pilot and commander of the unit tasked with ensuring CAP is organized, trained, and equipped to fulfill Air Force-assigned missions.
“Col. Reid, like so many of our aerospace graduates, is a role model to our students, showing how his successful career began with his degree from MTSU,” Mark Byrnes, the university’s provost and chief academic officer, said during a brief ceremony at the university’s EAA tent on July 24.
Also present were Brig. Gen. Regena Aye, CAP national vice commander, who will become national commander in August; Col. Rose Hunt, CAP Great Lakes Region commander; and CAP Command Chief Todd Parsons.
Reid, a native of Hendersonville, Tennessee, was a cadet in the Sumner County Cadet Squadron before attending MTSU, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace maintenance in 2002.
A senior pilot with over 1,700 hours in the T-37, T-38, and F-15E, Reid flew combat missions in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“I’m a super-proud grad,” Reid said at the alumni gathering. “I think this may have all started because in 2006, I was flying in Iraq, and I had a MTSU flag over the dashboard of my F-15 and an Air Force photographer took a picture of it and it’s hanging in the (Business and Aerospace) building.”
MTSU and CAP have been partners in aerospace education since 2014. The university has hosted the CAP Cadet Engineering Technology Academy, a national cadet special activity, since 2017.
_____Lt. Col. Andrew OppmannNational Public Affairs Staff
