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Minnesota Wing Cadet Receives Top Cadet Honor
Cadet Col. Thomas Botkin of the North Hennepin Composite Squadron is the Minnesota Wing’s newest recipient of Civil Air Patrol’s top cadet honor, the Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award.
Botkin, the North Hennepin squadron’s cadet commander, received the award from Maj. Gen. Edward D. Phelka, CAP national commander and CEO as well as a 1993 Spaatz award recipient as a Michigan Wing cadet.
Botkin joined CAP on Feb. 25, 2020. In addition to serving as squadron cadet commander he has served as deputy commander for the Minnesota Wing Basic Leadership Course.
He earned his private pilot license Feb. 10, 2023, through CAP’s Cadet Wings program and is working on his instrument rating. He has accepted an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy and aspires to become a military aviator.
Less than one-half of 1% of CAP cadets achieve the Spaatz award. After completing the cadet program’s 16 achievements, those seeking the award must pass a rigorous cumulative battery consisting of a strenuous physical fitness exam, a written essay on a persistent moral issue, and two 60-question cumulative exams on aerospace 
and leadership.
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2nd Lt. Debra L. Rocco
Public Affairs Officer
North Hennepin Composite Squadron
Minnesota Wing