Cadets from the Ohio and Virginia wings have been named as the next chair and vice chair of Civil Air Patrol’s National Cadet Advisory Council.
Cadet Lt. Col. Megan Panchula of the Ohio Wing’s Frank H. Kettlewood Composite Squadron is replacing Cadet Lt. Col. Soren Koh of the Illinois Wing’s Col. Charles Compton Composite Squadron as the NCAC chair.
A CAP member since July 2019, Panchula already serves on the NCAC as primary representative of the Great Lakes Region. She’s also an adviser to the Ohio Wing Cadet Advisory Council.
Cadet Col. Rachel Sherrod of the Virginia Wing’s Newport News Composite Squadron will succeed Cadet Lt. Col. Zachary Barker of the Tennessee Wing’s Music City Composite Squadron as NCAC vice chair.
Sherrod joined CAP in August 2018 and received the organization’s top cadet honor, the Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award, this February. Less than one-half of 1% of cadets achieve the Spaatz award.
She’s a junior at North Greenville University in South Carolina, working on a bachelor’s in business and leadership.
The national council’s three purposes are to:
Provide a forum where cadets gain leadership experience at higher organizational levels.
Aid the national commander in monitoring and implementing the cadet program.
Make recommendations to the national commander for improving and running the cadet program.
Along with a new chair and vice chair, the council will also operate with a new senior adviser team. Members of the team serve a three-year term guiding the council’s cadets.
The new team consists of:
Senior adviser – Lt. Col. Mike Toedebusch, Missouri Wing chief of staff.
Assistant senior adviser – Lt. Col. Natalie Gray, Texas Wing assistant inspector general.
Assistant senior adviser – Maj. Logan Gallo, Florida Wing cadet programs development officer and testing officer.
They succeed Col. Janon Ellis, senior adviser, and Lt. Col. Rey Lopez, assistant senior adviser. Ellis is assistant vice commander for the Mid-Atlantic Region, while Lopez has held numerous leadership positions in the Florida Wing’s Doral Cadet Squadron.
