Cadet Col. Mason Teague of the North Carolina Wing’s Asheville Composite Squadron has been recognized with Civil Air Patrol’s top cadet achievement, the Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award.
Teague received his award from Brig. Gen. R. Jason Bailey, CAP national deputy commander and former commander of the North Carolina Wing, in front of friends, family, and fellow Asheville squadron members.
Since joining Civil Air Patrol in January 2023, Teague has graduated from the 2024 Richard Augur National Flight Academy, Cadet Officer School, and the Civic Leadership Academy.
He has completed six encampments across the North Carolina and Tennessee wings and Sthe Southeast Region, earning the CAP Achievement Award for his service as a staff member at the Fall 2023 North Carolina Wing Encampment.
After a term on the North Carolina Wing Cadet Advisory Council, Teague now serves as the wing’s primary representative to the Mid-Atlantic Region council.
Since also co-created the Cadet Officer Training School, a targeted, immersive leadership development program designed specifically for young cadet officers.
Outside CAP, Teague participates in his school’s Army Junior ROTC program as battalion commander and is dual-enrolled in Madison Early College High School and Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College.
In addition, Teague presented the Torch Award — established in 2024 to recognize mentors who had the most impact on a Spaatz award recipient — to retired Sgt. Maj. Wesley Beene, Madison High School Army Junior ROTC senior Army instructor, and Cadet Chief Master Sgt. Jacob Ensley of the Asheville squadron.
Teague joins the less than one-half of 1% of all CAP cadets who achieve the Spaatz award, which requires completing the program’s 16 achievements, then passing 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. _____Capt. Jacob McIntoshPublic Affairs OfficerAsheville Composite SquadronNorth Carolina Wing
