Cadet Col. Lindsey Peter of the North Carolina Wing’s Asheville Composite Squadron has achieved Civil Air Patrol’s top cadet honor, the Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award.
Peter received her Spaatz award from retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Kathleen Gainey in front of friends, family, and fellow Asheville squadron members.
Peter joined the squadron in May 2018 at age 12. She served an 18-month term as the squadron’s cadet commander, assisting in building up the unit after the COVID pandemic and pioneering a successful cohort recruiting program that helped propel the unit — now numbering 208 members, 113 of them cadets — to one of the largest membership counts in CAP.
She is a Cadet Officer School graduate and was selected to participate in the International Air Cadet Exchange program in 2024, traveling to the United Kingdom with nine fellow CAP cadets.
In addition, Peter has achieved her solo wings through the Asheville squadron’s flight academy, served as North Carolina Wing Cadet Advisory Council vice chair, and received a Certificate of Recognition for Lifesaving.
Now studying aviation management as a freshman at Auburn University in Alabama, she is an Air Force ROTC cadet fourth class.
Peter joins the less than one-half of 1% of all CAP cadets who achieve the Spaatz award, requiring completion of the program’s 16 achievements and then passing a cumulative battery consisting of a strenuous physical fitness exam, a written essay on a persistent moral issue, and two 60-question exams on aerospace and leadership. _____Capt. Jacob McIntoshPublic Affairs OfficerAsheville Composite Squadron North Carolina Wing
