Cadet Col. Megan Panchula of the Ohio Wing’s Frank H. Kettlewood Composite Squadron is the newest recipient of the Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award, achieved by less than one-half of 1% of all Civil Air Patrol cadets.
A member of CAP since July 2019, Panchula has held leadership roles at the squadron, wing, region and national levels, including squadron cadet commander and wing assistant cadet activities officer. She is the most recent chair of the National Cadet Advisory Council and previously served on the Ohio Wing and Great Lakes Region advisory councils.
She attended the Great Lakes Region Cadet Leadership School and the national Cadet Officer School, where she earned the Top Writer award for her unit. Panchula also represented CAP in Australia through the International Air Cadet Exchange program.
Outside CAP, Panchula earned the Bronze, Silver, and Gold awards with the Girl Scouts. A graduate of Eastlake North High School, where she served as resident of the National Honor Society, she’s studying political science and strategic communications at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, while participating in Air Force ROTC and the Honors College.
Spaatz award recipients must complete the CAP cadet program’s 16 achievements, then 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. _____ Maj. A. F. UbaldiPublic Affairs OfficerOhio Win
