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Phelka Names National Executive Officer, National Officers
Maj. Gen. Ed Phelka, Civil Air Patrol national commander/CEO, has named Col. R. Jason Bailey to his command team and Cols. Jay Burrell, Matthew Phillips and Linda Pugsley as national officers.
Bailey is the new national executive officer. He previously served as vice commander – south for the Mid-Atlantic Region beginning in November 2020 after serving as North Carolina Wing commander from 2016-2020.
Before assuming command, Bailey served as the wing’s vice commander, chief of staff and transportation officer. He has also served as director of the Middle East (now Mid-Atlantic) Region Staff College and Cadet Leadership School.
He previously commanded North Carolina Wing Group 2 and served as its officer for logistics, professional development and transportation.
Bailey joins Brig. Gen. Regena Aye, national vice commander; John Salvador, chief operating officer; Paul Gloyd, deputy chief operating officer; and Chief Master Sgt. Robert Dandridge, national command chief, on the command team.
Burrell, appointed national inspector general and confirmed to that post Aug. 25 by the Board of Governors, previously served as Great Lakes Region chief of staff for support. Since joining CAP in 1990 he has held numerous positions of responsibility at the squadron, group and wing levels, including Illinois Wing commander in 2018.
He has also served as Illinois Wing chief of Staff, vice commander and inspector general, as Great Lakes Region inspector general and as national assistant professional development officer – specialty tracks.
Burrell spent four years on active Air Force duty and was awarded the Commendation Medal for his work as noncommissioned officer in charge of one of the largest postal finance centers in Germany and for providing support for various Reforger exercises.
Phillips, new Legal Officer Corps chief, previously served on the national staff as deputy chief of the Legal Officer Corps and as Mid-Atlantic Region legal officer. He commanded North Carolina Wing's Group 4 for more than two years, stepping down in June 2020..
Phillips joined Civil Air Patrol in 2010. He has managed command-directed investigations as a legal officer from the squadron to the national levels while providing command counsel to three wing commanders and two region commanders.
He has served as a legal officer at the wing and region levels and as chief of staff of the North Carolina Wing.
Pugsley, the new chief of the Chaplain Corps, previously served as chaplain of the Southeast Region from 2016-2018 and the Florida Wing from 2014-2016. She served two tours as a U.S. Air Force flight nurse during the Vietnam War, later resigning from the National Guard to pursue a career in the ministry.
After joining CAP in May 2003, she served as chaplain of Florida Wing Group 3 from 2004-2009 and the 89th MacDill Aviation Cadet Squadron from 2009-2015.
Her focus as region chaplain was to encourage and ensure CAP chaplain training for disaster ministry as well as for regular search and rescue missions.