The South Dakota Wing has been honored with a National Commander’s Unit Citation award, recognizing four notable accomplishments during 2024.
The wing “exemplified our core value of excellence through their work supporting our emergency services mission,” said Maj. Gen. Regena Aye, Civil Air Patrol national commander and CEO.
Aye cited the wing’s work with:
The Bureau of Indian Affairs on a missing person search,
The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology with an imagery mission that collected and processed over 786,000 multispectral images mapped across 8,125 acres.
“The wing’s outstanding work built strong relationships with these partners,” Aye said.
Col. Kevin Pegelow, South Dakota Wing commander, accepted the award from Col. Tom Theis, North Central Region commander, at the joint region and wing conference May 3.
“2024 was a banner year for South Dakota Wing,” said Col. Mike Marek, whom Pegelow succeeded as wing commander Dec. 9.
“Our members across the wing are professional and committed to service,” Marek said.
“Whether that be on our operational missions, as this prestigious award recognizes, in our world-class youth program, or in our active aerospace education program.
“It is an honor to be part of the South Dakota Wing family.”
The award comes with a ribbon for the wing’s flag and a distinctive uniform ribbon, which can be worn by all members active in the wing during 2024. Once awarded, members transferring to CAP in another state may continue to wear the ribbon.
