NJWG Cadet Soars Earning Spaatz and Wings

New Jersey Wing Cadet Soars

Earning Spaatz and Wings This Summer

 

October 4, 2022 - Joint Base McGuire Fort Dix Lakehurst, NJ - When a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol [CAP] achieves the Spaatz Award, the organization's highest honor in the cadet program, it is a momentous occasion on its own, but when that same cadet also achieves his Powered Solo Wings and Student Solo Wings all in that same summer, it becomes a crowning achievement in that cadet's CAP career. For Cadet Colonel Henry Szumigala of the New Jersey Wing Raritan Composite Squadron, these were just a few of the activities that filled his summer vacation and culminated in achieving his CAP Cadet Spaatz Award #2423, placing him proudly among the top 1% of all cadets nationwide.

This past July, Szumigala attended the New York Wing  Powered Flight Academy in Syracuse, New York where after a week of instruction, soloed in a Cessna 172 and earned his first set of pilot solo wings. Then only a month later, he spent a week in Springfield, Vermont where he attended the Northeast Region Glider Academy as the Cadet Commander and achieved his second set of solo wings, and was named the Academy's Distinguished Graduate. Having achieved these solo ratings as well as being named distinguished graduate also affords Szumigala the opportunity to apply for "Cadet Wings", a highly competitive and merit-based program that systematically assists CAP cadets with their long-term aviation career aspirations by providing mentorship and funding towards achieving their Private Pilot Certificate.

Szumigala joined the Civil Air Patrol when he was twelve years old and progressed through the extensive sixteen cadet achievements in just four years. Over and above his many achievements during those years, he was also named the Air Force Association Sergeant's Squadron Noncommissioned Office of the Year in 2021.

Outside of CAP, Szumigala is an Honor Roll Student at Somerville High School [SHS], as well as an accomplished trombone and sousaphone player for the SHS jazz and marching bands, respectively, He is active with Track and Field and for the past ten years has studied Tae Kwon Do.

Cadet Colonel Szumigala will continue his participation in CAP as the Chairman of the New Jersey Wing Cadet Advisory Council and plans to make a career in the aviation industry as either a military or civilian cargo pilot.