Spaatz Recipients

The General Carl A. Spaatz Award is Civil Air Patrol’s highest cadet honor. It is presented to cadets who have demonstrated excellence in leadership, character, fitness, and aerospace education.

The Spaatz Award is named in honor of Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, the first Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. After retiring from the Air Force, General Spaatz served as the first chairman of the Civil Air Patrol National Board.

On average, only five cadets in one thousand earn the Spaatz Award. Since the award’s inception in 1964, Civil Air Patrol has presented the Spaatz Award to 2,269 cadets nation-wide (as of January 2020).

To date, seven members of the Scott Composite Squadron have earned the Spaatz Award. The previous six recipients were on hand on December 18, 2018, as Cadet Samuel Ward received his Spaatz Award from AMC's Deputy Commander Lt Gen Jon Thomas.