C/Col Luke Pongratz earns Gen Carl A. Spaatz Award #2278

Please join Massachusetts Wing in congratulating the Wing’s newest General Carl A. Spaatz Award recipient, C/Col Luke Pongratz, #2278!

C/Colonel Pongratz is a member of the Hanscom Composite Squadron and currently serves as the Chairman of the National Cadet Advisory Council.

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.

Cadets qualify for this prestigious award after devoting an average of five years to progress through sixteen achievements in the CAP Cadet Program. Along the way they develop self-discipline, a strong sense of personal responsibility, the ability to lead and persuade, and the foundation necessary for pursuing a career in aviation, space, or technology.

On average, only five cadets in one thousand earn the Spaatz Award. Since the award’s inception in 1964, this is only the 2278th award nation-wide and a rare achievement.

The Spaatz Award is named in honor of Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, the first Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. One of the giants in the history of airpower, in 1929 Spaatz, together with another pilot, set an important flight endurance record of 150 hours and 40 minutes in the early days of aviation.

During World War II, he commanded the Allied air campaign against the Nazis. In the Pacific Theater, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki took place under his command. After retiring from the Air Force, General Spaatz served as the first chairman of the Civil Air Patrol National Board.

Spaatz Cadets are expected to serve as role models for junior cadets, and become leaders in their communities as they enter adulthood. The first recipient of the Spaatz Award, Michigan’s Douglas C. Roach, served as a pilot with the Air Force Thunderbirds.