Missouri Congressman delivers award to Joplin CAP cadet

The Joplin Regional Airport hosted Missouri US Congressmen Eric Burlison (MO-7th) who presented the General Billy Mitchell Award to Cadet 2nd Lieutenant Drew Sawkins.

C/2LT Sawkins has been a CAP cadet since December of 2020. Since joining, he has been an active and hard-working participant in the CAP program, serving as Cadet Flight Sergeant, Cadet Flight Commander and Cadet Emergency Services NCO, as well as serving on the Cadet Advisory Council for both Group V and the Missouri Wing. He holds emergency services mission qualifications Ground Team Member and Urban Detection Finding, earning the CAP Ground Team Member Badge and CAP Emergency Services Patch.

During the ceremony Representative Burlison spoke highly of Sawkins saying, “Your commitment to service, and to self improvement, and your leadership will inspire others to follow in your footsteps.” Burlison went on to note he was honored to have been chosen to grant such a prestigious award.

The Mitchell Award marks completion of Phase II of the CAP Cadet Program, recognizing sustained excellence in all four areas of cadet life: leadership, aerospace, fitness, and character.

Burlison expressed great support of the CAP program, telling Newstalk KZRG, “Sign up for Civil Air Patrol. You’ll learn a lot. Also you’ll be able to give back to your community because that is a lot of what they do.”

Established in 1941, Civil Air Patrol is the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force and as such is a member of its Total Force. In its auxiliary role, CAP operates a fleet of 555 single-engine aircraft and 2,250 small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) and performs about 90% of all search and rescue operations within the contiguous United States as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. Often using innovative cellphone forensics and radar analysis software, CAP was credited by the AFRCC with saving 108 lives last year. CAP’s 56,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. As a nonprofit organization, CAP plays a leading role in aerospace education using national academic standards-based STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education resources. Members also serve as mentors to over 23,000 young people participating in CAP’s Cadet Programs.