Gaudin Earns Mitchell Award

Gaudin at 2012 Honor Guard Academy 

Ascension Composite Squadron is pleased to announce that Cadet Clare Gaudin has earned the Billy Mitchell Award and the grade of Cadet Second Lieutenant.

Anna 'Clare' Gaudin joined the Civil Air Patrol in August of 2010 at age 12. When Clare first joined, she was very shy. Although a very good cadet, always prepared and looking sharp, she did not say much. She achieved her Curry within 10 days of joining, just in time to make it to her first Leadership Academy for Airman Leadership School. Gaudin moved right into Emergency Services training, as the wing geared up for the graded CAP-USAF SAR Evaluation in December 2010. Still quite shy, she was assigned to Flight Line with Lt. Col. Junk who sings her praises still today for her professionalism and excellent performance of her duties. She was identified as an "Outstanding Performer" in the CAP-USAF graded evaluation report.

Today C/2Lt Gaudin is anything but shy. Her long list of achievements include several honor cadet awards for different wing level activities, classroom instructor, commanding color guards and serving as Flight Sargent at encampment where her flight won Warrior Flight. She has participated in the Wing Cadet Competition twice and is currently training the 2013 team. She is a member of the unit Honor Guard and attended Honor Guard Academy in the summer of 2012. This coming weekend she will serve as Lead Mission Radio Operator during another graded SAR Evaluation, the only cadet returning for a second SAR Eval. Gaudin rarely misses a meeting or an activity. She is one of our most dedicated cadets and she truly lives the words of the cadet oath.

One of Gaudin's 'not so shy' moments
involving shaving cream and Airmen.

Gaudin currently services as the commanding officer for our cadet program, as Flight Commander she is the highest ranking cadet in the unit. With all these honors and hard work, one might think C/2Lt Gaudin is simply a quite, hard worker but Gaudin is far from quiet these days, just ask her flight. And, like most Ascension Cadets, she works hard but when the work is done she knows how to have fun! As is plan to see, we are very proud of Cadet Gaudin and her accomplishments thus far. We look forward to many more to come.

CONGRATULATIONS LIEUTENANT GAUDIN!

Ascension to Present Colors for Hornets Game

We are proud to announce that Ascension Composite Squadron has received a request from the Hornets Basketball Team, to present Colors for the Hornets vs. Knicks game next Tuesday.  

 

Ascension has many cadets who have trained and answered the call when needed to present colors at local events, in fact we even have a few cadets from a neighboring squadron who have assisted when we were short handed. Unfortunately there were only five passes available for this particular detail.

 

After careful consideration of a selection criteria, the following five cadets were chosen based not only on Color Guard experience, but also a demonstrated commitment to the overall missions of Civil Air Patrol and to the cadet oath. It was difficult to narrow it down to only five but it had to be done. Those cadets selected to participate are:

 

C/2Lt Clare Gaudin: Clare participated in the unit Color Guard during the 2011 and 2012 wing competition, She is a member of the unit Honor Guard and is training our competition team for 2013. She attends most every unit meeting as well as every activity. If the Ascension van leaves the airport, Lt Gaudin is sure to be on it. Most recently she attended every practice SAREval and will be one of 12 cadets supporting the mission staff during the graded evaluation this coming weekend. On Veterans day, Gaudin led a Composite Color Guard posting colors at a church in Baker, La. with the help of cadets from Capital City Composite.

 

C/MSgt Joshua Townsend: Currently serving as NCO/IC of the 2013 Color Guard Competition team, Townsend and his team can be found practicing most every weekend. That is, every weekend except when they are participating in the SAREXs. Townsend was a member of the 2012 team and is always ready to answer the call no matter what the duty. He served during hurricane Isaac disaster response as well as this coming weekend during the graded Eval. Cadet Townsend was the Cadet of the Quarter for 3rd Quarter of this year.

 

C/MSgt Luis Camacho: Again, you can pretty much count on this cadet to be in the van if it leaves the airport. From disaster response to posting colors. Camacho rarely misses an activity or a meeting. He attended Honor Guard Academy and served on the 2012 competition team and is once again on the 2013 Color Guard Competition team.

 

C/SSgt Michael Christian: Although Christian took a brief leave of absence while his family traveled the East Coast, this cadet worked right up to the day he left and maintained communication throughout his time on the road. He remained safety current and even took online tests while away. Christian has answered the call on more than one occasion when a spot needed to be filled on a color guard. He to is one of those cadets who does not miss an activity. He is working the SAR Eval and assisted with disaster response during Isaac. He presented colors this past Veterans day.

 

C/SMSgt Clyde Hodge: Hodge is the man to go to if you need something done. He is continually advancing his training. He served as alternate for the 2012 Color guard team and is practicing for a position on the 2013 team. He served during the Isaac disaster response efforts and he to will be one of the 12 cadets assigned to work the SAREval Mission Base. While balancing school, work and CAP has been a challenge, Hodge has managed to do a pretty good job of participating in almost every activity and misses very few meetings.

 

As stated before, there are many others who could very well have fit the criteria. The decision was a difficult one but we hope to have other opportunities in the future. Our unit is on the list for the New Orleans Saints games as well.