Leesburg Cadets Meet With Virginia Lesgislators
Cadet members of the Leesburg Composite Squadron participated in the Virginia Wing’s annual Virginia Legislative Day. Four cadets from the squadron: Cadet Col. William Heppding, Cadet 2nd Lt. Tyler Wenks, Cadet Technical Sgt. Elden Platenberg, and Cadet Staff Sgt. Nathanael Pampaloni, attended the event. The cadets were split into teams with other members of the Virginia Wing and met with members of the Virginia House of Delegates and State Senate.
The purpose of the Virginia Legislative Day is for members to share their experiences with state legislators whilst simultaneously spreading the message about Civil Air Patrol and the volunteer capabilities they provide to the State. The event is organized by the Virginia Wing Staff and the Virginia Wing’s Legislative Squadron, VA-999. The Virginia Wing is active in promoting the visibility of the program to people of the Commonwealth.
Combined, the cadets of Virginia Wing met with all 100 members of the Virginia House of Delegates and 40 members of the State Senate or their staff members. All members of the Virginia House and Senate are honorary Majors in the Civil Air Patrol. After meeting with the legislators, a select few cadets were recognized and introduced in the gallery of the House and Senate. In the House, the C.A.P. members were recognized by the Delegate from Loudoun, Del. David A. Reid, D-32.
Cadet met with several Legislators including Del. Tara Durant from Virginia’s 28th District and Sen. Aaron Rouse from Virginia 7th District. In addition to these, the Leesburg cadets spoke with a total of approximately twenty Delegates, Senators, and aids. When asked about his experience participating in Legislative Day, Cadet Second Lieutenant Tyler Wenks said, “The most memorable part of it was seeing a Senator's face light up… when we presented him with the honorary rank of Major in CAP. You could see that he was truly interested in what we were doing.”
The Leesburg Composite Squadron Civil Air Patrol provides aerospace education, emergency services, and cadet programs to members of Loudoun County. The squadron is always looking for opportunities to serve the community and spread the word about Civil Air Patrol.
About Leesburg Composite Squadron
The Leesburg Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol is home to approximately 250 cadet and senior members. The squadron meets at the Virginia Army National Guard Armory in Leesburg, Va. on Tuesday nights from 1900-2100. For more information on the Leesburg Composite Squadron, visit the squadron’s webpage at https://vawg.cap.gov/units/leesburg and Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/LeesburgCAP/
About Virginia Wing
The Virginia Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, with 22 squadrons spread throughout the Commonwealth has approximately 1,800 members, 12 light aircraft, and 29 multi-purpose vehicles. These assets are available to federal, state and local governments, emergency responders and law enforcement agencies to perform search and rescue, homeland security, disaster relief, humanitarian assistance and counter-drug missions. For more information on the Virginia Wing, visit the wing’s website at https://vawg.cap.gov/ and Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/vawgcap
About Civil Air Patrol
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 58,000 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 24,000 young people participating in CAP’s Cadet Programs.
For More Information:
2nd Lt. Cyriel Kronenburg <cyriel.kronenburg@vawg.cap.gov>
Written by Cadet Colonel William Heppding
