WAWG News from the National Conference in San Antonio!

Maj. Gen. Joe Vazquez, Civil Air Patrol (now former) national commander, and Brig. Gen. Larry F. Myrick, (now former) vice commander; and other Command Council members visited with participants of the 2017 CAP PAO Academy. Among them were 1st Lt. Victoria Wonser, Assistant WAWG Public Affairs Officer, and Capt. Jessica Jerwa, WAWG Public Affairs officer. The 2017 PAO Academy is a training event held in conjunction with the CAP National Conference each year.

WAWG Public Affairs Officer Capt. Jessica Jerwa was awarded the Civil Air Patrol 2017 National Balsem Public Affairs Award in the Social Media Category on Thursday, August 31. The presentation was made by Julie DeBardelaben, HQ CAP Deputy Director of Public Affairs, at a ceremony during the 2017 CAP PAO Academy. This training event is part of the CAP National Conference held this past weekend in San Antonio, Texas. This is the 4th Balsem honor for Capt. Jerwa in three years. Congratulations on a job well done!

Capt. Jerwa (also a member of national staff), then assisted Lt. Col. Paul Cianciolo, National Marketing & Social Media Manager with a Facebook Live tour of the STEM Open House, answering questions from a live-audience all around the country. Some Washington Wing members even participated in the chat!

Finally, Capt. Jerwa and 1st Lt. Wonser assisted other members of the national staff with a live video briefing via Twitter from the CAP Incident Command Post in San Antonio with regard to the organization's Hurricane Harvey response. The public affairs team helped to broadcast an update from incident commander, Lt. Col. Rich Woolfolk and then national commander, Maj. Gen. Joe Vazquez.

Cadet 1st Lt. Mai Le of Bellingham Composite Squadron, Washington Wing, was awarded the 2017 Air Force Sergeant's Association's National Cadet Noncommissioned Officer of the Year Award on Saturday, September 2. The award was presented by Air Force Master Sergeant (Ret.) Keith Reid, AFSA Senior Director, and Maj. Gen. Joe Vazquez, then CAP National Commander. Cadet Le is a Cadet 4th Class at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CA, and is a member of USAFA Class of 2021. She is a 2017 graduate of Ferndale High School in Ferndale, WA. Congratulations C4C Le on your tremendous accomplishments!