is USNA familiar with CAP awards?

A

aviator7

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Jul 25, 2020
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When I applied to USNA, I indicated receiving the “Spaatz Award” in the “Civil Air Patrol” section of the extracurricular activities entry. There was already an option to select whether or not the candidate received the “Billy Mitchell” and “Amelia Earhart” awards. Although I earned these awards, I did not select these on my application because I assumed it would be known that earning both the Mitchell and Earhart awards were required to earn the Spaatz Award; however, I’m not sure if this was the right move as I did not explain this in the explanation section for the Spaatz award.
 
I would hope they recognize the importance of Spaatz however you most likely ought to have marked the lower awards JIC.
 
Congrats to you...You are in the less than 1% of CAP cadets. I am sure they know the importance of that. I know USAFA does. So I would think other SAs do too. I heard a story 2 years ago where an incoming cadet just earned her Spaatz, and the entire cafeteria had to stand and salute her.
 
It's a good idea to put a short note next to any substantial awards lusted on a resume. Sometimes BGOs or others may ask for a copy of the resume. I personally know little about CAP and this would help understand the overall applicant. Something like: "Spatz Award: top CAP award for those having already earned the Mitchell and Earhart awards" or similar wording as appropriate. Also could be a topic to include in an essay. Incidentally, one way to stand out in an essay is to write about the challenges and how you overcame those challenges to earn the award. In other words, everyone has challenges and failures...describing how you learned from those can be much more effective than simply stating you earned a high awards/rank/or achievement.
 
aviator7 said:
When I applied to USNA, I indicated receiving the “Spaatz Award” in the “Civil Air Patrol” section of the extracurricular activities entry. There was already an option to select whether or not the candidate received the “Billy Mitchell” and “Amelia Earhart” awards. Although I earned these awards, I did not select these on my application because I assumed it would be known that earning both the Mitchell and Earhart awards were required to earn the Spaatz Award; however, I’m not sure if this was the right move as I did not explain this in the explanation section for the Spaatz award.
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Hey, fellow Spaatzen! I don't think it'll be a big deal, but I ran into a similar issue with AFROTC when right before commissioning they reviewed my records and saw I hadn't been marked down as receiving my Mitchell because I had only told them I earned my Spaatz award. Also, @jaglvr 's story is a great example of why you should keep it to yourself that you earned any CAP awards haha
 
Thunderbolt462 said:
Hey, fellow Spaatzen! I don't think it'll be a big deal, but I ran into a similar issue with AFROTC when right before commissioning they reviewed my records and saw I hadn't been marked down as receiving my Mitchell because I had only told them I earned my Spaatz award. Also, @jaglvr 's story is a great example of why you should keep it to yourself that you earned any CAP awards haha
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Her CAP documents are on her list of things to bring at the beginning of the school year....My DD only reached Mitchell.
 
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