Aerospace Education Council: November 2025 Update

The Pitsenbarger Full Measure Award

One of the newest and most prestigious programs we have for Airmen and Guardians is the Pitsenbarger Full Measure Award. This award recognizes a recent Pitsenbarger awardee who completes 12 hours of course work towards a four-year degree at an accredited university and makes significant contributions to the AFA mission via participation in Chapter/State activities. Letters will be going out to all recent awardees to advise of this program. The annual awardee will receive a $3,000 grant, and will be brought to AFA’s Air, Space, and Cyber Conference to be recognized at the opening ceremonies.

Who was William Pitsenbarger? A1C William Pitsenbarger was an Air Force Pararescueman, known as a “PJ”, who flew almost 300 missions during the Vietnam War. On April 11, 1966, his unit responded to a call for evacuation of casualties incurred in an ongoing firefight between elements of the US Army 1st Infantry Division and a sizable enemy force. During the firefight he rode a hoist to the ground to evacuate wounded soldiers.

After one of the two helicopters was hit by heavy groundfire and forced to leave the scene for an emergency landing, A1C Pitsenbarger stayed behind on the ground to perform medical duties. When the enemy launched an assault, he took up arms to resist. He repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire while assisting the wounded and was wounded three times. American forces suffered 80 percent casualties and A1C Pitsenbarger was mortally wounded. He was initially awarded the Air Force Cross for gallantry, but those he saved fought for 30 years until his award was eventually upgraded to the Medal of Honor. Our very own former AFA Chairman, the Honorable Whit Peters, was the Secretary of the Air Force who pushed for and got congressional approval for the MoH in 1999. 

This coming year will mark the 60th anniversary of Pitsenbarger’s death in Vietnam. AFA’s Education Council is joining up with the History and Heritage Committee and the Dayton Chapter to commemorate this anniversary at his gravesite near Dayton, Ohio. The event will be held April 10-11, 2026. More to follow on what events will take place.

Teacher’s STEM Camps

Next year, we will hold four STEM Camps for teachers based on the successful camps hosted in Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona; at Maxwell AFB in Alabama; in Rome, New York; and in Northern Virginia. They will be led by current and former Teachers of the Year, Ashlie Smith and Megan Tucker. Details and dates to follow in a future update.

New AEC Proposed Structure for 2026

Changing things up a little to focus on specific Education Council goals. Starting next year, the team will be structured as follows: Teacher of the Year Team; Development Team; Educator Grants;  Awards; Pitsenbarger Team; CAP Liaison; AFROTC/AFJROTC Liaison; Field Council Liaison; Communications; Service School Writing Awards Team; and the AAS/SW/AFA Chapter Engagement Team. 

The changes will help us better focus on several things. 

First, we will work with the AFA Development Team to build out the new Education Endowment Fund.

We will work on the Pitsenbarger Full Measure Award to ensure that we have a good application form on the website and process to get the word out. The Service School Writing Awards Team will help present awards at the various service schools, work with the Mitchell Institute to publish the papers, and host podcasts with some awardees on the topic of their papers. 

Finally, we will emphasize focus on engaging with Arnold Air Society and Silver Wings. To do this, we have a Board member who is highly experienced in chapter operations, as well as a former AAS National Commander and former SW National Officer who can use their experience to move this forward. They will all work closely with the current AAS and SW staffs to develop ideas regarding how to get more involvement of AAS/SW with our AFA Chapters and vice versa. 

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That’s all for now. Thank all of you for what you do to support our AFA STEM and education programs that have an impact on our Air Force and Space Force, as well as our nation! 

Best Regards,

Gary Copsey
Vice Chair – Education