Aerospace Education Council: September 2026 Update

AFA Education Awards at the Field Awards Banquet

We celebrated several presentations to outstanding individuals. Among them: our top individual honor of the Buck Buckwalter Distinguished Sustained Aerospace Education Award (DSEA), the AFA Thompson Mallett Teacher of the Year Awards, Outstanding AFJROTC Cadet of the Year, Outstanding AFJROTC Unit Leader of the Year, and the Civil Air Patrol Cadet of the Year.

Buckwalter DSEA: This award is not given every year, but when somebody stands out who has provided outstanding continuous leadership in the AFA Education mission over the years, it becomes a well-deserved award. This year’s recipient was Wally Saeger from Arizona. Well done, Wally!

Thompson Mallett Teacher of the Year: We recognized our top three teachers this year, with a representative from Rolls-Royce—the partnering sponsor—helping us present the awards. You’ll see much more about these three in the future, but they were Lisa Werner from St. Bruno Parish School in Dousman, Wisconsin; Anthony “Tony” Frazier, Aviation Technology instructor at Arlington Career Center in Arlington, Virginia; and Thomas Sando from the Williston Basin Career & Technical Education Center in North Dakota.

Learn more about this year’s Teacher of the Year winners.

AFJROTC Awards: The Cadet of the Year was presented to Cadet Captain Kane Barnard from Etowah High School in Woodstock, Georgia. The AFJROTC Instructor of the Year was presented to Lt. Col. William Conley from Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The Commander of AFJROTC from the Holm Center at Maxwell Air Force Base, Col. Michael Power, joined us to present the awards.

Civil Air Patrol Cadet of the Year: This was presented to Cadet Captain Mia Green of the Valparaiso Composite Squadron in Valparaiso, Indiana. Joining us on stage to present the award was the Commander of Civil Air Patrol, Maj. Gen. Regina Aye.

Pitsenbarger Full Measure Award at Air, Space & Cyber

We were thrilled that Sgt. Momomi M. Atkinson, USSF was able to join us from Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, to receive the award in person. During her three days at our national conference, she met a host of people, including the Chief of Space Operations, Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force, and the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, as well as many of her fellow Guardians. She stated, “I had an amazing time at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference … felt welcomed and met so many people. [It was] an incredible opportunity. This was an unforgettable experience, and I am incredibly thankful to everyone who made it possible.”

On stage to present the award were Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John Bentivegna, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Wolfe, AFA Chair Kathleen Ferguson, and AFA & CEO President Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.)

This award is the brainchild of Mark Tarpley from Oklahoma and Bob George from Utah, who saw an opportunity to go beyond the Pitsenbarger Awards presented at Community College of the Air Force graduations and honor the legacy of William Pitsenbarger’s last act of full measure he gave to his comrade.

Besides the award, which is the highest honor given by the Education Council to an enlisted person, the recipient receives a $3,000 grant from AFA and all expenses paid to come to the Air, Space & Cyber Conference to receive the award in person.

Thanks to all who made this happen, especially the folks on scene at the conference, such as Kevin Eastland, Mark Tarpley, and Stephen Gourley. The Pitsenbarger team was led by Gil Perez and included Mark and Kevin. And a huge thanks to Joe Peel who put it all together for us!

Learn more about this year’s Pitsenbarger Full Measure Award winner.

Coming Up

To get the AFA Endowment for Education Fund over the finish line we still have some work to do to make sure we get it right. We’ll be working closely with AFA’s Finance Committee, chief financial officer, and vice president for philanthropy to do this. The Teacher’s STEM Camp was cut short due to the loss of Department of the Air Force funding following the closure of the Air Force STEM Outreach Office. We will look closely at how we might be able to achieve this without external funding.

In 2027, I intend to add two new teams: a Programs Team to review ideas and suggestions to improve current programs; and an Educator Base Visit Team to work with Air Force Recruiting Service to help identify teachers to attend the various base visits they run.

I look forward to working with everyone this coming AFA year, as we add three members to the Education Council. They are this year’s selectees for the Emerging Leader Program. From Oklahoma, we welcome Stephen Yelbert; from South Carolina, Cheryl Moye; and from Alabama, Sarah Broadbent. Welcome to the Education Council! (Interested in Joining the AFA Education Council? Let me know!)

Regards,

Gary Copsey
Vice Chair – Education

VCED@AFA.ORG