Gwinnett Promotion and Change of Command Ceremony

Maj Tod Quarles formally accepted command of the Gwinnett County Composite Squadron from outgoing commander, Lt Col Robert Powers, on 28 October 2021. Lt Col Powers had the shortest term serving as Commander of Gwinnett County Composite Squadron in its history, serving less than five months before being selected to serve as Georgia Wing Vice Commander (North). Maj Quarles served under Lt Col Powers as Chief of Staff during this time. From Maj Quarles, "I appreciate what you do for each other, for this squadron, and Civil Air Patrol. We don't get paychecks, but we do find satisfaction and reward in other ways."

24 Cadets were promoted during this ceremony, out of a total of 55 cadets registered to the squadron.
13 cadets completed Achievement 1, the Curry Award, as completion of the Great Start Program. This award is named after the first national commander of the Civil Air Patrol, John Curry. These cadets were led through Great Start by Cadet Col Matthew Bright and Cadet 2nd Lt Abbygale Smith and now have a solid foundation to progress through the rest of the Cadet Program.
Cadets Kyle Lee, Yohannes Pelcastre, and Noah Savage earned the Arnold Award and have been promoted to Cadet Airman First Class. The Arnold Award is named for the US Army Air Forces commanding general during World War II, Henry "Hap" Arnold.
Cadets Caroline Conti, Caroline Harris, and Bryson Rylander earned the Wright Brothers Award for completing Phase 1 of the Cadet Program. This award is appropriately named for Orville and Wilbur Wright, the first men to achieve powered, controlled, sustained, heavier-than-air flight.
Cadet Jackson Brown earned the Rickenbacker Award and has been promoted to Cadet Technical Sergeant. This award is named for America's "Ace of Aces" during World War I, Eddie Rickenbacker.
Cadets Andrew Park and Sarah Stancoff earned their Doolittle Award and have been promoted to Cadet Senior Master Sergeant. This award is named after General Jimmy Doolittle, a pioneer in aeronautical engineering and leader of the World War II air raid on Tokyo.
Of these promotions, two cadets, Abbygale Smith and Adam Connor were presented with their Billy Mitchell Awards. The Billy Mitchell Award is earned for the completion of Phase 2 of the Cadet Program and is the ninth award earned by cadets since they have joined Civil Air Patrol. Major General Billy Mitchell was America's first vocal advocate for military airpower, and he proved airplanes could sink ships.
Cadets Gabrielle Brown, Nathaniel Hoenshel, Jayden Ivaniciuc, and Kyle Lee earned their Recruitment Ribbon.
Cadets Abbygale Smith and Sarah Stancoff were presented with Cadet Honor Society Awards from Lt Col Michael Crowe, Georgia Wing Chief of Staff.
Lt Col Crowe also presented Lt Col Powers with a Commander's Commendation Award.
In attendance at the ceremonies were Gwinnett County District 3 Commissioner Jasper Watkins, GAWG Chief of Staff Lt Col Michael Crowe, and Group 2 Commander Maj Adam Davidson.