Jonathan D. Standley and Benjamin Madovoy, both of Hillsborough, recently received the General Billy Mitchell Award from the Civil Air Patrol.
Jonathan and Benjamin are Civil Air Patrol cadet members from the Raritan Valley Composite Squadron, which meets at Central Jersey Regional Airport. They received their awards from the State Wing Commander, Col. C. J. Flynn at the Annual Wing Conference held at the Bridgewater Marriott recently.
Jonathan is the son of Keith and Ruth Standley and Benjamin is the son of David and Michelle Madovoy. Both are designated as C/2Lt. cadets in the organization.
To receive this award, a Civil Air Patrol cadet is required to be challenged by completing the first eight achievements in the cadet program. This includes participating in encampment activities involving Ground Search and Rescue, where the cadet learns the techniques as taught by the volunteers of Civil Air Patrol under the guidance of the U. S. Air Force.
The cadet is required to pass a comprehensive Aerospace and Leadership closed-book, timed 1 ½ hour test with a grade of 80 percent or higher. The passing of a physical fitness test of running a mile in eight minutes and doing push-ups, are also required.
The leadership training deals with the military style leadership aspects of cadet life. Should the Cadet enlist in the Air Force with the General Billy Mitchell Award, the cadet is entitled to the rank of Airman First Class.
This award is named in honor of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell who proved to the U. S. Army and Navy, the importance of air power that could be used on aircraft carriers prior to World War II. He was one of several Army Air Service flyers who supported the idea to separate the Air Service from the Army and Navy.
Civil Air Patrol, the official Air Force Auxiliary, is a nonprofit organization with more than 63,000 members nationwide.
Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. It has been doing Missions For America for over 60 years as the Auxiliary of the U. S. Air Force. Most recently, CAP members flew security over the launch site of the space shuttle Columbia and later assisted in the Columbia shuttle recovery.
The members take a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the almost 27,000 young people participating in the Civil Air Patrol program.

