Morgantown, W.Va -- National Headquarters Civil Air Patrol has determined that another West Virginia Wing cadet has successfully completed all the requirements for the prestigious General Carl A Spaatz Award, which is CAP's highest cadet achievement award.

Cadet Joseph P. Moss of the Morgantown Composite Squadron has successfully completed all phases and achievements of the cadet program and has earned the award and a promotion to Cadet Colonel.

Moss has also received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for next year. He will report to the academy this summer to begin his military training to become an Army officer.

The U.S. CAP was founded on Dec. 1, 1941, less than a week before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the U.S. into World War II. CAP, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 55,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 95 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions, as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, and was credited by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center with saving 58 lives in 2006. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. Members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the more than 22,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet program. For more information, go to www.cap.gov.

The West Virginia Wing has 12 units in the state with 684 members. At $215,296 for 2006-2007, the Wing ranks third in the nation in state appropriation funding. The Wing is under the command of Col Rodney A. Moore.