The Spaatz Association
Aerospace Leadership for the 21st CenturyThe Spaatz Association needs you
Did you earn the Spaatz Award or the Cadet Certificate of Proficiency? Do you want to give back to the organization that started you on your flight path to success? Are you willing to help grow the next generation of air, space, and cyberspace leaders? If so, then we need you...
Our Programs
We focus on cadet leadership development through aerospace education and training.
Flight Scholarships
The Spaatz Association awards $3,500 flight scholarships each year to deserving cadets who have:
earned the Mitchell Award
completed a solo in a powered aircraft, and
maintained a 3.0 GPA in high school.
The Spaatz Association awards $3,500 flight scholarships each year to deserving cadets who have:
earned the Mitchell Award
completed a solo in a powered aircraft, and
maintained a 3.0 GPA in high school.
Leadership Grants
In 2013, The Spaatz Association Leadership Grant Program was launched to recognize and encourage the development of leadership excellence through financial support.
Grants are available for individuals, units, and national-level special programs.
In 2013, The Spaatz Association Leadership Grant Program was launched to recognize and encourage the development of leadership excellence through financial support.
Grants are available for individuals, units, and national-level special programs.
Academic (Post-Secondary) Scholarships
Every year the TSA gives out a minimum of one $1,000 scholarship to an deserving cadet for use in higher education.
Every year the TSA gives out a minimum of one $1,000 scholarship to an deserving cadet for use in higher education.
Three types of membership.
Membership is open to any Spaatz Award or Cadet Certificate of Proficiency recipient.
Our Leadership
Officers of The Spaatz Association are elected for two-year terms.
Matt Chirik
President
Matthew J. Chirik, Spaatz #2135. Major Matt Chirik currently serves as the Director of Emergency Services for North Carolina Wing, Emergency Services Training Officer for the Mid-Atlantic Region, and as a Liaison to the FEMA National Response Coordination Center for Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters. Having joined CAP in 2011, he has served in various command and staff roles at the Squadron, Group, Wing, Region and National levels. He earned Spaatz Award #2135 as a member of Pennsylvania Wing and has completed Level IV of the senior member professional development program. He is currently a master rated Incident Commander and active in the CAP emergency services program. Chirik’s service in the emergency services field extends beyond CAP into his professional life where he works as a full-time career Firefighter/EMT for the City of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Joe Abegg
Vice President
Joe Abegg, Spaatz #399 (TSA Charter member and Life member). After earning his Spaatz Award, he became an Aerospace Engineer, an Air Force Pilot, and he was selected as an Astronaut (select) for an Ansari X Prize Competition team. He is an Air Force Command Pilot, a CAP Command Pilot, and a retired senior United Airlines Captain with almost 31,000 flying hours logged over six continents and traveling to 91 countries. He was the first-ever and longest serving CAP National Director of Emergency Services where he led twenty-six National Programs and innovative National Projects to include planning a comprehensive CAP National Search and Rescue Competition and drafting the first-ever CAP National Emergency Operations Plan. He is currently the CAP Northeast Region (NER) Chief of Staff (effective 26 Oct 2024) and the Air & Space Forces National Vice Chairman of the Board for Education (effective 1 Oct 2024). Among his many other prior assignments, he was the NER Plans & Programs Officer, the New Jersey Wing Commander, two tours as a CAP NER Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, and two tours as the New Jersey Wing Director of Cadet Programs. Additionally, he commanded a CAP Group for over four years, and he commanded three CAP Squadrons. He also served at 25 CAP Basic Cadet Encampments and at 25 CAP Region Staff Colleges. Col Abegg is the father of six children and four grandchildren.
Jay Sliwinski
National Secretary
Jay Sliwinski, Spaatz #851, is a Public Safety Dispatcher for the Emergency Communications Center in Ramsey County, Minnesota. He is currently a Lt Col in Civil Air Patrol.
David Pattillo
Treasurer
David A. Pattillo, Spaatz #395, retired from the US Army after 20 years of service. He holds the Master Parachutist Badge with 100 military tactical jumps. He participated in Operations Urgent Fury (Grenada 1983) and Uphold Democracy (Haiti 1994). His second career was with the Department of Veterans Affairs where he retired as a senior healthcare administrator. He is a Fellow in the American Academy of Healthcare Executives and is active as a Board Member in several veteran and local organizations. He holds an undergraduate degree from The Citadel and graduate degrees in Healthcare Administration from Baylor University and strategic studies from the US Army Command and General Staff College.