The Association is fortunate to have a group of talented, dedicated individuals serving as your officers and directors. Contact any of the officers via the Contact Us page.

Officers

Janon D. (JD) Ellis, President

Janon D. “JD” Ellis, Spaatz #661, retired after 23 years of service in the U.S. Air Force where he earned the rating of master navigator with over 4000 hours in the C-130. During his Air Force career he commanded the 728th Air Mobility Squadron at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey and served as Chief, Requirements Policy Division on the Headquarters USAF Staff. He earned the Spaatz Award as a member of the Florida Wing and continued to serve CAP after he was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force with Texas, Arkansas, and Illinois Wings and served overseas as the commander of the Yokota Cadet Squadron, Japan. JD is currently serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Cadet Programs, Mid-Atlantic Region, and the National Cadet Advisory Council Senior Advisor. He is currently employed as a USAF government civilian.  (Current as of 15 August 2020. Term expires in 2022)

Matthew J. Chirik, Vice President

Matthew J. Chirik, Spaatz #2135, currently serves as the Director of Emergency Services for North Carolina Wing, Emergency Services Training Officer for the Mid-Atlantic Region, and as the Spaatz Association Liaison to Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters. Having joined CAP in 2011, he has served in various roles including Squadron Commander and as a Staff Officer/Director at the Group, Wing, and Region levels. Additionally, he has attended and served on staff at several national activities including Hawk Mountain Ranger School, National Blue Beret, and the National Character and Leadership Symposium at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He earned the Spaatz Award 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 full time as a Firefighter/EMT and Hazardous Materials Technician. (Term expires in 2025.)

Jay Sliwinski, Secretary

Jay Sliwinski, Spaatz #851.  Lt Col Jay Sliwinski grew up in a CAP family that now spans three generations and over 200 years of membership.  He joined at age 11 and earned his Spaatz in 1987. He has been the Minnesota Wing Spaatz Ceremony Mentor. Among his activities include 24 encampments, flight academy and the EAA Air Academy.  He is one of three Spaatzen in his family. (Current as of 15 August 2018. Appointed 2017. Term expires in 2022.)

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.(Current as of Nov 2019.  Appointed in 2019.  Term expires in 2023).

Board of Directors

The Association’s Board of Directors consists of the four elected officers plus 9 members-at-large and one alternate. The at-large seats on the board are filled via the Association’s annual elections; one-half of these at-large seats are up for election each year. At-large directors serve a two-year term. For more information, see the Association’s by-laws.

Joe Abegg, Director #1

Joe Abegg, Spaatz #399 (TSA Charter member and Life member).  After earning his Spaatz Award, he became an Aerospace Engineer, 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 United Airlines Captain with over 29,000 flying hours logged over six continents.  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.  Among his many assignments, he served two tours as a CAP Region Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, he served as a Wing Director of Cadet Programs for over six years, and he is now completing a four-year tour as a CAP Wing Commander.

Col Abegg is the father of six children, and he has three beautiful grandchildren to date.

Lawrence L. Trick, Director #2

Larry Trick, Spaatz #452, is charter member of the Association. He served as the vice president of the Association from 1997 to 1998 and president from 1998 to 2000. He currently leads the effort to locate all missing Spaatz Award recipients. Larry recently retired after 35 years as U.S. Navy Civil Service employee. During his career, he was the program manager for the the X-49A Vectored Thrust Ducted Propeller Advanced Technology Demonstrator and later the Chief Engineer for the Naval Aviation Center for Rotorcraft Advancement. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from Penn State University and previously commanded CAP’s Maryland Wing. (Term expires in 2022.)

Klara Olcott, Director #6

Klara G. Olcott, Spaatz #1997, currently serves as the Emergency Services Officer and Administrative Officer for the 388th Composite Squadron. She is a Captain and Ground Branch Director on the Arizona Wing Ground Team and an active team leader on their Search & Rescue missions.

Joining CAP as a cadet in 2011, she attended 11 national cadet special activities. On the International Air Cadet Exchange, she visited Israel and the UK as an ambassador. She has since staffed National Blue Beret in the media department and Hawk Mountain Ranger School as an Expert Ranger.

Klara is a lifetime Girl Scout member and earned the Gold Award. She is a pilot and an independent contractor for Amazon, as well as a world traveler with visits to Nova Scotia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

(Current as of 7 January 2019. Elected 2018. Term expires in 2022.)

*Beth Dumont, Director #7

Tyler Hoover, Director #8

Committee Chairs/Project Coordinators

Thomas P. Hurley, Bylaws Committee Chair

Thomas P. Hurley, Spaatz #305, chairs the Association’s Bylaws Committee, which is charged with providing guidance to the Board of Directors when requested on procedural or other matters relating to the By Laws and reviewing and proposing changes to the By Laws requested by members and the Board, and reviewing Bylaw complaints of members. The committee also monitors the Association’s election process. The Association’s founding Vice President and a former board member, Tom is president of Thomas Hurley Consulting LLC. He holds certifications as a Project Management Professional and Certified Business Manager and holds securities, mortgage and life/health licenses in the State of Connecticut. Mr. Hurley is also. Tom is a lieutenant colonel in Civil Air Patrol and is a member of the CT Minuteman Composite Squadron in New Haven, CT. Mr. Hurley is married, is a church lector, member of the American Legion and an elected member of his local school board. He holds BS, MS and MBA degrees. (Term at discretion of TSA Board of Directors.)

Wayne “Astro” Mowery, Grant and Scholarship Committee Chair

Members:
Stephen Austen
Richard Griffith
Elmer Roman
Steve Schultz
Tim Morton
Patricia Petruff

Larry Trick, Membership Search Coordinator

See above.  (Term at discretion of the Board of Directors.)

Julian “Cosmo” Gluck, Mentorship Committee Chair

Members:
Emily Sawicki (Vice Chair)
Bruce Hudson
Tyler Hoover