Mount Vernon Composite Squadron was selected Sept.8, as one of 272 units nationwide to earn the title "Quality Cadet Unit."

Any cadet unit that displays strong program fundamentals can earn the Quality Cadet Unit Award. This award encourages squadrons to pursue criteria goals and then recognizes those squadrons that Civil Air Patrol senior leadership believes will inevitably result in their having a vibrant cadet program. The Quality Cadet Unit Award is purely objective.

Each year Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters examines every cadet and composite squadron's performance in nine specific criteria. If the goals associated with five of the nine criteria are met, a unit automatically wins the award.

Criteria include adult leaders trained, aerospace excellence, cadet achievement, Drug Demand Reduction programs, encampment participation, enrollment, growth, orientation flight completion, and retention.

Every cadet and composite squadron is automatically considered for the award -- there is no application procedure.

"This award recognizes the dedication and hard work of all our cadets and volunteer officers," said 1st Lt. Kevin Geiss, MVCS squadron commander. "Our consistent commitment to excellence has resulted in our receiving this award for a number of years in a row."

MVCS has 44 cadets who meet on Thursdays at the D.C. National Guard Armory, Davison Army Airfield.

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 60,000 members nationwide. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and has been credited by the AFRCC with saving more than 100 lives this fiscal year. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to over 25,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 68 years. For more information on CAP, visit gocivilairpatrol.com.