CAP public-affairs officer receives 2 awards

This News By You article was submitted by Deer Valley Composite Squadron 302 of the Arizona Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.

Capt. Jerry Porter, public-affairs officer for Deer Valley Composite Squadron 302 of the Civil Air Patrol, received two awards of excellence during CAP's PAO Academy last month in Kissimmee, Fla.

Porter received awards in photography and writing for media during presentation of the Maj. Howell Balsem CAP Public Affairs Exceptional Achievement Awards.

His award-winning photograph, Sunset Silhouette, shows squadron cadets in formation and silhouetted against an Arizona sunset. The photograph appears on the home page of the squadron's Web site, www.squadron302.org.

Porter received the second award for a story headlined "U.S. Air Force Academy freshman credits Civil Air Patrol, squadron for preparation." The article, which ran nationally in January at www.cap.gov, featured former squadron cadet Deputy Cmdr. Justin Lennon's account of his first semester as a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

In 2007, Porter was co-winner of the first-place Balsem Award for Full Throttle, the monthly e-newsletter he produces for the Deer Valley squadron, which is based at Deer Valley Airport in north Phoenix. He was named the 2008 Arizona Wing PAO of the Year in May.

At the PAO Academy, Porter conducted a workshop on newsletter content and design for about 90 CAP PAOs from across the U.S.

The Civil Air Patrol is a non-profit volunteer organization that is the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force and conducts approximately 90 percent of all inland search-and-rescue operations in the nation. It also conducts aerospace education and cadet programs.

Porter joined CAP and Deer Valley Composite Squadron 302 in 2006. He chairs the undergraduate departments of business, public administration, health and human services, and supply chain management at Western International University in Phoenix and is vice chairman of WIU's University Academic Council.

Additional information about CAP is available at www.cap.gov, http:// azwg.us, www.squadron302.org or by calling 602-992-1613.