RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
The Texas Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution honored the top Randolph aviation instructors and students of 2006 in a special ceremony at the Officers' Club Wednesday.
After a short introduction by Col. Christopher Weggeman, 12th Operations Group commander, Lynn Forney Young, state regent of the DAR, presented the awards in
four categories.
Maj. Jeffrey Wallace, 560th Flying Training Squadron, was selected as instructor pilot of the year.
First Lt. Marcus McGinn, 560th FTS, was selected as student instructor pilot of the year.
Capt. Martin Salinas, 563rd FTS, was selected as Combat Systems Officer instructor of the year.
Second Lt. Jason Jording, 563rd FTS, was selected as student CSO of the year.
Candidates for the awards are nominated by their squadron commanders and the list of nominees is submitted to the DAR for final selection.
In his remarks, Colonel Weggeman paid tribute to the skill of all the aviators in the training program, represented in the ceremony by the nominees.
"This has been a year of transition, including the inactivation of the 558th FTS, the continuing transition from the T-37 to the T-6A, and the move to the single training pipeline for CSOs," the colonel said.
The DAR was founded in 1890 to promote patriotism, preserve American history and secure America's future through better education of children.
The society includes 170,000 members in more than 2,000 chapters in the United States and 112 foreign countries.