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NEWS | March 5, 2010

FAA administrator presents pilot certificates to Georgia Challenge cadets

By 2nd Lt. Angela Walz Arizona National Guard

WASHINGTON - FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt personally presented private pilot certificates with instrument ratings to the first two cadets from the On Wings of Eagles Foundation flight academy as part of the National Guard Youth Challenge Foundation's conference held here Feb. 23.

The two Youth Challenge graduates are Clarence Wesley Jones of Augusta, Ga., and Ryan Armenta of Hephzibah, Ga., both of the Augusta, Ga., Youth Challenge Academy.

OWOEF is working in partnership with the National Guard Youth Challenge program offering scholarships for flight training to selected graduates of the Youth Challenge program for at-risk youth.

Jones and Armenta graduated with honors from the Challenge program in 2009. Formerly high school dropouts and gang members, these two cadets completed their high school education and excelled at the character training and mentoring, which is an integral part of the Youth Challenge program.

The cadets were the first cadets selected for full scholarships to flight training. Since last August they have been flying at Trans-Pac Aviation Academy at Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix, Ariz.

Upon completion of their commercial and flight instructor certificates, these trained pilots will then become flight instructors for the next class of OWOEF cadets, set to arrive in the summer of 2010.

On Wings of Eagles Foundation provides at-risk youth with scholarships for aviation training and provides mentors for character development, in order to create productive citizens for America's future, provide competent workers for aviation industries and influence life pathways toward moral and spiritual excellence.

 

 

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