Twenty cadets from 14 wings in six regions across Civil Air Patrol completed the Aviation & Aeronautics Business Academy on Aug. 11, becoming the first to do so since the National Cadet Special Activity was last held in 2015.
Previously conducted in McMinnville, Oregon, the activity was resurrected this year across the country at Vaughn College of Aeronautics & Technology in Queens, New York.
Plans to revive the academy began last year, spearheaded by the previous activity director, Lt. Col. Hilda Pereyo.
“I was recruited back in 2010 to be a staff member at the activity in Oregon; shortly after that I was recruited to become the activity director and continued the mission of the academy to integrate more corporate partnerships and opportunities,” recalled Pereyo, now the Pacific Region’s external aerospace education officer.
This year cadets from as far away as the Alaska and Puerto Rico wings learned about numerous opportunities in the aviation industry.
The academy “opened my eyes to all the different career fields in aviation,” said Cadet Maj. Timothy Ku of the Iowa Wing’s 
41st Iowa Composite Squadron.
Cadet Staff Sgt. Mariana Hernandez of the Puerto Rico Wing’s Muniz ANG Base Cadet Squadron said she valued the academy for leaving her “being able to decide what I want in my future and giving me the best tools to exercise it.”
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Cadet 1st Lt. Benjamin McGarvey
Cadet Public Affairs Officer
New York Wing