Academy cadet named best in Air Force

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Don Branum
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  An Air Force Academy cadet assigned to Cadet Squadron 05 was named the Air Force's cadet of the year Dec. 1.

Cadet 1st Class Christopher McCool was recognized for his outstanding academic, athletic and military performance.

Cadet McCool is in the top 5 percent of his class academically, in the top 4 percent athletically and in the top 1 percent in military performance.

Maj. Melissa Youderian, the air officer commanding for CS-05, called Cadet McCool's selection "an amazing accomplishment."

"There are so many amazing programs and leadership opportunities at the Air Force Academy, and Cadet McCool has done an exceptional job of seizing those opportunities and making the most of them," Major Youderian said.

As the summer 2010 director of operations for the Cadet Wing, Cadet McCool oversaw training and equipment support for more than 2,300 cadets and was responsible for the discipline of the entire wing. As the Cadet Wing Athletic NCO for the Fall 2009 semester, he oversaw the Air Force's largest intramural sports program and implemented a new playoff system that is now a permanent fixture in the intramural program.

Cadet McCool was hand-picked for the Combat Skills Training cadre and aggressor team, training 11 cadets in the survival and evasion tactics they would need once they became pilots. He also led 35 basic cadets during Basic Cadet Training and ensured a flawless commissioning ceremony for CS 05's Class of 2010 graduates.

He also involved himself in community outreach, volunteering time to participate in an elementary school science carnival and helping to clean up Memorial Park in Colorado Springs. He volunteered to forego his summer leave, instead traveling to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to learn more about deployed Air Force operations, and he coordinated deployment requirements for nearly 50 other cadets.

The Cadet of the Year Award, sponsored by the Air Squadron and established in 2000, recognizes the most outstanding cadet among the Air Force's ROTC and Officer Training School commissioning programs and the Air Force Academy. Previous winners include 2009 winner 2nd Lt. Ryan Castonia, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate, 2008 winner 2nd Lt. Kenneth Grosselin III and 2007 winner 2nd Lt. Brandon Dues, both Air Force Academy graduates.