History of the 99th Pursuit Composite Squadron
The 99th Pursuit Squadron is an
individually chartered unit of Civil Air Patrol, Inc. and was put together by
the community members of North Omaha. The cadets
have participated in numerous activities to include, flying, ground school,
first aid, navigation, search and rescue, communications, moral leadership,
physical fitness, aerospace education, leadership laboratory, dining outs,
flights on 
Air Force aircraft, and community service.
The name "99th Pursuit
Squadron" comes from the first all black squadron of aviators in World War
II of which our Civil Air Patrol commander, Lt Col Lane, was a member. They were called the
Tuskegee Airmen. Today, that name and insignia is part of this Civil Air Patrol
squadron. The 99th started in April of 1991 and its first commander was Cadet Technical
Sergeant Linda Williams.
Cadet Williams was responsible for laying the groundwork and training the
first set of cadets in the squadron. Under Cadet Williams' command, we won the "Most
Improved Squadron" award for Nebraska
for 1993 and on July 10th 1993 we won the Nebraska Wing Competition. Also in
1993, Linda Williams was accepted to the United States
Air Force 
Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She currently owns her own Architecture firm.
The unit’s second commander, Cadet Master Sergeant David Peoples-Pruitt, led the squadron until 1995. Under Cadet 
Peoples-Pruitt's command, the squadron won
the "Most Outstanding Unit Trophy" for the Nebraska Wing. He is going through flight training with the
Navy.
Our
next Commander, Katrina N. Fairgood, distinguished herself by becoming our
first officer in the cadet program. Her leadership inspired and led the first
cadets to take up command positions during Nebraska Wing encampments and
special activities. She graduated from Midlands
College in Fremont Nebraska.
The squadron's fourth commander in
1998 was Cadet Sergeant
Ricardo 
Peacock. During this
period, the squadron moved from it’s current location at Eppley airfield to
Boys and Girls Club of Omaha. The
squadron was re-energized and it’s members won several awards at encampments.
Cadet
Master Sergeant Renata Kamenar led the squadron through the year 2000. The cadets visited the USAF
Academy, and was runner up for
outstanding squadron for Nebraska. During summer encampment, cadet David Kirke earned a
position on the honor guard, while cadets Kirke and Justin Druskis
won rocketry badges. Cadet Andy Anderson won Most
Improved cadet and cadet John
Swanson was a First Sergeant. Cadet Kamenar won drill competition as flight
commander at the 2000 summer encampment.
In addition, cadet Kamenar won Cadet of the Year for Nebraska.
She was accepted to the University
of Nebraska, Omaha and the ROTC program. She is currently in Art
school in Florida.
Our
present cadet commander is C/TSgt
John Swanson. His brother was in the program several years
before. Under John,
we flew on USAF aircraft and participated in search and rescues. John
was the first cadet in the unit to become a fully qualified search and rescue
ground team member.
Our
Deputy Commander for Cadets, Lt Col Michael Thomas, (4th from left in back) an active duty Air Force
officer and graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, has won several
leadership awards in the program. In 1993, he won Senior Member of the Year for
the Nebraska Wing and also the Ike Friedman Community Service Leadership Award
for the state of Nebraska. Lt Col Rich Smith also led the cadets from 95 to 97 (2nd from right).
This squadron is rich in
tradition, has a strong legacy, and fosters an atmosphere of family. If you would like to join, contact us through
the Join CAP page
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