Student Activities

Female Pilot Leads Miramar Cadets
High School Senior Adriana Bendeck Earns Pilot License, Leads Squadron

MIRAMAR, FL – Oct. 13, 2012 – Adriana Bendeck, a cadet senior master sergeant in Civil Air Patrol, assumed command of the Miramar High School Squadron SER-FL-803 this fall with the goal of integrating squadron talent among South Florida area programs.

“Adriana has exceptional leadership skills and charisma,” says Maj. J. Edward Martin, commander of the school squadron. “She is well-respected by the cadets.” This active cadet, who has attained the Wright Brothers Award, networks with other area cadets in squadron leadership and organizes activities to encourage cadet promotions and careers in the aviation field.

“Our main goal is to show cadets that there is more to Civil Air Patrol than an after school club,” says Bendeck. “I’m working closely with the staff and cadets to prove how many opportunities are available through this program. I have gained leadership skills that I will use for the rest of my life. I was able to attain my Private Pilot’s License through the CAP.”

Bendeck is the first female cadet commander to lead cadets at Miramar since the program was chartered more than ten years ago and has brought skills from her CAP and Air Force training back to the school.

“It is challenging to maintain club activities in a high school where there are many other popular activities to pull students away from CAP,” Bendeck says. “We have a great deal of support, though, at the Group and Wing levels that attracts cadets to incredible chances to fly and train.” Bendeck is currently pursuing her instrument rating as a pilot and completing International Baccalaureate Program at Miramar.

“Adriana Bendeck has carved her own niche among International Baccalaureate students and Civil Air Patrol cadets at Miramar High School with her unique brand of academic focus and irrepressible enthusiasm as the SER-803 quadron cadet commander,” said 2nd Lt. Mary Anne McAdams. “I have had the privilege to be Adriana’s teacher in AP and IB English. She wears the Civil Air Patrol cadet uniform with pride and honor.”

Like a typical high schooler, Bendeck earned her driver’s license this past summer, but Adriana added to this a pilot’s license. A college applicant, her number one choice is Brown University in Providence, R.I.

Some of the opportunities she has gotten the squadron involved in are the Vietnam Memorial Wall Walk, air shows, encampments, observational flights, and search and rescue mission training. Bendeck has participated in Camp Curry and Cadet Training Academy. She wants to encourage students to participate in aviation careers connected to medicine, engineering, flying, management, and public relations.

This summer, Bendeck was one of a few South Florida high schoolers selected to participate in the Junior Summer Seminar at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Col. She attended her second encampment with the Florida Wing Summer Encampment where she supervised cadets and taught Leadership Recreation.

Bendeck studies French and Chinese and speaks Spanish fluently. She is also an active member of the Club of the Arts, Indian Student Association, National Honor Society, and Miramar Theatre Camp.

CAP, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 56,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 103 lives in fiscal year 2007. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the nearly 22,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 66 years. For information, go to www.cap.gov.

[SOURCE: Press Release at http://miramarhigh.browardschools.com]