In addition to offering a variety of competitive scholarships each year, the AFCEA Educational Foundation also presents a number of non-monetary educational awards. Highlighted this month is the
Commissioning Award. One of the highest honors AFCEA bestows each year, it is presented at the five service academies: the U.S. Air Force, Military, Naval, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine Academy. The program was established in the late 1940s to recognize the top graduate from the Department of Electrical Engineering at each academy. The current award is a Chelsea Shipstrike quartz clock, valued at more than $350 and engraved with the recipient’s name. Each recipient is selected by his or her academy.
The U.S. Naval Academy Award was first given in 1949. It was named “The Captain Boyd R. Alexander, USN Honor Award” in 1980.
Named the “Brigadier General Boyd Wheeler Bartlett, USA Honor Award” in 1981 at the U.S. Military Academy, the AFCEA award for excellence in electrical engineering has been a tradition at West Point since 1952 when the award was a Hallicrafters radio, model SX-42, a single-conversion general-coverage receiver for AM, FM and continuous wave.
Established in 1959, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy recipient receives the “Commodore Edward M. Webster, USCG Honor Award” each year.
Presented to the top deck or dual license midshipman for outstanding achievement and academic excellence in marine electronics, the “Astronaut Elliot M. See, Jr., Memorial Award” was established in 1978 at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Astronaut See was a member of the Class of 1949.
The Commissioning Award at the Air Force Academy was named the “Lt. Gen. Gordon T. Gould, Jr., USAF Honor Award” in 1983. General Gould, an electronics engineer, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1941 and was instrumental in enhancing the communications career field—giving it the recognition it deserved.
Education News
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