Fifteen-year-old Livingston resident Michael Shayevich received the General Billy Mitchell Award from the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) on January 30, during a ceremony held at the American Red Cross Northern New Jersey Headquarters in Fairfield.
Presented by Lt. Colonel Carol Mc-Cloud, the MitchellAward recognizes Shayevich’s sustained excellence in all four areas of cadet life: leadership, aerospace, fitness, and character. Only about 15 percent of CAP cadets earn this award. Civil Air Patrol has approximately 25,000 young adults ages 12 to 18 in its cadet program.
As a recipient of the Mitchell Award, Shayevich is elevated to the rank of cadet officer and promoted to the grade of Cadet Second Lieutenant. As an officer, he takes on more responsibility for leading junior-ranking cadets while continuing to develop himself as a “dynamic American and aerospace leader.”
Shayevich joined the Civil Air Patrol three years ago and immediately embraced its missions, which include aviation, aerospace, volunteerism, and emergency services. He pursued opportunities to learn and lead in his home squadron, the Curtiss-Wright Composite Squadron. In 2022, he was named “Cadet of the Year” as a noncommissioned cadet officer (NCO). In 2023, Shayevich attended a weeklong cadet training program at Camp Nett National Guard Training Site in Niantic, Connecticut. Shayevich will join 100 cadet officers this summer for two weeks at CAP’s prestigious Cadet Officer School at MaxwellAir Force Base in Alabama.
Outside of CAP, Shayevich is a freelance website designer who supports small businesses. To date, he has completed 120 projects and supported clients in nine countries.
Bilingual, speaking Russian and English, Shayevich is an honor student at Livingston High School with a 4.04-grade point average and a member of the Livingston High School Wind Symphony and the Clarinet Ensemble of the New Jersey Youth Symphony.
Shayevich lives with his sister and parents, who are first-generation immigrants from Ukraine.
Curtiss-Wright Composite Squadron is a local unit of Civil Air Patrol (CAP) that has 45 cadets plus 20 adult members who reside in West Orange, Caldwell, Cedar Grove, East Hanover, Fairfield, Livingston, Morristown, Parsippany, Roseland, and Wayne. The squadron meets on Tuesday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. at the American Red Cross Northern New Jersey Headquarters, 209 Fairfield Road in Fairfield.
Founded in 1941 and established as the official civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force seven years later, Civil Air Patrol is chartered by Congress as a nonprofit organization for the purposes of youth development, aerospace education, and to promote general aviation. In an auxiliary role as a Total Force partner of the Air Force, CAP operates the world’s largest fleet of single-engine aircraft for search and rescue, disaster relief, training, and education. Civil Air Patrol is dedicated to serving America’s communities, saving lives, and shaping futures.
