SDWG Civil Air Patrol Cadet Is Going to the Air Force Academy
The USAF Academy (USAFA) has accepted CAP Cadet Master Sergeant Lexi T. Brandt to become a USAFA cadet starting June 2025. Cadet Brandt has wanted to attend the USAF Academy since she was in 7th Grade. She lived then in Windsor, Colorado, and saw the Graduation Ceremony on TV and the Thunderbirds Air Force demonstration team flying overhead where she was. That’s when she started to research what she needed to do to attend this highly-acclaimed, difficult, and free university. Since then, she’s been working diligently to ensure she was ready for this highly sought-after honor.
Cadet Brandt prepared for the rigorous application process by working hard and staying disciplined. She took the most demanding classes available at school and got exceptional grades. She did very well on her ACT and SAT and graduated at the top of her class. She joined several sports teams and stayed physically fit throughout the school year. And, of course, she kept free of trouble at school or with the law. Perhaps the things that put Cadet Brandt above other highly qualified applicants were soloing a CAP Cessna 172 and holding multiple leadership positions in both CAP and her high school, as well as being involved with other community service organizations and making a difference there.
Cadet Brandt didn't know about CAP until she moved from Colorado to South Dakota. She met Lt Col Doug Rowley from the Crazy Horse Squadron and a conversation with him introduced her to the CAP. The emphasis that CAP puts on aviation, physical fitness, excellence in all we do, and the other CAP Core Values gave her just the motivation she needed and made her see that being an Air Force Officer would be a good fit for her in the future. After getting a couple of CAP Orientation Flights, she realized that pursuing a career in aviation is what she wanted to do as well. Cadet Brandt said, “I went up in one of those [Orientation flights]. I was so excited. We flew over my house, and I saw my parents on the ground, watching. I knew from then on, I wanted to fly.”
As all USAFA cadets must do, Cadet Brandt met many challenges within the application process. USAFA wants only the best candidates, so it requires an extensive medical screening, a challenging physical fitness test, and a nomination from at least one Congressman or Senator. Cadet Brandt received nominations to USAFA from both the Honorable Senator Thune and the Honorable Congressman Johnson. The application itself is abnormally demanding because it includes three written essays, about five letters of recommendation, and several other surveys and questionnaires.
Cadet Brandt also applied and was accepted to the US Naval Academy. She [wisely, according to this author] chose USAFA instead because the chance of getting a pilot slot is significantly increased at USAFA and Cadet Brandt would like to major in Aerospace Engineering, for which the USAF Academy is highly acclaimed. While she wasn’t able to attend the “Summer Seminar” at USAFA in person, where prospective cadets can spend a week in a training environment similar to the first six weeks at the academy, she was able to do a similar program at the Naval Academy. That program made her feel more prepared and motivated her to go to a service academy.
To wrap up this article in the best way, I will use Cadet Brandt’s own words:
I think that one of the biggest things that has prepared me [for the USAF Academy] was State Student Council. With State Student Council, you have to go through a whole election process and essentially, you get elected by your peers throughout all of the high schools in South Dakota. You get elected to represent them at the State Student Council level and then we’re responsible for planning an entire state convention in March. State Student Council has been a really good leadership experience just because of the people that I’m representing from the Rushmore region. I mean a couple thousand students is what I’m representing there. And I think just going through that whole process of getting elected was also a really good leadership opportunity. It just taught me a lot of responsibility.
Also, I learned leadership and responsibility when I worked as a National Park Ranger at Jewel Cave. I actively lead groups of up to 30 people on hour-and-a-half cave tours in one of the longest caves in the world. That daily interaction with so many different people across the country helped develop my communication skills. I think communication and empathy are some of the greatest skills you can have as a leader.
So I think passing the physical fitness for Civil Air Patrol and then also working on the Core Values, like excellence and integrity… are all qualities that the Air Force Academy looks for in their applicants. I think overall that [CAP] gives you a good idea of how to wear your uniform properly and be disciplined with everything you do and what you represent.
As Cadet MSgt Lexi Brandt’s instructor pilot through her first solo and a 1988 graduate of the USAF Academy myself, I’m extremely proud of all the work she’s done and the work she continues to do as she prepares herself to serve our country in the USAF. Congratulations Lexi!
Lt Col Craig Goodrich, CAP
(Maj, USAF Retired)
