Delilah McKimmy and Henry Rorick (left to right) receive their promotions. Courtesy | Cassie Hambleton

Two local teenagers earned the Amelia Earhart Award and promotion to Cadet Captain in the Civil Air Patrol at a ceremony Friday.

Delilah McKimmy, 17, and Henry Rorick, 14, joined the Hillsdale CAP Composite Squadron when they were 12 years old. McKimmy is currently a junior at Jackson Preparatory and Early College and Rorick attends Hillsdale Academy. 

Rorick said they have been working toward this achievement that only 3% of all CAP cadets earn.

Hillsdale CAP Squadron Commander Heather Tritchka said the award is the next step in their CAP career and will also help them if they choose to attend a military academy or join the military after high school.

“If they go on to a military career they get promoted automatically, up to an E3,” Tritchka said. “They also have special consideration for any of the military academies. If they go to college and then go into the military, they will be promoted from a second lieutenant to a first lieutenant.”

The Amelia Earhart Award is a promotional award that requires cadets to pass leadership, aerospace, drill, and physical exams.

“You have to wait eight weeks in between each promotion,” Rorick said. “What I’ve been doing is promoting every eight weeks, the minimal amount of time allowed, and that‘s allowed me to progress a lot further on the CAP journey in a shorter amount of time. That’s how I’ve been able to reach this award only as a 14 year old.”

Deputy Commander of Hillsdale’s CAP unit Cassie Hambleton said they ensure cadets have the necessary knowledge and training to pass each exam. Hillsdale’s CAP partners with the Hillsdale College Military Mentorship GOAL program to help cadets prepare. 

“Our weekly meetings focus on being a place to practice the skills they are learning through the program curriculum,” Hambleton said. “We also provide sessions on character development, aerospace practicals, and fitness. At this level both cadets participate in planning and leading those sessions.”

McKimmy, who plans to attend Western Michigan University and be in Air Force ROTC, said the award was what she had been working toward since she joined the program 5 years ago.

According to Rorick, he was thrilled when he found out he earned the award and intends to continue working toward the next award, the Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award.

“For me, it was more of gratitude, and really everyone who was around me who helped me reach this goal and this important milestone in my career,” Rorick said. “It’s really the accumulation of all the efforts and the hard work coming together, and it‘s a very satisfying feeling that you don‘t get a lot. There‘s still other awards that I’m still reaching for and this is just one of the steps on the way.”

Hambleton said she and Tritchka are incredibly proud of both of the cadets’ hard work over the years.

According to Tritchka, McKimmy was one of the first kids to join Hillsdale’s CAP unit when she first started it in 2018.

“She was the student who would come in and sit in the back with her hair hanging over her face and just kind of listen quietly and shyly,” Tritchka said. “I think I noticed her when I would ask questions and she would raise her hand and answer things, and I thought, ‘Oh, wow, she’s really listening.’ Then she would start doing research on her own. I’ve just seen her find her voice and really develop some great leadership skills, from going from the shy kid in the back to standing in front of the squadron and telling everyone to line up. And some of the cadets even say that she’s a little bit scary sometimes.”

Rorick said he first joined CAP to find a hobby.

“I was interested in aviation, but I didn’t really have a good way of going into aviation,” Rorick said. “I was unsure about what to do and where to go. And then one of my friends introduced me to CAP. So I went to one of the meetings from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesdays at Biermann and it was life changing. It was a thing that I always wanted, but I couldn’t find. It gave me an opportunity. It allowed me to take a flight that year, just a month later. It was life changing.”

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