Since its inception 56 years ago, 72,000 cadets have earned this honor.

Arsh Muhib of Udaipur and a resident of the United States has done the city proud by becoming the recipient of the General Billy Mitchell Award.

Arsh Muhib is a Cadet 2nd Lieutenant in the California Wing’s Tri0Valley Composite Squadron 156 in the United States. He has been a Civil Air Patrol member for three full years now and is a sophomore at the Merrill F West High School. He is also a member of the prestigious Space and Engineering Academy class of 2023. His academic excellence and leaning toward science and robotics also explains his being the Project Manager of the Tau Robotics Team at Merrill F West High School.

The Gen. Billy Mitchell Award is named after the Late Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, aviation pioneer, advocate, and staunch supporter of an independent Air Force for America. The award, which is in existence since 1964 is earned after completing the first eight achievements of the cadet program.

To qualify for the award, the cadet must pass a rigorous 100 question examination that tests the examinees leadership theory, and aptitude in aerospace. Since being incepted in 1964, 72,000 cadets have been the recipient of this honor, and Arsh is one of them.

Since 2017, Arsh has participated in many engineering projects and competitions. This made him take first place in the 2019 San Joaquin County Science and Engineering Fair and also got him a special award by the International Society for Optics and Photonics at the California Science Fair.

Arsh is 16 years old and his father Abrar Ahmed Muhib, who was the passout of the first batch (1995) from St Gregorious Mission School in Udaipur, works as Senior Customer Engineer at Microsoft in California, US.

In 2017, Arsh has been the receipient of the Raytheon Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Recognition Award at the California State Science Fair. He was also runners up at the San Joaquin County Science and Engineering Fair in 2017.

Lieutenant Arsh Muhib has been designing a 360-degree view periscope over the past three years.

Other accolades of Arsh Muhib include:

• Bravo Flight Commander of Squadron 156 and former Bravo Flight Sergeant
• Served roles inside of Civil Air Patrol as the squadron training flight sergeant, Recon Team Member for the California Wing Cadet Programs Conference and Public Affairs NCO at the California Wing Super Integrated Leadership Program, January 2020 in Fairfield, CA.
• Civil Air Patrol Model Rocketry Badge and has earned the trainee rating for Ground Team Member 3 which allows him to contribute during emergency services exercises and real-world missions.

This award is an important milestone for the Cadet program and promotes the recipient to the grade of Cadet 2d Lieutenant. These cadets eventually enter the CAP Senior Member programs and are eligible for immediate promotion to CAP 2d Lt at the age of 21.

Should they chose to enlist in the US Air Force, they are eligible for advanced placement in the E-3 Grade (Airman First Class). A variety of scholarships come with the award alongwith eligibility for advanced credit in the Air Force ROTC program.

What is Civil Air Patrol

Established in 1941, Civil Air Patrol is the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force and as such is a member of its Total Force. In its auxiliary role, CAP operates a fleet of 560 single-engine Cessna aircraft and 1,944 small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) and performs about 90% of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. Often using innovative cellphone forensics and radar analysis software, CAP was credited by the AFRCC with saving 130 lives in fiscal 2020. CAP’s 60,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief, and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state, and local agencies. As a nonprofit organization, CAP plays a leading role in aerospace education using national academic standards-based STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education. Members also serve as mentors to about 25,000 young people participating in CAP’s Cadet Programs. One of the premier public service organizations in America, CAP benefits the nation with an estimated economic impact of $209 million annually.

Source Credit: Arsh & IssueWire