Air Force officials recognize top cadet

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Monique Randolph
  • Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  Air Force officials honored the 2007 Cadet of the Year in a ceremony Jan. 3 at the Pentagon. The Cadet of the Year Award recognizes the most outstanding cadet in an Air Force commissioning program.

Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Duncan McNabb presented the award to U.S. Air Force Academy graduate 2nd Lt. Brandon T. Dues, the seventh Airmen to receive the award since its inception.

"Lieutenant Dues excelled in academics, athletics and military performance while at the academy, and was ranked number one of 991 cadets in his class for military performance," said General McNabb. "Winning this award makes him number one of more than 4,600 cadets in the Reserve Officer Training Corps and Air Force Academy."
The Cadet of the Year award was established in 2000 by the private British Air Squadron organization in tribute to the U.S. military's support of the United Kingdom. The recipients' names are engraved on the Millennium Sword of Friendship which is kept on permanent display in the Pentagon. It serves as a symbol of the enduring British-American friendship.

Winston S. Churchill, the grandson of former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, presented Lieutenant Dues with the Sword of Friendship.

"I have the greatest admiration for the U.S. Air Force, and indeed I am proud to be able to claim that I have shared the dangers of combat with your aviators," said Mr. Churchill. "We're here today to mark the friendship between our two air forces and to celebrate excellence in leadership. The standard is set by all those young men and women who volunteer each year to join the Air Force and strive to attain the highest standards, and Lieutenant Brandon T. Dues has demonstrated outstanding qualities of leadership," he said.

Lieutenant Dues attributes winning the award to his leadership at the academy and the teamwork of his fellow cadets.

"It's all about teamwork and investing in those around you," he said. "If everyone around you is successful, you'll be successful. The academy was an awesome opportunity to learn that. It was more than a leadership opportunity; it was an opportunity to develop as a person. It takes relentless dedication to excellence. If you're not continually improving and working hard, you can't demand that of anyone under you."

After graduating from the academy in May 2007, the 23-year-old was one of 20 people nationwide accepted into the Pardee RAND Graduate School in Santa Monica, Calif., where he is currently pursuing a doctorate in policy analysis. He also was accepted into Harvard University's School of Government. Upon completion of his PhD, Lieutenant Dues will attend Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas.

"After this, the future is wide open," Lieutenant Dues said. "I'm very blessed to have a lot of opportunities available to me. I'm hoping to be a fighter pilot, and the F-22 (Raptor) would be great, but we'll see how that works out. Hopefully, I'll continue the success that I've had early on. I know there will be some good days and some bad days, but I love it because everyday I get to work with some of America's finest." 

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