With March upon us many residents of the Northern Hemisphere are looking forward to the spring season and some relief from the cold and snowy weather of the past few months. Moving forward toward any goal requires focus, dedication, effort and commitment. With that in mind, here are some mileposts from The Foundation.

The LeRoy W. Homer Jr. Foundation application window for the 2014 Scholarship Award closed January 31st and we are busy evaluating over 100 individuals who are seeking to be our next Scholarship Recipient. The scholarship committee is busy processing and reading a mountain of paper to find this year’s winner. We anticipate a selection and announcement on or about May 1, 2014 and we hope you will visit the website often for updates and to learn about this year’s winner.

Also in January our current Scholarship Recipient, Nathan Sanders, received his acceptance letter to the United States Air Force Academy. Nathan is completing his senior year of high school and is within a few hours of completing his Private Pilot License. We congratulate Nathan on being accepted into the incoming class and we look forward to celebrating his certification as an FAA Certificated Pilot in the near future.

On March 1st the US Navy held the commissioning ceremony for the USS Somerset (LPD-25) in Philadelphia, PA. The USS Somerset is the third ship commissioned and named in honor of those whose lives were lost in the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001. The ship can deliver two amphibious units of motivated marines and their equipment to answer our nations call around the world. The names of the crew members and passengers of United Flight 93 adorn the railings and emblazoned on the Flight Deck wall are the often quoted words “Lets Roll.” There is also a museum within the ship with memorabilia from United Flight 93.

With the longer days approaching and the temperature slowly rising, there is much to look forward to in the weeks and months ahead. Much work remains as well. Further work in Washington promoting Secondary Barriers to protect the cockpits of our aircraft. More focus on the threats to our US Aviation Industry and the goals of foreign interests to gain more access to it via Open Skies agreements and offshore Customs and Border Patrol facilities. You can be sure we are doing our part to stay focused, show our determination and demonstrate our commitment to encourage and support young adults who wish to pursue aviation careers.