The Wesley Chapel Cadet Squadron for the Civil Air Patrol Cadet took 1^st place at the 2018 National Cadet Competition on Wednesday, July 4, 2018. The coach for the WC Cadet Squadron, Cesar Alayon said, “I can’t truly describe my feelings and thoughts about this past weekend. Two years ago, I began to coach a team representing Wesley Chapel Cadet Squadron for the Civil Air Patrol Cadet Competition. We had no knowledge of the rules and specifics. But we decided to push through and learn as much we could. Hence the “Wesley Chapel Knights” were born. We qualified to Region competition in our first year 2017. Yet, we lost to Puerto Rico Wing with a two-point difference. We could have quit, done something else and moved on… Instead, we licked our wounds, chose to continue fighting, and train even harder than ever before in hopes of entering the National Cadet Competition. Not only did we qualify, we took 1st place in Florida, 1st Place in SouthEast Region, and now we took 1st place at Nationals. We are the *2018 National Cadet Competition Champions. * I could not be happier.

This weekend’s fighting was fierce and full of many lessons. It was a total emotional roller-coaster from beginning to end. I witnessed every single one of my students experience a moment where they were challenged beyond their comfort. I witnessed my team commander undergo stress above and beyond, and she grew even stronger and more knowledgeable. Every event posed a challenge and every event was fought with our all.

To my Team/Students: No words can describe how proud I am of you young ladies and gentlemen. We all collectively sacrificed so much to get here and it all paid off at the very end. You gave up NCSAs, held up enlistments, college courses, many days off of work, and we all sacrificed many weekends just to manifest our dream into reality. We wanted to hold Jonesy and we did. People said we couldn’t, but we did. This was Team 01’s first attempt at competition, same team for two years, and same goal. Our first time at NCC. Over 1000 hours of training time, meetings, service, and dedication and we succeeded. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you can’t.

To my Team Commander: Cassie Ramer, you’re indeed worthy of all of the recognition that will follow with our victory. You’ve dedicated and sacrificed so much time and effort. You are the “Queen of the Knights,” and they love to go to combat with you. You continue to remain teachable and humble despite your many accomplishments. You continue to develop and receive feedback regardless of the time and circumstance. You’ve grown so much and I will not be surprised if you continue to bring more accomplishments home. You are the first commander in our squadron’s history to bring National Recognition & placement to our beloved Squadron and you will never ever be forgotten. I look forward to continue fighting alongside with you.

I would like to thank all who truly contributed to this endeavor and made it a reality (there are so many of you). Specifically, to our “Honorary Knights:” Thank you for all of your contributions and sacrifices. You are indeed Knights in your own respect and we are forever grateful.
Steve Lampasona, Your experience and advice has been supremely valuable to us, and to me personally.
Julian Alayon, your contributions and the fact that you founded this team and built it from the ground up.
Alayon C Jenny, Thank you for all of the time dedicated to us, especially with our uniforms.

In closing, I would like to congratulate my Cadet team for all of our accomplishments. Team 01 will forever be in my heart. You guys accomplished so much together, and I will miss you guys very much. Team 01 will continue to be known forever as the legendary Knights that brought National recognition to us all. We will never forget this moment, and I am grateful to you all for the amazing honor and opportunity to have served with such legendary and dedicated individuals.

Sincerely,

Your Coach,
Cesar Alayon

Campaign Result - Team 01: Mission Accomplished – Victory
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2018 National Cadet Competition Champions

- Commander: Cassie Ramer (00 Founder – Commander 01)
- Senior Rifle: Elicia Smith (00 Founder)
- Junior Flag: Emily Balling (WC Knight 01)
- Junior Flag: Francisco Pulgarin (00 Founder)
- Junior Rifle: Andrew Alayon (00 Founder)
- Junior Rifle: Matthew Lewandowski (WC Knight 02)

- Escort/Advisor: Steve Lampasona
- Coach: Cesar Alayon

Elicia Smith said, this week at National Cadet Competition is something I will definitely never forget, and it replays over and over in my head like a movie. 2 years of hard work, training, and the sacrifice of many things and Two years of Bonding, friendship, and making a new family. It’s quite the journey, but we stayed strong till the end.

So many emotions, joy, stress, tears, and happiness. There are no words that can describe what we went through together. Out of the two years, with everything I learned, gained, and lost, I regret nothing. Because I’d do anything for the people I care for and my team, The Knights are my family, and will always be till the end. We fought hard for what we worked for, taking 1st in wing, region, and nationals. People may want to take what we have, but they can never take our bond.

I’m so glad that I met you guys, I couldn’t ever ask for anything more because you guys are what made life like an adventure, and continue to inspire me.

Thank you so much to those who supported me, and continued to stay by my side till the end. I thank those who never gave up in me, and believed in me when I didn’t myself. I only dreamed of being what i am now, but you all made it reality. Thank you

So let us continue on with our journey, and never forget that who we are and what we’ve accomplished together, because we are knights and we will always fight till the end.

Matthew Lewandowski said, “It's hard to put into words how I feel right now. we spent two years of training, dedication, sacrifice, and work. That's what it took for us to get to hold Jonessy. It was an amazing journey, and everyone on our team had to make sacrifices. We all gave up time with friends or family, soccer games, or other fun activities, just to win Jonessy. Last year, we did not advance past Region competition, as we came in third place. We were beaten, but not broken. That made us more determined. It gave us motivation. We would not let Jonessy slip through our grasp again. We trained a lot. Practices became longer and more intense. Some of us gave up hours at work, jobs, cars, and money just so we could practice and become the best we could be. We went to Florida Wing Competition, and we got First Place. We advanced to Southeast Region Competition, where we also placed in First. Then, we went to National Cadet Competition...

The fight was gruesome. We were all tired. Along the journey from Wing to National, there were many frustrations, arguments, upsets, and disturbances. People said we couldn't do it, but that just motivated us all the more. We arrived at NCC knowing what had to be done, and we did it. We won First Place. We won Jonessy. We can finally rest easy knowing that our mission has been accomplished. It's been an amazing journey, and I know that we'll all still be in contact long after retirement. I consider it an honor to not only call you my friends, but also my family. Now, some of us begin a new chapter in life, whether it be college or the military, and as things go, all good things must unfortunately come to an end. However, I will never forget you all, as I can easily call you all my brothers and sisters.

Thank you to all the Knights for all your support throughout the past two years, and for putting up with all my crap. The past two years have been the best time of my life, and they wouldn't have been that way without you all. Cesar Alayon, thank you so much for putting up with us and not giving up on us, even with all the stress and headache we caused you along the way. Steve Lampasona, thank you so much for supporting us throughout this campaign and for taking such amazing pictures and capturing the most amazing moments of Team 01's history. I'd also like to thank my parents for all their support along the way, as I know I could not have gotten this far without them. Finally, thank you to everyone else who supported and motivated us us both as a team as well as individually.”