"This is history in the making for Civil Air Patrol. Never in its 65-year history has a woman been selected to serve in a national command position. I’m excited for Amy and I’m excited about what this means for the future of Civil Air Patrol," said Pineda.

"Her qualifications are outstanding -- both as a successful corporate executive and as a longtime CAP member," he added. "I look forward to working with her to ensure Civil Air Patrol remains one of the most outstanding all-volunteer humanitarian organizations in America."

Courter joined CAP in 1979 and currently serves as chair of the CAP Professional Development Committee. She served as commander of the Michigan Wing and as the female senior advisor to the CAP National Cadet Advisory Council.

As wing commander, Courter focused on membership retention, funding, training and aircraft utilization. During her tenure, corporate and state funding was secured to support professional development and fund missions; wing aircraft allocations were increased; and the wing was recognized in 2000 for having the second-best record in CAP for the number of hours flown per aircraft. During her tenure, the wing also received all four of the Great Lakes Region’s national program awards (aerospace education, counterdrug, disaster relief and search and rescue).

Courter was the founder and commander of the Michigan Wing Legislative Squadron. Under her leadership, Michigan became the second wing in the nation to have all congressional legislators join CAP. She has brought cadets to Capitol Hill for more than a decade, allowing them to participate in the legislative process. She also helped found and has directed the nationally recognized CAP Civic Leadership Academy.

Courter has received numerous CAP honors, including the Distinguished Service Medal with two clusters and the Meritorious Service and Commanders Commendation awards.

Courter has been honored as one of "Crain’s Detroit Business" top "40 under 40" and was named as an "Outstanding Young Michigander" by the Jaycees. She also received the "Premier 100 IT Leader" award from "Computerworld" in 2001 and the "Top Michigan Woman in Computing" award from the Association for Women in Computing in 2003.

Courter is a graduate of Kalamazoo College, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology, with secondary school teaching certification in psychology, computer science and mathematics.

"I look forward to supporting Maj. Gen Pineda and the whole team as we execute our missions for America. CAP has been a great source of pride for me personally, and I welcome the opportunity to serve this fine organization," she said.

Nationally, CAP performs 95 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 73 lives in 2005. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the more than 22,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for almost 65 years.

CUTLINE: CAP National Commander Maj. Gen. Antonio Pineda, right, and newly elected CAP National Vice Commander Brig. Gen. (select) Amy Courter raise their clasped hands in victory after it was announced that Courter had been elected vice commander by the members of CAP's National Board on Thursday, Aug. 10 in Reno. Courter will be the first woman to serve CAP at the national command level in the organization’s 65-year history.

CAP MEDIA CONTACT IN RENO:

Jim Tynan

Public Affairs Manager

(334) 398-3312

RENO, Nev. – Civil Air Patrol made history today when the organization’s national board elected Col. Amy Courter of South Lyon, Mich., as CAP’s national vice commander – the first woman to serve CAP at the national command level in the organization’s 65-year history. The election took place during CAP’s summer national board meeting and annual conference, which is being held at the John Ascuaga’s Nugget Casino Resort.

In mid-2005 she began a sabbatical after 20 years – most recently as vice president of Information Technology -- with Valassis, a global billion-dollar marketing services company based in Livonia, Mich. While at Valassis, Courter expanded the IT department into a business rather than just a support group by developing business-to-business applications that generated revenue. She was responsible for writing and securing significant training grants totaling more than $650,000 to support the company’s training needs.

"The leaders and membership of CAP are terrific – and to have the chance to work with them and for them is a great honor," Courter said.