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MIT student named cadet of the year

Cadet Col. Ryan W. Castonia, a senior majoring in aerospace engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was recently named the 2009 Air Force Cadet of the Year.

Castonia, who served as cadet wing commander of the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Detachment 365 in Cambridge when he was nominated for the honor, is scheduled to graduate in June 2010 with bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Each nominee was evaluated on military performance, academic achievements and physical fitness. Castonia has a perfect grade point average in his major and has also completed Phase II of the Combat Rescue Officer selection process and will report to Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., upon receiving his Air Force commission next year, according to Lt. Col. Lawrence McLaughlin, the Detachment 365 commander.

The Cadet of the Year award recognizes the most outstanding cadet in one of the three Air Force commissioning programs — Officer Training School, the Air Force Academy and Air Force ROTC. Air Force ROTC is the largest commissioning source for the Air Force at 42.6 percent, according to the most recent AF demographics snapshot. There are currently 13,000 cadets enrolled at 144 AFROTC detachments around the world.

Castonia was notified of the honor in an official letter signed by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz, and will receive the award citation and a sterling silver coin from Schwartz in a ceremony later this year at the Pentagon.