The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) has announced that PenFed Credit Union President\/CEO & PenFed Foundation CEO James Schenck has been selected as the recipient of the 2024 Bruce Whitman Memorial Trophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A visionary leader and selfless humanitarian, Schenck is\nhonored for his dedication to commemorating, celebrating, and advocating for\nthe impact and heritage of America\u2019s military veterans and his willingness to\npromote and support the next generation of aviators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Established in 2019 by the NAA Board of Directors, the Bruce\nWhitman Memorial Trophy honors outstanding individuals who have made\nsignificant contributions to aviation or aerospace in the United States and\nwho, by working with museums and other institutions, have promoted an\nappreciation by students and the broader public of the sacrifices and legacy of\nmembers of the military service. Created in honor of the aerospace executive\nand philanthropist bearing its name, Bruce was posthumously named the first trophy\nrecipient in 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“No one cared more about our industry than Bruce\nWhitman,” said Jim Albaugh, NAA Chair. “He dedicated his life to\nservice, and I know Bruce would be honored to know that this year\u2019s recipient\nof the Whitman Trophy is James Schenck. James is someone who contributed so\nmuch to our military and our nation.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his military career, Schenck flew Black Hawk\nhelicopters in Korea and trained other US Army aviators as a night vision\ngoggle instructor pilot. He served on the Army Staff in the Office of the\nDeputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans and was later selected to serve\nas a Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. He received the Legion of\nMerit for his contribution to the Army by overseeing creation of the $453\nmillion Army University Access Online educational initiative. Prior to his assignment\nto the Pentagon, James taught Economics and Finance at the United States\nMilitary Academy. Schenck is a graduate of the Harvard Business School (1996)\nand West Point (1988).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schenck was selected by HillVets as one of the nation\u2019s 100\nmost influential and impactful veterans. He\u2019s been recognized for his\nsignificant contributions to supporting the military community with honors\nincluding the Association of the United States Army\u2019s John W. Dixon Award,\nNational Military Family Association\u2019s Military Family Champion Award, Canine\nCompanions for Independence\u2019s Hearts and Heroes Award, and the Northern\nVirginia Chamber of Commerce\u2019s Lifetime Service Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Deeply impacted by the failed Iranian Hostage Rescue\nmission on April 24, 1980, when 8 American servicemembers lost their lives, I\nhave been steadfast from that date forward in my commitment to our men and\nwomen who serve,\u201d said Schenck. \u201cI am forever proud of my military service as\nan Army Aviator, and for the millions of other veterans who have worn the\nuniform of our nation. We can never do enough for the men and women and their\nfamilies who keep us free. I am honored to receive this prestigious award from\nthe National Aeronautic Association.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since becoming PenFed’s CEO in 2014, Schenck has supported\nveterans by donating up to 2% of the organization’s net income annually to over\n200 military charities and raising over $55 million for veteran causes through\nthe PenFed Foundation to include major gifts to the Air and Space Forces\nAssociation, Mitchell Institute, Military Women\u2019s Memorial, American Heritage\nMuseum and many other groups that champion and honor the military community.\nPenFed sponsored the first graduating class of the Red Tail Flight Academy,\ntraining the next generation of pilots to carry on the legacy of the Tuskegee\nAirmen. PenFed Credit Union also sponsors a top professional air show team and\nprovides scholarships to young aviators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Previous recipients of the Whiteman Trophy include author\nand WASP advocate Erin Miller, the U.S. Golden Knights, and record-setting\npilot and U.S. veteran Ross Perot, Jr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schenck will be honored and receive the 2024 Whitman Award\nat an upcoming event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) has announced that PenFed Credit Union President\/CEO & PenFed Foundation CEO James Schenck has been selected as the recipient of the 2024 Bruce Whitman Memorial Trophy. A visionary leader and selfless humanitarian, Schenck is honored for his dedication to commemorating, celebrating, and advocating for the impact and heritage of America\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":28117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-front-page-slider","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/James-Schenck.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28118,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28116\/revisions\/28118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}