Officers
Officers are responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Association and are members of the Board of Directors.
Matt Chirik
President · Spaatz #2135
Major Matt Chirik currently serves as National President of The Spaatz Association. After joining the Board of Directors in 2018, he served as a Director (2018–2020) and National Vice President (2020–2024), and was elected National President in 2024.
Within Civil Air Patrol, Major Chirik serves as Director of Emergency Services for North Carolina Wing, Deputy Director of Emergency Services – South for the Mid-Atlantic Region, and a Liaison to the FEMA National Response Coordination Center for CAP National Headquarters. Having joined CAP in 2011, he has served in command and staff roles at the squadron, group, wing, region and national levels. He earned Spaatz Award #2135 as a member of Pennsylvania Wing and has completed Level IV of the senior member professional development program. He is a master-rated Incident Commander and holds numerous professional All-Hazards Incident Management Team command and general staff credentials.
Chirik has been an active member of the Hawk Mountain Ranger School staff since 2016, earning Expert Ranger belt #291 in 2026, and serves as one of the school’s Tower Instructors and Ropes Special Examiners. His emergency services work extends beyond CAP into his professional life as a full-time career Firefighter/EMT for the City of Charlotte, North Carolina, and a member of North Carolina USAR Task Force 3.
Joe Abegg
Vice President · Spaatz #399 · Charter and life member
Joe Abegg became an aerospace engineer and Air Force pilot after earning the Spaatz Award, and was selected as an astronaut candidate for an Ansari X Prize team. An Air Force and CAP command pilot, he retired as a senior United Airlines captain with nearly 31,000 flight hours across six continents and 91 countries.
He was CAP’s first and longest-serving National Director of Emergency Services, leading 26 national programs and drafting CAP’s first National Emergency Operations Plan. He has served as Northeast Region Chief of Staff and New Jersey Wing Commander, staffed 25 basic cadet encampments and 25 region staff colleges, and serves in national education leadership for the Air & Space Forces Association.
Jay Sliwinski
National Secretary · Spaatz #851
Lieutenant Colonel Jay Sliwinski joined CAP at age 11 and earned the Spaatz Award in 1987. His family’s CAP service spans three generations, and he is one of three Spaatzen in his family.
His cadet-program experience includes 29 encampments, flight academy and the EAA Air Academy. He has served as Minnesota Wing’s Spaatz Ceremony Mentor and works as a public-safety dispatcher in Ramsey County, Minnesota. Reach him at SecretaryTeam@Spaatz.Org.
David Patillo
Treasurer · Spaatz #395
David A. Patillo retired after 20 years in the U.S. Army. A master parachutist with 100 military tactical jumps, he took part in Operations Urgent Fury in Grenada and Uphold Democracy in Haiti.
He later served with the Department of Veterans Affairs and retired as a senior healthcare administrator. A Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, he earned his undergraduate degree at The Citadel and graduate degrees from Baylor University and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Reach him at Treasurer@Spaatz.org.
Board of Directors
TSA has a nine-member working board: the four officers above and five directors. Directors guide TSA’s mission, programs, governance and long-term stewardship.
Lawrence L. Trick
Spaatz #452 · Charter member
Larry Trick served as vice president from 1997 to 1998 and president from 1998 to 2000, and leads TSA’s effort to locate every missing Spaatz Award recipient. He retired after 35 years as a U.S. Navy civil servant, where he managed the X-49A Vectored Thrust Ducted Propeller demonstrator and later served as Chief Engineer for the Naval Aviation Center for Rotorcraft Advancement. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from Penn State and previously commanded CAP’s Maryland Wing.
Antonio Barroso
Spaatz #1437
Antonio J. Barroso joined CAP as a Florida Wing cadet in 1996, earned the Spaatz Award in 2001 and the Gill Robb Wilson Award in 2008, and commanded Group 6 from 2010 to 2012. He is CAP’s National Liaison Officer to the Pentagon and a member of National Capital Wing. Outside CAP he is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army on a joint assignment in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, a graduate of Air War College, and holds a master’s degree in management and leadership from Webster University.
Julian “Cosmo” Gluck
Spaatz #1801
Julian “Cosmo” Gluck is a major in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and an MBA candidate at Harvard Business School. A U.S. Air Force Academy graduate who earned his wings at Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training, he flew B-52H combat missions against ISIS and the Taliban and was the 2018 Air Force Times Airman of the Year. He received the 2019 Secretary of the Air Force Leadership Award, was named to the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30, and was one of JCI USA’s 2023 Ten Outstanding Young Americans. He joined CAP in 2005 with West Georgia Composite Squadron and is a Master Cadet Programs Officer.
Beth Blank
Spaatz #1684
Beth Blank has served on The Spaatz Association Board of Directors since 2021. She designed and directs the Spaatz Alumni Internship for Leadership (SAIL), building the program from its governance and eligibility rules to its intern director roles.
Professionally, Beth is a healthcare operations executive with more than 17 years in clinical informatics, EHR and EDI implementation, data analytics, AI and automation, and post-acute care operations. She has served as Portfolio Director for Operational Excellence and as a Clinical Consulting Manager. She holds an MBA in healthcare administration and an M.S. in Data Analytics.
A pilot, Beth co-founded Open Hangar Collective, a flying club that broke even in its first year and turned a profit in its second, and is president of the Flight Line Foundation, an aviation and STEM education nonprofit. In Civil Air Patrol, she is the National Orientation Flight Program Manager and supports several other large-scale enterprise initiatives. She has also spent nearly a decade in Field Leadership with Team Rubicon, providing AHIMT coaching and mentoring during large-scale disasters.
Logan Gallo
Committees
Committees do much of TSA’s work, and members are welcome on every one. To join a committee, fill out the volunteer form.
| Committee | Leadership | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Governance Committee | Tyler Hoover, Chair | GovernanceCommittee@Spaatz.Org |
| Scholarship and Grant Committee | Beth Blank, Chair | beth.blank@spaatz.org |
| Recognition Committee | Julian “Cosmo” Gluck | SecretaryTeam@Spaatz.Org |
| Charitable Giving Committee | Zachary King | SecretaryTeam@Spaatz.Org |