Air buds

Two local graduates who have followed similar paths through Civil Air Patrol to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs shared a special moment Aug. 9 during Acceptance Day.

Erika Gallus, a 2020 Lakeland High School graduate from Rathdrum who turns 21 Sunday, conducted a shoulder board ceremony for longtime friend Hannah Hoatson, 19, a 2023 homeschool graduate from Coeur d'Alene.

"I knew I wanted Erika to do it because she’s been such a role model in my life," Hoatson told The Press in a phone interview Wednesday. "It was a surreal moment."

The young ladies have known each other since Hoatson was 8 and Gallus was 11.

"My mom is a violin teacher, two of Erika’s sisters had violin with my mom," Hoatson said. "My older sister and I would play with them all the time."

When Gallus didn't come for violin practice one day, Hoatson asked where she was and discovered her friend was at a Civil Air Patrol encampment. Civil Air Patrol is a nonprofit that also serves as the Air Force auxiliary. Its mission is supporting America's communities with emergency response, diverse aviation and ground services, youth development and promotion of air, space and cyber power through aerospace education.

“I've wanted to join the military since I was about 10," Hoatson said. "Once I heard about that, I was like, 'That sounds super cool.'"

Hoatson followed in her friend's footsteps and joined Civil Air Patrol.

"I just fell in love with the program," she said. "It was awesome. Erika was kind of my mentor through that process."

The new cadet is once again alongside her childhood friend at the Air Force Academy.

Acceptance Day is when cadets are officially accepted into the United States Air Force Academy Cadet Wing. It was the first time the two former Civil Air Patrol Coeur d'Alene Composite Squadron cadet commanders had seen each other on the academy campus.

New cadets have the option to choose upper-class cadets to perform their shoulder board ceremony, which is when they receive their ranks. Naturally, Hoatson chose Gallus.

"She was basically my role model all my high school years," Hoatson said. "When she went to the academy, I was like, 'OK, I have to make it there, too.'"

For her other shoulder, she chose Cadet Holden Brosnan, a second basic cadet training flight commander.

"He was a super inspirational leader to all of us. He had such good student leadership qualities," Hoatson said. "Both of them are people I look up to. Those two have stood out above the rest."

Gallus said it was an honor to be asked to pin Hoatson's shoulder board.

"I am so proud of her and can't wait to watch her journey here," she said. "She's going to do great."

Gallus' mom, Suzanne Gallus, shared how special it was for her daughter to participate in Hoatson's ceremony.

"It was just amazing to see them both as cadet commanders in Civil Air Patrol and working together and supporting each other, and to have the same sort of vision and go off and do this really neat thing," she said. “It’s really unusual two people, two girls especially, would know each other and want to go do that.

"It's really sweet," she said.

Karen Hoatson, Hannah's mom, said it's hard to believe they're both now at the Air Force Academy.

"I'm very proud they're willing to do this. This is a sacrifice in a lot of ways," she said. "They're both really great kids and very conscientious."