The Cheney Award is an aviation

Aviation

Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...

 award

Award

An award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons...

 presented by the United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 in memory of 1st Lt. William Cheney, who was killed in an air collision over Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 in 1918. It was established in 1927, and is awarded to an airman

Airman

An airman is a member of the air component of a nation's armed service. In the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force , it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank...

 for an act of valor, extreme fortitude or self-sacrifice in a humanitarian interest, performed in connection with aircraft, but not necessarily of a military nature.

Past Awardees

• 2010 Maj. John Foy and Capt. Patrick Markey
• 2009 Maj. John G. Mangan
• 2008 Capt. Chad Bubanas
• 2007 Maj. Brad Downs and Maj Dan Roesch
• 2004 Maj. John Groves
• 2003 Randell Voas and Craig Prather
• 2002 Kevin Churchill and Sean LeRoy
• 2001 Tech. Sgt. Thomas Fields
• 2000 Tech. Sgt. Jeanne M. Vogt (First enlisted female to be awarded the Cheney Award)
• 1996 Major Marshall B. "Brad" Webb
• 1995 Capt Charles M. Moncrief and Capt Charles M. Harmon
• 1994 Matthew A. Wells, SrA and Jesse W. Goerz, SrA
• 1993 John L. Brainerd
• 1986 Scott A. Chavez, Capt.
• 1980 Ronald W. Summers, Capt. and Kim F.P. Skrinak, 1Lt.
• 1979 Kenneth R. Rees, Capt. and John L. Pighini, TSgt.
• 1977 James T. Carter, SSgt
• 1975 Colonel (then-1LT) Regina Aune (First female to win the Cheney trophy)
• 1974 Capt Steven L. Bennett
  Steven L. Bennett
  Steven Logan Bennett of Palestine, Texas was a United States Air Force pilot who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Vietnam War on August 8, 1974.-Military service:Prior to entering the U.S...
  
  
• 1970 Travis Wofford, Maj.
• 1969 Isidro Arroyo Jr., Sgt
• 1968 Thomas Newman, Sgt
• 1967 Duane Hackney, A1C
• 1965 Capt James A Darden,Jr and Capt Robert S Henderson
• 1962 Maj. Rudolf Anderson, Jr.
• 1961 William A. Luther, 1Lt. and Lawrence G. Seckley, MSgt
• 1959 Herbert L. Mattox, Jr., Capt
• 1956 Colonel Daniel J. Miller
  Daniel J. Miller
  Colonel Daniel J. Miller was born in Stony Point, New York. He enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II and was a navigator in a B-24 Liberator. During the Korean War, he flew various aircraft, including the F-86 Sabre jet fighter. In the late Korean War and throughout...
  
  
• 1955 William Sutherland
• 1954 John Stapp
  John Stapp
  John Paul Stapp, M.D., Ph.D., Colonel, USAF was a career U.S. Air Force officer, USAF flight surgeon and pioneer in studying the effects of acceleration and deceleration forces on humans...
  
  
• 1950 Sgt. Paul Prosper Ramoneda
• 1948 Colonel Gail S. Halvorsen
  Gail Halvorsen
  Colonel Gail Halvorsen is a retired career officer and command pilot in the United States Air Force known as the original Candy Bomber or the "Rosinenbomber" in Germany. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah...
  
  
• 1946 Sgt Larry Lambert - first live subject of a US ejector seat

• 1931 Lieutenant R.D. Moor (also awarded the American Distinguished Flying Cross) who lost his life while acting as an instructor to the Michigan National Guard air unit; following a mid-air collision he ensured that his passenger parachuted to safety while sacrificing his own margin of altitude for a safe bail out. The 1931 award also went to Private J.B. Smith who risked his life to rescue a pilot from a crashed and burning aircraft. These were reported in the British magazine AEROPLANE, issue of 17 February 1932.
• 1929 William Albert Matheny