Senior cadet captures Schulte Award

Cadet 1st Class Karis Kim displays the 1st Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte Cadet Award Trophy with U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Bruce Cohn and Center for Character and Leadership Development Deputy Director Dr. Thomas Torkelson in the Polaris Hall Forum May 28, 2024. Cohn was Schulte’s boyfriend when the 2006 U.S. Air Force Academy graduate was killed in Afghanistan in 2009. (U.S. Air Force photo by Christina Merrill)

By Randy Roughton
U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Cadet 1st Class Karis Kim was named the 15th recipient of the 1st Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte Award in the 2024 Cadet Award and Recognition Ceremony in Polaris Hall May 24.

All five nominees, including Cadets 1st Class Kiana Baruela, Marissa Howard, Hilary Nolen and Kelly Yoon, were honored during the ceremony. Schulte’s parents watched the ceremony online.

Each year, the Center for Character and Leadership Development presents the award in Schulte’s memory, Class of ’06. Schulte died in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan in 2009. She was the first female U.S. Air Force Academy graduate killed in action in the Global War on Terrorism and was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

Cadet 1st Class Karis Kim waits with her fellow candidates to hear the name of the recipient of the 2024 1st Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte Cadet Award in the Polaris Hall Forum May 28, 2024. For 15 years, the Center for Character Leadership and Development has presented the award for Schulte, a 2006 U.S. Air Force Academy graduate killed in Afghanistan in 2009. (U.S. Air Force photo by Christina Merrill)

An honor to continue Schulte’s legacy

“I couldn’t believe it when they called my name and felt overwhelmed to be associated with a name as honored as 1st Lt. Roslyn Schulte,” Kim said. “It was such an honor to meet some of Lieutenant Schulte’s classmates and for them to recognize me as someone who could continue her legacy.”

Kim graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences May 30. During her cadet career, she led 102 cadets in executing Cadet Squadron 3 missions while implementing Cadet Wing programs and policies. Throughout her cadet career, Kim served in leadership positions, including the standardization and evaluation non-commissioned officer in charge, operations flight chief, squadron director of operations and training officer.

In 2019, she entered the U.S. Army at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and transferred to the Academy in 2021. After graduation, Kim will return to the Army to serve as a second lieutenant as an air defense artillery officer at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Amanda Gustave delivers the keynote address at the 1st Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte Cadet Award Ceremony in the Polaris Hall Forum May 28, 2024. Gustave, the Global Force Management, Operations Directorate chief data officer in Norfolk, Va., was Schulte’s Class of 2006 classmate and friend. (U.S. Air Force photo by Christina Merrill)

‘Live like Roz’

Annually, the Schulte Award is presented to a senior cadet who embodies impeccable character, unwavering leadership and a spirit of service. All three are qualities Schulte lived by, said the ceremony’s speaker, Lt. Col. Amanda Gustave. Gustave was Schulte’s Academy classmate and friend. She encouraged all five Schulte Award candidates “to live like Roz.”

“Her thoughtfulness was something that I always admired,” Gustave said. “Roz deeply cared about people. She listened. She noticed. She remembered. Just like Roz, take the time to listen, notice and remember.”

See more photos of the Schulte Award Ceremony.