The two recipients of our 2026 Colonel William Frank Rawley Triangle Chapter MOAA JROTC scholarships are Za’Kiyah Dixon and Caleb Kohn. Both of these high school seniors share similar experiences in their JROTC programs. They performed hundreds of hours serving their JROTC units, their High Schools, and their communities. They had “A” averages all four years of high school, taking numerous Advanced Placement and Honors courses. Combined, they took 29 Honors courses and 5 Advanced Placement (college-level) courses. Additionally, they were both accomplished leaders of their JROTC units.

The Scholarship checks and certificates were presented by our guest speaker, Navy Captain Brian Tanaka, and our Chapter President Faith Junghahn. Each recipient received $1500.

Our first recipient was Za’Kiyah Dixon. Za’Kiyah is a member of the Beddingfield HS Army JROTC program in Wilson. She serves as the Commander of their JROTC Battalion and Commander of their JROTC competitive military drill team. She is also a member of the unit’s Raider Team. Za’Kiyah is the Senior Class President and the National Honor Society Vice President at Bettingfield HS. She is a member of the Student Government Association and a member of the Wilson County 4-H Club. Za’Kiyah is on the school’s Varsity Basketball team and before one of their games – in front of a cheering crowd – she took her Oath of Enlistment into the Air Force. Za’Kiyah has decided to attend North Carolina A&T University and become a cadet in the NC A&T Air Force ROTC Detachment. She plans to major in Kinesiology and minor in Food and Nutrition. In addition to our MOAA Scholarship, Za’Kiyah has been awarded the NC A&T Wilson Alumni Scholarship, the Louis Rainwater Scholarship, and the Wilmington Pure Platinum Scholarship. Her mother Kenyatta Dixon, her father Jesse Dixon and her brother Jessiah Dixon accompanied her to our presentation.

Our second recipient was Caleb Kohn. Caleb is a member of the Cary HS Navy JROTC program in Cary. He has served as their Operations Officer, Drill Team Commander, Logistics Officer, and Academic Team Commander. He participated on their Orientation and Athletics Teams and was the Commander of the Varsity Color Guard. Caleb is also a member of the Future Business Leaders of America. Last year, he was selected to participate in the Navy JROTC Area 6 Leadership Academy held at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. This was an intensive competitive course and Caleb finished in the top 10% of 170 cadets. Caleb will attend Regent University in Virginia and will major in Information Systems Technology. Caleb will be in their Navy ROTC Detachment on a Navy ROTC scholarship valued at over $500,000 plus a Regent University Merit Award Scholarship of $32,000. He intends to pursue a commission in Naval Aviation and become a pilot. Caleb’s mother Amy Kohn and his father Matthew Kohn accompanied him to our presentation.

Our guest speaker for the Scholarship Dinner was Navy Captain Brian Tanaka. Brian is the Commander of the North Carolina Piedmont Consortium Navy ROTC and commands the Navy ROTC detachments at NC State, UNC, and Duke. He is a native of Rochester, Minnesota. Brian is a 1996 graduate of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry. Captain Tanaka served as Commanding Officer of the USS MINNESOTA and completed deployments to the United States European Command and the United States Indo-Pacific Command. He also served as the Commanding Officer, Naval Submarine Training Center Pacific and Commanding Officer, Training Support Department Hawaii. He is retiring from the Navy in June after serving in the US Navy for 30 years.