This is your official Air Force Academy History Update for Wednesday, June, 18th– 

On this day, back in 1999 – Brigadier General Mark Welsh III, Class of ’76, becomes the Commandant of Cadets.  General Welsh would go on to become the fourth Air Force Academy graduate to serve as Chief of Staff of the Air Force.  As Commandant, he succeeded Brigadier General Steve Lorenz, Class of ’73, who also went on to earn four-star rank, as the Commander, Air Education and Training Command. 

…Also on this day, back in 2024 — Colonel Mark Sletten, Class of 2000, is one of two men killed when their civilian Piper PA-18 aircraft crashed into Crescent Lake near Moose Pass on Alaska’s Kenai (Kee-nye) Peninsula.  At the time of the accident, he was the operations director for the Alaskan Command.

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