December 13, 2019

Academy NCO gets ready for officer training school

(U.S. Air Force photos/Trang Le) By Ray Bowden, Dec. 13, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- A curriculum developer at the Air Force Academy is one of a few enlisted Airmen this year to be selected to attend officer training school. “I told myself not to ‘ugly cry,’” said Tech. Sgt. Samantha Van Cleave about her emotional state when Brig. Gen. Michele Edmondson, the Academy’s commandant, told her of her selection in November in front of her coworkers. “I did work very hard for this, but I’m incredibly honored.” Van Cleave is from Mansfied, Arkansas. She lists education as a...

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December 12, 2019

Academy cadets help send international cadet home for holidays

Story by Jennifer Spradlin, Dec. 12, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The distance between Colorado and Cambodia is more than 8,000 miles – a lot farther than the average college student travels to get home for winter break. When Cadet 4th Class Chanyuthea Nou earned a spot in the international cadet program at the Air Force Academy, he understood the exorbitant airfare likely meant he would be away from his family for four straight years. “I had a passion to pursue – becoming a successful aeronautical engineer and an officer of good character,” he said. Nou arrived at...

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December 6, 2019

Academy UAS Center prepares cadets for future fight

Story by Jennifer Spradlin, Dec. 6, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The Air Force Academy brought a cutting-edge, multi-drone light show to its campus last month to celebrate its storied rivalry with West Point. As hundreds of drones moved in synchronization to delight the audience with messages like ‘Beat Army,’ the six-minute display showed how far unmanned aerial systems have come since Civil War-era balloons and what's still possible. “We are really in the Wright Brothers era of unmanned aerial systems,” said Col. Eduardo Defendini, director of the Air Force Academy UAS Center. “New and exciting aircraft shapes,...

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December 6, 2019

Academy deer hunt set for Dec 7-8, Dec 14-15

(Photo / Trevor Cokely)  U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs staff report U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The Air Force Academy's Natural Resources Office will host a controlled deer hunt Dec. 7-8 and Dec. 14-15. Frequently used roads and trails in the hunting areas will be posted with bright orange "Area Closed: Authorized Personnel Only" signs. The Falcon Trail, archery range, Pine Valley horse pastures, and parcourse will also be posted and closed during the hunting dates. Academy officials urge personnel and visitors to avoid roads and trails leading to the hunting areas. The hunt is designed to control the deer...

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March 13, 2020

Air Force Academy to begin early release of cadets

Staff report, March 13, 2020 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Due to the rapid spread of COVID-19, and with multiple members of our base populace being monitored, we have made the conservative decision to begin an orderly dismissal of a large segment of our Cadet population. The goal of this action is to maximize the chances of graduating our senior class on time for our Air and Space Forces while ensuring the best possible care for the entire base populace.  We did not make this decision lightly; we consulted with our medical professionals, sister service academies and local civic leaders,...

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March 25, 2020

Cadets continue their education online during COVID-19 outbreak

U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet 1st Class Edward Lopez. Story by  Ray Bowden, March 25, 2020 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo -- Online distance learning for nearly 3,000 Air Force Academy cadets sent home to their friends and families will start March 25. Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria released all but the senior cadets and a few underclassmen-and-women from campus to increase the seniors’ chance of graduating on time and to promote the health of the base population. “Ultimately, the deciding factor was recommendations from our public health officials and the inability to execute social distancing for over 4,000 cadets...

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November 21, 2019

Law department professor awarded ‘flagship’ scholarship grant to research, teach in Europe

[caption id="attachment_25825" align="alignnone" width="300"] Douglas McKechnie, a full professor in the Academy’s law department[/caption] By Ray Bowden, Nov. 21, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- A legal expert at the Air Force Academy is getting ready to go on sabbatical in Europe next year, courtesy of a Fulbright scholar grant. Douglas McKechnie, a full professor in the Academy’s law department, will spend his spring months at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, teaching in the university’s Constitutional Law department. Col. Kristine Keunzli, head of the Academy’s law department, said McKechnie’s selection for the grant was “spot on.” “It properly portrays...

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June 8, 2020

‘Why limit yourself?’: Cadet combines majors to make Shakespeare more accessible

Ray Bowden, June 8, 2020 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- A cadet’s project has the potential to benefit next year’s crop of English students as they wade through the works of William Shakespeare. Cadet 2nd Class Brynn Sulte, a computer science and English major, created a database to help other students at the Air Force Academy analyze more than 150 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet. “The goal is to make this database available in a classroom setting and develop it more broadly for research,” she said. Daniel Couch, an English professor at the school, said Sulte’s...

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August 12, 2020

Health, safety are top priorities as cadets begin academic year

Story by Ray Bowden, photos by Trevor Cokley, Aug. 12, 2020 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- School is again in session at the Air Force Academy with more than 4,000 cadets back in class. The academic year began Aug. 12, with cadets attending classes both online and in small groups to give them more room to maneuver between classmates and allow for maximum social distancing. Senior officials and medical experts at the base are relying on deliberate precautions to decrease the spread of the coronavirus, including numerous COVID-19 tests for each student and social distancing measures in and out of...

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August 11, 2020

Academy cadets celebrate Acceptance Day

Story by Ray Bowden, top photo by Josh Armstrong, Aug. 11, 2020 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- The Air Force Academy welcomed the Class of 2024 into the cadet wing with a ceremony and parade at Stillman Parade Field here Aug. 10. Despite strict parameters to mitigate the coronavirus, including spatial distancing, mandatory wear of face masks and a very limited audience, Acceptance Day held all the tradition one would expect at an event usually attended by thousands of friends and relatives. “I congratulate the Class of 2024 on navigating a new training environment even while adapting to the basic...

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