NCLS is a two day symposium in which participants have an opportunity to hear from speakers sharing inspirational stories of character and leadership with the audience through his/her own words. It is one of the premier national symposiums in the area of character development, brings together distinguished scholars, armed forces leaders, corporate presidents and others to explore various dimensions of character and leadership. Speakers share their life experiences in order to challenge the audience to meet the objectives. NCLS is a personal development symposium.

NCLS is open to anyone. This includes, but is not limited to, Undergraduate Students, Visiting Faculty members, community participants, military academy graduates, Association of Graduates members, USAFA staff and faculty, out of state military members, local military/ DoD ID Card Holders, and federal, state, county, and city government employees.

You will hear from distinguished scholars, military leaders, corporate presidents, world-class athletes, and others in order to explore a character-related theme. The speakers will share their life experiences, challenges, and triumphs in alignment with the NCLS year-long theme, reinforcing the Air Force Core Values, encouraging reflection, and motivation for personal action. Click here to access speaker information.

Registration for NCLS is scheduled to open in October for Visiting Students and Faculty and in January for all other participants. Once registration is open, an email invitation will be sent to our previous participants and a “Registration” button will be available on our website. Please visit the Deadlines and Fees page for specific dates or email us at ncls@afacademy.af.edu for more questions.

On the NCLS registration landing page, click the hot button that describes you.

Visiting Student
• You are a student at a college or university between ages 18-26
Visiting Faculty:
• You are a college or university faculty or staff member attending NCLS with students
• You are an academic educator attending without students
Community Participant
• You are a college or university student over age 26
• You are an Air Force Academy alum or Association of Graduates member
• You are a member of the local community with no military affiliation
• You are local or non-local area military, not assigned to USAFA and not an Association of Graduates member
USAFA Permanent Party
• You are military or civilian assigned to any USAFA organization

In order to complete your registration in a timely manner, please select “Other” to proceed. Our NCLS registration team will update both your individual registration and our list of visiting universities.

If your school already has four students confirmed, we can place students on a waiting list. Should a spot become available, students will be notified on a first come first served basis, after December 6. Once all the registration requirements have been met, the registration status will change from “pending” to “confirmed.” If you wish to be placed on the waiting list, please have your faculty sponsor email NCLS@afacademy.af.edu with your name, email and college/university.

Typically, each NCLS speaker is schedule to present multiple times over the course of the two days, however a few of our speakers may only speak once, due to schedule limitations. Speakers are scheduled for various sessions throughout the event, some large and some small . The speaker you are looking for may be scheduled for a smaller session, which may already be full. If that is the case, that specific speaker session will no longer be visible as a registration selection.

While a guest may certainly attend with you, the registration system requires all attendees register independently for Visiting Faculty, Visiting Students and USAFA Cadets. All other categories of attendees will be able to register a guest. Your guest will receive a separate confirmation email with their registration.

Check-in and badge pick-up for Visiting Students, Visiting Faculty and Community Participants will be available in Falcon Club according to the following schedule:
Wednesday, February 23^rd from 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Thursday, February 24^th from 6:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Friday, February 25^th from 6:30 a.m.-12:00 pm
*Please note that USAFA Permanent Party members are not required to check-in at Falcon Club and will not be issued badges.

For the Cadet Wing and Guests:

Wed: 23 Feb: UOD: OCP’s

Thur 24 Feb: UOD Blues and Service Dress required for Symposium Dinner

Fri: 25 Feb: UOD Flight suit/OCPs

Civilians: Business Casual for speaker sessions and Formal for Symposium Dinner

Transportation from Colorado Springs Airport will be available on Wednesday, February 23. Shuttles will depart the airport for the Academy every 1.5 hours beginning at 10 a.m. and concluding at 10 p.m. Arriving participants who indicated they require transportation to the Academy can find shuttle personnel outside the baggage claim area.

On Saturday, February 26, shuttles will again be available to transport participants from the Academy to the Colorado Springs Airport. Saturday shuttles will depart the Cadet Area for the Falcon Club at 4 a.m., 6 a.m., 8 a.m., and 10:30 a.m. They will depart the Falcon Club at 4:15 a.m., 6:15 a.m., 8:15 a.m., and 10:45 a.m. respectively and arrive at the Colorado Springs Airport approximately 45 minutes later.

Shuttles will not run to or from Colorado Springs Airport on Thursday, February 24, or Friday, February 25. Transportation will not be provided to or from Denver International Airport or other local locations. Participants will be required to coordinate their own travel arrangements.

• Undergraduate Students (age 18 – 26) will be housed at no cost in the Air Force Academy Cadet Dormitories. Visiting students will be assigned a cadet escort and will room with that cadet in the cadet dormitories. The two Academy dorms, Vandenberg and Sijan Hall, are co-ed dorms with shower facilities on each floor. While dormitories are co-ed, individual rooms and shower facilities are not. Rooms have either two or three residents. Only students that provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination will be allowed in the dormitories.
• Faculty and Guest: Visiting faculty and guests may stay on the USAFA campus at the Rampart Lodge (also known as the Visiting Officers’ Quarters, or VOQ) pending availability. Alternative lodging is available at other surrounding

Mission:

To serve USAFA by advancing character and leadership development in preparation for service to the nation.

Vision:

To be the center of excellence for the advancement of character and leadership development.

Created in 1993, originally as the Center for Character Development, the CCLD serves as the focal point of USAFA’s commitment to developing leaders of character. Since character and leadership are complementary and inseparable concepts, synergies result from integrating character and leadership training/education into a common effort. The focus of the CCLD is on the development of cadet character and leadership through high quality, daily interactions with faculty and staff. The Center’s three areas of commitment are:

1. Elevate and integrate character and leadership development
2. Develop the character and leadership of cadets and faculty/staff
3. Advance the scholarship of character and leadership development

Please click here to access archived NCLS information from past events.