May 20, 2019

Update: Air Force Thunderbirds release practice, performance schedule for Academy graduation

(U.S. Air Force photo/Jack Braden) Staff report, May 20, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The Air Force Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team is scheduled to conclude the Air Force Academy’s Class of 2019 graduation ceremony with a 30-minute performance above the Academy, May 30. The performance is expected to begin between 2-2:30 p.m., just after the hat toss. The Thunderbirds will arrive in Colorado Springs May 27 and fly over the Academy around 11:30 a.m. for a site survey. The team will practice their full performance over the Academy’s Falcon Stadium from 10:30 – 11:45 Tuesday, May 28. As...

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May 17, 2019

Academy hosts wing commanders, command chiefs

Wing commanders from across the Air Force get a briefing on the U.S. Air Force Academy's remotely piloted aircraft systems during a tour of the Academy earlier this month. (U.S. Air Force photo/Jennifer Spradlin) By Jennifer Spradlin, May 17, 2019 U.S. AIR ACADEMY, Colo. -- The Air Force Academy is slated to welcome more than 700 wing commanders and command chiefs this year as it supports an Air Force initiative to create greater understanding between its wing leaders and the accessioning sources that produce officers. The Academy hosted the first round of these leaders on a tour of airfield operations, various...

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May 16, 2019

‘A bad break’: Traumatic injury can’t keep Academy cadet off rugby pitch

Jessica Beyer (bottom row, second from left). (U.S. Air Force Academy photo) Story by Jennifer Spradlin, May 16, 2018 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Jessica Beyer is a competitor. She’s a no-nonsense girl from Dunlap, Illinois, a town where cows outnumber people. At six, she fell in love with flying while watching the Air Force Thunderbirds perform and set her sights on the Air Force. Beyer, a cadet third class, found rugby during her freshman year at the Air Force Academy, and by her sophomore year, she was one of the team captains. Her goal was to win the...

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May 15, 2019

Air University, Air Force Academy are flagships of education

By Staff Sgt. Quay Drawdy, Air University Public Affairs, May 15, 2019 MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- For current or future Air Force commissioned officers, two names represent the pinnacle of education within the force. While these flagship institutions have, up to now, worked mostly independent of one another, Air University and the U.S. Air Force Academy have come together to formally synchronize their efforts for producing future leaders for the service. With signatures fresh on a Memorandum of Understanding, AU and USAFA are further developing initiatives ranging from cyber education and prototyping to educational innovation and faculty cooperation, all...

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May 15, 2019

Class of 2019: Senior cadet reflects on building a bridge with National Forest Service

(National Forest Service photo) Story by Jennifer Spradlin, May 15, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Cadet 1st Class Ryan Howe will be the first to admit he didn’t plan on attending the Air Force Academy, but a fateful trip to the mechanical laboratory during Parents’ Weekend piqued his curiosity, and he applied. Four years later, he is set to graduate and pursue a master’s degree at the University of Washington, and fittingly, one of his standout memories from his time at the Academy is tied to an engineering project – albeit a civil engineering one. For three weeks last summer,...

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May 14, 2019

AF Academy releases security guidelines for graduation ceremony

Staff Reports, May 14, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- The Air Force Academy released its security guidelines for the Class of 2019 graduation ceremony, May 30 at Falcon Stadium. Earlier this month, 19,000 tickets to the ceremony were given to graduating cadets and their families and friends. Since then, all available tickets to the ceremony have been distributed to the general public. Service members and civilian employees at the Academy are encouraged to check at their place of work for extra tickets. Service members, their families, civilian employees and cadets at the Academy are encouraged to return any extra...

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May 6, 2019

Update: General public tickets to Academy graduation ceremony gone in minutes

U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs, May 6, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Tickets to the Air Force Academy’s Class of 2019 graduation ceremony released to the general public May 9 were swooped up within minutes. In all, just more than 600 graduation tickets to the May 30 ceremony at Falcon Stadium were picked up quickly at the chambers of commerce in Colorado Springs and Monument. There are no more tickets scheduled to be available to the general public at this time. Each year, tickets are distributed first to the graduating class. This year, more than 19,000 thousand...

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May 3, 2019

‘Just as much a hero’: Academy grad shares Vietnam experience with cadets

Story and photo by Jennifer Spradlin, May 3, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- One hundred fifty-one graduates of the Air Force Academy died in Vietnam but not Hank Hoffman. He knows he’s one of the lucky ones. Hoffman graduated in 1963. He went to Vietnam immediately after flight school, where he flew in four combat tours in B-52 and A-37 aircraft. “I have been waiting more than 40 years for someone to truly ask me about the Vietnam War,” Hoffman said from the stage of Arnold Hall while briefing cadets. He showed them a cramped photograph of 17 cadets...

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May 2, 2019

From the sky to the classroom: Air Force Academy launches virtual tour

Public Affairs staff report, May 2, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- So you want to visit the Academy but don’t feel like leaving home? All you need is the internet, thanks to an interactive, 360-degree virtual tour the school launched May 1. “Every potential cadet, family member, community member and general supporter gets an authentic, behind-the-scenes view of what the Academy is like,” said Mike Peterson, the Academy’s chief of outreach. The tour can be taken with smartphones, computers, or via head-mounted display across the Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Airfield and through the remotely piloted aircraft center, the...

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April 29, 2019

Accreditation process begins at Air Force Academy

(U.S. Air Force photo/Trevor Cokley) Story by Ray Bowden, April 29, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- A team from the Higher Learning Commission is at the Air Force Academy to determine if the school meets the standards to reaffirm its accredited status. The HLC's visit, April 29-30, will allow the Academy to showcase how it meets standards set by peer institutions of higher learning and complies with federal law to graduate officers with a Bachelor of Science degree. “We’ve been preparing for the HLC visit for more than a year, but to my mind, we’ve been preparing every day...

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