July 18, 2019

Operations Air Force: Cadets volunteer at equine therapy center

U.S. Air Force Academy Cadets Zack LaRocque, left, and Evan Place, dig post holes to place a sign at the Therapeutic Riding Institute. LaRocque, Place and 18 other cadets traveled to Spring Valley, Ohio, July 6, to volunteer with the institute. (U.S. Air Force photo/John Van Winkle) By John Van Winkle, 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs, July 18, 2019 SPRING VALLEY, Ohio – Twenty Air Force Academy cadets hit the farm July 6, helping the Therapeutic Riding Institute prepare its new Spring Valley location for operations. The cadets were visiting Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as part of an Academy immersion...

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July 17, 2019

Field training begins July 21 for AF Academy’s basic cadets

Staff report, July 17, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Basic cadets at the Air Force Academy are scheduled to begin the field portion of their training when they march out to Jacks Valley, July 21. Upon arriving at Jacks Valley, the cadets will be welcomed by the commandant of cadets and construct a "tent city" where they will live until they complete field training and march back to the main campus July 31. During field training, cadets will hone their mental, team, and physical conditioning skills critical to being welcomed into the Cadet Wing as cadet fourth class.

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July 16, 2019

Defense Digital Service team visits Academy to observe security clearance processes

[caption id="attachment_23063" align="alignnone" width="648"] (Photo/Trevor Cokley)[/caption]   By Jennifer Spradlin, July 6, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- The Defense Digital Service team visited the Academy last week to observe how new cadets completed an electronic questionnaire necessary to attain security clearances. The team’s goal: eliminate redundancies across multiple agencies and build a new software prototype to improve the user experience. “We have a 1-to-2 percent margin of error in our applications, which is pretty phenomenal for this kind of effort,” said Dr. Gayle Blue-Keyes, Academy director of information protection. Each summer, more than 1,000 new cadets fill out...

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July 15, 2019

AF Academy to celebrate 50th Anniversary of Lunar Landing

U.S. Air Force Academy -- (U.S. Air Force photo/Trevor Cokley) By Judith Cara, July 15, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.-- Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins blasted away from Earth on a Saturn V rocket on July 16, 1969. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin set foot on the moon, the first humans to do so. The three returned to Earth on July 24. Celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing are planned around the world. Whether you remember that day or have experienced it only through videos and stories, visit the Air Force...

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July 12, 2019

Field Day: Basic cadets at AF Academy compete in annual athletic team-building challenge

(Photo by Darcie Ibidapo) By Ray Bowden, July 12, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- “You  OK? You’re good, right?” a basic cadet asked a classmate as he breathed hard, clutching a chain-link fence for support. Moments earlier, the pair sprinted over the finish line of a long distance run, one of several challenges July 12 during Field Day. The annual event at the Air Force Academy marks the halfway point of Basic Cadet Training. “Competing together builds cohesion,” said Cadet 2nd Class Krisanna Reynolds. “The basic cadets get to talk to each other and get to know one another,...

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July 10, 2019

AF Academy cadets teach their vice superintendent how to freefall

Third from right: Col. Houston Cantwell, vice superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy, poses for a photograph at the U.S. Air Force Academy with a cadet instructor (fifth from right) and his Airmanship 490 cadet classmates, July 2019. (All photos courtesy of the 98th Flying Training Squadron) Commentary by Col. Houston Cantwell, U.S. Air Force Academy vice superintendent, July 10, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  "Stand in the door!” Never before had four words caused such extreme personal anxiety. Circling above the Air Force Academy in the back of our trusty Twin Otter aircraft at 4,500 feet,...

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July 8, 2019

AF Academy, Air Education and Training Command host technology-infused basic aviation skills training

Story and photos by Jennifer Spradlin, July 8, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Colorado Springs high school students and recent Air Force Academy graduates are flying together -- in the classroom -- thanks to training devices that simulate the T-6 Texan II training aircraft. The Academy is hosting high school summer training sessions in partnership with Air Education and Training Command to explore the benefits of exposing students to basic aviation skills using virtual reality technology. “Advances in technology have led us to really consider how we train potential pilots -- is there a better way? We think there...

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July 3, 2019

‘An exchange of ideas’: 306th FTG instructors visit French air force academy

Capt. Gabriel Paterson, flight commander for the U.S. Air Force Academy Flying Team, and Lt. Col. Abby Frander (right), commander of the 98 Flying Training Squadron at the Academy,  stand near a Cirrus SR22 aircraft with a pilot from the Ecole de l'Air -- the French air force academy.  Cadre from the 306th Flying Training Group traveled to France in June to visit their French counterparts and share information about airfield operations and the Academy's Airmanship Programs (Courtesy photo). By Jennifer Spradlin, June 3, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Instructors from the 306th Flying Training Group traveled to France...

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July 1, 2019

Air Force Academy goes high-tech with first-responder software

Staff Sgt. Jake Craig, a military working dog handler assigned to the the 10th Security Forces Squadron at the Air Force Academy, and his dog take a break while providing security at Clune Arena, June 27, 2019. The 10th SFS and other first-responders at the base are expected to benefit from the use of the Air Force Disaster Response Force Common Operating Picture, now in use at the base. It's a high-tech emergency-management program that allows first-responders to get accurate, moment by moment information when responding to any major disaster or incident. (Photo/Darcie Ibidapo) By Ray Bowden, July 1, 2019...

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May 29, 2019

Grad Week Feature: Academy cadet, naturalized citizen one step closer to aviation dream

Cadet 1st Class Rodrigo Orellana (center, blue beret), was born in Honduras. He's scheduled to graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy May 30, 2019 and later attend pilot training school. (Courtesy photo) By Jennifer Spradlin, May 29, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Rodrigo Orellana, an Air Force Academy senior, knew as a boy he wanted to fly. He was born and raised in Tegucigalpa, the densely-packed capital of Honduras, a Central American country as beautiful as it is poor. It was, by his account, a country with generous people who had little but shared everything, and a...

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