May 24, 2022

‘Two services, one Academy’: AF Academy, Space Force teamwork make innovation history

(Defense Dept. photo by Cherie A. Thurlby) Commentary by Col. Jeff Greenwood Space Force Delta 13 Detachment 1 commander U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – This week, nearly 1,000 cadets will graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy and receive their commissions as newly minted second lieutenants in the Air Force and Space Force. It’s always an exciting time as friends and family members from around the world come together at our Academy to witness this culminating event, and it’s equally thrilling for the faculty and staff who get to celebrate with our newest batch of officers. For the third...

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March 21, 2022

Academy cadets team up with Air Force’s Office of Scientific Research to improve hypersonic systems

Cadets 1st Class Sean Adams and Peter Garlisi prepare the Mach 6 Ludwieg Tube to test boundary layer transition - BOLT - geometry in the Air Force Academy's aeronautic lab, March 16, 2022. NASA reached out to the Academy in 2021 for the institution's support of a series of BOLT tests. (U.S. Air Force photo) By U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Researchers at the Air Force Academy and the service’s Office of Scientific Research say an experimental rocket launch will help the Air Force design air and space craft better able to withstand...

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March 16, 2022

Cadets close out Recognition challenges at AF Academy

Basic cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy run toward Cathedral Rock to bring Recognition to a close, March 12, 2022. The traditional "Run to the Rock" is one of the final activities for basic cadets during Recognition, three days of rigorous teambuilding and leadership challenges.  Story by Ray Bowden, photos by Joshua Armstrong U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Freshmen at the Air Force Academy brought Recognition to a close March 12 with “Run to the Rock,” a trek to Cathedral Rock. The march ends Recognition, three days of training for freshmen to demonstrate...

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March 11, 2022

AF Academy’s top former enlisted role model for cadets retires

Retired Chief Master Sgt. Bob Vasquez encourages basic cadets during a drill at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Vasquez retired from his position as the Cadet Wing’s curriculum branch manager, Feb. 28, 2022 and worked with cadets for 20 years after retiring from active duty in 2002. (U.S. Air Force Academy photo) By Julie Imada, Center for Character and Leadership Development U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - A former chief master sergeant popular at the Air Force Academy, retired from his position as the Cadet wing’s curriculum branch manager, Feb. 28. Bob Vasquez took on several roles at the Academy...

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March 7, 2022

Five life and innovation hacks from a cadet inventor

By Rachelle Stoll, Strategic Communications Photos by Josh Armstrong Cadet Schlichting stands in front of the United States Air Force Academy’s aeronautics laboratory. Cadet First Class Grant Schlichting, a senior at the United States Air Force Academy, holds a patent-pending for a device that will change how we fight the wars to come. Schlichting is the creator of the Aerial Tow Rehookup (ATR), an invention with a provisional patent under the US Patent and Trademark Office. The ATR involves the utilization of a military cargo plane to tow multiple aircraft at any given time, from the smallest of unmanned drones...

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March 12, 2022

Sully returns with lessons for cadets

From left to right: Cadet Keane Singleton, Cadet Maria Norman, Ambassador Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, Cadet Connor Portlock, and Cadet Garrett Dean. Sullenberger receives a soaring instructor patch from the 94th Flying Training Squadron (FTS) in the Davis Airfield hangar at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo., on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. By Rachelle Stoll, Strategic Communications Photos by Joshua Armstrong. Ambassador Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger returned to the United States Air Force Academy’s Davis Airfield, Feb. 25, 2022, to connect with four aviation program cadet leaders while answering their questions about his time at the Academy. A 1973 Academy graduate and...

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March 1, 2022

Wing Open Boxing Championships: Your questions answered

Cadet Don Angelo Piasecki lands a punch onto Cadet Will Winstead in the 132-pound men’s weight class during the 2021 Wing Open Boxing Championships. By Rachelle Stoll, Strategic Communications Cadets and boxing fans are convening under the bright lights of Clune Arena for the 64th annual Wing Open Boxing Championships on March 4, 2022 at 7 p.m. This year’s competition will be open to the public. Below is a run-down on this storied championship and your guide to boxing at the U.S. Air Force Academy. 1. What is the Wing Open? Since 1958, cadets from all forty squadrons have been...

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February 16, 2022

Getting cadets to graduation: A senior NCO speaks out on his special duty as an academy military trainer

Master Sgt. Brian Kelsey, an academy military trainer at the Air Force Academy, is shown here in his Vandenberg Hall office. Story by Ray Bowden, Photo by Trevor Cokley U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - If you’re assigned to cadet squadron 12 at the Air Force Academy and need advice, talk to Master Sgt. Brian Kelsey. If you want to chat about skiing, rock climbing, his four children or woodworking, he’s good with that, too. Kelsey is the squadron’s lead academy military trainer, one of more than 100 enlisted airmen leading, training and serving as military role models for the school’s...

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February 8, 2022

Want to fly without being a pilot? Here’s how.

1st Lt. Abraham Eaton goes inverted on a T-38 test flight. Photo courtesy 1st Lt. Abraham Eaton. By Rachelle Stoll, Strategic Communications. Did you know the Air Force Academy is a pipeline for the Air Force Test Pilot School? The process has been recently been optimized and two former cadets share their experiences with TPS and tell us how the Academy prepared them for success. 1st Lt. Abraham Eaton recalls getting motion sickness on playground swings as a young child, but that never kept him from wanting to fly. Once he became a cadet at the Air Force Academy, he found...

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December 22, 2021

Air Force Academy grad embraces new NASA role, future of spaceflight

Kelvin Manning was named deputy director at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center after serving as the Florida spaceport’s associate director for more than a decade. (NASA photo/Kim Shifle) Story by Jim Cawley, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center public Affairs   KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Kelvin Manning has served in several critical roles in his nearly 30 years at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. He was the Florida spaceport’s associate director for more than a decade. He also held multiple key positions within the Space Shuttle Program, was the first division chief for the agency’s Orion spacecraft, and served on the last three NASA...

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