January 25, 2024

CyberWorx cultivates cadet creativity

U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet 2nd Class Kelsey Monaghan-Bergson takes a break while discussing the value of the Air Force CyberWorx problem-solving process Jan. 18, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Patrick Brush) By Randy Roughton U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Cadet 2nd Class Kelsey Monaghan-Bergson says she feels empowered to challenge traditional thinking for more innovative solutions each time she visits Air Force CyberWorx. “In the CyberWorx space, I can just let my brain roam,” Monaghan-Bergson said. “I can doodle on a wall and throw sticky notes everywhere. I can visualize abstract...

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December 28, 2023

SEAC encourages cadets to listen, lead

Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Troy E. Black speaks at the U.S. Air Force Academy Athletic Department during a visit to Colorado Dec. 20, 2023. Black visited the Academy on his tour of all Defense Department combatant commands after taking the role in November 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Trevor Cokley) Katherine Spessa U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -  Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Troy E. Black visited the U.S. Air Force Academy on Dec. 20 and took the opportunity to share a senior NCO’s leadership philosophy with enlisted members, cadets...

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January 26, 2024

27-year chemistry professor puts cadets first

Dr. Kimberly Gardner, U.S. Air Force Academy associate chemistry professor, poses for a photo in a conference room on the Academy campus in Colorado Springs Jan. 21, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Rayna Schmidt) By Katherine Spessa U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - In a conference room nestled among the classrooms and academic laboratories of Gregory Hall, cadets bring their individual readings to the table. The unique class Dr. Kimberly Gardner is teaching is more of a discussion than a lecture. The cadets choose their topics and what they read. Today, the discussion...

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January 29, 2024

Therapy dogs bring smiles; reduce cadet stress

U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet 4th Class Eri McClain-Yu holds Go Team Therapy Crisis and Airport Dog Spiff in McDermott Library Dec. 11, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Rayna Grace) By Randy Roughton U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Cadet 3rd Class Nicolina Brown said she loves Go Team Therapy Crisis and Airport Dogs so much that she has a perfect answer whenever she's late meeting friends. "I say, ‘you can't blame me; there was a dog,'" Brown said. For 12 years, therapy dogs from Go Team have regularly visited the Academy. They...

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February 6, 2024

Cadet mountaineers grow as friends, leaders

U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet 2nd Class Alyssa Hargis, one of the cadet Mountaineering Club, leaders, ascends the climbing wall in the Cadet Fitness Center Jan. 18, 2024. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Trevor Cokley) By Randy Roughton U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - During Cadet 2nd Class Alyssa Hargis’s first trip with the U.S. Air Force Academy Mountaineering Club, she conquered her first 14,000-foot summit on Torreys Peak. The 14,267-foot peak in the Arapahoe National Forest is the highest point on the Continental Divide and considered a “welcome-to-the-team trip” for freshman cadet climbers....

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February 9, 2024

Cadets look to patent gaze-assisted wheelchair technology

U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet 1st Class Sam Smith prepares for another test of the gaze-assisted wheelchair, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering capstone project, Feb. 1, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Trevor Cokley) By Randy Roughton U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - When Col. Brian Neff arrived in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2018, he wanted his assistive technology laboratory filled with projects that would captivate cadets. The following year, Neff began the gaze-assisted wheelchair project for senior capstone students. “I wanted cadets to see themselves contributing to...

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July 30, 2025

CSRP 2025: taking research beyond the classroom

Cadet 2nd Class Michael Fays poses for a picture with fellow Cadet Summer Research Program participants at NATO School in Oberammergau, Germany, June 12, 2025. As part of the Cadet Summer Research Program, Fays completed both the NATO Instructor Course and the NATO Strategic Operations Planning Course. (Courtesy photo provided by Michael Fays) By SSgt Michael Ward U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - More than 300 cadets participated in the Cadet Summer Research Program (CSRP), taking their research beyond the classroom and into real-world application. The Academy maintains more than 260 national and international...

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