United States Air Force Academy prepares young men and women for careers as officers in the United States Air Force. It stands on an 18,000-acre (7,280-hectare) site in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The academy is an agency of the Department of the Air Force. It is the newest U.S. military academy.
Students at the academy are called Air Force Academy cadets. Cadets take four years of academic work leading to a Bachelor of Science degree. They also take professional military training to earn commissions in the U.S. Air Force. When students enter the academy, they agree to serve four years as a cadet and at least five years as an Air Force officer. The United States government provides food, housing, and medical care for the cadets. Each cadet receives a monthly salary to pay for uniforms, textbooks, and personal expenses.
Entrance requirements.
Candidates for appointment to the academy must be (1) citizens of the United States, (2) at least 17 and not yet 23 years old on July 1 of the year for which they seek appointment, (3) unmarried without legal dependents, and (4) of good moral character. The academy’s website at http://www.usafa.af.mil provides information on preparation and admission procedures.
Nomination and selection of cadets.
Candidates for the academy must be nominated by a legally established nominating source. A majority of academy vacancies are filled by nominations from government officials. At any time, each United States senator and representative, the vice president of the United States, the congressional delegate from the District of Columbia, and the resident commissioner of Puerto Rico may have five cadets attending the academy. The congressional delegates from Guam and the Virgin Islands may have three cadets each at the academy, and the delegate from American Samoa may have two cadets. The delegate from the Northern Mariana Islands and the governor of Puerto Rico may have one cadet each.
The remaining nominations are based on previous military service by the applicants or their parents. The president of the United States may appoint up to 100 candidates each year from among the children of active-duty or retired military personnel. Enlisted personnel in the regular and reserve Air Force receive 170 nominations annually. Each year, the secretary of the Air Force may nominate a combined total of 20 candidates from among the members of the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and the honor graduates of military honor schools. Up to 65 cadets may attend the academy who were nominated as children of veterans killed or disabled in action and children of prisoners of war or of personnel missing in action. An unlimited number of children of Medal of Honor winners may also attend the academy. Qualified alternates are accepted as needed to fill each class.
Candidates must pass qualifying medical examinations, a physical aptitude examination, and college entrance examinations. In addition, candidates must have demonstrated outstanding academic and leadership potential in high school to qualify for appointment. Each year, the academy accepts about 1,400 new cadets but graduates only about 1,000.
Cadet life.
Cadets live in dormitories. Their normal weekday begins with reveille (wake-up call) at 6:30 a.m. Before classes, cadets prepare their rooms for inspection and eat breakfast. Classes are held from 8 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Most classes are held in small classrooms and laboratories. After classes, cadets participate in sports or extracurricular activities. After dinner, they study in the dormitory or academy library from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Taps sounds at 11 p.m.
Cadets may attend religious services of their faith in the Academy Cadet Chapel. The chapel’s 17 towering aluminum spires make it an academy landmark. The chapel is divided into sections for Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish, and Buddhist religious services. It also has an all-faiths room used by Muslims and members of other faiths. Cadets may also attend religious services held in nearby communities.
Cadets live by an honor code that stresses complete integrity in word and deed. The code says, “We will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does.” The cadets themselves enforce the code, and violation of the code can be cause for dismissal.
Social activities are held on weekends at the academy. Privileges to leave the campus increase as the cadet progresses through the academy. Each year, all cadets receive a two-week winter leave (vacation), a one-week spring leave, and a three-week summer leave.
The academy curriculum
consists of the academic program, military training, and physical education. The academic program includes a core curriculum of 30 courses in the basic sciences, engineering, humanities, and the social sciences. Each cadet must take certain courses that provide a general background in all subject areas. The cadet may also major in one subject or area of concentration. In addition, cadets must take a course in ethics and receive instruction in honor and ethics. Cadets may visit other Air Force or military installations to participate in various research projects. They also may compete with students from other universities for fellowships and scholarships.
The academy prepares each cadet for a role of leadership through military training. This training provides the basic military knowledge required by an Air Force officer and includes flying instruction and field trips. All cadets, even those who do not plan a career in flying, must take aviation and navigation courses.
Cadets become physically fit through a varied program that includes physical education classes and athletics. Each cadet must participate in either intramural or intercollegiate sports while attending the academy.
History.
In the 1920’s, Brigadier General Billy Mitchell urged that the government set up an Air Force academy (see Mitchell, Billy ). In 1947, the United States established the Air Force as an independent branch from the Army. The secretary of defense appointed a service academy board in 1949 to study the need for another academy. The board recommended that an academy be established to train future Air Force officers.
Congress authorized the creation of the Air Force Academy in 1954. A committee appointed by the secretary of the Air Force chose the academy’s location. In July 1955, the first class of 306 cadets began training at a temporary site at Lowry Air Force Base, near Denver, Colorado. The academy moved to its permanent site near Colorado Springs in 1958. In 1964, the government increased the academy’s size from 2,500 cadets to its current authorized strength of 4,000 cadets. The academy began to admit women students in 1976.
