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United States Air Force Academy

The United States Air Force Academy, established in 1955 at Lowry Air Force Base, moved to its permanent site in Colorado Springs in 1958.

The mission of the Academy is to educate, train and inspire men and women to become officers of character motivated to lead the Air Force in service to the nation.

The Visitor Center and a great portion of the grounds are free and open to visitors.

Our tour began in the Barry Goldwater Air Force Visitor Center where we walked through the exhibit hall, gift shop and watched a short film on cadet life.

To win appointment to the United States Air Force Academy, you must be of good moral character and meet high leadership, academic, physical and medical standards. The basic eligibility requirements include you be at least 17 but not past your 23^rd birthday, a United States Citizen and be unmarried with no dependents. (Authorized international students are exempt from the Citizenship requirement).

 

An Academy education is valued at more than $416,000.  The tuition is offered at no cost to the cadets but does require a commitment to serve as an officer in the Air Force. 

 

 The length of commitment is eight years after graduation, five of which must be active duty.

From the Visitor Center we walked the 1/3 mile paved trail leading to the Cadet Chapel, the most visited man-made tourist attraction in Colorado.

The distinct architecture of the Chapel features 17 spires that reach 150 feet toward the sky.

 

 

 

Within the chapel are Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Buddhist worship spaces.

 

The cadet area designated a national historic landmark along with the chapel in 2004, can be viewed from the chapel plaza.

 

 

 

 

We walked through the Honor Court, a display of bronze statues and aircraft memorial specific to the history of military flight.

We concluded our tour of the academy by walking the Heritage Trail at Doolittle Hall. 

A plaque on the path to the Heritage Trail reads, “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, not matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by our nation.”  George Washington.

 

For me, the highlight of the trail is the Southeast Asia Pavilion.  The structure sits at the edge of the mesa on the north end of the trail, where it overlooks the Academy campus and contains interactive kiosks that explore missions grads took over Vietnam. 

The war in Southeast Asia was the first conflict in which Air Force Academy Graduates fought and died.  Over one hundred fifty graduates were killed in action; thirty-three graduates became prisoners of war.

The stories and fates of sixteen graduating classes, 1959-1974, are shared in interactive timelines and map location touchscreens.