August 23, 2021

More About The Air Force Academy

By roads-rus

Many United Air Force Academy graduates have become generals, 737 of them to be exact. This facility in Colorado Springs in built on 18,500 acres of Rocky Mountain foothills and is 7,000 feet above sea level. Almost 4,000 cadets attend the Air Force Academy, and about 950 of them graduate each year. These are 3 facts on an informative handout that was given to me by the visitor center staff. This Center plans to remain opened now despite new COVID cases, but I was told that the wise call ahead to check on the situation. It had been opened only 2 days when Ruth and I saw it. It is not open on weekends.

Women were admitted to the Academy in 1976 and the first woman graduated in 1980. This is listed as the most controversial event in the Air Force Academy’s history despite other problems that have impacted it. All cadets can major in 27 different subjects. First year cadets are known as Doolies. Those in their 2nd year are called Fledglings. Third year cadets are known as Wheels, and 4th yearers are called Firsties.

The distressed and covered chapel that has become the Air Force Academy’s icon was designed by Walter Netsch Jr., and the falcon seen on the overhead glider in the visitor center is this Academy’s mascot. The chapel is an all-faith house and will remain so after repairs have been completed and the chapel reopens to the public. This chapel has separate places for Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Buddhist gatherings, a large all-faiths room, and 2 additional meeting rooms.

The film about cadet life that is shown every half hour in the visitor center theater has recently been revised. It’s 21 minutes long and excellent.

The Falcon Route shown on the guest map provides a complete tour of the Air Force Academy. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to complete on 22 miles of paved highway. Some sculptures like the B29 Superfortress above and other planes can be seen on your tour. However, the gas station across the road from the Outdoor Rec Center is not for use by the public, so arrive with a full tank.

Hank

About roads-rus

Since the beginning, I've had to avoid writing about the downside of travel in order to sell more than 100 articles. Just because something negative happened doesn't mean your trip was ruined. But tell that to publishers who are into 5-star cruise and tropical beach fantasies. I want to tell what happened on my way to the beach, and it may not have been all that pleasant. My number one rule of the road is...today's disaster is tomorrow's great story. My travel experiences have appeared in about twenty magazines and newspapers. I've been in all 50 states more than once and more than 50 countries. Ruth and I love to travel internationally--Japan, Canada, China, Argentina, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, etc. Within the next 2 years we will have visited all of the European countries. But our favorite destination is Australia. Ruth and I have been there 9 times. I've written a book about Australia's Outback, ALONE NEAR ALICE, which is available through both Amazon & Barnes & Noble. My first fictional work, MOVING FORWARD, GETTING NOWHERE, has recently been posted on Amazon. It's a contemporary, hopefully funny re-telling of The Odyssey. View all posts by roads-rus
This entry was posted on Monday, August 23rd, 2021 at 6:56 pm and posted in Must See Attraction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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