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The U.S Air Force Academy: The Firsties Take Flight

By: Barney Garcia Colorado Springs, Colorado is known for The United States Air Force Academy (USAAF) - the undergraduate service military academy for the student officers to be commissioned for The United States Air Force. Though its sister military academies have sometimes been referred to by the names of the places they were situated in like Annapolis or West-Point, The Air Force Academy was never mentioned as Colorado or Colorado Springs. "The academy", "The Hill", "The Blue Zoo" and "The Zoo" are all but some of the names the academy is mentioned as colloquially.

The Service Advisory Board, in January, 1950, then headed by the president Dwight. D. Eisenhower, first saw the need to establish an Air Force Academy and then as they say, is history. The first set of fine Air Force Officers graduated out in the class of July 11, 1955.

The Air Force Academy, However, did not have an impeccable and illustrious history as its Army and Naval Counterparts did. The Vietnam War was a major dampener for the U.S Air Force Academy, since it was just constructed and hence the grounds were open for the public and were used for anti-war protests. Sometimes the cadets ended up taking the public's wrath; it went through a series of scandals and intake of women into its ranks created a lot of problems pertaining to sexual harassment and the like.

The cadets at the academy are divided into four groups – basically classes as first class ranging to 4th class cadets. 4th class cadets are also called as smacks and they can be related to freshmen in normal colleges. The graduating class is called as the first class air force officers, sometimes "Firsties" and are commissioned to be the second lieutenant of the U.S Air Force.

There is a strict Honor Code that is taught with fervor at the academy and is put through an extensive leadership and character program while they enter into BCT - Basic Cadet Training, which continues throughout their course of study at the academy.

Keeping up to the Military School tradition of producing men and women of very high integrity, self-respect, loads of talent and patriotism to the point of being chauvinistic, high moral characters and strict adherence to ethical values, upholding of self-esteem and that of the academy and the country as a whole, the primary focus of the Air Force Academy is to develop young American men and women intellectually, physically and morally.