What is the exact altitude of the terrazzo?
7,258 feet above sea level

Finish this phrase: Fast, Neat, Average, _____, _____, _____
Friendly, Good, Good. (By the way, just for your own personal knowledge, they did away with the Form O-96, which means no more: Fast, Neat, Average, Friendly, Good, Good. I guess Mitchell Hall was running short on money and they said they don't get any useful information on those forms. I don't know what we're gonna do. That was a long standing academy tradition!).

On the base of the shoulder board, what do we call the thin line, squiggly line, and thin line?
Thin Line: Ground
Squiggly Line: Cloud
Thin Line (on top the "cloud"): Horizon

Name three civilians that Air Force personnel are required to salute:

1. The President
2. Secretary of Defense
3. Secretary of Air Force

What were our class colors?
Red

Some Cadets are authorized to wear certain badges on their left breast pocket.
What does the star and wreath signify?
Star - Deans list - 3.0 or higher GPA
Wreath - Commandants list - 3.0 or higher MPA (military performance average)
Both together is called the superintendents pin (or the "God" pin. Probably so called, because you are "god-like" if you are authorized to wear one)
(FYI: There is now another pin the Lightning Bolt - Athletic list - 3.0 or higher PEA (physical education average)

Name 4 of the 6 "Halls" (Bldgs – basically at terrazzo level), and what they are, at USAFA…
Vandenburg Hall (dorm) Arnold Hall (social hall)
Fairchild Hall (academic bldg) Harmon Hall (admin bldg)
Mitchell Hall (dinning hall) Sijan Hall (dorm)
(does not include Cadet Chapel, Cadet Gym, Cadet Field House)
Arnold Hall is named after Henry "Hap" Arnold...the only 5 star General in the Air Force.

Fact about Air Gardens:
5 times running through it as a "Doolie" and you become an "Ace".

Who/what is Sijan Hall named after…
Lance P. Sijan, 1965 grad, First grad Medal of Honor winner

Name 4 of the 5 Aircraft on the Terrazzo, when we were there…
F-4
F-105
F-104
T-38
Northrop X-4

Name other Aerospace Vehicles on the grounds of AFA…
B-52 (North Gate)
T-38 (Airfield lookout)
F-104 (Prep School?)
Minute Man 3 ICBM (Field House)

Give the Aircraft Nicknames…
F-4 Phantom II
F-105 Thunderchief
F-15 Eagle
F-16 Falcon
X-4 Swallow
B-52 Statofortress (or BUFF)
T-38 Talon
F-104 Starfighter
A-10 Thunderbolt II

What does the "Eagle and Fledglings" represent in the Airgardens?
The Eagle represents the Air Force
The Fledglings represents the cadets
And the cadets are being prepared for the Air Force…

What is the inscription on the "Eagle and Fledglings"?
"Man’s flight through life is sustained by the power of his knowledge."

What is the meaning of "doolie"?
It comes from the Greek word of "doolues" and means slave…

What are the four Class Colors?
Gold, Red, Blue, Silver

What "number" was the Graduating Class of 1978?
20th

Important Dates in Aviation/AF/AFA History:
July 26, 1947 National Security Act became law making the Air Force
Sept 18, 1947 Official Birthday of Air Force (Nat’l Security Act became effective)
April 1, 1954 President Eisenhower & Congress authorized USAFA
July 11, 1955 306 civilians went through the gates of Lowry Air Force Base outside Denver, Colorado, to become the Air Force Academy’s first class
June 3, 1959 USAFA Class of ‘59, now down to 207 students, graduated
July 20, 1969 Man first walked on the moon

AFA Terms:
ASAP As Soon As Possible
ODP Off Duty Privilege
Doolie Freshman at USAFA
GR Graded Review
AOC Air Officer Commanding
BOR Base of the Ramp
IRI In Ranks Inspection
OTF Over the Fence
PDA Public Display of Affection
O-96 Meal Form filled out by cadets
BMEWS Ballistic Missile Early Warning System
SERE Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape
SAMI Saturday AM Inspection.
UOD Uniform of the Day.

Saying for "Doolie":
"An insignificant, whose rank is measured in negative units, whose potential for learning is unlimited, who will graduate in some time approaching infinity."

Saying for "Firstie":
"The immortal, having superhuman powers and disposed to acts of great wonder and cunning."

What is "Hudson High"?
West Point – A little school on the Hudson River having more than 200 years of tradition unhampered by progress.

What is "Canoe U"?
Annapolis – A small school which forms a suburb of the capital of Maryland with a campus partly on land and partly in the Severn River.

What is a "Zoomie"?
Term which an AFA Cadet is commonly known as...Zoo – AFA Looks like a Blue Zoo from the Chapel Wall

Name Monuments/Memorials around the AFA Grounds:
F-4 Credited with 6 kills in Vietnam
F-105 Composite of ten F-105s used in Vietnam
Eagle & Fledglings
Pegasus (AOG Bldg, gift from Italian AF – mythical Greek winged horse)
War Memorial (at flagpole) – Names of grads lost life in Combat
Risner Trophy (Airgardens) – Outstanding Grad at Fighter Weapons School
Class Wall (Chapel Wall) – Crests of Graduating Classes, Senior Class centered
Polaris Tower War Memorial (above Chapel) – American Legion to honor all who served our country
Bronze Busts of Orville and Wilbur Wright
Bronze P-51 by Harmon Hall

What is the mascot for USAFA?
The Falcon

What is the one unique feature of USAFA's mascot that distinguishes the Academy above all other colleges in the country?
The falcon is the only performing mascot in the country at NCAA sporting events.

How many chapels are at the Academy?
3 - Protestant (upstairs) , Catholic (downstairs), and Jewish (downstairs)

How many spires on the Academy Chapel? What do they represent??
17 spires on the chapel… Supposedly represent the Twelve Apostles and the 5 Chiefs of Staff (according to popular cadet legend).

What is "Mitchell's Mountain" or "Mitch’s Mountain"?
An ice cream dessert served at Mitchell Hall (Currently, it is about half the size that it was back in the 70s).

What happen in 1978 which made the national news and Time magazine?
Russian flu disabled 65% of students at Air Force Academy

What happened at the evening meal in Mitchell Hall in the fall of 1978 that made national news?
A food fight…

How did Cadets produce term papers before the Academy became "wired"
Typewriters… (many "all nighters" needed to get some done)…

QUOTES:
"There is no limit to the goal you can achieve if you don't care who gets the credit."
(General George C. Marshall)

"Duty then is the sublimest word in the English language. You should do your duty in all things. You can never do more. You should never wish to do less."
(General Robert E. Lee)

"When there is a visible enemy to fight in open combat…many serve, all applaud and the tide of patriotism runs high. But, when there is along, slow struggle with no immediate, visible foe, your choice will seem hard indeed."
(Pres. John F. Kennedy, address to USNA Grad Class, June 1961)

"A leader is a man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don’t want to do, and like it."
(Harry S. Truman: Memoirs, 1955)

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."
(General George S. Patton, War as I knew it.)

"The discipline which makes the soldiers of a free country reliable in battle is not to be gained by harsh or tyrannical treatment. On the contrary, such treatment is far more likely to destroy than to make an army. It is possible to impart instruction and to give commands in such a manner and such a tone of voice as to inspire in the soldier no feeling but an intense desire to obey. While the opposite manner and tone of voice cannot fail to excite strong resentment and a desire to disobey. The one mode or the other of dealing with subordinates springs from a corresponding spirit in the breast of the commander. He who feels the respect which is due to others cannot fail to inspire in them respect for himself. While he who feels, and hence manifests disrespect toward others, especially his subordinates, cannot fail to inspire hatred against himself."
(Major General John M. Schofield’s graduation address to the Class of 1879 at West Point)

AFA Facts:
First Class started July 1955 at Lowery AFB in Denver
Major Facilities complete summer of 1958 (so cadet wing marched to USAFA)
First Class graduated 207 officers
Once in full swing AFA had 2500 cadets (most of 60s)
Early 60s AFA went to 4400 cadets
Early 90s AFA went to 4000 cadets (No. of Cadet Squadron went from 40 to 36)
Cadet Airfield opened 1968 to promote stronger flying/parachute/glider programs
Class of 1959 had only one academic major: general Bachelor of Science degree
Class of 1966 started other academic majors (today there are 33 majors)
AFA now has 27 NCAA Sports (17 men and 10 women)
AFA allowed women to enter summer of 1976 (15-17% of cadets)
There has been only one USAFA graduation held indoors. It was the graduation of the first class. (The ceremony was held in the Arnold Hall Theater due to a blinding snowstorm. Coach Bowman was there as an escort for a General officer.)

AFA has graduated more than 32,000 cadets into the Air Force in 42 + years

• + 160 were foreign nationals going into their military
• over 300 cross-commissioned
• approximately 20% of active duty officers
• over 30 astronauts
• 260 general officers (2 were CINC, 3 supts)
• over 16,000 pilots
• over 680 major scholarships (Rhodes, Guggenheim, etc.)

Class Ring facts:

• Must have 59 links around stone (for Class of ’59)
• Include the Sabre
• Signifies special commitment to a disciplined military education, a cadet way of life…
• Include an aircraft
• Include the Polaris star
• North Star represents the Guiding Light or True Course, and a reminder of goals yet to be reached…
• Include a class motto/saying
• Have the Graduating Class in Roman Numerals
• Include an Eagle
• Symbolizes our country, the majesty of flight, and the power of the Air Force
• Opposite side is the AFA Crest
• Upon Graduation a cadet turns the ring around… class crest on outside…