Free Republic

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — President Barack Obama is telling graduates of the U.S. Air Force Academy that they are the first class in nearly a decade to graduate into a world that has no Osama bin Laden, no war in Iraq and no questions about when the war in Afghanistan will end. The president declared that there is a "new feeling about America." He said the work of ending one war and setting the path to end the Afghan war has set a foundation for what he called "a new era of American leadership." Obama's commencement speech carried clear...

The US military has built a stone circle in its Air Force academy to give pagans, druids and witches somewhere to practice their religion. The Colorado base has spent around £50,000 building the Stonehenge-like structure to allow witches to cast spells, and pagans to form "circles of power" by night. It is situated on top of a wooded hill and includes a fire pit. The academy says it is for cadets who practice 'Earth based' religions including druids, witches and North American faiths. Despite the expenses it is believed only three out of the 4,300 cadets have openly admitted that...

Reporting from Colorado Springs, Colo.— In the still of a cold November evening, a small gathering of pagans, led by two witches, begins preparations for the coming winter solstice. But these are not just any pagans, and this is not just any setting. They are future officers of the United States Air Force practicing their faith in the basement of the Air Force Academy's cadet chapel. Their ranks are slim. According to the academy's enrollment records, only three of 4,300 cadets identified themselves as pagans, followers of an ancient religion that generally does not worship a single god and considers...

An Inspiring Video I was directed to this video that was produced on November 1, 2011. It is a briefing to the Cadet Wing at the U.S. Air Force Academy by General Mark Welsh. General Welsh is the Commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe. He is an Academy graduate of '76 and was at one time Commandant there. This video is about 50 minutes in length. General Welsh is an amazing speaker. No teleprompter or notes. The only prompt he has is a monitor to view the slides that are being projected behind him. For this upcoming Veterans Day, I...

Marine 1st Lt. Clebe McClary Next, they'll be trying to snuff out officers who are too straight, or too white... (Gazette) A religious rights group is calling for the removal of the Air Force Academy’s top officer after a flap over a speaker planned for a February prayer luncheon at the school.The Military Religious Freedom Foundation says the academy’s choice of retired Marine 1st Lt. Clebe McClary shows that superintendent Lt. Gen. Mike Gould remains tilted toward evangelical Christianity and tolerates an environment where proselytizing is accepted.Lt. Gen. Mike Gould“We’re done,” said academy graduate Mikey Weinstein, the foundation’s founder and...

AFA's 9/11 ceremony includes flags from World Trade Center, Afghanistan September 09, 2010 12:32 PM FRANK SCHWAB THE GAZETTE Keep an eye on the two American flags when they are brought into Falcon Stadium on Saturday. There is significant meaning behind each one. One was flown in Afghanistan, over a spot where soldiers buried debris from the World Trade Center after a battle, according to Post 911 Foundation leader Rich Miller. The other was flown over the World Trade Center site. That flag was a gift to the academy – it was draped over the casket of Lt. Gen. George Simler, former Air Force athletic director, at...

But students' evaluations reward immediate gratificationHighly credentialed and experienced professors are better at preparing students for long-term academic success than their less-experienced counterparts, but that ability isn't necessarily reflected in their students' teaching evaluations. That's according to research by a pair of economists published in this month's Journal of Political Economy. The study's authors, Scott Carrell of U.C. Davis and James West of the U.S. Air Force Academy, say their results raise questions about the value of student evaluations as measures of instructor quality. Student evaluations are widely used by colleges in tenure and promotion decisions, but Carrell and West...

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- The Air Force Academy chapel will add a worship area for followers of Earth-centered religions during a dedication ceremony, which is tentatively scheduled to be held at the circle March 10. The circle, located atop the hill overlooking the Cadet Chapel and Visitor Center, will be the latest addition to a collection of worship areas that includes Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist sacred spaces.

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.—The Air Force Academy says religious tolerance has improved dramatically since allegations five years ago that evangelical Christians harassed cadets who didn't share their faith. Even the school's most vocal critic agrees. "This is the first time we feel positive about things there," said Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which battled the academy in court over claims that evangelicals at the school were imposing their views on others. The academy superintendent, Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Gould, says the improvements are the result of a topdown campaign to foster respect and a commitment...

A month ago, Ava Tamosuinas of Wayzata faced a tough choice. The 18-year-old senior at Providence Academy, a private Catholic prep school in Plymouth, had won a full Naval ROTC scholarship to the University of Southern California. Aside from being located in a place where it's 70 sunny degrees most of the year, USC is the alma mater of her father, Darrell. But Ava also had received an appointment to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., which offered its own enticements, including state-of-the-art facilities, the stunning Rocky Mountains and the chance to follow the path of Amanda and...

<p>Want to trim the federal budget and improve the military at the same time? Shut down West Point, Annapolis and the Air Force Academy, and use some of the savings to expand ROTC scholarships.</p> <p>After covering the U.S. military for nearly two decades, I've concluded that graduates of the service academies don't stand out compared to other officers. Yet producing them is more than twice as expensive as taking in graduates of civilian schools ($300,000 per West Point product vs. $130,000 for ROTC student). On top of the economic advantage, I've been told by some commanders that they prefer officers who come out of ROTC programs, because they tend to be better educated and less cynical about the military.</p>

Some former terrorists were speaking at the academy to give insights on the life and thoughts of Muslim terrorists so the cadets can better understand the enemy. Well, it turns out that some real terrorists showed up. MMD: Former terrorists Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem and Zak Anani addressed cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, during their annual political forum. They shared their experiences as terrorists and helped cadets understand the Islamic fundamentalist mind set. During the event a Jordanian college student, identified as Omar Khalifa of Metro International, approached Kamal Saleem and spoke to him in...

This song and movie was written, performed, and produced by Air Force Academy Cadets. When male and female cadets at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado "hook up" - they call it "Falcon Love." The Academy mascot is the falcon. The girl to guy ratio is about four or five to one. I know several married couples who met there, and are now on active duty. This song is a hoot - very funny, and so is the movie. It could apply to any service academy, ROTC, NCO Academy, or tech school. It was originally written for a contest...

It will be a sober weekend of penitence and reflection at the Air Force Academy, where 4,000 cadets have their off-base privileges revoked and the on-campus watering hole is shuttered in the wake of Wednesday’s cheating revelations. The 28 freshmen implicated in the scandal so far are part of the lowest academically achieving group seen at the academy since the 1980s, with more than 10 percent failing to meet academic standards, officials say. Because the 28 are suspected of cheating on a test of basic knowledge, the rest of the academy will spend the weekend cooped up at the base...

SAN ANTONIO (AFNEWS) -- U.S. Air Force Academy officials are investigating an incident of cheating involving more than 19 freshman cadets. "We have an honor code here at the Academy," said Capt. Capt. Kim Melchor, the deputy director of public affairs during a telephone interview Feb. 8. "From the first day they arrive, we teach the cadets to be trustworthy and to understand that integrity is integral to every Air Force officer. Simply put, we don't tolerate cheating." Nineteen cadets have already admitted to Academy officials that they were involved somehow. "In light of this horrible situation, our cadets came...

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - Mikey Weinstein, who sued the Air Force over allegations that Air Force Academy cadets were subjected to Christian evangelization, now wants New Mexico's Cannon Air Force Base to end the 523rd Fighter Squadron's use of "Crusaders" as the unit's nickname. He also objects to the squadron's emblem, which features a cross, a sword and an armored helmet. Weinstein, who's Jewish, says having warplanes named after medieval Christians who fought Muslims in the Holy Land is crazy when the United States is at war with radical Islam. He believes the religious emblem also is unconstitutional. A Cannon Air...

by Mark Finkelstein August 8, 2006 - 17:04 Imagine if Rush Limbaugh had said it . . . 'Rome is Burning' is ESPN's edgy sports-commentary show starring the eponymous Jim Rome. Jason Whitlock is standing in for Rome this week, and while I don't know much about him, from what I've seen I enjoy his shtick. He's smart, funny and seems to successfuly walk the fine line of expressing strong views without being malicious. Another plus: his physique and bearing remind me of one of my all-time favorite movie characters in my all-time favorite movie - Sydney Greenstreet as Signor...

I just got home from the Air Force vs Army Football game here in Colorado Springs, and thought some of you might like to hear about the halftime show. While the Air Force falcon (bird not airplane) was flying around the stadium as usual, the USAFA band marched to the south end of the field, just about under the Army crowd and band, which was a bit out of the ordinary. As soon as the bird finished, the USAFA band started playing an Army march and we noticed something coming out of the north end of the stadium from the...

We owe a great debt to Air Force Academy head football coach Fisher DeBerry. To be sure, the initial knee-jerk reaction to his recent comments about black football players being generally faster than white ones caused him to be treated like a "politically incorrect" piñata (my God, I hope I haven't offended Latinos). Upon reflection, however, his statements were so obviously true that something of an anti-PC backlash has materialized in his defense. To their credit, Sam Adams and Thierry Smith, two African-American Denver sportswriters, both agreed on their KKFN radio talk show that DeBerry's remarks weren't racist and that...

Air Force Academy coach Fisher DeBerry has apologized for voicing a need to recruit more black athletes to fill the speed positions of his football team. This is not too far removed from a basketball coach expressing a desire to acquire taller athletes in the frontcourt. Both prototypes on the sports wish list fall under the heading of, "Duh." Perhaps the objection to DeBerry emanates from the ideal to have a color-blind society, a hopelessly impossible goal because of the highly visual nature of humans. You might as well be pining for the day that Vogue magazine routinely splashes plus-size...

As many of you know, my daughter is a Cadet at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. She's at the football game and Security Forces are out in full force and full gear. Supposedly there is a just released Al Queda tape just released showing a film of the cadets marching into the stadium with an Arabic announcer spouting threats. They are taking this seriously and have begun briefing the Cadets. I can't find out anything on the news sources yet... HAS ANYONE ELSE HEARD ANTHING?

As the newest students at the nation’s four U.S. service academies start their classes this month, they may not realize they had a slight advantage — they benefited from a shrinking pool of applicants. All of the schools saw a drop in prospective students, with the Air Force Academy (search) experiencing the most drastic change — a 23 percent decline from last year. The U.S. Military Academy at West Point (search) fared the best with a 9 percent drop in applicants, according to figures provided by the academy. The declines are notable because, with the exception of the Coast Guard...

A Pentagon inquiry's finding of no overt religious discrimination at the Air Force Academy strains credibility, considering the academy superintendent has already acknowledged it will take years to undo the damage from evangelical zealots on campus. Indeed, amid its thicket of bureaucratese, the report by an Air Force investigative panel goes on for page after page describing cases of obvious and overt religious bias. But it tosses all of these off as "perceived bias," as if the blame lies with the victims and not the offenders, and throws up a fog of implausible excuses, like "a lack of awareness" of...

WHAT HAPPENED: A Pentagon task force said the Air Force Academy has been insensitive toward non-Christian cadets and staff, but found no overt religious discrimination. HOW BAD IS IT: Cadet surveys and investigations suggest evangelical Christians are occasionally inappropriate in voicing their beliefs. Others say there have been religious slurs for years, including anti-Semitic remarks. WHAT'S NEXT: The task force urged the Air Force to come up with clear policy guidelines on religious expression, but said the academy is already "aggressively" addressing the problem. --

The Citadel Board of Visitors announced that they have selected Lieut. Gen. John W. Rosa, Jr. to be the college’s 19th president subject to his release from active duty. Rosa, a member of the Class of 1973, is currently serving as the superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

Even if I could run like Terrell Davis, catch like Rod Smith and throw like John Elway, I don't think I could play for Fisher DeBerry. The Air Force Academy football coach wants his team to play for "Team Jesus Christ," according to a banner he hung in the locker room last fall. "Team Jesus Christ" placed me on permanent waivers several years ago, when I wondered if an official Southern Baptist plan to convert Jews to Christianity included spiking bar mitzvah deli trays with nonkosher meat. Air Force Academy superintendent John Rosa is not as sarcastic or insensitive in...

BROOMFIELD, Colo. - The superintendent of the Air Force Academy acknowledged to leaders of a national Jewish group Friday that religious intolerance permeates the military school. "As a commander, I know I have problems in my cadet wing," Lt. Gen. John Rosa said at a meeting of the Anti-Defamation League's executive committee. "I have issues in my staff, and I have issues in my faculty — and that's my whole organization."

DENVER On the eve of his graduation, the top cadet at the Air Force Academy sent out a religious-themed e-mail to thousands of fellow cadets, even as the school is grappling with complaints that some evangelical Christians are harassing others at the school. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the e-mail sent Tuesday by Wing Commander Nicholas Jurewicz to the freshmen, sophomore and junior classes, which is about 3,000 cadets. "Wing commander" is the title held by the top senior at the school in military ranking. Jurewicz lists his favorite quotations in the message, including several about Jesus. One...

Here’s a story that will throw you for a loop: a "chaplain” at the U.S. Air Force Academy is complaining that the school’s administration has a "systemic and pervasive” problem of promoting religious religious values with a Christian bent. The chaplain, Capt. Melinda Morton, a "Lutheran minister” spoke out publicly on Tuesday as an Air Force task force arrived at the academy to investigate charges that officers and staff members pushed their religious beliefs on cadets. And she claimed that a tolerance program developed at the academy, called Respecting the Spiritual Values of all People (R.S.V.P.), was watered down after...

.............Cadets and employees are being told they can't proselytize on campus, use government e-mail to send religious messages, put up posters with religious themes or use positions of authority to endorse a particular faith. They must also attend one RSVP class. About 90% of cadets here are Christian and many of them, as well as teachers and high-ranking officers, are evangelical. Academy Commandant Brig. Gen. Johnny Weida is a self-described born-again Christian. Last year, football coach Fisher DeBerry hung a banner in the athletic complex that said, "I am a Christian first and last … I am a member of...

President Bush traveled to Colorado to speak to at the Air Force Academy graduation and rai$e a lot of money in Denver for his re-election campaign. Enjoy your daily Dose of W and today's visit to Sanity Island!

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) - A record number of women have applied to attend the Air Force Academy despite a year of turmoil because of a sexual-assault scandal. The academy had received 2,962 applications from women as of Wednesday - 34 percent more than the 2,212 received a year ago and the most since the academy began accepting women in 1976. Overall, the 11,838 applications are a 14 percent increase over last year. The deadline to apply is Saturday for a freshman class of 1,300 students that starts this fall. Patriotism, online admissions and reforms since the scandal are...

US AIR FORCE ACADEMY, CO - Secretary of the Air Force James Roche has decided that a cadet recommended for expulsion from the academy because of an alleged honor violation will graduate. Andrea Prasse, 23, of Elm Grove, Wis., was eight days shy of graduating with the Class of 2002 when a Cadet Honor Board found her guilty of lying about whether she drew a design for a class assignment. The cadet board recommended that Prasse be disenrolled for violating the code, which says, "We will not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate among us anyone who does.' Now, she...

Andrea Prasse, the Elm Grove native who sued the Air Force Academy for wrongfully suspending her over an alleged honor code violation and then refused to negotiate a settlement, has won a complete victory. The decision is an admission that the academy system doesn't work. The military justice system is corrupt. In a rare move, Prasse's suspension has been overruled by the head of the Air Force and will be stricken from the record, and she will receive her degree from the academy, the Air Force confirmed Monday. "This is a decision of the secretary of the Air Force, which...

Sep 10, 2003 Former Head of Cadet Discipline Says She Never Saw "true Rape" at Academy By Robert Gehrke, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Air Force Academy officer formerly in charge of cadet discipline told military investigators that she never saw a "true rape" at the academy, and that problems were merely a result of a permissive attitude toward drinking and fraternization. Col. Laurie Sue Slavec made her comments to an Air Force investigator looking into allegations from female cadets who said leadership at the academy was indifferent to their claims that they were sexually assaulted. They said...

  Air Force Drops Rape Charges Vs. OfficerASSOCIATED PRESSPETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AP) - The Air Force said it has dropped charges against an officer accused of raping an Air Force Academy cadet last year. Second Lt. Ronen Segal was accused of attacking the cadet at his Colorado Springs home on Aug. 25 after a night of drinking. The charges were dropped after the investigating officer said the woman was capable of giving or withholding consent and "did not in any way object to or resist" sex, the Air Force said Thursday, according to The Gazette of Colorado Springs....

A co-worker of mine in Arizona (where one of our specialty call-centers is located) is leaving tomorrow for Colorado Springs, Colorado. She's taking her son off to college - at the Air Force Academy. He's taking a huge step, and so is she. If you prayer warriors would, please keep Tammy and her son in your prayers this weekend - for safe travel there and back, and for her son - for the strength to face what he's getting into, and the courage to carry through. He's going to be a credit to his family and to his country.

Fellow 76'ers, I had the humbling opportunity to represent the finest graduating class from USAFA at a gathering of grads in Arnold Hall last Tuesday, and I'd like to give you my impressions of the occasion. About a month ago I received a query from the Chief's support staff as to my availability to attend a presentation the Chief and Secretary were to make to the 1st and 2nd class cadets at the Academy. No speaking part required...just an invite to attend...so being both flattered to represent our class and applying the age old axiom that "any time out of...

7NEWS Investigates: AFA Cadet Operating Sex Sites On Campus Police Confiscate Computer Belonging To Air Force Academy Senior POSTED: 11:12 a.m. MDT May 1, 2003 UPDATED: 4:44 p.m. MDT May 1, 2003 A 7NEWS Investigation has uncovered another emerging scandal. 7NEWS has learned that an Air Force Academy cadet is allegedly running several Internet group sex organizations from his academy dorm. 7NEWS Investigator John Ferrugia and our investigative team have spent months tracking the cadet through e-mails to the sites. 7NEWS showed academy leaders what we found in our two-month hidden camera investigation and they took immediate action. On Wednesday,...

Normally I don't post vanity threads however many of the original Freepers know a little girl now turned young lady (my daughter) who has been a freeper since she was 13 years old. These Freepers have followed her quest to attend a US Military Academy. Over time, they have given her valuable tips, suggestions and prayers. Late yesterday, Congressman Isakson's office notified us that she has been accepted to the United States Air Force Acedemy Prep School in Colorado Springs... Her accomplishments have been many for one so young, she's only 17 and ready to graduate High School. To all...

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Large letters reading "Bring Me Men" that critics say became a symbol of a male-dominated culture at the Air Force Academy have been removed from a stone arch that incoming cadets march beneath. The letters were taken down Friday under a directive that emerged from an Air Force investigation of a sexual assault scandal at the academy. Five leaders at the academy have been reassigned as the Air Force responds to complaints that female cadets' reports of sexual assaults haven't been taken seriously and that some of those who complained were punished. At least 56...

Air Force Academy to Replace Leadership By ROBERT GEHRKE Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top two leaders at the Air Force Academy are not responsible for the sexual assault scandal at the school, but they should be held accountable for the culture that allowed the problem to continue, Air Force Secretary James Roche said Wednesday. "Still, change must occur, and a new leadership team to implement these changes is in the best interest of the academy and the Air Force," Roche said in a statement. The top two academy officers - Lt. Gen. John D. Dallager and Brig....

Got this in the mail from an AF person. Woman who got the letter is a former Cadet herself, and she gave permission to forward it. After seeing the 20/20 piece on the USAFA situation, I wrote an email to some women cadets that I know. I received this response from one of them today, and forward it with her permission. I was relieved to get her perspective, which describes the USAFA I knew when I was there. After 20/20, I was concerned that I was out of touch, and that I attended so long ago that the place was...

Dear Friends and Family, Today I am writing you amidst a troubling time here at the US Air Force Academy. In recent weeks, light of horrible criminal acts that have allegedly occurred at the Academy have been brought to the attention of the American people through the media. For those of you who are not aware of the circumstance that I am referring to, the local news, CNN, and most recently, 20/20 has televised the story and analysis behind seven sexual assault cases. In each of these seven individual cases, a male cadet has been accused of rape, sometimes on...

Rape victims' treatment leads to calls for fundamental changeBy Amy Herdy, Erin Emery and Miles Moffeit, Denver Post Staff WritersAIR FORCE ACADEMY - At the academy, female cadets who have been raped face a culture that commonly neglects and even vilifies them for reporting the crime. -->The academy itself has described an environment that can be "offensive, intimidating or threatening to women." That was a decade ago, in a survey of cadets.More than two dozen interviews with current and former cadets, military officials including the secretary of the Air Force, parents, counselors and experts indicate little has changed.Women are offered...

During recent weeks Saint Xavier University has attracted national attention because a tenured professor of history sent a young Air Force Academy cadet some e-mail containing inflammatory, anti-military comments. Professor Peter N. Kirstein, an avowed pacifist, quickly apologized to the cadet and to the Air Force Academy for his e-mail message, but in the meantime thousands of other interested parties have taken offense. From the beginning of this incident, Saint Xavier University has worked to achieve four objectives: (1) to make things right with the cadet and the Air Force Academy; (2) to respond compassionately to the anger and anguish...

Some of the dumbest people I’ve met have considerable formal education. For many, there appears to be some sort of reverse correlation between years of formal education and common sense. Making this more agonizingly apparent is the posturing of academic types who are self-styled deep thinkers and judge themselves to be so much smarter than the rest of us. Peter Kirstein holds a Ph.D. and is a professor of history at Chicago’s St. Xavier University. He recently received an email from an Air Force Academy cadet who asked for suggestions on how to publicize to the St. Xavier community a...

Nation: Air Force Academy reckons with mounting drug chargesBy ROBERT WELLER, Associated PressAIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (March 22, 2002 9:14 p.m. EST) - The U.S. Air Force Academy has stepped up drug testing and is further stressing ethics amid the biggest drug scandal in the school's 47-year history. Thirty-eight cadets out of 4,300 have been implicated in the scandal that began in December 2000. In addition, six cadets have been charged or convicted of crimes such as larceny and sodomy, including the former president of the class of 2003, who is accused of stealing $9,000 from a class activity fund....