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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.