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DENVER (AP) -- Air Force Academy cadets are no longer required to say "so help me God" at the end of the Honor Oath, school officials said Friday. The words were made optional after a complaint from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group, that they violated the constitutional concept of religious freedom.

Beneath a rousing flyover of decades-old warbirds, 1,024 newly commissioned second lieutenants graduated Wednesday from the Air Force Academy - saluting the military's past while looking to its future. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, in one of his last acts as the Air Force's top civilian, implored the cadets to tackle the service's many challenges, a lingering war, fiscal uncertainty and the "scourge" of pervasive sexual assaults during the ceremony at Falcon Stadium. "Each of you is responsible for the character of this Air Force, and its reputation," Donley said. "And I therefore charge you to serve with integrity, and...

PALMDALE (CBSLA.com) — A Palmdale mother of a seven-month-old son was one of three airman killed in a Central Asia tanker plane crash Friday. The tanker was supporting American troops in Afghanistan. Capt. Victoria “Tori” A. Pinckney, 27, was killed in the crash of a KC-135 tanker near Chon-Aryk, Krygyzstan, the Defense Department announced. KKTV, a Colorado Springs CBS affiliate, reports that Pinckney was a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and recent mom. She was one of three airmen in a KC-135 refueling plane that crashed in the mountains after a midair explosion during a refueling operation, the...

When I was a cadet, Neil Armstrong stopped by USAFA and flew a 1-26 in the wave (1970). At the time, the glider program had 2 towplanes (Helio Couriers) and 4 or 5 gliders total, program in infancy. Major McMurtry was the OIC and we called it "McMurtry's Air Force". Sully was in the group. I have a picture of the 1-26 with me and some of the guys (I haven't checked to see if you can see the people's faces (slide is down in ***) -- I was always more interested in the airplanes than the people -- )...

Fire crews outside Colorado Springs, Colo., expected more weather trouble on Wednesday in what the local fire chief called a "monster event" that doubled in size overnight and has forced 32,000 people to flee. Heavy smoke made for unhealthy air in and around the city. After jumping fire lines Tuesday, the towering blaze has now burned 24 square miles and an undetermined number of homes. While crews should get a break from the heat, a forecast for thunderstorms could mean unpredictable winds. "This is a fire of epic proportions," Brown said at a briefing Tuesday night. "It was like looking...

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...