Air Force Academy; buildings and athletic fields

The Air Force Academy lies on 18, 500 acres, nestled in the Colorado Mountains near Colorado Springs. The average elevation is 7000 feet. This site was chosen out of 580 proposed ones. The construction began in 1955. At first, the Academy was temporary set in Denver. In 1958, 1145 cadets moved to the present site and the Academy was credited a year later. The first 207 cadets graduated in 1959.

Nowadays, there are 4000 students attending the Academy.  About 900 graduate each year. Women entered the Air Force Academy for the first time in 1976. The first class with women graduated in May 1980. They comprise about 21% of the students.

Cadets can major in 32 different subjects. They graduate as Second Lieutenants with a Bachelor of Science degree.

One of the most distinctive feature of the AFA is the cadet Chapel. Soaring 150 feet towards the sky, the Chapel is an all-faiths house of worship designed to meet the spiritual needs of cadets. It contains a separate chapel for four major religious faiths; Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Buddhist, plus an all-faiths room used by Muslims cadets and available for other faiths as well. Each chapel has its own entrance.

The Cadet Chapel

The structure is made of glass and aluminium and features 17 spires. There is no special significance to this number. Inside, the stained glass and amber windows cast a soft light.

Inside the Protestant Chapel

Sun setting behind the mountains, viewed through a stained glass window

Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of the inside of the other chapels.  All I can say is that the cadets attending the Academy are very fortunate.  The beauty of the site, the small classes and all the extra-curricular activities available  make this place very special indeed.