HERITAGE MINUTE

For graduates and cadets who trained here as basics, Jacks Valley will always occupy a special place in our memories.  Here, we crawled in the mud, fought with pugil sticks, experienced tear gas, climbed obstacles, and did many other things for the first time in our lives.  The Jacks Valley real estate was not part of the originally envisioned Academy installation.  Prescie...

In Part 1 of this 3-part series, Heritage Minute Special host, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steve Simon ’77, gets his conversation started with Duane Boyle, recently retired USAFA architect, a position he held for many years. The two discuss Duane's role as the Academy Architect, his work and impact, specific projects, and their shared experiences having worked together over the years g...

In August 1958 when the Academy completed its move from Lowry Air Force Base in Denver to this permanent location, the cadets first accessed the cadet area by marching up this ramp. ----more----

Arriving cadets have been doing so ever since. Every summer, appointees assemble on the footprints, get welcome with their first taste of Academy hospitality, and then head up the ramp to begin their Cadet careers in 1964 the words, "Bring...

The Air Force Academy cemetery has breathtaking natural beauty and an exceptionally impressive roster of people who have chosen it as their final resting place. It also holds a large number of important structures. Most visible is the memorial pavilion. After many years of events being negatively impacted by inclement weather on 11-May, 2007, this facility, funded by the Association of Graduates, was dedicated at the time. The $4....

The Air Force Academy cemetery is the only active base cemetery in the Air Force. In that regard, the USAFA cemetery is similar to the West Point and Annapolis cemeteries, which are also operated by their parent services, and the Arlington National Cemetery, which is administered by the Army. Consequently, the Academy cemetery has unique criteria for burial eligibility is o...

The Air Force Academy cemetery is a somber and dignified focal point of the Academy's commitment to those who have gone before. It opened in September 1958 shortly after the cadet wing moved from Lowery Air Force base in Denver to its permanent location here, north of Colorado Springs. One gage of the facility's stature and importance is the people who have chosen it as their final resting place.

Appropriately, Lieutenant General H...

Traveling around the 18,500-acre Air Force Academy campus, one can see breathtaking natural scenery, modern architecture, and tributes to Air Force and Academy pioneers.  ----more----

There is a place that features all of these attributes:  the Academy Cemetery.  Nestled amid pine trees east of the Cadet Area, the 100-acre facility is the final ...

April 1, 1954 is the day President Dwight D. Eisenhower shook hands with then Secretary of the Air Force, Harold E. Talbott. The president had just signed legislation authorizing the establishment of the U.S. Air Force Academy. USAFA’s Founders Day has been celebrated on April 1 ever since. 

(Left Image) President Dwight D. Eisenhower (seated) shakes hands with Secretary of the Air Force Harold E. Ta...

In this Heritage Minute Special: Col. (Ret.) Darrel Whitcomb '69 recently led a reunion of his classmates and emceed a briefing outlining their roles during the Vietnam War. The group heard from fellow pilots, search-and-rescue team members and former POWs. Join the conversation between host Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steve Simon ’77 and Col. Whitcomb, a passionate historian and published author with a great many stories to tell.

Located just west of the Service and Supply Area at the south end of the Academy is Ice Lake.  A century ago, it was bustling with industry.  ----more----

During the winter, this lake, and several others in the Colorado Springs-Monument area, would freeze solid.  Workers would harvest the ice using a one-handed version of the loggers saw.  The ice, cut into blocks, would be used to preserve perishable food in early-day refrigerato...

In this edition of Heritage Minute Special, host Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steve Simon ’77 is holding a reunion of sorts. ----more----

His guest is a hire of his from a few years back. Meredith Harlow is the Academy’s Curator of Artifacts. Listen in as the two discuss Meredith’s background, and the work she does preserving the things at make USAFA’s history and heritage unique.

The Heritage Minute Channel i...

Tucked away in the Douglass Valley woods, along the stretch of the Falcon Trail between the Community Center and Falcon Stadium is the oldest structure on the Academy and one of the oldest in the Pikes Peak region.  ----more----

This is officially called the Pioneer Cabin.  It has been known as the Capps Cabin, but in reality was built by William A. Burgess, another early settler.  Around 1870, Leonard and Mary Ann Capps establish...

In this edition of the Heritage Minute Special podcast, host Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steve Simon ‘77 is speaking with the Academy’s Command Historian, Dr. Brian Laslie.  During this conversation, we get into his love of history and how that led him to  the Academy.

The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and ...

The “Gallery of Great Airmen” is an artistic gem located in the Exemplar area of Fairchild Hall.  ----more----

The large display features portraits of 68 leaders.  Included are such iconic Americans as the Wright Brothers, Amelia Earhart, General Benjamin O. Davis Junior, Bob Hope, and General Jimmy Stewart.  The Falcon Foundation donated the works of art to the Academy on 6 May 1966.  Many of the individuals immortalized here are...

Maj. (Ret.) Don Rightmyer ’73 has spent a lifetime chronicling and preserving history. Like Heritage Minute Special host, Steve Simon ’77, he has a love of history. Unlike Steve, who developed his passion for the field only about 20 years ago, Maj. Rightmyer's dates back to his days as a USAFA cadet. These kindred spirits have been drawn together by their mutual interest in history and heritage. 

There is an artifact in the Academy’s Community Center area that predates the Academy by more than 140 years. 

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In 1813, townspeople in and around Neuville, in the Normandy region of France, raised funds for a church bell.  Before the end of the year, the resultant bell took its place in the church’s Gothic bell tower.  As is customa...

A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1977, hockey player Chuck Delich is a living legend and he continues to contribute to the game to this day. Enjoy this conversation with Chuck's classmate and host of the Heritage Minute Special series, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steve Simon ‘77.  

The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air For...

This is where it all began.  July eleventh, 1955, 306 basic cadets arrived at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado, to begin their journey at the United States Air Force Academy.  ----more----

Not much remains of the former base.  But if you listen intently enough, you can still hear the faint echoes of the first members of the Long Blue Lin...