HERITAGE MINUTE

The Air Force Academy houses one of the largest permanently hung murals in the world.  ----more---- The work of art is located on the north wall of the Cadet Field House multipurpose area.  Forty feet high and 320 feet wide, it consists of four panels.  Each quarter panel is set in a different season and depicts one year in the life of an Air Force Academy cadet.  The first panel portrays the Acad...

Gen. (Ret.) Steve Lorenz (R) graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1973 and went on to participate in some of the most impactful moments in our nation’s history. Hear a few of his stories in this edition of the Heritage Minute Special podcast with Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steve Simon ’77 (L).   GEN. LORENZ' BIO GEN. (RET.) STEPHEN R. LORENZ ’73   LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FALCON FOUNDATION     RECOMMENDE...

One of the three sporting venues in the Cadet Field House is the 2,600-seat Cadet Ice Rink.  ----more---- Like the other facilities in the huge building, it saw its first use in 1968 -- May fourth, to be precise -- when Olympic gold medal winner Peggy Fleming skated at the dedication.  The primary tenant of the rink, as you might imagine, is the Falcon ice hockey team.  The first game on the rink...

Covering nearly five acres of terrain and encompassing three distinct sporting areas, the Cadet Field House plays host to a number of events, not all athletic in nature.  The largest of the three venues, in terms of seating capacity, is Clune Arena.  ----more---- This 6,200-seat venue is best known as the home of Falcon basketball, but also hosts volleyball, wrestling, and the annual Wing Open box...

The Air Force Academy’s cavernous Cadet Field House contains facilities for intercollegiate basketball, hockey, and track & field, among other sports and events.  Sometimes IT'S mistakenly called Clune Arena.----more---- The Field House has not yet been named for any individual.  The building, which contains more than 217,000-square feet of usable space, is actually three separate athletic ven...

It all started in the spring of 1962 when a band of bootleg jumpers made their first parachute jumps as cadets. ----more---- Using condemned SERE rigs and local aviation pilots, these cadets made several jumps in the Colorado area. During that spring, a few cadets by the names of Aronoff, Davis, Kelley, McCurdy and Sijan – at their own risk and expense–made a number of demonstration and competitio...

Just to the west of the Academy airfield is the Thunderbird Overlook.  It contains two interesting static display aircraft: the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt and the Northrop T-38 Talon.  ----more---- The Thunderbird Overlook was dedicated on June first, 1982, with Secretary of the Air Force Verne Orr in attendance.  According to the plaque at the site, the overlook “was created to remind th...

Can you believe this behemoth shot down a MiG?  Well, it did!----more---- Located at the intersection of North Gate and Stadium Boulevards is a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, tail number 50083.  On December twenty-fourth, 1972, the bomber known as “Diamond Lil” became one of two B-52Ds credited with a confirmed MiG kill in the Vietnam conflict.  During the bombing mission out of U-Tapao Royal Thai Na...

The Thunderbird Overlook near the south end of the Academy is home to two static display aircraft:  the Northrop T-38 Talon and the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt (aka the Warthog).  ----more---- This particular A-10 is amazing.  It is known as “The Chopper Popper.”  Flying this plane on February sixth, 1991, Captain Robert Swain, Class of ’79, scored the first ever air-to-air victory in an A...

A bronze statue in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen is on display outside Harmon Hall on the Academy’s Honor Court.  The plaque affixed to the statue’s base reads:  Quote:  “They rose from adversity through competence, courage, commitment and capacity to serve America on silver wings and to set a standard few will transcend.”  Unquote.  The statue, completed by Tuskegee Airman and artist Clarence Shiv...

Just to the west of the Cadet Chapel, concealed by a stand of pine trees, is a bronze statue honoring Lieutenant General Hubert Harmon, the first superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy.  ----more---- The first graduating class — the Class of 1959 — dedicated the statue in 2009 during its 40-year reunion.  Character, education and leadership are the values inscribed on the monument,...

Heritage Minute host, Steve Simon recently welcomed Jim Nance, USAFA Class of ’71, and Major Joe Flescher, Class of ’14 to the studio.  Jim is a renowned sculptor and created the 2,000 lb.  "Honor Bound - A Portrait in Courage" plaque now mounted on the east exterior wall of USAFA's Southeast Asia Pavilion.  Maj. Flescher served as his model. ----more---- Jim Nance has made a name for himself by b...

The United States Air Force Academy has one graduate Medal of Honor recipient.  His name is Lance Peter Sijan, Class of 1965.  ----more---- To honor him, a bronze sculpture of Sijan is on display at the Southeast Asia Plaza of Heroes.  Situated on the Heritage Trail adjacent to the Association of Graduates’ Doolittle Hall, the work of art was dedicated on November 6, 2015.  Sculpted by artist Jim...

Just outside of Falcon Stadium, on the east side, soars the largest falcon statue in the United States.  ----more---- The bronze sculpture, valued at $400,000, has a wingspan of 24 feet and weighs 10,000 pounds.  Jon Hair, the “Official Sculptor to the United States Olympic Team,” created it.  Dedicated on August 29th, 2008, the sculpture was given to the Academy by philanthropist Irwin “Ike” Belk...

In the “old” days, (the fifties, sixties and early seventies), Army and Navy were afraid to play the Falcons in Colorado – something about the altitude.  ----more---- Games were played in New York City, Chicago, Washington D.C, and Baltimore, among other places, but not until 1966 did Navy venture out here, followed by Army the following year.  Neither was eager to return.  Former Air Force Academ...

The Air Force Academy’s Falcon Stadium has played host to countless significant events since its opening in 1962.  The first event was, appropriately, a football game.  ----more---- Cadet and later four-star general John Lorber, Class of ’64, scored the first touchdown in the 34-0 win over in-state rival Colorado State.  Navy first played here in 1966, while Army made its initial visit a year late...

Falcon Stadium, home of the Air Force Fighting Falcons, has a rich history.  Plans for the facility date back to 1955, the year the first cadets reported to the Academy’s temporary home at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver.  ----more---- Rather than build the stadium near the Cadet Area, designers chose a natural bowl approximately two miles southeast of the campus.  The Air Force Academy Foundation...

In this Heritage Minute Special, Col. (Ret.) John Abbatiello, PhD., author and historian, talks with host, Steve Simon ’77 about his work deep researching and studying the life and times of WWII pilot, Jim Doolittle.   ----more---- Most commonly known for leading his “Raiders” into battle during WWII, Gen. Jimmy Doolittle’s life and work extended far beyond his time as a pilot. Heritage Minute Spe...

The Cadet Chapel and surrounding areas provide worship spaces to accommodate virtually every cadet interest.  ----more---- The Buddhist Chapel, known as the Vast Refuge Dharma Hall, was dedicated on 29 October 2007.  It is located in the downstairs area, just to the north of the Jewish Chapel.  The chapel was the gift of the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism and The Friends of Zen...

The Jewish Chapel shares the downstairs area of the Cadet Chapel with the Catholic and Buddhist worship spaces.  ----more---- The architecture is a circle within a square, symbolizing a tent, and paying tribute to the global mission of the Air Force and the everlasting presence of God.  Mr. Ludwig Wolpert of the New York Jewish Museum designed the chapel interior.  The Chapel seats 100.  Its walls...

Occupying the bulk of the Cadet Chapel’s lower level is the Catholic Chapel.  Called Our Lady of the Skies, the space was designed to give the impression of being a grotto.  ----more---- The walls are made of panels of amber glass, giving the effect of dust and dirt.  The glass is set between aluminum strips that amplify the sound of the wind.  The Chapel seats 500, with room for another 100 in th...

Chief Master Sgt. (Ret.) Bob Vasquez has a deep history serving the Long Blue Line, including at the Air Force Academy. ----more---- In this edition of the Heritage Minute Special with host Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steve Simon ‘77, the two longtime friends and colleagues sit down to talk about leadership, Vasquez’s military career and his recent recognition as an honorary member of the Association of Gradu...

The Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel stands alone as the only chapel at a service academy that accommodates all faith groups under one roof.  ----more---- Upstairs, under the pinnacled ceiling that soars 99 feet overhead, you will find the Protestant Chapel.  The stunning sanctuary featured walls – actually it is all ceiling – made of tetrahedron-shaped spires and more than 24,000 blocks of stained...

The Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel soars 150 feet into the thin Colorado air.  Its 17 spires evoke the mountains that form its backdrop, jets flying in formation, and raised sabres.  ----more---- After winning a spirited national competition to earn the right to design the Air Force Academy, the Chicago-based firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill put 34-year-old architect Walter Netsch in charge of t...

The Association of Graduates’ Heritage Trail includes the POW Memorial Sculpture.  Located at the entrance of the Southeast Asia Memorial Pavilion, it contains the names of the 33 Academy graduates who were prisoners of war in Vietnam.  ----more---- It also lists the dates of their captivity and, if applicable, release.  Unfortunately, two graduates died in captivity:  Captains Lance Sijan, Class...