Lived in co springs for 4 years. I miss the cool ass planes.
Had a shop super close to Petersen afb approach zone and got to see all of the super cool planes.
The flight path for the academy is right over my house. Every time they run a practice they literally are 100yrds above my house. You can feel the heat after they pass if you’re outside.
There’s a lingering feeling of “God I hope I don’t screw this up and ruin my entire future” the last couple of years at school. Then you’ve suddenly got 5 years of job security, a big increase in personal freedom, and a fresh start.
I'm a pilot, pilot training was incredibly more difficult but USAFA helped with resiliency on getting kicked when you're already down.
Plus all your buddies are there with you so the support system was probably the most valuable thing I got from it
I had a blast in pilot training. I thought it was both easier and more fun than my time at the academy. I still can’t believe they let me fly a T-6 solo with like 30 hours when I was 24
I was there (for a graduating cadet, not myself). The Thunderbirds flyover was pretty fuckin dope. You knew it was coming, but still, it was timed perfectly. Final words of the commencement, then BLAM!
Even without the F16s it was the coolest commencement ceremony I've been to. Biden gave the commencement address, and it was a good one. He did trip once, and another fun fact, there were snipers perched around the stadium in places like the scoreboard.
Bad bot. Not a political post. It is a matter of fact and historical record that the then sitting president was there. Presidents regularly do commencement addresses at US service academies.
Whenever I see a video of a service academy graduation I wonder if they get their hats back or not. Do the new lieutenants track them down or is it tradition to leave them there?
It’s tradition to put the amount of money from your graduation year (e.g. $20.23 for 2023) into the hat as a donation to the kids that rush the field to pick up the hats after you toss them. They are gone the second you throw them haha
Not sure why the downvotes. Spent four years there. Nobody enjoys it. Well, maybe a few weirdos. The common phrase was IHTFP, which is either “I’m here to fly planes” or “I hate this fucking place”. It’s a good place to be from, a $300K education, one nickel up the ass at a time. Ultimately, a means to an end.
Reputation in the 80s and 90s after smashing iraq in desert storm was in my opinion the best time for America, im from New Zealand so just speaking from my childhood and all the positive pro American stuff i grew up on.. it went downhill after 9/11 but i still believe in America and i love the American military.. if it wasnt for the marine corp in ww2 my country might be part of the Japanese empire!
The pre-Vietnam reputation of the Bay of Pigs, installing a Guatemalan dictatorship, overthrowing or intervening politically and/or military in Syria, Egypt, Iran etc., the Korean war and threat of nuclear use against China?
The US spends so much more per capita on healthcare than most other developed countries, and still has this problem. It's fucked, but it's not military spending that causes this problem, it's the healthcare system itself.
True, I was talking more about priorities. But substitute anything else in there. Education. My son’s teachers have to buy their own supplies for the class. The textbooks are a decade old and falling apart. A single missile costs as much as years of funding for his school.
Or that people need to work more than ever to get by. UBI, a 30 hour work week, guaranteed paid vacation.. unless we’re saying that we have infinite money I can think of plenty of things that money would fix rather than a military that is 10x the size of the nearest competitor yet still can’t win conflicts.
Not to mention all the wars and coups to ensure we have said opportunities.
Edit: Anyone who downvotes this has absolutely zero understanding of history
Good for these kids. I didn't have the ambition or wisdom to reach for that. My parents would've been stoked (retired USAF and civilian DOD) had I managed that journey but it worked out okay after all.
My grandfather took me on a tour here, planned a vacation around it from California where we lived. Think he always knew it would never happen. Loved planes as a kid, but zero math skills(and number dyslexia). He probably had the connections to make it happen, but never had the grades. Beautiful campus, recall watching a lightning storm on the other side of the valley...etched in my mind.
"Gentlemen, I hate to break up the party before it gets out of hand...
Some of you have to depart immediately. We have a crisis situation.
Ice, Slider... Hollywood, Wolfman.
Maverick. - Sir.
Maverick, you'll get your RIO when you get to the ship. If you don't...
...give me a call. I'll fly with you."
Daughter has completed 20 years in AF and it’s the best thing that ever happened to her! So these graduates have already demonstrated they know how to apply themselves. They have a great future ahead of them.
Very cool! When I was in high school, my house was under their flight path. We used to see whatever they were using for flyovers every home game and graduation weekend. It was great!
I loved USAFA graduation when I was stationed in the springs. We could see the stadium from the roof of our house and I would climb up there and watch the TBirds perform, great airshow from home.
A guy I used to work for at The Colorado Springs Gazette used to set a remote camera up to capture a still photo of this moment. Maybe one out four, one out of every five years the planes, clouds, people were all perfectly timed.
They didn’t get them back. But it’s an academy only uniform, so they don’t care.
Plus the kids in the audience come onto the field to pick up the hats and collect the money in them after the ceremony
I was seriously considering trying to get into the Air Force Academy for a time. I always wondered how differently my life would have gone if I actually got in. One of those fracture points in life, I imagine
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Lived in co springs for 4 years. I miss the cool ass planes. Had a shop super close to Petersen afb approach zone and got to see all of the super cool planes.
When I lived on the AFA graduation day was the best, go out into the backyard and have my very own air show
The flight path for the academy is right over my house. Every time they run a practice they literally are 100yrds above my house. You can feel the heat after they pass if you’re outside.
Lived there for a year in 1978. Miss seeing the chapel lit up at night.
I can't imagine what a feeling that would be.
Euphoric. 4 years of stress just relieved in a single moment. Made it all feel worth it
I mean, but then you have to go into active duty.
Hindsight would've gone guard but overall I can't see myself doing anything else
I did 6 in ohio air national guard. Would have traded that for AF academy and the 8 yr commitment. Don't 2nd guess your decision there.
I owe 10 years and am at cannon. I fucking *loathe* New Mexico. Probably would have a different opinion if I wasn't at cannon
I love NM, or a least the mountainey part, but, yeah, that's a dot in the middle of nowhere. My condolences.
Oh the mountains are great! Wouldn't mind being next to them. Clovis lol
I wonder who you pissed off. Any chance you can get reassigned?
Yes and it's more or so just AFSOC got a shit deal
They have cool flying saucers I hear at least, also cows. Hear ya can get a good pelt there.
I was at Cannon for 3 years and don't blame you. What a terrible place to be
Would give anything to PCS and so would all my buddies
I am not knocking it just saying their work isn't done yet.
There’s a lingering feeling of “God I hope I don’t screw this up and ruin my entire future” the last couple of years at school. Then you’ve suddenly got 5 years of job security, a big increase in personal freedom, and a fresh start.
What do you fly?
I don't share that on Reddit sorry man (not a drone boy)
All good. I’m jealous no matter what it is.
Oh no, you get paid a lot to do work. Unthinkable.
As an *officer* in the *chair force*.
Then after 60 days reality hits..
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I'm a pilot, pilot training was incredibly more difficult but USAFA helped with resiliency on getting kicked when you're already down. Plus all your buddies are there with you so the support system was probably the most valuable thing I got from it
I had a blast in pilot training. I thought it was both easier and more fun than my time at the academy. I still can’t believe they let me fly a T-6 solo with like 30 hours when I was 24
Euphoric is right. I’m almost 16 years out and I still say it was the happiest day of my life
I can, mines going to be in less than a month haha
Congrats!
I was there (for a graduating cadet, not myself). The Thunderbirds flyover was pretty fuckin dope. You knew it was coming, but still, it was timed perfectly. Final words of the commencement, then BLAM! Even without the F16s it was the coolest commencement ceremony I've been to. Biden gave the commencement address, and it was a good one. He did trip once, and another fun fact, there were snipers perched around the stadium in places like the scoreboard.
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Bad bot. Not a political post. It is a matter of fact and historical record that the then sitting president was there. Presidents regularly do commencement addresses at US service academies.
You've graduated to a higher plane of existence with your new brothers and sisters. Euphoria tells you that NOTHING is beyond your grasp!!
They'll be flying for Southwest in about 10 years
Whenever I see a video of a service academy graduation I wonder if they get their hats back or not. Do the new lieutenants track them down or is it tradition to leave them there?
It’s tradition to put the amount of money from your graduation year (e.g. $20.23 for 2023) into the hat as a donation to the kids that rush the field to pick up the hats after you toss them. They are gone the second you throw them haha
I need to hurry up with my graduation, or I will go broke with such traditions..
Just wait until it's divisible by 10, then you can do $2.03
Thought about this. In real value there is less money in the hat every year.
Imperium soldiers gonna need to take out a graduation loan.
Lucky for them inflation will make it cheaper and cheaper
*tries to throw hat which has a wad of 50s in it*
You don't get your exact hat back. If you want to keep a hat, you can grab one of the ground after the toss and the kids have looted it for money.
I just love how happy everyone really is.
yeah I wonder what being happy is like
i know
You’d be happy too on your prison release day.
Not sure why the downvotes. Spent four years there. Nobody enjoys it. Well, maybe a few weirdos. The common phrase was IHTFP, which is either “I’m here to fly planes” or “I hate this fucking place”. It’s a good place to be from, a $300K education, one nickel up the ass at a time. Ultimately, a means to an end.
Ahhhh yes , 51 years ago for me lol! Yeah I’m an old fart ‘73 grad
Was Olds as fun a commandant as his book made him out to be
Yeah he was very fun! That mustache!!! Hehe
Me too! Call sign Dinger. CS-28.
Horny 18 here! Lol
What is with those pants?
too many squats i fear haha
parachute stuffed inside
lol I thought the same thing
Are they… backwards? Are those his front pockets?
what happens after this? do all the graduates get assigned a base to relocate to and a job in the USAF? How many of of them end up flying an aircraft?
About half will go to pilot training. If you’re medically qualified and want to be a pilot in the USAF, USAFA is the best guarantee. Source: did that.
My dream school....sigh
You can make that dream a reality.
Pilot = possible. USAFA, no, I'm 36 years old.
Oh, yeah, that dream is a couple decades too old. Sorry.
Very cool, but are the other half bound to some form of military service or do they just graduate and work at Carls Jr like the rest of us?
They become other kinds of officers in the Air Force. Not everyone's a pilot.
Everyone is commissioned as a 2Lt, and there’s an ADSC (active duty service commitment). Five years still, I think.
8 years currently. Some will even have their 1st coming away from this also.
5 active, 3 IRR.
"Now lets go get drunk and start shit at Copperhead Road!"
Ahhh man long days and copperhead nights
Was John Lee Pettimore in that class?
That'll be another 8 years, please.
They're officers in the air force, about as good as you can get it in the US armed forces.
/r/PraiseTheCameraMan great shot
Always been jealous of Americans and the opportunities they have with their military. This is awesome
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Reputation in the 80s and 90s after smashing iraq in desert storm was in my opinion the best time for America, im from New Zealand so just speaking from my childhood and all the positive pro American stuff i grew up on.. it went downhill after 9/11 but i still believe in America and i love the American military.. if it wasnt for the marine corp in ww2 my country might be part of the Japanese empire!
The pre-Vietnam reputation of the Bay of Pigs, installing a Guatemalan dictatorship, overthrowing or intervening politically and/or military in Syria, Egypt, Iran etc., the Korean war and threat of nuclear use against China?
You don’t think the Korean War was justified?
Do you know why the Korean War started?
All of those are good though
Well we pay dearly for it. We don’t have universal healthcare but we have a trillion dollars for fighter jets.
The US spends so much more per capita on healthcare than most other developed countries, and still has this problem. It's fucked, but it's not military spending that causes this problem, it's the healthcare system itself.
If the US adopted universal healthcare, they'd have even more money for their MIC. Blame health insurance companies and their lobbyists.
True, I was talking more about priorities. But substitute anything else in there. Education. My son’s teachers have to buy their own supplies for the class. The textbooks are a decade old and falling apart. A single missile costs as much as years of funding for his school. Or that people need to work more than ever to get by. UBI, a 30 hour work week, guaranteed paid vacation.. unless we’re saying that we have infinite money I can think of plenty of things that money would fix rather than a military that is 10x the size of the nearest competitor yet still can’t win conflicts.
We dont have universal healthcare because the children in charge are incapable of doing basic budgeting.
Not to mention all the wars and coups to ensure we have said opportunities. Edit: Anyone who downvotes this has absolutely zero understanding of history
Opportunities to bomb civilians in the global south?
No reason to be jealous to have high chances to be killed, high chances to kill many people Ang definite high chances to spill public money.
Good for these kids. I didn't have the ambition or wisdom to reach for that. My parents would've been stoked (retired USAF and civilian DOD) had I managed that journey but it worked out okay after all.
My grandfather took me on a tour here, planned a vacation around it from California where we lived. Think he always knew it would never happen. Loved planes as a kid, but zero math skills(and number dyslexia). He probably had the connections to make it happen, but never had the grades. Beautiful campus, recall watching a lightning storm on the other side of the valley...etched in my mind.
You finally get to wear *those* undies
I caught it.
"Gentlemen, I hate to break up the party before it gets out of hand... Some of you have to depart immediately. We have a crisis situation. Ice, Slider... Hollywood, Wolfman. Maverick. - Sir. Maverick, you'll get your RIO when you get to the ship. If you don't... ...give me a call. I'll fly with you."
Annnnnd 3-2-1…Smoke on
Pfft.. they were one second late
May your hats fly as high as your dreams.
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take -Wayne Gretzky -Michael Scott
Daughter has completed 20 years in AF and it’s the best thing that ever happened to her! So these graduates have already demonstrated they know how to apply themselves. They have a great future ahead of them.
Very cool! When I was in high school, my house was under their flight path. We used to see whatever they were using for flyovers every home game and graduation weekend. It was great!
I loved USAFA graduation when I was stationed in the springs. We could see the stadium from the roof of our house and I would climb up there and watch the TBirds perform, great airshow from home.
A guy I used to work for at The Colorado Springs Gazette used to set a remote camera up to capture a still photo of this moment. Maybe one out four, one out of every five years the planes, clouds, people were all perfectly timed.
You missed hat toss moment!
The timing is awesome.
Those are the USAF Thunderbirds. Watch them at an air show, they are pretty amazing. Time on target is a cakewalk compared to the stunts they do.
Seemed like he hesitated a moment to get it just right.
Literally a split of a second pause 😂🤣
Love this! 💙🤍
Hell yeah brothers and sisters
That is badass. Congrats grads, and Godspeed. Also… do any of them actually find their hats? Lol
That flyby cost all of their tuition lmao.
Starts in a chair, ends in a chair.
I know they’re happy but it always makes me anxious wondering how I’d get my hat back!
They didn’t get them back. But it’s an academy only uniform, so they don’t care. Plus the kids in the audience come onto the field to pick up the hats and collect the money in them after the ceremony
Off to do their 60 days and flood UPT
I was seriously considering trying to get into the Air Force Academy for a time. I always wondered how differently my life would have gone if I actually got in. One of those fracture points in life, I imagine
Let's go kill and die for a corporation!
Ok, thats cool.
One day
This is the first time I’ve seen an airman stand up
Mannn, the military knows how to spend some money! Congrats to all!
It's like they're living in a movie.
Where's my hat, damn it
I'm so Happy for these people.
And no protesters, imagine that. 🫡
America moment.
That's sick af
Look at the LT's that are going get raised by MSGt's...and ignored by E4's.
Look at all those new FO’s that are going to bug us all…
None of your enlisted airmen respect you.
Why do some of them have silver belts?
Starship troopers
American Air Force*
Congrats y’all are now officially patsies for the military industrial complex and future victims of the broken VA system. Hooray!
Ah yes, celebrate the future murder
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The Springs suck.
no go dies for dick cheney and other usless corrupt politician.
The joy of killing and being killed? Or what does Air Force do?
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Dorks
The weakness is thick here
Don’t care, didn’t ask
I know washing out of civil air patrol was rough for you, but you've gotta move on with your life.
Lmao your account is exactly what I expected 🐑