title: To All the Boys: Always and Forever

text: Initially leaning towards Berkeley to live closer to Peter, Lara Jean enjoys New York City during a school trip and decides on NYU. She explains her decision to Peter, but his disappointment at her decision is palpable, and he decides to break up with her on prom night to save himself what he sees as the inevitable breakdown of a long-distance relationship. Respecting Lara Jean's wishes, Peter skips Dan and Trina's wedding; he also meets with his formerly absentee father for a meal and chooses to try and reconnect despite the years of his absence. After the wedding festivities, Kitty conspires with Peter to set up a meeting between him and Lara Jean under the wedding tent. Lara Jean finds a letter in her yearbook from Peter containing his account of their first meeting in sixth grade and a proposed contract to always love each other despite the between Stanford and NYU. Peter walks in and asks her to sign on, to which she joyfully assents. The film ends with Lara Jean's reflection on wanting what she has with Peter, regardless of what films say and what stereotypes say about long-distance relationships. She remains optimistic that the distance will offer them the opportunity to keep writing love letters to one another.


title: To All the Boys: Always and Forever

text: The producers began work on "Always and Forever" while "P.S. I Still Love You" was still in production, hiring Katie Lovejoy to write the script off Han's third novel and Michael Fimognari to direct. Principal photography began in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on July 15, 2019, two months after production on the second film wrapped, although the production was formally announced only in August 2019.


title: To All the Boys: Always and Forever

text: The film's soundtrack, titled "To All the Boys: Always and Forever (Music from the Netflix Film)", was released digitally on February 12, 2021 by Capitol Records.


title: To All the Boys: Always and Forever

text: The film was released on February 12, 2021. It was the most-watched title in its debut weekend, and the fourth-most in its second weekend. Netflix reported that the film was watched by 51 million of households during its first quarter.


title: To All the Boys: Always and Forever

text: Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 79% of 61 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Diminishing returns have set in for this trilogy, but "To All the Boys: Always and Forever" has just enough of the original's effervescent charm to serve as a worthy conclusion." According to Metacritic, which sampled 17 critics and calculated a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, the film received "generally favorable reviews".


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town of the Old West.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: The first settlement in the area that became Dodge City was Fort Mann, built by civilians in 1847. At that time the territory was part of Mexico, and the fort was built to provide protection for travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. Fort Mann collapsed in 1848 after an attack by Natives. In 1850, the U.S. Army arrived to provide protection in the region and constructed Fort Atkinson on the old Fort Mann site. The army abandoned Fort Atkinson in 1853. Military forces on the Santa Fe Trail were re-established farther north and east at Fort Larned in 1859, but the area remained vacant around what would become Dodge City until the end of the Civil War. In April, 1865, the American Frontier Wars in the West began heating up, and the army constructed Fort Dodge to assist Fort Larned in providing protection on the Santa Fe Trail. Fort Dodge remained in operation until 1882.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: The town of Dodge City can trace its origins to 1871, when rancher Henry J. Sitler built a sod house west of Fort Dodge to oversee his cattle operations in the region, conveniently located near the Santa Fe Trail and Arkansas River, and Sitler's house quickly became a stopping point for travelers. Others saw the commercial potential of the region with the Santa Fe Railroad rapidly approaching from the east. In 1872, Dodge City was staked out on the 100th meridian and the legal western boundary of the Fort Dodge reservation. The town site was platted and George M. Hoover established the first bar in a tent to serve thirsty soldiers from Fort Dodge. The railroad arrived in September to find a town ready and waiting for business. The early settlers in Dodge City traded in buffalo bones and hides and provided a civilian community for Fort Dodge. However, with the arrival of the railroad, Dodge City soon became involved in the cattle trade.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: The idea of driving Texas Longhorn cattle from Texas to railheads in Kansas originated in the late 1850s, but was cut short by the Civil War. In 1866, the first Texas cattle started arriving in Baxter Springs in southeastern Kansas by way of the Shawnee Trail. However, Texas Longhorn cattle carried a tick that spread Texas cattle fever, among other breeds of cattle. Alarmed Kansas farmers persuaded the Kansas State Legislature to establish a quarantine line in central Kansas. The quarantine prohibited Texas Longhorns from the heavily settled, eastern portion of the state.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: With the cattle trade forced west, Texas Longhorns began moving north along the Chisholm Trail. In 1867, the main cowtown was Abilene, Kansas. Profits were high, and other towns quickly joined in the cattle boom: Newton in 1871, Ellsworth in 1872, and Wichita in 1872. However, in 1876, the Kansas State Legislature responded to pressure from farmers settling in central Kansas and once again shifted the quarantine line westward, which essentially eliminated Abilene and the other cowtowns from the cattle trade. With no place else to go, Dodge City suddenly became the "queen of the cow towns."


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: A new route known as the Great Western Cattle Trail or Western Trail branched off from the Chisholm Trail to lead cattle into Dodge City. Dodge City became a boomtown, with thousands of cattle passing annually through its stockyards. The peak years of the cattle trade in Dodge City were from 1883 to 1884, and during that time the town grew tremendously. In 1880, Dodge City got a new competitor for the cattle trade from the border town of Caldwell. For a few years, the competition between the towns was fierce, but enough cattle were available for both towns to prosper.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Nevertheless, Dodge City became famous, and no town could match its reputation as a true frontier settlement of the Old West. Dodge City had more famous (and infamous) gunfighters working at one time or another than any other town in the West, many of whom participated in the Dodge City War of 1883.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: It boasted also the usual array of saloons, gambling halls, and brothels, including the famous Long Branch Saloon and China Doll brothel. For a time in 1884, Dodge City even had a bullfighting ring where Mexican bullfighters would put on a show with specially chosen Longhorn bulls.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: As more agricultural settlers moved into western Kansas, pressure increased on the Kansas State Legislature to do something about splenic fever, known today as anthrax. Consequently, in 1885, the quarantine line was extended across the state and the Western Trail was all but shut down. By 1886, the cowboys, saloon keepers, gamblers, and brothel owners moved west to greener pastures, and Dodge City became a sleepy little town much like other communities in western Kansas.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Dodge City is located at (37.759671, −100.018212) at an elevation of . It lies on the Arkansas River in the High Plains region of the Great Plains. The city sits above one of the world's largest underground water systems, the Ogallala Aquifer, and is from the eastern edge of the Hugoton Natural Gas Area. Located at the intersection of U. S. Routes 50, 56 and 283 in southwestern Kansas, Dodge City is west of Wichita, northeast of Amarillo, and southeast of Denver.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Dodge City lies at the intersection of North America's semi-arid (Köppen "BSk") and humid subtropical climate (Köppen "Cfa") zones, with hot summers, highly variable winters, both warm and very cold periods, and low to moderate humidity and precipitation throughout the year; it is part of USDA Hardiness zone 6b. Areas to the west are drier and more strongly semi-arid. Severe weather, including tornadoes, is common in the area, especially in the spring months. Dodge City is often cited as the windiest city in the United States with an average speed of , which results in occasional blizzards in the winter, even when snowfall does not accumulate much. On average, January is the coldest month, July is the hottest month, and June is the wettest month.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: The normal annual mean temperature in Dodge City is , while the normal monthly daily average temperature ranges from in January to in July. The high temperature reaches or exceeds an average of 67 days a year and reaches or exceeds an average of 13 days a year; the last year that failed to reach 100 °F was 1958. The minimum temperature falls to or below an average of 3.0 days a year. The highest officially recorded temperature was on June 27, 2012, while the lowest temperature officially recorded was on February 12, 1899. The record cold daily maximum is on January 13, 1875, and conversely, the record warm daily minimum is last set July 12, 1978.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Dodge City receives an annual average of in precipitation, with the largest share being received from May through August; annual precipitation has historically ranged from in 1956 to in 1944. There are, on average, 77 days of measurable precipitation each year. Snowfall averages per season, although snowfall has historically ranged from in 1903–04 to in 1992–93. Measurable snowfall occurs an average of 14 days a year with at least an inch of snow being received on six of those days. Snow depth of at least an inch occurs an average of 19 days a year. The average window for overnight freezes is October 17 through April 21, allowing a growing season of 178 days.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 27,340 people, 8,777 households, and 6,241 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,893.6 people per square mile (731.1/km). There were 9,378 housing units at an average density of 649.5 per square mile (250.8/km). The racial makeup of the city was 72.5% White, 2.5% African American, 1.1% Native American, 1.6% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 19.3% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more races. Hispanics and Latinos of any race were 57.5% of the population.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: There were 8,777 households, of which 40.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 28.9% were non-families. 22.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.05, and the average family size was 3.60.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: The median age in the city was 28.9 years. 31.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 11.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.8% were from 25 to 44; 19.6% were from 45 to 64; and 8.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 51.4% male and 48.6% female.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: The median income for a household was $43,994, and the median income for a family was $49,957. Males had a median income of $31,400 versus $27,884 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,350. About 16.7% of families and 19.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.7% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Meat packing is the primary industry in Dodge City. Cargill Meat Solutions and National Beef both operate large facilities in the city. The city also hosts farm implement manufacturing and serves as a supply center for area agriculture. Livestock-raising is a major activity while wheat and sorghum are the area's main crops. In addition, a local tourism industry, including a casino resort, has developed to capitalize on Dodge City's history as an Old West cowtown. The service sector accounts for much of the rest of the local economy.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: As of 2010, 70.9% of the population over the age of 16 was in the labor force. 0.3% was in the armed forces, and 70.5% was in the civilian labor force with 66.9% being employed and 3.6% unemployed. The composition, by occupation, of the employed civilian labor force was: 23.3% in management, business, science, and arts; 16.4% in sales and office occupations; 10.9% in service occupations; 15.2% in natural resources, construction, and maintenance; 34.2% in production, transportation, and material moving. The three industries employing the largest percentages of the working civilian labor force were: manufacturing (33.0%); educational services, health care, and social assistance (18.1%); and retail trade (9.4%).


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: The cost of living in Dodge City is relatively low; compared to a U.S. average of 100, the cost of living index for the city is 79.3. As of 2010, the median home value in the city was $83,300, the median selected monthly owner cost was $1,013 for housing units with a mortgage and $450 for those without, and the median gross rent was $571.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: In late 2023, Hilmar Cheese is scheduled to open a new $550 million cheese and whey protein processing plant in Dodge City.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Cargill Meat Solutions and National Beef are the two largest employers. Other major employers include local government, schools, retail stores, and health care providers.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Dodge City has a commission-manager form of government. The city commission consists of five members who serve either two-year or four-year terms, depending on the number of votes they receive. Every year, the commission selects one commissioner to serve as mayor and another to serve as vice-mayor. The commission meets on the first and third Mondays of each month. Appointed by the commission, the city manager leads the city administration, executes the commission's policies, and develops operational programs to meet the city's needs.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: As the county seat, Dodge City is the administrative center of Ford County. The county courthouse is located downtown, and all departments of the county government base their operations in the city.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Dodge City lies within Kansas's 1st U.S. Congressional District. For the purposes of representation in the Kansas Legislature, the city is located in the 38th district of the Kansas Senate and the 115th and 119th districts of the Kansas House of Representatives.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Dodge City was criticized by Johnny Dunlap, Ford County Democratic Party's chairman, for only having one polling place for 13,000 voters. For the 2018 election, it was moved outside the city limits one mile from the nearest bus stop. While the county provided transportation, voters had to arrange for it in advance. A lawsuit over the issue was dismissed after Debbie Cox, the county clerk, agreed to open two polling places in the next election.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Dodge City USD 443 public school district serves over 6,000 students and operates 14 schools in the city, including one early childhood center, eight elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school, and one alternative school.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dodge City oversees one Catholic school in the city: Sacred Heart Cathedral School (Pre-K-8).


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Dodge City Community College (DCCC), a two-year public college with approximately 2,000 students, is located in the northwestern part of the city. From 1952 to 1993, Dodge City was also home to St. Mary of the Plains College, a private, four-year Catholic liberal arts college. Newman University, a Catholic university based in Wichita, now operates a branch campus on St. Mary of the Plains' former grounds.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Dodge City Public Library, located north of downtown, is the city's main library. A member of the Southwest Kansas Library System, it has a collection of approximately 123,000 volumes, and it circulates more than 189,000 items annually. It was founded as a Carnegie library in 1905 and moved to its current facility in 1981. The library offers several services to the public, including computer classes, public internet access, and programs for children and adults. Other libraries in the city include the DCCC Library, which holds more than 30,000 volumes and serves as a federal depository library, and the Kansas Heritage Center, a non-profit resource center and research library operated by Dodge City USD 443 and dedicated to the history of Kansas, the Great Plains, and the Old West.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Originally a stop on the Santa Fe Trail, Dodge City was later located on the National Old Trails Road, also known as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, which followed the trail's path in western Kansas upon its establishment in 1912. Currently, four U.S. Highways meet in Dodge City: U.S. Route 50, U.S. Route 56, U.S. Route 283, and U.S. Route 400. U.S. 50, an east-west route, runs through the northern part of the city. U.S. 400, which also runs east-west, runs through the southern part of the city. U.S. 56, an east-west route, and U.S. 283, a north-south route, run concurrently around the city's southern and eastern fringe. The U.S. 50 business route runs concurrently with U.S. 56, U.S. 283, and U.S. 400 at different points through the southern part and around the eastern part of the city.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Dodge City Regional Airport is located approximately east of the city. Used primarily for general aviation, it hosts one commercial airline with daily flights to


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Three railroads serve Dodge City: the La Junta Subdivision of the BNSF Railway which runs east-west, the main line of the Cimarron Valley Railroad of which Dodge City is the northeastern terminus, and the Boot Hill and Western Railway of which the city is the northwestern terminus. Using the BNSF trackage, Amtrak provides passenger rail service on its "Southwest Chief" line between Chicago and Los Angeles. Amtrak's Dodge City station is located downtown.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: The Utilities Division of the city government's Public Works Department operates and maintains the city's water and waste water distribution systems. The department's Sanitation Division provides trash pickup. Operations Management International, Inc. (OMI), a private contractor, provides waste water treatment, pumping the city's waste water to treatment holding ponds 12 miles south of the city. The Victory Electric Cooperative Association, Inc., part of the Mid-Kansas Electric Company, delivers electricity to the city. Local residents primarily use natural gas as their heating fuel; natural gas service is provided by Black Hills Energy.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: The Western Plains Medical Complex is the sole hospital in Dodge City. A 100-bed hospital accredited by the Joint Commission, it serves as a referral center for southwestern Kansas.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: The "Dodge City Daily Globe" is the city's daily newspaper with a circulation of approximately 7,000 copies. In addition, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dodge City publishes a weekly newspaper, "The Southwest Kansas Catholic", formerly known as "The Southwest Kansas Register". The "High Plains Journal", a weekly trade journal covering regional agricultural news, is also published in the city.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Along with Garden City, Dodge City is a center of broadcast media for southwestern Kansas. Two AM radio stations, seven FM radio stations, and four television stations are licensed to and/or broadcast from the area. Dodge City is located in the Wichita-Hutchinson, Kansas television market. The four stations that broadcast from the city include: one CBS and one FOX network affiliate, both of which are satellite stations of their respective affiliates in Wichita; a satellite station of Smoky Hills Public Television, the Public Broadcasting Service member network covering western Kansas; and KDDC-LD a sister station of KDGL-LD in Sublette, Kansas.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: The city's Parks and Recreation Department maintains 21 parks in the city. The largest is Wright Park, located immediately south of downtown and home to the Dodge City Zoo. Legends Park, in the northern part of the city, is a four-diamond, tournament-level baseball and softball complex that hosts both youth and adult league games. The city also maintains the St. Mary Soccer Complex, which includes six full-size game pads and three junior-sized fields, and the municipal pool.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: There are two golf courses in the city, one public and one private. Mariah Hills Municipal Golf Course, the public course, is an 18-hole course built in 1974 and redesigned in 1990. It includes a full-service pro shop, driving range, and putting green. Dodge City Country Club, the private course, is an 18-hole course built in 1916 and expanded in 1982.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Two galleries support an arts community in the city. Located in the original public library building, The Carnegie Center for the Arts provides gallery space to local artists and houses the Dodge City Arts Council. The second gallery, the Second Avenue Art Guild, exhibits the work of regional artists in ceramics, photography, and other media.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: The Depot Theater Company, based in the former Santa Fe Railroad Depot, puts on theatrical productions throughout the year. Founded in 1984, the group performs in both the old depot and the Occident Theater.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Each summer, the Dodge City Chamber of Commerce holds Dodge City Days, the city's annual community festival. Lasting ten days, it includes the Dodge City Roundup Rodeo, a parade, a beauty pageant, music concerts, a golf tournament, arts and craft shows, and other activities. Several other community events are held throughout the year. In early May, the city's sizable Mexican community celebrates Cinco de Mayo in Wright Park with live music, folk dance performances, and traditional Mexican cuisine. To celebrate Independence Day, the city holds its Old-Fashioned Fourth of July which includes a fireworks display and children's activities at Boot Hill. Christmas in Old Dodge City, the city's winter holiday festival, starts in late November and lasts until Christmas. It begins with a formal Christmas tree lighting downtown, a chili cook-off, and the Parade of Lights, a parade of floats decorated with Christmas lights.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Two other annual events reflect the central role of agriculture in the local economy. The Ford County Fair is held in July and includes 4-H and FFA exhibits, competitions, and shows, as well as other activities. Also in July, the Western Kansas Manufacturers Association (WKMA) holds the 3i Show, an agri-business expo of agricultural products, technology, and services.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Located in and around the city are a number of historical sites, museums, and landmarks dedicated to Dodge City's Old West heritage. The Boot Hill Museum, located downtown, contains thousands of artifacts and a variety of exhibits portraying the culture of the city's early years. The museum's larger exhibits include: Front Street, a partial reconstruction of downtown Dodge City as it existed in 1876; the Long Branch Saloon and the Long Branch Variety Show; the Saratoga Saloon; the Hardesty House, a period-typical home built in 1879; the city's original Boot Hill Cemetery; and the Kansas Cowboy Hall of Fame. The Santa Fe Trail Remains, located west of the city, are preserved wagon tracks from a section of the Santa Fe Trail. The Ford County Historical Society maintains the Mueller-Schmidt House, called the "Home of Stone." Built from area limestone in 1881, it is the oldest building in the city still standing at its original site. Other historical landmarks include: El Capitan, a life-sized bronze sculpture of a Texas Longhorn steer built to commemorate the cattle drives that once ended in the city; a bronze statue of famous Dodge City lawman Wyatt Earp; and the Santa Fe Depot, the largest extant train depot in Kansas.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: To capitalize on this heritage, the city promotes its downtown business district as historic Old Dodge City complete with Western-themed tourist attractions, shops, and restaurants. Visitors can tour the district by trolley or by taking the Dodge City Trail of Fame walking tour. The state of Kansas operates the similarly themed Boot Hill Casino & Resort on the west side of the city – when it opened for business in December 2009, Boot Hill became the first state-owned casino in the United States.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Dodge City Civic Center and United Wireless Arena are the city's two main indoor event venues. The Civic Center, built in 1954, is a 2,800-seat multipurpose facility that has hosted a variety of events, including concerts and sporting events. United Wireless Arena, opened in 2011, is a 5,500-seat multipurpose arena located next to the Boot Hill Casino on the west side of the city. Owned by the City of Dodge City and Ford County, the arena complex includes the Magouirk Conference Center.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Other sites of interest in the city include the Dodge City Zoo and the Kansas Teachers' Hall of Fame. The Zoo is located in Wright Park and is home to more than 45 animals. Located downtown, the Kansas Teachers' Hall of Fame hosts exhibits on education in Kansas and claims to be the first of its kind in the United States.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: There are 33 Christian churches in and around Dodge City. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dodge City is based in the city. Established in 1951, it comprises 28 Kansas counties, roughly the southwestern quarter of the state. The city is home to the diocese's current cathedral as well as its former cathedral, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Sacred Heart Cathedral, respectively. Also headquartered in the city is the Dodge City District of the United Methodist Church which consists of 22 counties in southwestern Kansas.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Dodge City Community College's athletic teams, the Dodge City Conquistadors (or "Conqs" for short), compete in several sports in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC).


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Beyond DCCC sports, Dodge City also hosts amateur baseball and professional motorsports. The Dodge City Athletics, nicknamed the "A's", are a collegiate summer baseball team in the Jayhawk Collegiate League of the National Baseball Congress. Both the A's and the DCCC Conquistadors baseball team use Cavalier Field, located on the former St. Mary of the Plains College campus, as their home field. Dodge City Raceway Park, located immediately south of the city, is a 3/8-mile dirt track that hosts midget and sprint car racing from April through October. Past events at the park have included National Sprint Tour and World of Outlaws races. The Western Kansas Dirt Riders, a motocross team, race at Tumbleweed Raceway adjacent to the Raceway Park.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: In the past, Dodge City hosted college football and professional basketball as well. From 1970 to 1980, the annual Boot Hill Bowl post-season college football game was played in Dodge City. The bowl was sanctioned by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and featured schools such as Washburn University and Emporia State University. The last game was played on November 21, 1980. From 2000 to 2007, the city was home to a minor league professional basketball team, the Dodge City Legend of the United States Basketball League.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Starting in the 1870s, the violent episodes of early Dodge City history, particularly the exploits of Wyatt Earp, attracted national media attention. National news coverage of the 1883 Dodge City War civil strife fueled public perceptions of frontier turmoil and established Dodge City as the "Sodom of the West" in the public consciousness. Gunfighters and lawmen such as Earp and his brothers and partners became celebrities, and sensationalized versions of their activities entered period popular culture as the subject of dime novels. Over time, the level and scale of the violence in early Dodge City were significantly embellished, becoming the stuff of legend. This trend continued into the 20th century, particularly after the 1931 publication of Stuart N. Lake's book "". Regarded in American folklore as the quintessential rough and rowdy Old West frontier town, Dodge City served as the setting for numerous works of Western-themed media, including later popular films and television series.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Dodge City was the setting of the long-running radio and television series "Gunsmoke". The series followed the adventures of fictional U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon portrayed on radio by William Conrad and then on television by James Arness, as he dealt with gunfighters, cattle rustlers, gamblers and other criminals while enforcing the law in the frontier town. The radio lasted from 1952 to 1961 while the television series ran from 1955 to 1975, on the CBS television network, and was one of the longest-running prime-time TV dramas in American history. The show proved to be culturally influential and promoted the legend of Dodge City's Old West era. It also served as the source of the idiom "get [the hell] out of Dodge" which means to leave a dangerous area quickly. In honor of the series, the city government changed the name of Walnut Street, one of its downtown streets, to Gunsmoke Street, in 1959.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: The city has also been a setting for a number of films and television series dramatizing the career of Wyatt Earp. These include several seasons of the series "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" starring Hugh O'Brian on the ABC television network from 1955 to 1961, and the films "Winchester '73" (1950), with James Stewart "Masterson of Kansas" (1954), with George Montgomery, "Cheyenne Autumn" (1964), featuring Richard Widmark, James Stewart and Edward G. Robinson and directed by John Ford and "Wyatt Earp" (1994) with Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman. In the 1939 film "Dodge City" the fictional lawman Wade Hatton, played by Errol Flynn, was modeled on Earp.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: In the television series "Smallville", Metropolis is said to be southwest of Dodge City with Smallville, "Superman" / Clark Kent's childhood and adolescent residence, located west of Wichita.


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: The Bruce Springsteen song “If I Was The Priest,” on his 2020 album "Letter to You, " refers to the main character being “needed tonight up in Dodge City.”


title: Dodge City, Kansas

text: Numerous figures of the American Old West lived in Dodge City during its period as a frontier cowtown. These included, most notably, lawmen Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson as well as gunfighter Doc Holliday. Other notable natives and residents have included Vaudeville actor and comedian Eddie Foy Sr., wrestler Sputnik Monroe, and actor Dennis Hopper.


title: Ramdev

text: Ramdev (born Ram Kisan Yadav in 1965), also referred to by his followers with the honorifics Baba or Swami, is an Indian yoga guru, businessman and brand ambassador for Patanjali Ayurved. Ramdev is primarily known for being a proponent of yoga and ayurveda in India. Ramdev has been organizing and conducting large yoga camps since 2002, broadcasting his yoga classes on various TV channels. He co-founded Patanjali Ayurved and Patanjali Yogpeeth with his colleague Balkrishna in 2006. Ramdev has received criticism over his comments related to modern medicine, yoga, and ayurveda.


title: Ramdev

text: Ramdev is aligned with Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP on a number of issues. He has led protests against corruption in India and has advocated for the repatriation of black money held in foreign banks. In April 2022, Ramdev was ranked the 78th most powerful Indian by The Indian Express.


title: Ramdev

text: Ram Kisan Yadav was born between 1965 – 1975 in the village of Said Alipur. His parents, Ramniwas Yadav and Gulabo Devi, were poor illiterate farmers. He has three siblings, an older brother, a younger brother, and a younger sister. The left side of his face has been partly paralysed since childhood, perhaps owing to a congenital disability or a childhood illness.


title: Ramdev

text: Yadav initially attended a government school at Shahzadpur where he completed his eighth standard. Much of his education was within the tradition of Arya Samaj, a Vedic reform organisation. At a young age, he was influenced by Satyarth Prakash, a Hindi book written in 1875 by Dayanand Saraswati, a religious and social reformer who founded the monotheistic Arya Samaj movement. He left the government school system and rejected being taught in English with colonial curriculum set under Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–59). He pursued further study in the Gurukula system, in traditional educational institutes with instruction based on Vedic principles, studying Indian scripture, Yoga and Sanskrit in various gurukul schools.


title: Ramdev

text: Yadav attended Arsh Gurukul Mahavidyalaya from 1984 until 1989, followed by study at Kalwa Gurukul. At Kalwa, he studied with Acharya Baldevji, an Arya Samaj chief, and first met Balkrishna as a fellow student. While living in Kalwa Arsh Gurukul in Jind district, Haryana, he offered free yoga training to villagers. Having completed his studies in 1992, Yadav gravitated to Kripalu Bagh Ashram to work with Shankardevi Maharaj. At Kripalu Bagh Ashram, he encountered and learned yoga from Acharya Karamveer, also an Arya Samaj. Yadav took vows of renunciation, adopted "sannyasa," and took the name Ramdev"." Ramdev and Karamveer held yoga camps throughout India and sold chawanprash in Haridwar together.


title: Ramdev

text: On 5 January 1995, Balkrishna, Ramdev, and Acharya Karamveer founded Divya Yoga Mandir Trust, which was set up at the Kripalu Bagh Ashram in Haridwar. Under the Divya Yoga Mandir Trust, they offered yoga camps and established an Ayurvedic pharmacy.


title: Ramdev

text: Ramdev began appearing on TV as a yoga guru in 2002, first with Sanskar TV. The following year, in 2003, Aastha TV began featuring him in its morning yoga slot. He proved to be telegenic and gained a large following. A large number of people, including some celebrities from India and abroad, attended his Yoga camps. He taught students in foreign countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan. He also addressed Muslim clerics at their seminary in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh in 2009. At Yog Gram, his main yoga centre, Ramdev practices and teaches yoga in an auditorium, for TV broadcast. In 2017, he was also a judge of a reality show entitled, "Om Shanti Om," where contestants sang devotional songs


title: Ramdev

text: Patanjali Ayurved is a consumer packaged goods company, based in Haridwar, that was started by Ramdev and Balkrishna in 2006. The company is one of the highest grossing FMCG's in India. In FY22, Patanjali Ayurved posted revenues of Rs 10,664.46 crore. Balkrishna serves as the CEO of Patanjali Ayurved with 95% ownership and supervises its day-to-day activities, while Ramdev serves as the face of the company and makes most of the business decisions.


title: Ramdev

text: Ramdev has advocated for Indian nationalism in the tradition of the swadeshi movement through the production and sale of Patanjali Ayurved products and he has encouraged Indian citizens to reject multinational brands.


title: Ramdev

text: Members of Ramdev's family relocated to Haridwar and several have participated in his business ventures. His father has overseen some activities at Patanjali Ayurved. His younger brother Ram Bharat has been described as the company's de facto CEO.


title: Ramdev

text: The company has been accused of creating misleading advertisements about its products and conducting insufficient testing before launching products in the marketplace. Some products like amla juice have been banned from sales due to poor quality by Indian government. Patanjali has also been surrounded by controversies regarding working conditions where Ramdev and Balkrishna are treated like gurus whose feet must be touched each time they enter an area. Factory workers are paid a salary of Rs 6000 per month while working 12-hour shifts, six days a week. They are also discouraged to ask for a raise as working at factory is considered "seva" (service) to the cause.


title: Ramdev

text: Patanjali Yogpeeth is an institute founded for the promotion and practice of Yoga and Ayurveda. It has two Indian campuses, Patanjali Yogpeeth I and Patanjali Yogpeeth II in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. Other locations include UK, US, Nepal, Canada and Mauritius. Ramdev is the Vice-Chancellor of the Patanjali Yogpeeth. In 2006, Ramdev established a registered charity in the UK known as the Patanjali Yog Peeth (UK) Trust, which had the stated objective of supporting Patanjali Yogpeeth (India) through the promotion of Ayurveda and pranayama yoga in the UK. To extend Patanjali Yogpeeth, he also acquired the Scottish island of Little Cumbrae. In 2012, Ramdev established the Divya Yog Pharmacy in Haridwar.


title: Ramdev

text: In 2017, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) through its Delhi bench gave tax exempt status to Patanjali Yogpeeth.


title: Ramdev

text: In March 2018, 92 scholars of various different castes and backgrounds were initiated by Ramdev as sanyasis, or renunciants, at the Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar. In 2022, Ramdev announced that sanyasis will serve as trustees of the Patanjali Yogpeeth and Divya Yoga Mandir. The sanyasis initiated by Ramdev studied Hindu scriptures for at least seven years at Patanjali Yogpeeth and a number of them have advanced degrees from universities.


title: Ramdev

text: In 2006, Ramdev was invited by Kofi Annan to deliver a lecture on poverty alleviation at a United Nations conference. In October 2014, he was one of the nine personalities invited by the Prime Minister Modi to participate and promote the message of cleanliness when Swachh Bharat Mission was launched.


title: Ramdev

text: In 2010, Ramdev announced plans to form a political party called "Bharat Swabhiman" India Pride. He said that it would contest every seat in the next national elections. A year later, he stated that, instead of forming a political party, he would influence politics by encouraging a groundswell of popular reaction. In 2014, Ramdev announced that Bharat Swabhiman would contest some constituencies in the general election of that year and form alliances with some other parties. It was at this time that he voiced his support for Narendra Modi to become the next Prime Minister of India, and signed nine pledges with BJP leaders on institutional and cultural reforms. His attempts to run yoga camps during that election campaign, allegedly to gain support for Modi, were stymied by the Election Commission of India (ECI), who determined that they were politically motivated. The Gujarat High Court allowed the Trust to hold yoga camps in 2014 as long as the camps were not political in nature.


title: Ramdev

text: The financial arrangements of Bharat Swabhiman and his two other trusts, Divya Yog and Patanjali Yogpeeth, came under ECI scrutiny during the 2014 elections because of a complaint that they were being used to fund the campaigns of some political parties.


title: Ramdev

text: In April 2011, Ramdev called on the government to add punitive powers to the Jan Lokpal Bill, a bill to appoint an independent body to investigate alleged government corruption. Relatedly, Ramdev announced he would go on an "anshan" hunger strike at Ramlila Ground in Delhi, on 4 June 2011, to pressure the government to root out corruption and repatriate black money. A week before the scheduled fast, the government set up a committee, headed by the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, to suggest steps to curb black money and its transfer abroad. Talks continued between the two sides and, on 3 June, both sides claimed that a consensus had been reached on most issues. However, in the evening, Ramdev announced that he would still carry on with his hunger strike.


title: Ramdev

text: During the first day of the strike, government minister Kapil Sibal publicized a letter from Ramdev's camp stating that the hunger strike would end if the government honoured its commitments. Ramdev took it as a betrayal by the government and hardened his position.


title: Ramdev

text: Shortly before midnight on the first day, a Delhi police spokesman announced that permission for the gathering had been revoked because permission was only granted for a 5,000 person yoga camp, and not for a protest of 50,000 people. At midnight, over 5,000 police officers disrupted the protest and used Tear gas shells and a lathicharge to drive away protesters. Ramdev tried to escape capture by disguising himself in women's clothes but was eventually arrested and flown back to his ashram in Haridwar and banned from entering Delhi for 15 days. On reaching Haridwar, Ramdev told reporters that his fast was not over yet and he would continue with his "satyagraha" civil resistance.


title: Ramdev

text: Police reported that 53 citizens and ten police members were injured and treated in hospitals. There were accusations that women protesters had been badly treated by the police, who alleged that they had objects thrown at them by protesters. One female protester suffered a spinal injury and later died in a hospital from cardiac arrest. In a statement, Ramdev highlighted her sacrifice and noted that they would honor her by fighting against corruption in India.


title: Ramdev

text: Ramdev accused the government of cheating him, and alleged that there was a conspiracy to kill him. Leaders of the BJP said that the police action had been a shameful chapter in the democracy of this country. BJP leader LK. Advani called it naked fascism. India's Supreme Court asked the government for an explanation.


title: Ramdev

text: Ramdev was supported by civil society activists as well. Activist Anna Hazare called the crackdown a "strangulation of democracy". Hazare indicated that the action could have been compared to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre if the policed had fired ammunition. Thousands of supporters in other cities continued their fast in protest.


title: Ramdev

text: Ramdev ended his fast on the ninth day, after being hospitalised two days earlier. His decision to end the protest was welcomed by politicians from the BJP, Janata Party and Congress Party.


title: Ramdev

text: As a part of the "India against corruption" movement, Ramdev launched another indefinite protest on 10 August 2012 against the government's failure to act against corruption and repatriate money. He announced that his future strategy depended upon the government's response to his protest. Ramdev ended the fast at Delhi's Ambedkar Stadium on 14 August 2012, and announced he was returning to Haridwar. At Ambedkar, Ramdev said, "we are leaving because we won."


title: Ramdev

text: In March 2005, 115 employees of Divya Yoga Mandir Trust began a protest for minimum wages and employees' rights, such as coverage under the Provident Fund and Employees' State Insurance Corporation. Management agreed to pay minimum wage and not initiate disciplinary actions against the employees protesting and, in turn, the employees agreed that they would restore normalcy in the workplace. However, the Trust refused to take back some of the employees, accusing them of committing sabotage. Their case was taken up by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions CITU, affiliated with the Communist Party of India Marxist CPI(M).


title: Ramdev

text: Brinda Karat, a senior figure in the CPI(M), took up the cause of the dismissed employees. They indicated that human bones and animal parts were used in some herbal medicines manufactured by Divya Pharmacy, which is owned by Divya Yog Mandir Trust. The dismissed employees provided samples that were tested at government laboratories, where the presence of animal materials in the sample was confirmed. However, the source of the samples was disputed, since they had been given to Karat by the protesting employees and not procured by government officials. Karat produced what were claimed to be the prescription and cash receipts for the samples, which were obtained from the Trust's hospital medicine counter. Ramdev denied the results and further testing conflicted with the previous tests. He received support from politicians, such as Sharad Pawar. Karat received a legal notice on behalf of a BJP leader in Faridabad, ordering her to apologize publicly or face legal action.


title: Ramdev

text: Rajiv Dixit, Ramdev's advisor and ally, died on 30 November 2010 in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, with cardiac arrest being cited as the cause of death. Dixit's friends conjectured that Ramdev did not like his increasing popularity, and was involved in his death, however, Ramdev dismissed the claims and alleged that this was a conspiracy theory concocted by a political opponent.


title: Ramdev

text: Medical concerns have been raised about Ramdev's promotion of Kapalbhati as a "cure-all". Ramdev made controversial claims that, "the problem of heart blockage can be overcome by doing Kapalbhati daily in the morning and evening," and that the practice of pranayamas, including kapalbhati, regulates blood pressure, cures heart related problems, and eradicates all communicable and non-communicable diseases. On the contrary, cardiologists repeatedly cautioned patients with heart disease and high blood pressure against practicing kapalbhati and bhastrika since they can exacerbate the problem. The Asian Heart Institute (AHI) found a correlation between heart ailments and certain types of Kapalbhati practice. Kapalbhati can also be dangerous for people suffering from a hernia.


title: Ramdev

text: B.K.S. Iyengar has criticised Ramdev for corrupting Maharishi Patanjali's Yoga with the promotion of programmes like kapalbhati. According to Iyengar, the Yog Sutras of Patanjali do not mention Kapalbhati or Bhastrika. He warns about the dangers of Ramdev "selling Kapalbhati" as "a shortcut" in the "TV-yoga craze". Other Yoga experts have warned that reckless practice of Kapalbhati can make a person seriously ill.


title: Ramdev

text: In 2013, the Supreme Court of India upheld the constitutionality of Section 377, which in part criminalized homosexuality. Following the verdict, Ramdev called homosexuality a bad addiction and claimed he can cure it by yoga.


title: Ramdev

text: In 2017, the Dehli High Court temporarily blocked the sale of an unauthorized biography about Ramdev entitled, "Godman to Tycoon: The Untold Story of Baba Ramdev," until disputed content about him deemed defamatory was removed. The court reversed their injunction in April 2018 and the book was released for sale.


title: Ramdev

text: Ramdev sparked several controversies related to diagnosing and curing COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic. He claimed that holding one's breath could help one diagnose the virus, and further claimed that mustard oil could treat the virus, both of which lacked scientific basis. In May 2021, he questioned the need for oxygen amongst COVID-19 patients, but later withdrew his remarks after facing criticism from doctors. Indian Medical Association's (IMA) national vice-president, Dr. Navjot Singh Dahiya, filed a police complaint against Ramdev for allegedly creating the wrong perception about treatments and for allegedly using defamatory and insulting language towards doctors.


title: Ramdev

text: In June 2020, Patanjali Ayurved announced a drug named Coronil for COVID-19 treatment, marketing it as a cure for COVID-19 patients. The day after the launch, a criminal complaint was filed against Ramdev and his partner, Balkrishna, in Muzaffarpur court by a social worker for misleading and putting the lives of a large number of people at risk. The Indian government allowed Patanjali Ayurved to market Coronil as an immunity booster but not a cure, banning it from selling as a COVID-19 cure. The Government of Maharashtra banned the sale of Coronil in the state, citing that the World Health Organisation had not certified the medicine. Lawsuits were filed in Bihar and Rajasthan against Ramdev, Balkrishna, and others, accusing them of cheating and selling fake medicines. The Madras High Court fined the company for "exploiting fear and panic among the general public by projecting a cure for the coronavirus." Patanjali withdrew the claim of Coronil being a cure for COVID-19. The UK drug regulator threatened action if the unauthorized products were sold in the UK market.


title: Ramdev

text: On 18 August 2022, Delhi High Court told Baba Ramdev not to mislead people against modern medicine after questioning the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and to avoid making any claims other than what is deemed official about Patanjali's Coronil.


title: Ramdev

text: In late May 2021, Ramdev sparked a controversy when he claimed that modern medical science is a "stupid science" and that patients have died due to it. As a result, the IMA claimed that he was creating fear and frustration among the public to sell his drugs. The IMA also demanded the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan take action against Ramdev and prosecute him under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 to save lives. The Delhi Medical Association demanded an FIR against him. Later, Patanjali's Balkrishna clarified that Ramdev has, "no ill-will against modern science and good practitioners of modern medicine". After facing pressure from the Health Minister, Ramdev eventually withdrew his comments and issued an apology.


title: Ramdev

text: Following the withdrawal, he posted 25 questions to IMA in an ‘open letter’ regarding treatments for several diseases. He courted sharp criticism from the medical community when he claimed that, "[d]octors should not fall ill at all if allopathy is all powerful and ‘sarvagun sampanna’ (having all good qualities)". IMA's Uttarakhand division sent a defamation notice to Ramdev and expressed that they would demand if he didn't issue an apology. In a new video, he was seen reacting to the demand by saying, "even their father cannot arrest him".


title: Ramdev

text: During a yoga camp in Haridwar, Ramdev said several allopathy practitioners with MBBS and MD degrees were facing the side-effects of allopathy and are now turning towards yoga and ayurveda. He said his target would be to convert 1000 doctors to ayurveda within a year.


title: Ramdev

text: On 3 June 2021, the Delhi High Court refused to issue an injunction against Ramdev, noting that his comments fall under the right to freedom of speech and expression.


title: Ramdev

text: Ramdev is being played by Kranti Prakash Jha in "Swami Ramdev - Ek Sangharsh" earlier aired on Discovery Jeet.


title: Ramdev

text: Patanajali Ayurveda Limited remains one of the top ten advertisers in India, and Ramdev's face has become ubiquitous.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. It is the youngest of the five service academies, having graduated its first class in 1959, but is the third in seniority. Graduates of the academy's four-year program receive a Bachelor of Science degree and are commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Air Force or U.S. Space Force. The academy is also one of the largest tourist attractions in Colorado, attracting approximately a million visitors each year.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Admission is highly competitive, with nominations divided equally among Congressional districts. Recent incoming classes have had about 1,200 cadets; since 2012, around 20% of each incoming class does not graduate. During their tenure at the Academy, cadets receive tuition, room and board, and a monthly stipend all paid for by the Air Force. On the first day of a cadet's second class year, cadets commit to serving a number of years as a commissioned officer in the Air Force or Space Force. Non-graduates after that point are expected to fulfill their obligations in enlisted service or pay back full tuition. The commitment is normally five years of active duty and three years in the reserves, although it has varied depending on the graduate's Air Force Specialty Code.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The program at the academy is guided by the Air Force's core values of ""Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do"", and based on four "pillars of excellence": military training, academics, athletics and character development. In addition to a rigorous military training regimen, cadets also take a broad academic course load with an extensive core curriculum in engineering, humanities, social sciences, basic sciences, military studies and physical education. All cadets participate in either intercollegiate or intramural athletics, and a thorough character development and leadership curriculum provides cadets a basis for future officership. Each of the components of the program is intended to give cadets the skills and knowledge that they will need for success as officers.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Prior to the academy's establishment, air power advocates had been pushing for a separate Air Force Academy for decades. As early as 1918, Lieutenant Colonel A.J. Hanlon wrote, "As the Military and Naval Academies are the backbone of the Army and Navy, so must the Aeronautical Academy be the backbone of the Air Service. No service can flourish without some such institution to inculcate into its embryonic officers love of country, proper conception of duty, and highest regard for honor." Other officials expressed similar sentiments. In 1919, Congressman Charles F. Curry introduced legislation providing for an Academy, but concerns about cost, curriculum and location led to its demise. In 1925, air power pioneer General Billy Mitchell testified on Capitol Hill that it was necessary "to have an air academy to form a basis for the permanent backbone of your air service and to attend to the ... organizational part of it, very much the same way that West Point does for the Army, or that Annapolis does for the Navy." Mitchell's arguments did not gain traction with legislators, and it was not until the late 1940s that the concept of the United States Air Force Academy began to take shape.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Support for an air academy got a boost with the National Security Act of 1947, which provided for the establishment of a separate air force within the United States military. As an initial measure, Secretary of the Air Force W. Stuart Symington negotiated an agreement where up to a quarter of West Point and Annapolis graduates could volunteer to receive their commissions in the newly established Air Force. This was only intended to be a short term fix, however, and disagreements between the services quickly led to the establishment of the Service Academy Board by Secretary of Defense James Forrestal. In January 1950, the Service Academy Board, headed by Dwight D. Eisenhower, then president of Columbia University, concluded that the needs of the Air Force could not be met by the two existing U.S. service academies and that an air force academy should be established.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Following the recommendation of the board, Congress passed legislation in 1954 to begin the construction of the Air Force Academy, and President Eisenhower signed it into law on 1 April of that year. The legislation established an advisory commission to determine the site of the new school. Among the panel members were Charles Lindbergh, General Carl Spaatz, and Lieutenant General Hubert R. Harmon, who later became the academy's first superintendent. The original 582 sites considered were winnowed to three: Alton, Illinois; Lake Geneva, Wisconsin; and the ultimate site at Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Secretary of the Air Force, Harold E. Talbott, announced the winning site on 24 June 1954. Meanwhile, Air Training Command (ATC) began developing a detailed curriculum for the Academy program.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: From 1954 to 1956, the newly created Colorado Land Acquisition Commission purchased parcels of land that would host the new academy. The first parcel purchased was the also the largest; it was the 4,630-acre Cathedral Rock Ranch, owned by Lawrence B. Lehman of the famous Lehman investment family. The purchase price was $300,000, or about $65 per acre. 140 different parcels were eventually purchased to make up what is now a nearly-18,500 acre government property.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The early Air Force Academy leadership had the model of West Point and Annapolis in designing an appropriate curriculum, faculty, and campus. The academy's permanent site had not yet been completed when the first class entered, so the 306 cadets from the Class of 1959 were sworn in at a temporary site at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver on 11 July 1955. While at Lowry, they were housed in renovated World War II barracks. There were no upper class cadets to train the new cadets, so the Air Force appointed a cadre of "Air Training Officers" (ATOs) to conduct training. The ATOs were junior officers, many of whom were graduates of West Point, Annapolis, VMI, and The Citadel. They acted as surrogate upper class cadets until the upper classes could be populated over the next several years. The academy's dedication ceremony took place on that first day and was broadcast live on national television, with Walter Cronkite covering the event. Arnold W. Braswell, a native of Minden, Louisiana, was commander of the original four cadet squadrons at the academy 1955 to 1958.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: In developing a distinctive uniform for cadets, the Air Force turned to Hollywood. Film director Cecil B. DeMille designed the cadet parade uniform still in use.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The Class of 1959 established many other important traditions that continue until the present. The first class adopted the Cadet Honor Code, and chose the falcon as the Academy's mascot. On 29 August 1958, the wing of 1,145 cadets moved to the present site near Colorado Springs, and less than a year later the Academy received accreditation. The first USAFA class graduated and was commissioned on 3 June 1959.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The Vietnam War was the first war in which academy graduates fought and died. As such, it had a profound effect on the development of the character of the academy. Due to the need for more pilots, academy enrollment grew significantly during this time. The size of the graduating classes went from 217 cadets in 1961 to 745 cadets in 1970. Academy facilities were likewise expanded, and training was modified to better meet the needs of the wartime Air Force. The Jacks Valley field training area was added, the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) program was expanded, and light aircraft training started in 1968.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Many academy graduates of this era served with distinction in the Vietnam War. F-4 Phantom II pilot Steve Ritchie '64 and weapon systems officer Jeffrey Feinstein '68 each became aces by downing five enemy aircraft in combat. 141 graduates died in the conflict; 32 graduates became prisoners of war. Lance Sijan, '65, fell into both categories and became the first academy graduate to be awarded the Medal of Honor due to his heroism while evading capture and in captivity. Sijan Hall, one of the cadet dormitories, is named in his memory.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The effects of the anti-war movement were felt at the academy as well. Because the academy grounds are generally open to the public, the academy often became a site for protests by anti-war demonstrators.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: One of the most significant events in the history of the academy was the admission of women. On 7 October 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed legislation permitting women to enter the United States service academies. On 26 June 1976, 157 women entered the Air Force Academy with the Class of 1980. Because there were no female upper class cadets, the Air Training Officer model used in the early years of the Academy was revived, and fifteen young female officers were brought in to help with the integration process. The female cadets were initially segregated from the rest of the Cadet Wing but were fully integrated into their assigned squadrons after their first semester. On 28 May 1980, 97 of the original female cadets completed the program and graduated from the academy—just over 10% of the graduating class. Women have made up just over 20% of the most recent classes, with the class of 2016 having the highest proportion of any class, 25%.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Many of the women from those early classes went on to achieve success within the Cadet Wing and after graduation (see list of Academy graduates below). Despite these successes, integration issues were long apparent. Female cadets have had consistently higher dropout rates than men and have left the Air Force in higher numbers than men.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Academy graduated the Class of 2020 six weeks early. This was the first time that any USAFA class was ever commissioned early, and the first time for any military academy since the Vietnam War. This was also the first time that cadets were commissioned into the U.S. Space Force, with General Jay Raymond administering the oath of office to 86 graduates.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The US Space Force established its first unit at the Academy when Detachment 1 of Space Delta 13 was activated in November 2021. It is expected that approximately 10% of graduates at the Academy will enter the Space Force.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The campus of the academy covers on the east side of the Rampart Range of the Rocky Mountains, just north of Colorado Springs. Its elevation is normally given as above sea level, which is at the cadet area. The academy was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) and lead architect Walter Netsch. SOM partner John O. Merrill moved from Chicago to a Colorado Springs field office to oversee the construction and to act as a spokesman for the project.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The most controversial aspect of the SOM-designed Air Force Academy was its chapel. It was designed by SOM architect Walter Netsch, who at one point was prepared to abandon the design; but the accordion-like structure is acknowledged as an iconic symbol of the academy campus.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The buildings in the Cadet Area were designed in a distinct, modernist style, and make extensive use of aluminum on building exteriors, suggesting the outer skin of aircraft or spacecraft. On 1 April 2004, fifty years after Congress authorized the building of the academy, the Cadet Area at the Academy was designated a National Historic Landmark.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The main buildings in the Cadet Area are set around a large, square pavilion known as the "Terrazzo," and the most recognizable is the 17-spired Cadet Chapel. The subject of controversy when it was first built, it is now considered among the most prominent examples of modern American academic architecture. Other buildings on the Terrazzo include Vandenberg Hall and Sijan Hall, the two dormitories; Mitchell Hall, the cadet dining facility; and Fairchild Hall, the main academic building, which houses academic classrooms, laboratories, research facilities, faculty offices and the Robert F. McDermott Library.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The Aeronautics Research Center (also known as the "Aero Lab") contains numerous aeronautical research facilities, including transonic, subsonic, low speed, and cascade wind tunnels; engine and rocket test cells; and simulators. The Consolidated Education and Training Facility (CETF) was built in 1997 as an annex to Fairchild Hall. It contains chemistry and biology classrooms and labs, medical and dental clinics, and civil engineering and astronautics laboratories. The Cadet Area also contains an observatory and a planetarium for academic use and navigation training.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The cadet social center is Arnold Hall, located just outside the Cadet Area, which houses a 3000-seat theater, a ballroom, a number of lounges, and dining and recreation facilities for cadets and visitors. Harmon Hall is the primary administration building, which houses the offices of the Superintendent and the Superintendent's staff.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The Cadet Area also contains extensive facilities for use by cadets participating in intercollegiate athletics, intramural athletics, physical education classes and other physical training. Set amid numerous outdoor athletic fields are the "Cadet Gymnasium" and the Cadet Fieldhouse. The Fieldhouse is the home to Clune Arena, the ice hockey rink and an indoor track, which doubles as an indoor practice facility for a number of sports. Falcon Stadium, located outside of the Cadet Area, is the football field and site of the graduation ceremonies.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Many displays around the Cadet Area commemorate heroes and air power pioneers, and serve as an inspiration to cadets. The "War Memorial", a black marble wall located just under the flagpole on the Terrazzo, is etched with the names of academy graduates who have been killed in combat. The "Honor Wall", overlooking the Terrazzo, is inscribed with the Cadet Honor Code: "We will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate among us anyone who does." Just under the Cadet Chapel, the "Class Wall" bears the crests of each of the academy's graduating classes. The crest of the current first (senior) class is displayed in the center position. Another display often used as a symbol of the academy, the "Eagle and Fledglings Statue" was given as a gift to the Academy in 1958 by the personnel of Air Training Command. It contains the inscription by Austin Dusty Miller, "Man's flight through life is sustained by the power of his knowledge." Static air- and spacecraft displays on the Academy grounds include an F-4, F-15, F-16 and F-105 on the Terrazzo; a B-52 by the North Gate; a T-38 and A-10 at the Academy Airfield; an F-100 by the preparatory school; a SV-5J lifting body next to the aeronautics laboratory; and a Minuteman III missile in front of the Fieldhouse. The Minuteman III was removed in August 2008 due to rusting and other internal damage.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The "Core Values Ramp" (formerly known as the "Bring Me Men Ramp") leads down from the main Terrazzo level toward the parade field. On in-processing day, new cadets arrive at the base of the ramp and start their transition into military and academy life by ascending the ramp to the Terrazzo. From 1964 to 2004, the portal at the base of the ramp was inscribed with the words "Bring me men ..." taken from the poem, "The Coming American," by Samuel Walter Foss. In a controversial move following the 2003 sexual assault scandal, the words "Bring me men ..." were taken down and replaced with the academy's (later adopted as the Air Force's) core values: "Integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do."


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: With an enrollment of over 1300, Air Academy High School is the only high school in the United States built on a military academy. It ranks in the top ten in the state in academic standards. Part of School District 20 (D20), its marching band regularly places in the top ten in state championships. D20 also maintains an elementary school on the academy grounds.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Other locations on campus serve support roles for cadet training and other base functions. Doolittle Hall is the headquarters of the academy's Association of Graduates and also serves as the initial reception point for new cadets arriving for Basic Cadet Training. It is named after General Jimmy Doolittle. The Goldwater Visitor Center, named after longtime proponent of the Academy United States Senator Barry Goldwater, is the focal point for family, friends and tourists visiting the Academy grounds. The Academy Airfield is used for training cadets in airmanship courses, including parachute training, soaring and powered flight. Interment at the Academy Cemetery is limited to academy cadets and graduates, certain senior officers, certain academy staff members, and certain other family members. Air power notables Carl Spaatz, Curtis E. LeMay and Robin Olds, are interred here.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The United States Air Force Academy Preparatory School (usually referred to as the "Prep School") is a program offered to selected individuals who were not able to obtain appointments directly to the Academy. The program involves intense academic preparation (particularly in English, math and science), along with athletic and military training, meant to prepare the students for appointment to the academy. A high percentage of USAFA Preparatory School students (known as "Preppies") earn appointments to the academy following their year at the Prep School.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The Cadet Honor Code is the cornerstone of a cadet's professional training and development – the minimum standard of ethical conduct that cadets expect of themselves and their fellow cadets. The Honor Code was developed and adopted by the Class of 1959, the first class to graduate from the academy and has been handed down to every subsequent class. The Code itself is simple:


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: In 1984, the Cadet Wing voted to add an "Honor Oath," which was to be taken by all cadets. The oath is administered to fourth class cadets (freshmen) when they are formally accepted into the Wing at the conclusion of Basic Cadet Training. The oath remains unchanged since its adoption in 1984 and consists of a statement of the code, followed by a resolution to live honorably (the phrase "So help me God" is now optional):


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Cadets are considered the "guardians and stewards" of the code. Cadet honor representatives are chosen by senior leadership, and oversee the honor system by conducting education classes and investigating suspected honor violations. Cadets throughout the Wing are expected to sit on Honor Boards as juries that determine whether their fellow cadets violated the code. Cadets also recommend sanctions for violations. The presumed sanction for an honor violation is disenrollment, but mitigating factors may result in the violator being placed in a probationary status for some period of time. This "honor probation" is usually only reserved for cadets in their first two years at the academy.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: To reinforce the importance of honor, character and integrity to future officers, cadets are given an extensive character and leadership curriculum. The Academy's Center for Character and Leadership Development provides classroom, seminar, workshop and experiential-based learning programs to all cadets, beginning when they enter Basic Cadet Training and continuing each year through their last semester at the academy. The center's programs, when coupled with the Honor Code and Honor System, establish a foundation for the "leaders of character" that the Academy aspires to produce.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The academy's organization is unusual in a number of respects. Because it is primarily a military unit, much of the Academy's structure is set up like that of any other Air Force Base. This is particularly true of the non-cadet units—most assigned to the 10th Air Base Wing—that provide base services such as security, communications, and engineering. Because the academy is also a university, however, the organization of the faculty and the Cadet Wing have some aspects that are more similar to the faculty and student body at a civilian college.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The student body of the academy is known as the Cadet Wing. The students, called "cadets", are divided into four classes, based on their year in school, much like a civilian college. They are not referred to as freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors, however, but as fourth-, third-, second- and first class cadets, respectively. Fourth class cadets (freshmen) are often referred to as "doolies," a term derived from the Greek word δοῦλος ("doulos") meaning "slave" or "servant." Members of the three lower classes are also referred to as "4 degrees," "3 degrees" or "2 degrees" based on their class. First-class cadets (seniors) are referred to as "firsties." In the military structure of the Cadet Wing, first class cadets hold the positions of cadet officers, second class cadets act as the cadet non-commissioned officers and third class cadets represent the cadet junior non-commissioned officers.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The Cadet Wing is divided into four groups, of ten cadet squadrons each. Each cadet squadron consists of about 110 cadets, roughly evenly distributed among the four classes. Selected first-, second- and third-class cadets hold leadership, operational and support jobs at the squadron, group and wing levels. Cadets live, march and eat meals with members of their squadrons. Military training and intramural athletics are conducted by squadron as well. Each cadet squadron and cadet group is supervised by a specially selected active duty officer called an Air Officer Commanding (AOC). In the case of a cadet squadron, the AOC is normally an active duty Air Force or Space Force major. Occasionally, officers of equivalent rank from the Army, Navy, or Marines may be selected as an AOC for a squadron while on active duty at the Academy. For a cadet group, the AOC is normally an active-duty lieutenant colonel. These officers have command authority over the cadets, counsel cadets on leadership and military career issues, oversee military training and serve as role models for the future officers. In addition to an AOC, cadet squadrons and groups are also supervised by an active duty non-commissioned officer known as an Academy Military Trainer (AMT), who fulfills a similar job as the AOC.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The Superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy is the commander and senior officer. The position of superintendent is normally held by an active-duty lieutenant general. The superintendent's role is roughly similar to that of the president of a civilian university. As such, the superintendent oversees all aspects of the Academy, including military training, academics, athletics, admissions and also functions as the installation commander of the Academy Reservation. The academy is a Direct Reporting Unit within the Air Force, so the superintendent reports directly to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Those reporting to the superintendent include the Dean of the Faculty and Commandant of Cadets, each of whom typically holds the rank of brigadier general, as well as the Director of Athletics, the Commander of the 10th Air Base Wing and the Commander of the Prep School, each of whom typically holds the rank of colonel. The 10th Air Base Wing provides all base support functions that exist at other air force bases, including civil engineering, communications, medical support, personnel, administration, security and base services. The Preparatory School provides an academic, athletic and military program for qualified young men and women who may need certain additional preparation prior to acceptance to the Academy. All flying programs at the Academy are run by the 306th Flying Training Group, which reports to the Air Education and Training Command, ensuring uniformity of flight training with the rest of the Air Force.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Congressional oversight of the academy is exercised through a 15-member Board of Visitors (BoV), established under Title 10, United States Code, Section 9455, and governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the BoV Charter. The board inquires into the morale, discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods and other matters relating to the Academy. The board " shall visit the Academy annually" and "typically held at least twice annually with one meeting being at the USAF Academy". The Board prepares semi-annual reports containing its views and recommendations submitted concurrently to the Secretary of Defense, the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the House Armed Services Committee. The 15 members of the BoV are appointed by the President of the United States, the Vice President, the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Since 2006, the board has been required to include at least two academy graduates. In July 2009, Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Colorado Congressman Jared Polis to the BoV, the first openly gay person to serve on a service academy's advisory board.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: There was controversy in December 2020 when President Trump made two lame duck appointments to the BoV: Kellyanne Conway and Heidi Stirrup. Secretary of Defense Austin suspended Defense advisory boards for a review in February 2021. President Biden asked them to resign in September 2021. Stirrup sued the Defense Department in July 2021 over the suspension of the board and in an attempt to remain on the board, however, the lawsuit was dismissed on May 9, 2022.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Numerous regular USAF units are based at the academy. Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which, although based at the U.S. Air Force Academy, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Cadets' military training occurs throughout their time at the academy, but is especially intense during their four summers. The first military experience for new cadets (called "basic cadets") occurs during the six weeks of Basic Cadet Training (BCT), in the summer before their fourth class (freshman) year. During BCT, also known as "beast," cadets learn the fundamentals of military and Academy life under the leadership of a cadre of first and second class cadets. Basic cadets learn military customs and courtesies, proper wear of the uniform, drill and ceremony, and study military knowledge and undergo a rigorous physical training program. During the second half of BCT, basic cadets march to Jacks Valley, where they complete the program in a field encampment environment. Upon completion of BCT, basic cadets receive their fourth-class shoulder boards, take the Honor Oath and are formally accepted as members of the Cadet Wing.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The fourth-class (freshman) year is traditionally the most difficult at the academy, militarily. In addition to their full academic course loads, heavy demands are placed on fourth-class cadets outside of class. Fourth-class cadets are expected to learn an extensive amount of military and Academy-related knowledge and have significant restrictions placed on their movement and actions—traversing the Cadet Area only by approved routes (including staying on the marble "strips" on the Terrazzo) and interacting with upper class cadets using a very specific decorum. The fourth-class year ends with "Recognition," a physically and mentally demanding several-day event which culminates in the award of the Prop and Wings insignia to the fourth-class cadets, signifying their ascension to the ranks of upper class cadets. After Recognition, the stringent rules of the fourth-class year are relaxed.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: After the first year, cadets have more options for summer military training. Between their fourth and third class years, cadets undergo training in interpersonal and small team unit training during Adventure Based Learning (ABL) and may participate in flying gliders, cyber-warfare training, satellite and space operations, unmanned systems, or free-fall parachute training. Until the Summer of 2020, cadets participated in Expeditionary and Survival Training. From the late 1960s until the mid-1990s, cadets also completed SERE training in the Jacks Valley complex between their fourth- and third-class years. This program was replaced with Combat Survival Training (CST) in 1995 and done away with entirely in 2005. In the summer of 2008, the CST program was reintroduced, but was cut again in 2011 and replaced with Expeditionary, Survival, and Evasion Training (ESET) for the summer of 2012 (the Class of 2015 was the first to participate in ESET). During their last two summers, cadets may serve as BCT cadre, travel to active duty Air Force bases and participate in a variety of other research, aviation and leadership programs. They may also be able to take courses offered by other military services, such as the U.S. Army's Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia, or the Air Assault School, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. During the academic year, all cadets take formal classes in military theory, operations and leadership.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The Air Force Academy is an accredited four-year university offering bachelor's degrees in a variety of subjects. Active-duty Air Force and Space Force officers make up approximately 70 percent of the faculty, with the balance long-term civilian professors, visiting professors from civilian universities and instructors from other U.S. and allied foreign military services. In recent years, civilians have become a growing portion of senior faculty.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Every Dean of the Faculty (equivalent to a Provost at most universities) has always been an active-duty brigadier general, although technically, a civilian may hold the position. The Dean, the Vice Dean, and each academic department chair hold the academic rank of Permanent Professor. Permanent Professors are nominated by the President of the United States and approved by the Senate, and can serve until age 64. The current Dean of the Faculty is Brigadier General Linell Letendre.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: All graduates receive a Bachelor of Science degree, regardless of major, because of the technical content of the core requirements. Cadets may choose from a variety of majors, including engineering, the basic sciences, social sciences and humanities, as well as in a variety of divisional or inter-disciplinary subjects. The academic program has an extensive core curriculum, in which all cadets take required courses in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, military studies and physical education. Approximately sixty percent of a cadet's course load is mandated by the core curriculum. As a result, most of a cadet's first two years are spent in core classes. While core requirements remain significant during the third and fourth years, cadets have more flexibility to focus in their major areas of study, allowing them to participate in international and inter-service Academy exchange programs.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Traditionally, the academic program at the Air Force Academy (as with military academies in general) has focused heavily on science and engineering, with the idea that many graduates would be expected to manage complex air, space and information technology systems. As a result, the Academy's engineering programs have traditionally been ranked highly. Over time, however, the Academy broadened its humanities offerings. About 47% of cadets typically select majors in non-technical disciplines. The academy's recent implementation of a computer and network security program may represent a return to form.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Externally funded research at the Air Force Academy has been a large and growing part of the technical majors. Air Force has ranked highest of all undergraduate-only universities in federally funded research as reported by the National Science Foundation, surpassing $60 million in 2010. Many cadets are involved in research via their major, coordinated in more than a dozen Academy research centers, including the Institute for Information Technology Applications, the Institute for National Security Studies, the Air Force Humanities Institute, the Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense Studies, the Life Sciences Research Center, the Academy Center for Physics Education Research, among others.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The Air Force Academy has a Cyber Competition team that operates under the Dean of the Faculty and the Department of Computer and Cyber Science.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: In November 2017, teams from the Air Force Academy took both first and second in a competition against the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy at the CyberStakes Live competition in Las Vegas, Nevada.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: In March 2019, the team won the Atlantic Council's national Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge in Washington, DC.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: In April 2019, the National Security Agency announced that the U.S. Air Force Academy was the winner of the 2019 NSA Cyber Exercise. The events included forensics, cyber policy, data analysis, software development, and a cyber combat scenario.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: In 2018, the USAFA Class of 1968 announced that they would adopt the Cyber Team, with the goal of raising over $500,000 to establish a permanent endowment to cover travel expenses and other costs.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: All cadets at the Academy take part in the school's extensive athletic program. The program is designed to enhance the physical conditioning of all cadets, to develop the physical skills necessary for officership, to teach leadership in a competitive environment and to build character. The primary elements of the athletic program are intercollegiate athletics, intramural athletics, physical education, and the physical fitness tests.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Cadets are required to take physical education courses in each of their four years at the academy. All fourth-class cadets are required to take Boxing and Physical Development. All third-class cadets are required to take Swimming (or Basic Swimming), Water Survival, and an individual sport elective such as tennis, racquetball, golf, indoor rock climbing, or Warrior Enhancement Yoga. Second-class cadets are required to take Combatives I & II (unarmed combat) and a team sports elective such as volleyball, basketball, softball, or soccer. First-class cadets are required to take two open elective courses such as Introduction to Combatives, Functional Fitness, Team or Individual Sport Elective(s), Independent Exercise (C1C/C2C cadets only) or Cadet Instructor (C1C/C2C cadets only). Cadets participating in inter-collegiate sports typically have a modified course schedule for completing their required PE courses.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Each semester, cadets must pass two athletic fitness tests, the AFT and PFT: a run to measure aerobic fitness, and a 15-minute, 5-event, physical fitness test consisting of pull-ups, a standing long jump, sit-ups, push-ups and a sprint. Failure to pass a fitness test usually results in the cadet being assigned to a reconditioning course until they can pass the test. Repeated failures can lead to disenrollment by the Physical Education Review Committee.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: All cadets are required to compete in intramural athletics for their entire time at the Academy, unless they are on-season for intercollegiate athletics. Intramural sports put cadet squadrons against one another in many sports, including basketball, cross-country, flag football, ice hockey, racquetball, flickerball, rugby union, boxing, soccer, mountain biking, softball, team handball, tennis, Ultimate, wallyball and volleyball. Winning the Wing Championship in a given sport is a particular source of pride for a cadet squadron.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The academy's intercollegiate program has 17 men's and 10 women's NCAA sanctioned teams, nicknamed the "Falcons." Men's teams compete in football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, cross-country, fencing, golf, gymnastics, indoor and outdoor track, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, water polo and wrestling. In 1991 the wrestling team won the WAC championship, which was the first ever by any USAFA sports team. Women's teams include basketball, cross-country, fencing, gymnastics, indoor and outdoor track, swimming and diving, soccer, tennis and volleyball. The Academy fields a coeducational team in rifle. In addition, the Academy also sponsors two non-NCAA programs: cheerleading and boxing. The Academy also has several club sports, such as rugby, that compete at an intercollegiate level outside of the NCAA.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The men's and women's programs compete in NCAA's Division I, with the football team competing in Division I FBS. Most teams are in the Mountain West Conference; however, the wrestling team competes in the Big 12 Conference, the gymnastics teams compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation; the men's soccer team competes in the Western Athletic Conference; the men's hockey team competes in Atlantic Hockey, the water polo team competes in the Western Water Polo Association, the coeducational rifle team competes in the Patriot Rifle Conference, and as of the next lacrosse season in 2022, the men's lacrosse team competes in the ASUN Conference. The men's boxing team competes in the National Collegiate Boxing Association. For a number of years, only the men's teams competed in Division I. Women's teams competed in Division II and were once members of the Continental Divide Conference, then the Colorado Athletic Conference. With new NCAA legislation, beginning in 1996, women's teams also competed in Division I.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Air Force has traditional service academy rivalries with Navy and Army. The three service academies compete for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy in football each year. Air Force Falcons football has had the best showing of the three, winning the trophy 18 of its 34 years. The Academy also has an in-state rivalry with Colorado State University, which is located in Fort Collins and is a fellow member of the Mountain West Conference.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The boxing team, led for 31 years by Coach Ed Weichers, has won 18 national championships. The Academy's men's and women's rugby teams have each won multiple national championships and the women's side recently had two players selected for the United States national team. The football team has played in 17 bowl games and the basketball team has had strong showings in the last several years, qualifying for the NCAA tournament and, most recently, making the final four of the 2007 NIT Tournament. The men's ice hockey team won the last two Atlantic Hockey conference tournaments, made the first ever appearance by a service academy in the NCAA hockey tournament in 2007, and made a repeat appearance in 2008. The Air Force Academy's Men's Hockey team recently lost in the "Elite Eight" of hockey in double overtime. This marked the farthest they had gone in the post-season in school history and the longest an Atlantic Hockey Association team has made it into the post-season.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The track and field team has had national and international success. Three women won Division II NCAA titles before the women's team moved to Division I competition: Gail Conway (outdoor 400 meters in 1983, outdoor 800 meters in 1984); Jill Wood (indoor 1500 meters in 1988); and Callie Calhoun (indoor and outdoor 3000 meters and outdoor 5000 meters in 1990, indoor 3000 meters and outdoor 10,000 meters in 1991). Three athletes have also won Division I NCAA outdoor titles: Jim Murphy in the 5000 meters in 1964, Dana Pounds in the javelin in 2005 and 2006, and Mahala Norris in the steeplechase in 2021. 1983 alumnus Alonzo Babers won gold medals in the 400 meters and the 4x400 meter relay at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: In 2014, Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson responded to reports of allegations of sexual assault and drug use at a December 2011 party by calling for a review of the athletic department by the inspector general.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Cadets have the opportunity to take part in several airmanship activities to include soaring, parachuting, and powered flight. Airmanship activities at the Academy are primarily conducted by the 306th Flying Training Group.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The 94th Flying Training Squadron trains cadets in basic airmanship principles through several flights in TG-16A sailplanes. Each year, several soaring students are selected to become instructor pilots to teach new classes of soaring students. Some of these cadet instructor pilots also compete on the Soaring Racing Team or Acrobatics Team in national competitions.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: Cadets also have the opportunity to take a parachuting course conducted by the 98th Flying Training Squadron. Each year, hundreds of cadets earn their Basic Parachutist Badge by completing five jumps in the program. A number of cadets are selected for further training and become members of The Wings of Blue, the U.S. Air Force Parachute Team.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: A powered flight program is conducted under the 557th Flying Training Squadron to expose cadets to the basics of powered flight. The program uses T-53A aircraft to offer cadets basic flight training and the opportunity to solo. The U.S. Air Force Academy Flying Team is composed of ~26 cadets selected to compete in National Intercollegiate Flying Association competitions. The Flying Team uses T-41D and T-51A aircraft to compete in precision landing, navigation, and message drop events.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: In addition to the normal application process, all candidates must secure a nomination to the academy, normally from a U.S. Senator or U.S. Representative. Each member of Congress and the Vice President can have five appointees attending the Air Force Academy at any time. The process for obtaining a congressional nomination is not political and candidates do not have to know their senator or representative to secure a nomination. Additional nomination slots are available for children of career military personnel, children of disabled veterans or veterans who were killed in action, or children of Medal of Honor recipients. The admissions process is a lengthy one and applicants usually begin the paperwork during their junior year of high school.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: There were 306 cadets admitted for the first class (class of 1959). By 1961, class size was down to 271, but due to the need for officers in the Vietnam War, grew to 745 admittees in 1970, and peaking in 1974, with 1,620, and 1975, with 1,626, the largest number ever admitted. After that class sizes shrank down to about 1,300 before spiking to 1,485 in 1988 (class of 1992). Despite a peak of 1,350 (admitted 2004) and 1,418 (admitted 2005), from 1995 to 2005 class size averaged about 1,250 freshmen. From 2005 to 2010 class sizes were slightly down from the 2005 peak. The 2013 class (beginning 2009) had 1,286 and the 2014 class (beginning Fall 2010) had 1,285. Cutbacks were ordered in 2011, so by 2012, the entering class (class of 2016) was down to about 1,050. The class 2022 began with 1,286 students, lowered to 1,282 by the end of BCT. The class of 2023 began with 1159, and ended BCT with approximately 1150.


title: United States Air Force Academy

text: The Prop and Wings insignia of the Air Service (1918–26), Air Corps (1926–41), and Army Air Forces (1941–47) became the insignia of upperclass cadets at the Air Force Academy beginning with the first class, 1959. The insignia is given to fourth class (freshmen) cadets at the Recognition Ceremony near the end of their first year rite of passage. The standard insignia uses the design of the Air Corps Prop and Wings, except that it is all silver instead of the gold wings and silver prop of the earlier design. Cadets who have ancestors who served in the Air Service, Air Corps, or Army Air Forces, or those who are direct descendants of Air Force Academy graduates, are eligible to wear a different set of props and wings consisting of a silver prop and gold wings.