Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Changes to U.S. Air Force SongChanges to U.S. Air Force Song
                        
                        
                        Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein shares his thoughts on changes made to the third verse of the U.S. Air Force song. (U.S. Air Force courtesy graphic)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

Updating our alma mater to celebrate all of usPublished Feb. 27, 2020
                    
                    By Gen. David L. Goldfein (U.S. Air Force Academy Class of 1983 graduate)
                    
                    
                    U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff
            **WASHINGTON (AFNS) --**As a second-generation Airman and an Air Force Academy graduate, I cherish our storied heritage and the sacrifices of all the trailblazers who made our Academy and the Air Force what they are today. As the 21st chief of staff, I am equally proud of today’s exceptional men and women who make us the greatest Air Force on the planet.Holding dear these two unmistakable realities — our rich heritage and who we are today — underpin my decision to update the U.S. Air Force Song. I have authorized Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria, Class of 1985, USAFA superintendent, to use a new version of the third verse of the U.S. Air Force Song, our Alma Mater, that better reflects the reality of today’s force by celebrating all who have — and will — step up to serve.Most of us can remember standing in Falcon Stadium or at Clune Arena facing West Point (U.S. Military Academy) or Annapolis (U.S. Naval Academy) cadets following a spectacular win at 6,000 feet. Over the past two years, I have been honored to attend the women’s service academy volleyball tournament played at the Pentagon. Our team crushed the competition last year. At the end of the match, I stood with our brave women and sang our alma mater.These are the women we will ask to go into combat and fight just as women have done for a generation. Yet this version of the song, their alma mater, was not about them. The version we all sang offered, “a toast to the host of the men we boast.” Across the court stood athletes from Annapolis, which changed its alma mater in 2004, and those from West Point, whose song changed in 2008. It is time for us to change.Last year, a team of Airmen and cadets at the Academy updated the lyrics based on bedrock principles. Our song must reflect our history, the inspiring service and accomplishments of all who’ve served, and the rich diversity that makes today’s Air Force indisputably the strongest and most capable in the world. While I’ve asked Gen. Silveria and our Air Force Academy to lead this change, we’ll also take a hard look at whether further updates may be warranted for the other verses of the song.Valid as this rationale is, these changes will draw notice and spark debate. The Air Force song is such a powerful and enduring touchstone that has been sung at countless funerals and ceremonies. Changing it will elicit emotions and opinions.This is why I must be clear. In making this decision, I respect the views of others who will not agree. But I also know with absolute certainty and clarity that these changes are about adding to, not subtracting from, who we are. Changing the lyrics in no way diminishes the history and accomplishments of men or dilutes our eternal gratitude for their sacrifice and bravery.These new lyrics speak more accurately to all we do, all that we are and all that we strive to be as a profession of arms. They add proper respect and recognition to everyone who serves and who has served. This respect and recognition is not only appropriate, it is fully earned.There are plenty of inspiring examples of courageous women leading us in combat and in service. Retired Col. Martha McSally, Class of 1988, was the first woman in the Air Force to serve as the commander of any combat aviation squadron, to include fighters and bombers. She now serves as a U.S. senator from Arizona.Capt. Amy Lynn Svoboda, Class of 1989, is another. Her squadron’s training officer, Svoboda was killed flying her A-10 Thunderbolt II during a night training mission. While a cadet, she was a member of the women’s volleyball team, and every year the Amy Svoboda Award is given to the player who best exemplifies selfless service.Let me share as well the story of Maj. Adrianna M. Vorderbruggen, Class of 2002 and a highly regarded special agent with the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations, who was killed in 2015 by a suicide bomber while stationed in Afghanistan. She was one of six Airmen killed in the attack at Bagram Airfield in what was the single deadliest attack since 2013. All served with OSI or Air Force security forces.This is who we are. We will never forget our history. Our song embodies our ethos and must be inclusive of all who raise their right hand and take the solemn oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. We freely take this oath without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.When I walk the sacred grounds of Arlington National Cemetery this Memorial Day as I do every year and visit the Airmen killed under my command as the Combined Forces Air Component Commander in the Middle East, I will visit men and women buried side by side. Such is the nature of combat. It does not discriminate. Neither should we.New Verse IIIHere's a toast to the hostOf those who love the vastness of the sky,To a friend we send a message of the brave who serve on high.We drink to those who gave their all of old,Then down we roar to score the rainbow's pot of gold.A toast to the host of those we boast, the U.S. Air Force!AFWN 



USAF 



AF 



Air Force 



US Air Force Academy 



USAFA 



song 



announcement 



alma mater 



Air Force Song 



update 



CSAF 



Air Force Chief of Staff 



Gen. David Goldfein Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fight
                    
                    SecAF Kendall AFA Warfare Symposium Q&A: Reoptimizing for Great Power CompetitionInnovation
                AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalists
                    
                    Chief Digital, Artificial Intelligence Office to host hackathon in HawaiiMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil