 Air Force Academy cadets celebrate after graduation in 2003 Academics
The Air Force Academy is an accredited four year university offering Bachelor's degrees in a variety of subjects. Air Force officers, serving as instructors, may also pursue certain graduate course work; regardless of major, all graduates receive a Bachelor of Science, due to the technical content of the core requirements. All cadets take at least one specified class from each of the academic departments.
Academic Organization:
Dean of Faculty
- Basic Sciences Division
- Biology Department
- Chemistry Department
- Computer Science Department (offers a minor)
- Mathematical Sciences Department (offers a minor)
- Physics Department
- Engineering Division
- Aeronautics Department
- Astronautics Department
- Civil Engineering Department
- Electrical Engineering Department
- Engineering Mechanics Department
- Humanities Division
- English Department
- Foreign Language Department (offers a minor)
- Arabic
- Chinese
- French
- German
- Japanese
- Spanish
- Russian
- History Department
- Philosophy Department (offers a minor only, the only department to do so)
- Social Sciences Division
- Behavioral Science & Leadership Department
- Economics & Geography Department
- Law Department
- Management Department
- Political Science
The Air Force Academy employs a full faculty of professors, instructors, and support personnel. Active duty US military officers, who serve as professors at the Air Force Academy, are eligible to receive the Air Force Academy Professor Badge; some professors are civilian or allied military officers.
Women at the Academy
President Gerald R. Ford signed legislation October 7, 1975, permitting women to enter the military academies. Women entered the Air Force Academy for the first time on June 28, 1976. The first class with women graduated in May 1980. Twelve percent of the women who graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2003 reported that they were victims of rape or attempted rape while at the Academy.1 It is estimated that about 20 percent of all women students were victims; few of the alleged attackers have graduated, despite insufficient evidence for courts martial. Sexual predation was mainly directed toward freshmen and sophomores who were under 21 and blackmailed after accepting alcohol from upperclass cadets. Women who complained were generally pushed or counciled out of the academy, ostensibly for alcohol abuse and fraternization which led to the situation in which rapes occurred. This situation is thought to have been generally known among the leadership of the United States Air Force, but little has been done until recently to correct the situation or to discipline officers in leadership positions at the Academy2 3; those that have been disciplined have often been scapegoats, including a Colonel who was forced into retirement despite having been assigned to the Air Force Academy for only two months, well after the alleged rapes occurred.
Sports at the Academy
The Air Force Academy competes in the NCAA's Division I-A. Its primary conference is the Mountain West Conference; its gymnastics (men and women) and men's soccer teams compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and its hockey team competes in College Hockey America. The sports teams are called the Falcons.
Air Force plays Colorado State in football every year for the Ram-Falcon Trophy, a travelling award that alternates between the schools. It also has traditional service academy rivalries with Navy and Army; the service academies compete for the Commander-in-Chief's trophy in football each year.
External links
Source
- Bruegmann, Robert. Modernism at Mid-Century: The Architecture of the United States Air Force Academy. University of Chicago Press: 1995. ISBN 0226076938.
- Fagan, George V. Air Force Academy: An Illustrated History. Johnson Books: 1988. ISBN 1555660320.
- Lui, 'Elizabeth Gill. Spirit and Flight: A Photographic Salute to the United States Air Force Academy. 1996. ISBN 0965258505.
- Phariss, Mark R., Class of 2003, Direct Personal Knowledge.
Footnotes
- Free subscription required (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/29/national/29ACAD.html?th)
- Free subscription required (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/23/politics/23CADE.html?th)
- Free subscription required (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/08/politics/08cadets.html?th)
|
