A VISIT TO THE U. S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY

We decided to visit the U. S. Air Force Academy, only a short drive from our campground.

Prior to the Air Force Academy being built in the 1950's, this land had a storied history. In the mid-1800's, pioneers selected 160-acre parcels of land to homestead. In the late 1800's, both the Denver & Rio Grand Railroad and the Santa Fe Railroad built tracks southward from Denver along the mountain corridor to Colorado Springs. Small towns grew up along these railroad tracks. With the advent of the automobile in the early 1900's, several highways were built between Denver and Colorado Springs. Soon homes, small businesses and ranches sprouted up. Dairy farms and horse farms were prevalent. In 1954, 18,000 acres were selected to build the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Once we passed the visitors' gate we came to the Academic Overlook. Here we could see the academic buildings which are arranged in a quadrangle with lots of space between buildings for the 4,000+ cadets to move from building to building. The pointed structure is the very famous chapel. 

The second stop along our drive to the Visitors' Center was the Athletic Overlook. Here you could see the vast array of athletic fields as well as the fieldhouse that host the sporting events at the academy.  Each cadet must participate in at least one sport while at the academy.

Once we arrived at the Visitors' Center, we were treated to this magnificent view of the Front Range as we looked westward.

As we looked to the southwest, we could see just how close (about 3 miles) the fires of 2012 came to the Academy. You can see the burn scars in the top center of the photo below.

Much of the architecture at the academy was designed to look like airplanes. This view of the Chapel looks like the wings of a jet fighter plane. There are 17 spires. The original plans called for 21 spires to symbolize a 21-gun salute but there were budget cuts back in the 1950's when the plans were being finalized that reduced the spires to their current number.

The inside of the chapel was beautiful  Thousands of stained glass pieces were used in the design of the Protestant Chapel which seats 1,200. The stained glass colors go from dark colors in the rear of the Chapel to light colors in the front.

Here is a view looking out one of the windows in the rear of the Protestant Chapel. Notice the view of the Front Range easily seen from the chapel.

There are also a Catholic Chapel, Jewish Chapel, and Buddhist Chapel on the lower level of the building.

This is a view of the academy's administration building from the Chapel. Since this was during the summer, there was some heavy-duty maintenance being done.  The building on the right again follows the theme of aeronautics by being built in the shape of an airplane tail.

The Cadet Honor Code is proudly displayed on the wall by the Honor Court for all cadets to be reminded of this oath that they commit to follow throughout their education at the academy

The Honor Court had a collection of model planes, each being several feet in length.

Cadet dorms and academic buildings are located off the quad. Each corner of the quad had a plane displayed. This is an F-16 fighter, the same plane used by the Air Force Thunderbirds.

We did see several new flowers along the 1/3 mile nature walk from the Visitors' Center to the Chapel. First, Common or Wooly Mullein.  We have been watching this plant grow all summer long and were disappointed that the flower that is finally blooming is not very attractive.

and then American Wintercress or Mountain Parsley Plants.

We enjoyed our visit to the Academy and hope to return in August to watch their women's volleyball team in action.