Air Force Academy

The United States Air Force Academy is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County. The academy is an institution for the undergraduate education of officers for the United States Air Force. Graduates of the four-year program receive a Bachelor of Science degree and most are commissioned as second lieutenants in the United States Air Force. The Academy is also one of the largest tourist attractions in Colorado, attracting more than a million visitors each year.

The Air Force Academy is among the most selective colleges in the United States, although many publications such as U.S. News and World Report do not rank the Academy directly against other colleges because of the Academy's special mission. Candidates are judged based on their academic achievement, demonstrated leadership, athletics and character. To gain admission, candidates must also pass a fitness test, undergo a thorough medical examination, and secure a nomination, which usually comes from one of the candidate's members of Congress. Cadets pay no tuition, but incur a commitment to serve a number of years in the military service after graduation.

The 17-spired Cadet Chapel is the most distinctive building in the Cadet Area, and is often used as a symbol of the Academy itself. The subject of controversy when it was first built, it is now considered among the most beautiful examples of modern American academic architecture. The structure consists of 100 identical aluminum tetrahedrons, with colored glass in the spaces between the tetrahedrons. The chapel reaches a height of 150 feet, with an overall length of 280 feet and a width of 84 feet. Architect Walter Netsch said he was inspired in his design by the Sainte-Chapelle cathedral in Paris, the Cathedral of Chartres, and the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi in Italy. The Cadet Chapel is built on two levels. The upstairs portion houses a 1,300 seat Protestant chapel; downstairs are a 500-seat Catholic chapel, a 100-seat Jewish chapel, and interfaith rooms used for services of other religions.

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. As an initial measure, Secretary of the Air Force W. Stuart Symington negotiated an agreement where up to 25% of West Point and Annapolis graduates could volunteer to receive their commissions in the newly-established Air Force. However, this was only a short term fix, and disagreements between the services 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.

By 1954, Congress passed legislation to begin the construction of the Air Force Academy, and President Eisenhower signed it into law on April 1 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 June 24, 1954. Meanwhile, Air Training Command began developing a detailed curriculum for the Academy program.