Should Air Force be part of the Pac 12? (Part 2 of 11)

United States Air Force Academy

The Academics

Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Type of School: Public
Total Student Population: 4,537
Undergrads: 4,537
Demographics: 8% Asian; 5% Black; 7% Hispanic; 77% White; 2% Native American; 1% International (International students serve in the Air Force of their country upon graduation)
Sex Ratio: 80.8% male; 19.2% female
%age of Natives: 6% are from Colorado (Most students are from the Eastern US, the highest represented state is California, and the student population based on state is based on the representation of the US as a whole as most students receive appointments from Congress)
Ranking: 1st among Baccalaureate Colleges in the West
AVG SAT of admitted kids: 1310
Endowment: No endowment, so I'll say the Federal Government and our taxes is their endowment

CURRENT CONFERENCES: Mountain West(ALL SPORTS)
Football stadium capacity: 52,480
Men's Basketball capacity: 5,939
Women's Basketball capacity: 5,939
Most notable money sport: Football

OVERVIEW
So this is the Air Force Academy on day one:

Well USNA plebes take it a little better. I don't see much stuff relating to West Point. See below:

Okay, to be real, the US Air Force Academy is one of the five service academies that produce officers in the United States Air Force upon graduation. All those who stay for their third year at USAFA must serve five years in the US Air Force after graduation. If you want to know more about it, see my Naval Academy page.

Academically, of the three armed service academies, the Air Force Academy is the most booksmart, averaging higher SAT scores than every other service academy. This is in large part because the Air Force, as opposed to the Army and Navy/Marines are much more dedicated toward direct combat than the Air Force, which is a more technical force by nature. Also, the Air Force is the only force where women can serve in virtually every role, including direct combat roles, which in their case, would be as bombers and fighter pilots. Yes, THESE FIGHTER pilots though they're in the Navy, not the Air Force:




I found it surprising that the Army ended up with the first four star general who was a woman, but still, AF women can do practically everything. Army women can't.

I don't see any Pac 10 school not wanting Air Force in as an academic member, aside from the fact that they have no graduate programs and research money. That would be offset by the school's top notch academic reputation in and of itself, its altruistic mission to make America's future military leaders even better, and then some.

WHY AIR FORCE SHOULD GET IN THE PACIFIC 12
Like my case with Navy for the ACC, AF being in the Pacific 12 would yes, be a good PR move, but make the military more visible and a desirable option not only for student athletes, but for an entire country which is getting more skeptical of serving in the military, generally speaking.

Of the three service academies in Division I (USMA, USNA, and USAFA), the Falcons are in by far the best shape in terms of getting into an automatic BCS conference from an athletic standpoint. They play in the Mountain West Conference in all sports, as opposed to West Point and Annapolis who are in the lousy Patriot League. Generally speaking in all sports, Air Force has done the best by far because they already have made the decision to play in a high level non-BCS conference from the beginning, though they have more freedom to do this because the USAFA is in Colorado as opposed to Army and Navy, which are about 200 miles apart. Either way, assuming Air Force goes into the Pac 12 AND Army and Navy remain in the Patriot League, the Falcons would win recruiting battles for all the student athletes who are serious about playing at a high level competition wise at the college level, AND are also serious about serving the US Armed Forces. So what I'm saying is that recruiting would improve at Air Force for every sport and they will be competitive when they can get the best Division I athletes who want to serve our country.

WHY AIR FORCE SHOULD NOT BE IN THE PACIFIC 12
The Air Force Academy may be great academically, and athletically in a number of olympic sports, but they are historically not good in basketball, though the men's team had some moments this past decade. Also getting Air Force may get military guys hyped up, but the national guys may not be so pleased about the move either since other schools that are candidates, such as Boise State, Utah, and Brigham Young among others have more national oomph as college sports power and could give more money NOW. That's not to say that the Falcons aren't a national program (they are), but they are a military institution more than they are a college to tell you the truth. Current institutions may like the brains of the cadets here, but having Air Force also means no additional research partnerships, which are mostly at the post graduate level, and Air Force doesn't have that and they honestly don't give a shit about it when they're training guys and gals for war even if they're smarter than most of the Pac 10 guys as it is.

MY FINAL TAKE
I personally am all for Air Force getting to the Pac 12. But if they go here, it is also only fair that Army and Navy make similar moves as well. For me, 50/50.

AND NOW, NOTABLE ALUMNI OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY!
Capt Gregg Popovich, Class of 1970
He was a captain and the leading scorer for the men's basketball team and served as an intelligence officer in the USAF; also played for the US Armed Forces basketball team when he was on active duty. We better know him as the head coach of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, where he won four NBA championships, and coincidentally, he had another service academy graduate to play for him in David Robinson who was from the Naval Academy so that was a great 1-2 combo in order to get guys to pay attention.


Capt Chelsey Sullenberger, Class of 1973
He was yelled at by Gregg Popovich at his first day on campus. Okay, I'm, 99% sure made that up, but it was possible. He was an F-4 Fighter pilot, but is better known as the pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, who made a successful water landing on the Hudson River in 2009 after the plane engine collided with birds during takeoff on January 15, 2009.


Gen Norton Schwartz, Class of 1973
He served as a pilot of transport aircraft, and is now the Current Chief of Staff for the US Air Force, or in other words, he is the top officer in the US Air Force.


Gen Kevin Chilton, Class of 1976
He was a test pilot of fighter jets, but is most famous for being a NASA astronaut for 11 years and served as the Deputy Program Director for the first days of the International Space Station and spent a total of over 29 days in space. He is also the only astronaut to become a four star general where he is in charge of the US Strategic Command.


Col Martha McSally, Class of 1988
Combat Pilot; was the first woman to fly into a combat zone during Desert Storm (1st Iraq War); she flies A-10 aircraft, which are low altitude single man aircraft which armored forces on the ground. This picture still shows her as a Lieutenant Colonel, one rank below her current rank.


Capt Troy Calhoun, Class of 1989
Was the quarterback of the football team in his day. Most famous as the current head coach of the Air Force football team


Lt Col Christopher Howard, Class of 1991
Was an All American Running Back for the football team and a Rhodes Scholar; he got his Ph.D at Oxford naturally. Is a current USAF reserve intelligence officer and is now the President of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia.


Maj Nicole Malachowski (born as Nicole Ellingwood), Class of 1996
Fighter pilot of F-15 aircraft; flew in combat during the 2nd Iraq War; Most famous as the first woman to be a pilot for the US Air Force Thunderbirds from 2005-2007, which is a demonstration airplane group that does crazy stunts. She most recently was a White House Fellow and is now back in the force, and still can fly those fighter jets.


Maj Samantha Weeks (married too, not looking for her maiden name), Class of 1997
Fighter pilot of F-15 aircraft and also flew in combat in our current war; she was the 2nd woman to join the Thunderbirds. The Navy/Marines' equivalent, the Blue Angels still has never had a woman fly one of their six planes, at least, not yet.



Next school is Boise State University

Oops. Clicked the wrong one. Air Force would be a great fit; they have outstanding academics and thanks to their coach they'll be a solid squad. But I really doubt that'll happen. I don't know how effective you can be recruiting a four-star high schooler who's thinking of the NFL, not service.

I don't think so.

I already have my desired Pac 10 teams set and I don't think Air Force sports are strong enough to be apart of the Pac 12

Ehh I dont think so.


I never understood why Air force is in a conference but Navy and Army arent :/

DOG the bounty hunter wrote:

Ehh I dont think so.


I never understood why Air force is in a conference but Navy and Army arent :/

I am not in the military, but I have a grandcousin (my dad and uncle are 18 years apart) and she is now a plebe at the Naval Academy, and one of my friends in high school went to the Air Force Academy. The attitude AF has is a little bit more edgy from what I get than Army and Navy. From a sports perspective, they are the left out third guy in the bunch more times than not in many things because they're out west while Army and Navy are a short drive (3 - 4 hrs) from each other, and they think they are the best service academy, period. Their membership in the MWC is reflective of that, and they moved there along with Utah and some other teams from the WAC when the MWC was formed. Army and Navy are in the Patriot League as I said before which is made up of mostly top tier liberal arts colleges and universities, and though it isn't as great athletically, academically, the Patriot League fits well with both Army and Navy. For football, you are right that they have no conference, and it is because of tradition. Army for a few years went to the CUSA, but they quit a few years ago, not to mention they sucked in there anyway.

I like the feedback, and of course, I threw these guys in to see what you guys think.