College sports

 I didn’t play any intercollegiate sports while I was in College. But I kept pretty physically active. It was a requirement.

I did go to tryouts for the football team my freshman year. My thoughts were I might be able to play wide receiver. I was pretty damn skinny and there wasn’t much else I could even have a shot at. Unfortunately, I figured out pretty quickly that I wasn’t nearly fast enough to be seriously considered for intercollegiate level football. Didn’t bother me a bit, in fact it just put that question to rest, so there were no regrets or questions later. The Academy was so many challenges wrapped up in an all-consuming life - one less mountain to climb was more of a relief than a disappointment.

The Academy was much like my Dad: play sports or play sports. If you weren’t playing for a team sport, you were required to play intramurals in the afternoons between classes and dinner formation, two to three times a week. There were three seasons of intramurals and each Squadron fielded teams in several sports, depending on the season. As a freshman you got dumped into the teams all of the upperclassmen avoided (Which I did too, when it became my time…!), so I played things like boxing, wrestling (I was a referee my Sophomore year. Hated that), soccer, volleyball, flag football, team handball, rugby and flickerball.

Rugby was a Club sport at the Academy. Still is. They play other colleges, but also city league teams around Colorado. I joined up on the B-side (Jr. Varsity) my sophomore year, I played out on the wing and had a great time. The team traveled on the weekends, going as far as Aspen and Denver and all over Colorado Springs. The problem was it took up entire weekends, and I realized quickly I got NO studying done those weekends between travel, games, parties, and travel back Sunday night. My Junior year I went to a couple of pre-season practices and realized I didn’t have the ability to handle all that and get decent grades. The coach was not happy, but I didn’t care. Rugby was not a goal in any scenario I had for the future.

But in intramurals, having played the game, I was a pretty good player/coach for our Squadron rugby team, and we did pretty well.

Choosing a major

 I entered the Air Force Academy with the vague idea that I would major in Civil Engineering. Building things like roads, bridges, buildings, dams, water systems, etc. seemed like something worthwhile (They didn’t offer a Journalism or Communications degree). I wanted to fly, but I also knew that didn’t last forever.

That was pretty much the plan through my whole freshman year. I wasn’t great at math, but I never got less than a ‘C.’ Then, in the fall of 1979, the Iranian Hostage Crisis happened.

During the Sophomore year the core classes are pretty much done, and you start getting the Intro classes: Econ, Aero, Astro, Psych, etc. I was deep into my first Intro to Poli Sci class when the Iranians had their Revolution, kicked out the Shah, overran the US Embassy, and took 52 Americans hostage.

It lasted 444 days, and throughout the entire process, the stuff we studied in one Poli Sci class after another made complete sense to me. As a future Air Force officer, this was much more relevant to my immediate future than trying to sum moments around a beam. Thus, when it came time to declare a Major in the 2nd semester of my Sophomore year, it was pretty much a no-brainer for me: Poli Sci. Plus, I had no problem writing all the papers that degree required. Trying to wrap my head around an engineering degree and all that math? That was just work.

Looking back, I think that finding jobs outside the Air Force with an engineering degree may have been a bit easier in a town like Pittsburgh, but it all worked out fine. The basic education served me well, and I really enjoyed what I studied in my concentration.

My favorite classes were Terrorism (Political Violence & Societal Change); American Government; American Foreign Policy; International Law; Comparative Political Systems; Comparative Defense Policy; Modern Warfare & Society; the one Comp Sci class I took (punch cards!); Management, and Behavioral Science. I also took both Soaring and Free-Fall parachuting.

I took an Intro to Navigation class as one of my summer electives and though I got a B, it was great for making the first couple weeks of Nav School easier.

Squadron life (in college)

 The Air Force Academy student body was split into Squadrons, instead of Fraternities. When I attended, there were about 4000 students divided between 40 Squadrons. Each Squadron had about 25 students from each class, Freshman through Seniors.

Seniors were the leadership of the Squadron, with a Squadron Commander, Ops Officer, Training Officer, Flight Commanders, etc. The Juniors were the Senior Enlisted. They implemented training, and were relied upon to execute policies and operations. The Sophomores, fresh from being at the bottom of the training ladder, were the eager beaver junior enlisted responsible for training the Fourth Class.

My first two years at the Academy was in 27th Squadron, known as the Thunderbirds. We resided on the 3rd floor at the east end of Sijan Hall. In previous years cadets would change squadrons after the freshman year, the thought being that no matter what a screw up you were as a SMACK, you could have a fresh start in your new Squadron as an Upperclassman. With the Class of 81, they held them in their freshman squadrons an extra year, much to their outrage (which it felt like they took out on us.).

My freshman squadron: 27 Thunderbirds!

After my Sophomore year, Troy Hithe and I moved to the west side of the the building to 38th Squadron, The All Stars.
Both squadrons were good experiences. Pretty good leadership at both the AOC and cadet level. Several Generals came out of both upper classes. One of the girls in my 2nd squadron, Barb Faulkenbery, became a 2-Star. My first AOC (Air Officer Commanding) in 38th Squadron, was a Captain Drinkwater, an Army Officer (probably a West Point Grad), who had already been a TAC officer at West Point. Tough little bastard who like to pull surprise inspections. His philosophy was to get as many people close to walking Tours as possible so we “Toed the line.” 

Interesting leadership style. My last AOC was Capt Mark E.S. Mayhew. I talk about him later when I retire. Nice guy, but he lost a lot of luster in my eyes my Senior year when he asked me to provide poor performance reports for guys he wanted to kick out.

Every semester we changed roommates. I had two roommates the last two years: Dave Schapiro and Bob Devaney. Dave was a great roommate: Ended up on Group Staff, so I had my own room for two Semesters. When he was in the room, he was usually gone on Choir trips. Same with Bob, who was a hockey player. Most of the hockey season he was on the road, so it was pretty relaxing, though I had to go through lots of room inspections on my own. Dorm life was never boring. As you progressed in age, you took on more duties. I did stuff like Athletics Officer, and Training Officer and Flight Commander. Fun stuff, but it kept you engaged in the group the whole year long. To this day I think it is good leadership training, not to just be a leader, but teaching you how to be a member of a unit, and what to expect as your experience level and expertise increases.

My buddies on a winter Sophomore Saturday night in the dorms. #noleavenoproblem Top: Tom Potier. L-R: Me, Mark Miller, Dave Schrier, Terry Cronk. Sitting: Scott Lardner.