{"id":4609,"date":"2016-08-04T09:30:06","date_gmt":"2016-08-04T15:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/?p=4609"},"modified":"2016-08-04T10:14:34","modified_gmt":"2016-08-04T16:14:34","slug":"afa-grad-thunderbirds-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2016\/08\/afa-grad-thunderbirds-2016.html","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Discoveries 49: Air Force Academy Graduation & Thunderbirds Airshow 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"IMG_4775\"<\/a>

AF Academy’s football stadium got a new scoreboard this past spring. It’s very nice. Each class designs a crest that is shaped for their class ring. This crest is very interesting to me<\/a> because of the flames towards the bottom (this class reported during the Waldo Canyon wildfires in 2012) and the icicles at the top (they had their “Recognition” training during a blizzard in 2013).<\/p><\/div>\n

For the 3rd year, our family was able to go the USAF Academy graduation. This year I was able to go in non-orders status, so I didn’t have to wear my uniform. However, you won’t see any pictures of me in this post.<\/p>\n

We were especially excited this year because it’s a year that the President speaks to the graduating class. So we were able to hear President Obama give an uplifting, humorous speech to the graduates. Since this is an election year, the whole country was paying attention this speech<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4786\"<\/a>

The President is walking in from the tunnel right under the “9:54” on the clock. There are cadets saluting him on the right.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMG_4796\"<\/a>

The cadets march in at a very solemn half-step. The whole entry takes about 5 minutes.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMG_4801\"<\/a>

The whole class — 812 graduates this year — is ready to take their seats.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMG_4802\"<\/a>

The Secretary of the Air Force, The Hon. Deborah Lee James, introduces the President.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMG_7102\"<\/a>

This was a much better way to see the speech, rather than squinting down on the field.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"From<\/a>

From 2015.<\/p><\/div>\n

After the keynote address and some other speakers, such as the Dean of Faculty who offers special congratulations to the International Cadets, the students are ready to receive their diplomas.<\/p>\n

This class was about 20% smaller than in recent years, so the diploma presentations only took about 75 minutes as opposed to the 90+ minutes of previous years.<\/p>\n

Once the degrees are conferred upon the graduates and the Commandant of Cadets gives the official “You’re dismissed!” to the graduates, the Thunderbirds fly over for that iconic hat-toss. Unfortunately this year, this is how my picture looks:<\/p>\n

\"Oops.\"<\/a>

Oops.<\/p><\/div>\n

I did better in 2015:<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>

From 2015.<\/p><\/div>\n

And WAY better in 2014:<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>

I had my good camera + field seating in 2014. I’m pretty proud of this photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

As soon as the hats are tossed, elementary-school aged children are allowed to run onto the field and collect the hats. This tradition started less than 10 years ago, and now the graduates put money in the hats (Timmy had $20.16 in his hat) for the kids.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>

This was from 2015: the children “storm” the field right after the hats are tossed.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Timmy's<\/a>

Timmy’s new hat.<\/p><\/div>\n

The United States Air Force Academy graduation has traditionally been held the Thursday after Memorial Day, but for 2017 it has been scheduled for the Wednesday\u00a0before<\/em> Memorial Day. The event is\u00a0free to the public, but no one\u00a0can attend without a ticket. Tickets become available about one month in advance at the USAF Academy box office on the base. Be sure to wear plenty of sunscreen and bring unopened bottles of water into the stadium. This can be a very high-security event, particularly in years where the guest speaker is the President or Vice President (even-years), so be prepared for long entry lines and bag searches. The altitude is high and visitors from lower-elevation locations\u00a0tend to get dehydrated pretty quickly. Bring activities for children, since there will be periods of time where children might get bored, especially during the speeches and the somewhat-slow-feeling awarding of the diplomas. There are numerous food vendors in the stadium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the 3rd year, our family was able to go the USAF Academy graduation. This year I was able to go in non-orders status, so I didn’t have to wear my uniform. However, you won’t see any pictures of me in this post. We were especially excited this year because it’s a year that the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[385,100,386,410,663,415],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ycQ0-1cl","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2632,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/10\/colorado-discoveries-14-farish-recreation-area-near-woodland-park-co.html","url_meta":{"origin":4609,"position":0},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 14: Farish Recreation Area near Woodland Park, CO","date":"04 October 13","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't know about you guys, but fall is officially here! Heck, let's just call it winter! We awoke this morning to rain while the temperature continued to fall below freezing. The water droplets FROZE to the car...which made getting the kids to school this morning difficult. (Yes, I drove\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"air force academy\"","img":{"alt_text":"That is the WEST side of Pike's Peak behind us. We have a view of the east face from our house.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/IMG_7564-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2548,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/09\/colorado-discoveries-11-air-force-academy-falcons-football.html","url_meta":{"origin":4609,"position":1},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 11: Air Force Academy Falcons Football","date":"11 September 13","format":false,"excerpt":"We couldn't help ourselves. The family got season tickets for Air Force Academy football. It was hard not to. We were interested in just one or two of the games this season, but when we saw the prices for single game tickets vs. season tickets, it was more cost effective\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"air force academy\"","img":{"alt_text":"Air Force football is an experience like no other. From singing the Air Force song to the Wings of Blue jumping onto the field, it's probably one of the more inexpensive NCAA football experiences.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/IMG_7400-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2155,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/06\/us-air-force-academy.html","url_meta":{"origin":4609,"position":2},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 5: Visiting the US Air Force Academy","date":"10 June 13","format":false,"excerpt":"The weather was beautiful, so we took some time to see the Visitors Center and hike the trail to the chapel and see the cadet area. Most Americans are familiar with the Air Force Academy Chapel. Its distinctive design can be seen from all over the cities of Monument and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"air force\"","img":{"alt_text":"309991_10151630987703428_696121128_n","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/309991_10151630987703428_696121128_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2743,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/11\/colorado-discoveries-19-eagle-peak-usafa.html","url_meta":{"origin":4609,"position":3},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 19: Eagle Peak, USAFA","date":"13 November 13","format":false,"excerpt":"Even though it's mid-November, we have had a nice spell of pleasant weather here, and I've been enjoying some hikes in the area. Over Veteran's Day weekend I did two nice hikes along with another trip up the Manitou Incline. One of the hikes was the most challenging I've experienced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"colorado\"","img":{"alt_text":"I'll just leave this here. The yellow line on the sign is NOT a trail, it's the area deemed \"off limits\" by the AF Academy superintendent. The north-facing rock walls at the top of the peak.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DSC_2853-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3205,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/05\/colorado-discoveries-34-sky-sox.html","url_meta":{"origin":4609,"position":4},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 34: Colorado Springs Sky Sox with Timmy’s Little League Team","date":"27 May 14","format":false,"excerpt":"The first weekend of May, Timmy's Little League baseball team did the Little League fan experience thing** with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the AAA Minor League Baseball team that plays right up the street from us. They're the Colorado Rockies AAA affiliate team. **It took me a second to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"baseball\"","img":{"alt_text":"Timmy is #2.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC_10101-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2679,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/10\/colorado-discoveries-16-colorado-wolf-and-wildlife-center.html","url_meta":{"origin":4609,"position":5},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 16: Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center","date":"28 October 13","format":false,"excerpt":"I have a lot of catching up to do on my personal blog, as well as with GeekMom, as well as a guest post for my friend The Country Cook's blog later this week. We've been quite busy with wrapping up our basement finish project, and the typical kids' activities\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"colorado\"","img":{"alt_text":"You'll see all of the wolf pictures with the grid of a fence in front of them. You had to pay some big bucks to get better photos.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/DSC_3606-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4609"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4609"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4618,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4609\/revisions\/4618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}