Cadet Wing Box

Spring 1974

Spring 1975

Spring 1975 Spirit of ’76

It’s the whole thing, as a slideshow.

 
[metaslider id=”6152″]

The highlight of the freshman football season was the trip over Thanksgiving to Monterrey, Mexico, via two nights in San Antonio at the Randolph AFB VOQ. (Actually, it’s a close call between this trip or being on jock ramps all season and not having to sit at squadron tables.)

One of the distinguishing memories of this game was playing on a field surrounding by a literal moat and chain link fence that separated the people in the stands from the players on the field.

Postscript: Not remembering exactly what the outcome of the game was, but thinking we won, I googled it and found the following on a long page of scores,
College Football Mexico Teams vs American Teams, and other. Looks like we won, 28-26.

Curiously, note that the following year (1973), it shows that the same Monterrey Tech team traveled to Colorado Springs to play the ’73 Falcon freshmen. I have no recollection of that game. Not that I would’ve played, but it seems like that would be something I would remember.

Contributed by Steve Stockdale, CS-39.

This had to have been printed pretty early in our doolie season since it looks like we had more players than they had jersey numbers. By my count, there are 119 names here (1 duplicated) … or 7.8% of the 1,505 of us who started Basic Cadet Training together. And judging by the names listed in the ’76 Polaris “First Senior Directory,” 44 of these 118 guys did not graduate. or 37.3%, which is slightly better than the class overall attrition rate of 38.4% (per the AOG Class History)

Note #26 on the Defense – Brian Billick, who transferred to BYU after doolie year. He was head coach of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens from 1999–2007, winning Super Bowl XXXV against the New York Giants. He later became a TV analyst.

Numerical Coincidences – #17 on the White (Offense) was Russ Laney. Russ was in my doolie squadron (CS-31), as well as my BCT squadron, flight and element; in fact, since we formed according to height, he either marched next to or behind me throughout BCT. I was also assigned #17 on the Blue (Defense). On Brian’s Wikipedia page, it states that his high school retired his jersey (#17) in 2001.

Part 3 contains the rest of the CONTRAILS for 1972-73, focusing on the Academy itself.

• History
• The Falcon
• Academics
• Military Training
• Honor Code
• Fourth Class System
• Physical Education
• Professional Ethics
• Cadet Activities
• Social Life
• Unit Awards
• Service Academies
• Fourth Class Knowledge
• Abbreviations
• Academic Calendar
• Personal Notes

[metaslider id=”7334″]

Part 2 includes the “Air Power” section of CONTRAILS:

• The Use of Airpower in World War I
• Aircraft
• Missiles
• Foreign Aircraft
• USAF Helicopters

[metaslider id=”7216″]

Part 1 the “Basic Cadet Bible” contains these sections:

• The Military Profession
• United States Military Decorations
• High Flight
• Air Force Heritage
• World War I
• Interwar Period
• World War II
• Post-World War II
• Korea to the Present
• The Air Force
• Air Force Days
• Pilot Training
• Navigator Training
• Helicopter Training
• Major Commands

[metaslider id=”7154″]

In The Beginning … there was/were CONTRAILS

The 1972-1973 “Basic Cadet Bible” is presented on this page (Front Matter, including Contents) and three following pages: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. The list below shows which Content is in which Part. Each part is presented as a slideshow just like this one for the Cover and Front Matter. If you’d prefer to download the complete book in text-searchable PDF, download here.

Hover over the image to show the Left/Right (Previous/Next) navigation overlay. Individual slide thumbnails are shown below the slideshow.

[metaslider id=”7133″]

CONTRAILS PART 1

The Military Profession
United States Military Decorations
High Flight
Air Force Heritage
World War I
Interwar Period
World War II
Post-World War II
Korea to the Present
The Air Force
Air Force Days
Pilot Training
Navigator Training
Helicopter Training
Major Commands

CONTRAILS PART 2

The Use of Airpower in World War I
Aircraft
Missiles
Foreign Aircraft
USAF Helicopters

CONTRAILS PART 3

The Air Force Academy
History
The Falcon
Academics
Military Training
Honor Code
Fourth Class System
Physical Education
Professional Ethics
Cadet Activities
Social Life
Unit Awards
Service Academies
Fourth Class Knowledge
Abbreviations
Academic Calendar
Personal Notes

Basic Cadet Training Squadrons-Flights-Doolie Squadrons

A little help here … what were the names of the BCT summer squadrons in 1972? And which flights went to which doolie squadrons? I can only remember my own (GUTS!) and C and D Flights for sure. And some of the names may have changed between the summers of ’72 and ’75 when I was a Flight Commander in INTERCEPTORS (in ’72 were they INVADERS?).

“Permanent” Squadrons and Nickname Migration

Source: Polaris yearbooks

The stuff that was too detailed to go into CONTRAILS (Cadet Bible). Read as a slideshow.

[metaslider id=”4524″]