Official Academy Box

Scattered throughout the Calendar for ’76 Brides are some interesting bits of trivia (though certainly not trivial) and factoids about or experienced by the Spirit of ’76. Here are some of them, perhaps even a few you may remember.

Quoting from the calendar:

• On July 27, 1972, BCT for the Spirit of ’76 was interrupted temporarily by an horrendous hailstorm.
• August 21, 1972, was the first day of Academics for the Class of ’76.
• September 1, 1972, began Parents’ Weekend for ’76ers. Due to the terrible fog, their families had to take their word that the Academy was really there.
• October 13, 1972, arrived in a blizzard that kept the Mitchell Hall waiters at home.
• On January 20, 1973, the Spirit of ’76 got to wear civvies!
• In March 1973, ’76er Randy Spetman became the first in that class to win a Wing Open boxing championship while still a Doolie.
• April 23, 1973, was the night of the Carpenters Concert, a big event for the Doolie ’76ers.
• May 5, 1973, was Recognition Day for the Class of ’76.
• The 1973 June Week parade was canceled – due to snow!
• On August 10, 1973, the Spirit of ’76 earned the privilege of entering the doughnut line at Mitchell Hall. On August 11, 1975, the ’76ers began mandatory full breakfasts, thereby improving their health and overall efficiency.
• August 14, 1973, was the ’76ers’ first day as Third Degrees.
• On November 15, 1973, Lt. Cdr. DJ Bell honored the Noon Meal Formation with a spectacular fly-by. Coming in low in his F-8, he turned it on wing and flew sideways between the mountains and the Cadet Chapel, below the level of the Chapel! The Cadet Wing promptly went bananas.
• In spring 1974, the Air Gardens were drained, filled with earth and planted with trees.
• During June Week of 1974, the Spirit of ’76 removed the display F-104 from the terrazzo and placed it on the Parade Field. It looked lovely there.
• March 15, 1975, was the first day of Bankers’ Weekend, when the Spirit of ’76 made the loans for their cars.
• On April 5, 1975, the Locator Board went into effect, making it a lot more difficult to get “lost.” (Q: Was this the bank of lights over the CCQ desk that nobody knew what its purpose was?)
• On May 29, 1975, 250 members of the Spirit of ’76 picked up their new wheels in Detroit.
• On Dec 18, 1975, United Airlines went on strike, just in time to confuse everyone’s plans for the holidays.

I found this in 2020, but I have no recollection of getting it. I didn’t have a June Week wedding. There’s a personal inscription on the back inside cover to “Pat,” apparently as a thank-you by one of the officers’ wives who put the thing together. So how did I get it? Well, as of April 2020 I have a theory, which will be a long-ish footnote to the calendar itself so I’ll address it separately from this.

Here are a few pages to give you an idea of what was put together by the Academy officers’ wives. There’s also a separate page of trivia and factoids pertinent to the Spirit of ’76 that are scattered throughout the calendar that you really shouldn’t miss. Download the full calendar.

Career Information Fact Book 1976, Open or download the PDF (81mb)

Contents

General Allen, successor to General Clark, sent the annual status report to parents in July 1975. He may have written other letters to parents, but this is the only one I have.

I’m not going to editorialize about anything in this letter, but two statements almost prompted me to:

“The First Class year is a time of mixed feelings for many cadets.”

“There is a temptation in this final year to relax academically …” 

This is an interesting find. I believe this was provided as part of a Creative Writing Workshop (a regular course) offered by the English Department/Fine Arts in the spring of 1975. I know that it included at least one off-campus get-together with civilians (i.e., girls) and I believe there were some on-campus colloquiums with guests. The one event I remember attending with some specific recall is riding there with Lt. Col Shuttleworth (one of the two co-instructors for the Workshop, along with Major Grimshaw) in his BMW 2002, but I remember that more as a poetry thing and not a folk song thing.

This handout is under the cover of what was likely a larger colloquium dealing with “folklore” generally, but specifically “Folksongs of the American Fighter Pilot in Southeast Asia 1967-68.” You can read the pages below, or open/download the PDF.

Christmas 1974.

Now as 2nd classmen, the Superintendent was able to shrink his annual letter from four to two pages. I guess, because we were over-the-hump and it was all downhill from there (?).

I believe this was sent in 1973 since there was a different card sent in 1974 from the Air Force Athletic Foundation. I’m assuming this was sent to the football players’ families.

The Catholic and Protestant chaplains co-signed this letter to parents just before Christmas 1973.

Letter to parents regarding the taxable implications of having their son among “America’s Finest.”

Note: The IRS had previously determined that an Academy appointment did not constitute a “scholarship.” This seems at odds with the often-heard valuation that the Academy offered a “$100,000 education shoved up your ass a nickel at a time”