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Four large concrete paths form a perfect square in the center of the campus of the United States Air Force Academy. F4, F-15, F-104 and F-I6 fighter jets stand at respective corners of the square's grass-covered interior. The square is flanked by several dormitories, a huge dining hall, a library, classroom buildings, and a cadet chapel. The perpendicular angles of most of the campus and its buildings emphasize the chapel's arcing spires that reach like contrails 150 feet into the sky.

Down below young men and women dressed neatly in blue uniforms cut ninety-degree angles and greet upperclassmen as they hurry to their next classes. As freshmen, or fourth-class cadets, they, are required to run along a white terrazzo grid that patterns the campus. Here and there, other fourth-class cadets stop, stand erect, and shout answers to questions of Air Force knowledge barked to them by upperclassmen. These and other rituals initiate the newest class of cadets into the military.

The Air Force Academy is nestled on 18,000 scenic acres in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, on the northern edge of Colorado Springs. Its aesthetics as well as its mystique as the most modern of all service academies make it one of the most popular tourist attractions in the state. Its purpose, however, may be well understood by only a portion of visitors. From day one, that purpose is ingrained into those enrolled: to produce officers who have the knowledge, character, and motivation essential to leadership; pride in all they do; and commitment to an Air Force career.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill creating the academy on 1 March 1954. The first class entered in July 1955 at temporary facilities at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver. Cadets moved to the permanent location in 1958, and the first class of graduates was commissioned in 1959. Five years later, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a bill into law that almost doubled cadet enrollment from 2,529 to 4,417. Women were first admitted to the academy in 1976. The first class with women graduated four years later.

Lt. Gen. Paul Stein, the superintendent, is the senior military commander of the academy. He is responsible for its entire community. He is also an academy graduate. "When I graduated in 1966, the academy was half the size it is now," recalls Stein. "A lot of the infrastructure has changed since then. We had four or five fields of study or majors when I was a cadet. Now we have twenty-five. Technology has changed. Society has changed. Today we even have cadets from Eastern European countries. But a lot here remains the same. We still attract outstanding men and women who perform well academically, athletically, and militarily."

A look at the background statistics for the class of 2000 supports Stein's claim. The academy evaluated over 9,000 applicants for about 1,200 appointments to the current class. Over ninety percent of those appointments were in the top quarter of their high school graduating class. Eighteen percent were recognized as national merit scholars. The average score on the scholastic aptitude test was 1275. Thirteen percent were class presidents. Sixty-nine percent were in the National Honor Society. Over eighty percent earned one or more letters in high school sports. Seventeen percent were involved in scouting; fourteen percent of the males were Eagle Scouts.

The caliber of the cadets entering the academy is due in large part to a highly selective admissions process that requires applicants to be nominated by their Congressional representative. "Each representative can have five cadets at the academy at any point," explains Rolland Stoneman, the associate director of admissions. "The representative can nominate up to ten candidates for each vacancy. Representatives appoint a panel to choose the candidates. These panels must often consider fifty or sixty students competing for those ten slots. The fact that a candidate gets a nomination does not mean he or she will be appointed."

Other nominations come from the President, Vice President, and the military. Foreign candidates are nominated through the US State Department by their embassies. About forty foreign cadets now attend the academy from countries that include Bahrain, Colombia, Estonia, Korea, Poland, Turkey, and Ukraine.

Getting a nomination is only one step in an application process that takes a recommended eighteen months. The process begins with a pre-candidate questionnaire that asks for class rank, college-placement test scores, grade point average, and extra-curricular activities. Organized sports, student government, community service, and work experience are important factors in the initial evaluation.

After sorting through these questionnaires, the admissions office sends notification letters and candidate kits to prospective or "tentative" candidates. To complete the next part of the admissions process, these tentative candidates must provide official transcripts and test scores, writing samples, and more detailed information on extra-curricular activities. The tentative candidate must also get a congressional nomination at this point and be evaluated by an admissions liaison officer. These officers are usually members of the Air Force Reserve, Guard, and active-duty Air Force located throughout the United States and in most countries where US service people are stationed.

"Liaison officers play a key role in our screening process," says Stoneman. "They are our eyes and ears in the field. They usually interview applicants about three times during the application process."

Candidates are judged heavily on their academic performance in high school. "We double-weight the high school record because it is the best predictor of success for a freshman in college," says Stoneman. "We also double-weight the math scores on college aptitude tests. We consider the strength of the high school, the percentage of its graduates that go on to college. Schools have slightly different methods of grading, so we hand-score virtually every transcript that comes in."

Extra-curricular activities play an important role in the evaluation process, too. "We are extremely sensitive to character issues," Stoneman continues. "We look for what they have done in leadership positions. We know that only one person can be a class president, but other students fill other leadership positions in high school. We weight their participation in these activities and assign numerical values accordingly."

These tentative candidates must also pass a medical examination and a fitness test. In the latter, male candidates must perform a minimum of forty-nine sit-ups in two minutes (sixty-nine are the average), four pull-ups (ten, average), twenty-four pushups in two minutes (forty-one, average), and a 300-yard shuttle run in twenty-five-yard laps in sixty-five seconds (sixty seconds, average). Females must perform forty-six sit-ups in two minutes (sixty-eight are the average), one pull-up (two, average), nine pushups in two minutes (twenty-four, average), and the same shuttle run in seventy-nine seconds (sixty-nine, average).

Academics and extra-curricular activities form a weighted composite score for each application. The application then goes to a selection panel that also considers the evaluations from liaison officers. Those making this final cut receive acceptance letters.

About 240 applicants who don't make the cut for academic reasons attend a ten-month preparatory school near the academy. The school focuses on three subject areas: math, science, and English. "If students can raise their skills in these subjects, they will do better on the entrance exams," says Col. Hal Meyer, who heads the preparatory school. "Between August and February, we basically repeat what students should have learned in four years of high school in these subject areas. Then we go into college-level courses. We teach skills that transfer to the coursework in the academy."

The preparatory school graduates about eighty percent of its students to the academy. "Once our graduates get out in the Air Force, they are very successful," adds Meyer. "Thirteen general officers, one three-star general, two space shuttle astronauts, and a Rhodes scholar have been through the preparatory school."

The academy is organized much like an active-duty wing. Four groups of ten squadrons, each squadron with about 100 cadets, comprise the cadet wing. A commandant of cadets, a brigadier general, oversees all cadet military training and reports directly to the superintendent. A group air officer commanding is in charge of each group. An air officer commanding, or AOC, is in charge of each squadron. AOCs are usually active-duty majors or captains. Each AOC is assigned a military training advisor, or MTA, a noncommissioned officer who assists each squadron with the professional development of every cadet.

The academy began using MTAs in 1994. "We're still relatively new here," explains TSgt. Dayton Rogalski, the MTA for Cadet Squadron 18. "So the relationship between MTAs and cadets is evolving. We provide the perspective of that other eighty percent of the service who are not commissioned officers. We get a part in training our newest leaders. We want to produce the kind of officers we can live with. Cadets look to us for advice for dealing with situations. We act as a liaison with their commanding officers."

The cadets have their own command structure, including a cadet wing staff and four group staffs. The cadet wing staff consists of a group of juniors and seniors who command and direct the cadet wing. The highest ranking cadet in this structure is the cadet wing commander. Cadet staff positions are rotated from semester to semester. Active-duty officer and instructor positions are usually three- or four-year assignments at the academy. Twenty-one permanent professors are appointed by the President of the United States. This permanent professor corps maintains academic excellence and program continuity.

"Even with the permanent professors, we have a higher faculty turnover rate than universities," explains Col. Mike Smith, a permanent professor and head of the aeronautics department. "We have to take a lot of people from the Air Force and turn them into educators as quickly as we can. The high turnover has some advantages, though. We have fresh blood coming in with new Air Force experiences. Every year we have two sets of graduating classes. We have about 1,000 cadets, but we also graduate about 150 or so young officers going back to the Air Force who are better for being here."

Four pillars form the foundation of the USAF Academy experience: academics, athletics, military training, and character development. Academics, the first pillar, is as strong as any top university in the United States. Graduates have won an impressive number of Rhodes scholarships as well as fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Science Foundation.

The education is far from strictly technical and military. Cadets receive a broad background in the basic sciences, engineering, humanities, and social sciences. "The curriculum is very similar here to what you would find at a university," says Smith. "The big difference is our large core program, which consists of about two-thirds of the coursework. A history major leaves here with basic courses in aeronautics and mechanics. Similarly, an aeronautical engineer leaves here with courses in political science, history, biology, and behavioral sciences. Cadets may never go on to serve in a career field that matches their majors. We treat majors as an enrichment experience. The core is the real major."

Most of the core coursework comes in the first two years. All third- and fourth-class cadets take classes in psychology, chemistry, composition, computer science, economics, foreign language, government, history, literature, mathematics, and physics as part of this core coursework. The core also provides military instruction, including classes in aviation, military history, and glider or parachute training.

Majors are pursued as elective courses in the third and fourth years. The twenty-five majors offered at the academy include basic sciences, behavioral sciences, biology, economics, English, history, humanities, legal studies, management, operations research, philosophy, physics, political science, social sciences, space operations, and a variety of engineering majors (including aeronautical, astronautical, civil, electrical, and mechanical).

"We don't train Air Force specialties here," Stein explains. "Our core curriculum defines what it takes to produce an educated professional officer. Academic majors, on the other hand, give cadets the experience of studying a subject in depth. We like to think that our graduates are prepared to enter any Air Force job. Our chief of staff, Gen. Ronald Fogleman, was a history major at the Air Force Academy. I was a political science and international affairs major."

Unlike most institutions of higher learning, the academy has no graduate students working as teachers or laboratory assistants. Each faculty member must hold at least a master's degree. Forty percent have doctorates.

"The student-teacher ratio is smaller than a typical university," adds Smith, who began instructing in the aeronautics department in 1985. "We have about 4,000 students and 550 faculty members. Our typical class size is about twenty students. My daughter goes to a large state university and some of her freshman classes have 500 or 600 students in them. Faculty members here are teachers first, not researchers. That's another big difference. The help is here if cadets want to succeed."

Even though teaching comes before research, the academy has some impressive research facilities that are used primarily for teaching. The aeronautics lab features four large wind tunnels, three operational jet engines, a rocket test cell, and a wide variety of other instructional and demonstration hardware. The wind tunnels can produce air flows with velocities from thirty miles per hour to Mach 4.5. The academy has flight simulators, an observatory, a planetarium, and an air field with the largest collection of gliders in the world. The academy's research library contains over 500,000 volumes and a large collection of historical aeronautical materials. Two astronautics laboratories have workstations with digital and analog computers, a space shuttle simulator, and laser pointing and tracking equipment.

Athletics forms a strong second pillar of the academy experience. Stringent athletic requirements also distinguish the academy from universities. Every cadet is required to take three physical education courses each year as well as compete in intramural or intercollegiate athletic programs. Cadets must also pass rigorous physical fitness and aerobics fitness tests every semester.

The intercollegiate program has seventeen men's teams and ten women's. The football team, the Fighting Falcons, competes in the Western Athletic Conference and faces non-conference opponents like Notre Dame, Army, and Navy.

The academy has some of the finest athletic facilities in the nation, including a five-level cadet gym that contains three regulation-sized basketball courts, four indoor tennis courts, and an Olympic-size pool. A cadet field house contains a track, a hockey rink with seating for 2,500 spectators, playing fields, and a 6,000-seat basketball arena. The academy's Falcon Stadium can seat over 50,000. Other outdoor facilities include two golf courses, thirty-three tennis courts, six basketball courts, a large track and field facility, and over 150 acres of practice and intramural fields.

Military training, the third pillar of the academy experience, begins the summer before cadets formally enter the academy. Incoming cadets get off the bus and immediately trade their civilian clothes for military uniforms. Their hair is cut to academy standards. They must also take an oath that makes them a member of the armed forces of the United States.

The strict military environment at the academy is new and unfamiliar to most new cadets. Less than a quarter of the class of 2000, for example, have one or more parent with any military background. Only eleven percent were involved in Junior ROTC programs in high school. Sixteen percent have prior military service (regular Air Force and reservists). Only about four percent have a father who was a graduate of the USAF Academy. So for most, the military life takes some getting used to.

"When you walk up the ramp, life as you know it is over," explains Cadet First Class Matt Quatrara, the cadet wing commander. "And that is not entirely bad. At the time, though, the transition is a big shock. The shock comes in many different forms and attacks all of your senses. It comes the first time an upperclassman, with his tight haircut and hat, is yelling at you inches from your face. It comes in the form of the smell of issued soap and brand-new uniforms. Every time I get a haircut, the smells take me right back to that first day."

"I thought I was ready for the military lifestyle," says Cadet First Class Kim Reed, "but nothing prepared me for what happened on that first day." Reed got through that first day and eventually became the cadet wing commander for the fall 1996 semester. "The biggest change for me was no longer being in control of my life. I wasn't allowed to decide when to get up or when to eat. Everything I did depended upon someone telling me to do it. That lack of control is hard to deal with."

"My first day was a big shock for me, too," explains Cadet First Class Chris Sedlacek, the director of operations for the cadet wing. "I had been forewarned that people would be in my face and telling me what to do. Just going from doing whatever I wanted to do to a total lack of freedom was the biggest shock. It's ironic that we are here to protect people's freedom, but we must completely lose our own to do that. As you slowly gain some of these freedoms back and get more responsibility, you value what you have.

"When you come here, your priorities change entirely," Sedlacek continues. "Every day, I have to make sure my uniform looks right. How many high school kids care what they look like when they walk out the door? Not too many. The academy forces you to pay attention to every level of detail."

These initial experiences are followed by a rigorous five-week orientation program called basic cadet training or BCT (often pronounced beast). BCT, which comes in two phases, introduces cadets to military life. Both phases are administered by upper-class cadets with commissioned officers and sergeants serving as advisors.

The first phase takes place on campus and is devoted to military orientation programs. Cadets learn basic skills and responsibilities, improve their physical conditioning, and adapt to teamwork through competitive sports. The second phase consists primarily of field training conducted at Jack's Valley encampment site, five miles north of the cadet area. Cadets march to the camp site in battle dress, erect a tent city, and live there for a week for additional training. The activities expand their military orientation, teach them skills associated with weapons use, and develop physical and mental confidence through challenging obstacle courses. The field training demands the utmost in stamina, determination, and resourcefulness.

During BCT, cadets learn what is called the fourth-class system. The system prescribes the manner in which fourth-class cadets behave toward other cadets and officers. The system defines those things they can do within the cadet area and things they cannot. It makes them responsible for memorizing fourth-class knowledge, including information about the academy and the Air Force. This knowledge is contained in a booklet called Contrails. The system teaches cadets to perform delegated tasks in a professional manner and paves the way for them to become Air Force officers.

During the summer of their second year, all cadets receive survival and evasion instruction. This three-week course, conducted at the academy and in the nearby Rocky Mountains, simulates the experience of an aircrew member who is forced down in unfamiliar territory. A mandatory summer course for second-class cadets is a three-week tour of duty with an operational Air Force unit to gain insight into Air Force operations and a feel for the working environment of a real-world unit. First- and second-class cadets also assume at least one leadership position in summer training courses, such as the BCT for fourth-class cadets or the survival and evasion training for third-class cadets.

Airmanship and aviation courses constitute an important part of military training as well. Cadets receive their first orientation flights in jet aircraft and helicopters as early as BCT. Cadets take a soaring course, where they have a chance to fly sailplanes. They can also take courses in freefall parachuting. Aviation courses range from instruction on fighter and bomber operations to preparation for the Air Force's undergraduate pilot training program. Selected cadets serve as aviation instructors for the sailplane and parachuting programs.

First-class cadets selected to enter undergraduate pilot training after graduation take a flight screening course run by the 557th Flying Training Squadron of the Air Education and Training Command. In this program, cadets log over twenty hours in eighteen flights in the two-seat T-3A Firefly.

Character development accounts for an essential fourth pillar of the academy experience. From the moment cadets enter the academy, they begin an education process designed to help them understand responsibilities and expectations associated with the academy's honor code. The code itself is fairly straightforward: "We will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does." Cadets are required to abide by this code when they take an honor oath at the conclusion of BCT. The oath is the formal acceptance of the code as part of their lives while at the academy and as part of their careers in the Air Force.

"The honor code represents a minimum level of behavior," Stein explains. "What we are really looking for is someone who knows that living an honorable life is more than not lying, cheating, or stealing. Today's students are better in some ways, but in other ways they have not spent a lot of time thinking about what an honorable life entails."

While the honor code instruction comes throughout the four-year academy program, the focus changes as cadet responsibilities increase. Formal classroom presentations are given to third- and fourth-class cadets. In the remaining two years, the instruction becomes a bridge to active duty.

"The public expects us to be held to a higher standard than anybody else," explains Lt. Col. Mark Hyatt, the director of the Center for Character Development at the academy. "Defense contractors face similar scrutiny. But this increased scrutiny is the nature of our business. We control and manage at fairly young ages major projects--aircraft and a variety of other expensive machinery and weapons.

"Cadets come from all over and we get the best that the country has to offer," Hyatt continues. "But different regions of the country have different prejudices, and cadets often come here with some of them. We teach them how to respect different ethnic groups and cultures. They are going to be working together as a team. If they can't treat each other with respect and dignity, the team will suffer. We hit the cadets hard when they first get here because we need to let them know that they are going to be held accountable for what they say and do. We can't send them out to deal with companies and with other cultures unless they meet the highest standards."

Meeting those highest ethical standards is just one of the many challenges faced by the Air Force Academy. "Our biggest challenge is to respond to what the Air Force needs in a professional officer," Stein says.

"It's easy to forget why we are here because we get wrapped up in the day-to-day events," says Reed who, at the start of her last semester at the academy, is looking forward to active duty. "When I graduate, I am in the Air Force. I have a commitment to service. That is the purpose of the Air Force Academy. It's not to make us the best academic achievers, or athletes. It is to make us the best Air Force officers."