CS-12's Spirit Video

The freshmen from CS-12 (my squad) made a spirit video for their day of 40 days. It was actually pretty decent and got a round of applause from the cadet wing in Mitchell Hall. Video after the jump.

A little background on why this was made. During the second semester, the four degrees get recognized, where they become "accepted" into the cadet wing. It's an intense three days of strenuous physical training and psychological warfare (sort of). It all concludes with the pinning on of the prop and wings, which solidifies them as an upperclassman. Recognition begins on Thursday March 15th this year. Leading up to recognition, the four degrees go through "Forty Days." It's a time when training becomes more intense and the upperclassmen become stricter and increasingly demanding of the freshmen. Each day corresponds with a squadron and on their day, the four degrees do a spirit mission. Recently, there have been less physical spirit missions such as painting the planes, building something on spirit hill, etc, and more spirit videos. Only about 1 in 10 is actually worth watching. If their spirit missions are not up to expectations, the freshmen can expect harder training. It's all in good fun though.

Starry Night

It was cold and crisp last night. The stars were out so I decided to try my luck with some nighttime photography. There's a lot of light pollution so they aren't as crisp and you can't see as many stars as you can in the country.

A black and white of the chapel with the stars overhead.

 Two color photos of the night sky above the mountains. The photo on the right is of Harmon Hall, the administrative building. And if you look closely at the left one, you can see a trail left by a plane.

Hockey Falls to Mercyhurst

The Falcon's played a lopsided game against Mercyhurst Saturday night but came out with a loss 2-1. Air Force out shot the Lakers 51-19 and dominated the time on attack. It was a very physical game with many hard checks and scuffles after the play. Even the fans got involved at some points.

Air Force Upsets San Diego State

The Air Force men's basketball team pulled off an upset against the No. 13 ranked, San Diego State Aztecs.

Air Force Hockey vs. Mercyhurst

February 17 -- The Air Force men's hockey team defeated Mercyhurst 8-0 at the Cadet Ice Arena at USAFA. Torf had another shutout (20 shots) while Chad Demers, John Kruse, and Stephen Carew each had two goals. Air Force moves to 16-7-7 overall.

100's Night Rooms

After the seniors celebrate with a dinner and receive their bases, they all go out for the weekend while the four degrees (freshmen for all you non Academy folks) decorate or demolish their rooms. Usually it's a three day weekend but for some reason, it was just a regular weekend. Also, it is one of the few times the four degrees are at rest throughout the year and they take full advantage by wreaking havoc on the upperclassmen.

While they had one day less, the freshmen had some pretty cool ideas. I've posted some of my favorites below.

Igloo room. The 4 digs actually brought in snow and kept the room around 10 degrees.

CS20's C4C Corso, Friend, and Barnhill stuffed a room full of over 1600 lbs of paper and hid  the senior's  ID card inside.

A classic. Cover the room in tinfoil.

CS20's C4C Schwartz tied over 10,000 feet of string within this room.

One of my favorites. This freshman turned his senior's room into a toilet.

Sometimes things don't go according to plan, as evident here. These two filled the room up with foam, which then melted overnight and flooded the floor and hallway.

CS12's senior Zach Schneider dj's in his room that was turned into a club.

New Updates

As some of you may have noticed, I changed the name of my blog. My sister recommended it and I think it fits quite well. Obviously it is a play on the word capture but it incorporates my initials, KAP, too. It's enough to show that I have a humorous side while still remaining mostly professional.

Anyways, this afternoon, the sun was creating this eerie glow through the clouds and it made for some interesting photos over the mountains. Check them out.

The sunlight creates a nice glow that would have been perfect for portraits but I don't have a subject willing to go in front of a camera. I also have two more photos, one of the chapel and another of the Class of 2012's crest.

Also, a shoutout to everyone who has been sharing my blog. It means a lot to be recognized.

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Hap's 100s Night

It's been a while since I posted last, but tonight was really special. The class of 2012 ("Hap") got their base assignments and celebrated 100's Night (named for 100 days until graduation). The celebration includes dinner, a guest speaker, and finally, the revealing of their bases. Most squadrons find creative ways so the seniors have to work to find out their base.

My favorite photos are below:

The seniors dress up in outfits corresponding to their future jobs.

Or just dress up.

Lt Gen Basla was the guest speaker for the night

The excitement of receiving your first base can be overwhelming for some people.

These two seniors had to follow a maze in order to figure out their base.

A single red rose marks the POW/MIA remembrance settings.