Recognition

The first night of Recognition is currently under way. Unfortunately, I cannot release any photos that I have taken. I can give you updates, however.

Recognition began at approximately 1645 (4:45 pm for you non-military types). A wing wide retreat formation was held and after the flag was lowered, the freshmen sprinted off and took spirit hill, a sign of disrespect to the upperclasses. The first dinner, perhaps the hardest, involved non-stop yelling and stress induced by several upperclassmen yelling at once. It was so loud that you couldn't hear yourself think. There, the Wing Commander announced that because of the stunt pulled, this would be the hardest recognition to date.

After dinner, stand-ups (uniform and knowledge inspection) were held and now the freshmen are enjoying a training session. More updates will come throughout the night and rest of the weekend.

Update (2233): I have permission to post some photos so I'll get those up as soon as possible. Recognition is done for the night and the four degrees are in bed (or making their beds depending on the squadron). It was an intense first day and it's only going to tougher tomorrow.

Update (2330): A couple photos from today:

One of the freshmen gets caught alone on the strips. It's tradition that the whole freshman squadron gets together and runs to the squadron as one. That way, there aren't any four degrees alone and everyone can help each other out.

C3C Hopkins awaits the arrival of his four degrees.

The first glimpse of recognition for the freshman is dinner, where they recite knowledge while getting yelled at by the upperclassmen. And that would be me in the background. I thought meals were the worst part because it was so loud you couldn't think straight and you would mess up. And upperclassmen feed on mistakes.

"Stand-ups" are an intense uniform inspection and knowledge test for the freshmen. Here, two upperclassmen closely inspect a four-degree's uniform.

I took down the last two. Basically a training session is where the upperclassmen lead the freshmen through exercises in order to put them under stress. During this time, the 4* have to recite knowledge and can be yelled at for making mistakes. While this may be difficult, it gives the freshmen a chance to prove that although they may be tired or broken, they can still prevail. Teamwork is essential. Also, the upperclassmen take great measures to ensure that nobody is injured or too physically exhausted to continue. Safety is always the main goal.

Day two: Recognition Day Two

Air Force Hockey Advances to the Semifinals

These are a little late so I apologize. It's GR season and I was swamped with work.

Anyways, Air Force defeated the UConn Huskies in three games to move on to the Atlantic Hockey League semifinals in New York. The Cadet Ice Arena was packed with rowdy cadets and fans who supported the Falcons through their difficult endeavor. The Falcons won 4-3 in game one on Friday, lost 3-1 Saturday, and won 4-3 in game three on Sunday.

I spent most of the final game trying to get good shots of the goalie. They came out pretty decent. Pictures are below.

Dan Weissenhofer is announced to the starting lineups.

The falcons net a goal.

Casey Kleisinger (7) scores.

Ryan Timar makes his way out to the ice

Goalie Jason Torf makes a stop

Goalie Stephen Caple comes of the bench and makes a glove save.

Caple started game three and made 28 saves in the Falcon's win on Sunday.

Caple stretches to stop a wide shot.

Seniors Scott Mathis (23) and Tim Kirby (25) being honored after the game

In other news, recognition for the freshmen begins after the last military duty on Thursday afternoon and runs until Saturday afternoon. Pictures and stories will be posted throughout the event.

If you have questions about recognition, the USAFA Folklore Wiki can give some guidance: http://69.199.231.171/wiki/index.php/Recognition.

Go Falcons!

2012 Cadet Wing Open

The annual Air Force Academy Cadet Wing Open was held last night in Clune Arena. Nine bouts were held with the winners claiming the number one varsity spot for the Academy's boxing team. They will travel and compete around the nation before returning to the Academy for the NCBA National Championships April 5-7.

Results:
112 lbs: Drew Pineda
119 lbs: Justin Zahn
125 lbs: Roy Taylor def. Stephen Bittner
132 lbs: Andrew Munoz def. Will Peterson
139 lbs: Dan Starr def. Ethan Salgado
147 lbs: Glenn Miltenberg def. Craig Spranger
156 lbs: Tyrus Korecki def. Blaze Dunn
165 lbs: Casey Habluetzel def. Chris Nelson
175 lbs: Mike McLain def. Denis Vorobyov
185 lbs: Zac Spranger
195 lbs: Logan Brandt def. Brian Corcoran
Heavy:  Olawale Lawal def. Joseph Okai

(You can click on an image to get a larger view and scroll through each of them)

Bittner tries to block a punch by Taylor.

Roy Taylor lands a shot on Stephen Bittner

Taylor lands another punch

Munoz (Blue) and Peterson trade jabs

Munoz lands a shot

Glenn Miltenberg and Craig Spranger
trade blows on the ropes

Boxer Chris Nelson

Blaze Dunn gets his nose plugged after his bout

Vorobyov stares down McLain

McLain dodges Vorobyov's shot

Mike McLain lands one on Denis Vorobyov

Vorobyov recoils from the hit

McLain connects with a solid left hook

McLain gets knocked off balance by Vorobyo

Joseph Okai prepares himself for his bout

Olawale Lawal connects with his right

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.