Historic Events

In this Heritage Minute Special, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steve Simon ’77 is joined by Col. (Ret.) Max Miller ’59, a proud member of the U.S. Air Force Academy’s first graduating class. They discuss a significant event that occurred 70 years ago, as well as Col. Miller’s long and distinguished service to the Air Force and the USAFA community.
 
 
 
 
The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation
 
 

April 1, 1954 is the day President Dwight D. Eisenhower shook hands with then Secretary of the Air Force, Harold E. Talbott. The president had just signed legislation authorizing the establishment of the U.S. Air Force Academy. USAFA’s Founders Day has been celebrated on April 1 ever since. 
 
(Left Image) President Dwight D. Eisenhower (seated) shakes hands with Secretary of the Air Force Harold E. Talbott on April 1, 1954, after signing legislation authorizing the establishment of the U.S. Air Force Academy. Looking on (from left) are Congressman Carl Vinson, Georgia; Gen. Nathan F. Twining, Air Force chief of staff; Congressman Dewey Short, Missouri, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee; James H. Douglas, undersecretary of the Air Force, and Lt. Gen. Hubert R. Harmon, special assistant for the Academy.
 - (Photo courtesy U.S. Air Force Academy McDermott Library Archives)
(Right Image) The first class of Air Force Academy cadets at the Academy's first home, Lowery AFB, Denver, CO.
 
 
 
 
The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation
 
 
 
 
 

The production of USAFA’s cadet sabers has moved from Germany to Colorado Springs. Heritage Minute Special host Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steve Simon ’77 is closely connected with the people and the processes and explains the change.MORE ABOUT STEVE SIMONSteve and his wife, Paula, are not only charter members, but Steve is a founding signatory on the original agreement to form the group back in 1994. In addition, Steve and Paula share a notable distinction with only five other Sabre Society members:  they have faithfully made their yearly donation every year since the Sabre Society's inception without a single miss.
And there's still more. Steve serves the Association of Graduates and Foundation as writer and historian. As a recognized authority on all things Sabre Society, Steve wrote a feature piece for the December 2024 edition of Checkpoints Magazine on the Sabre Society's 30 anniversary year and a major change in the manufacture of USAFA's cadet sabres. That article is linked below as a free downloadable PDF file.
In addition to his Checkpoints piece, he has also hosted two Heritage Minute Special podcasts, collaborated with the AOG's Ryan Hall to produce a companion video (embedded below), and much more.   
 
 
READ MORE BY STEVE SIMON IN THE DECEMBER 2024 CHECKPOINTS
*FREE PDF DOWNLOAD*
 
 
MORE ON THE SABRE SOCIETY HERE
 
 
 
 - Video written and produced for Checkpoints Magazine by Ryan Hall and Steve Simon
 
 
The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation
 
 

It all started in the spring of 1962 when a band of bootleg jumpers made their first parachute jumps as cadets.

The Air Force Academy’s Falcon Stadium has played host to countless significant events since its opening in 1962.  The first event was, appropriately, a football game. 

Penny Grossman served 21 years of active duty as an Air Force nurse. In 1973, She was stationed at Clark Air Base in the Philippines during Operation Homecoming, when nearly 600 American Prisoners of War were freed. The first leg of their journey home took them from Hanoi to Clark Air Base, where Penny witnessed their first steps of freedom.She has not spoken of these difficult memories in 50 years.

Displayed along the spiral staircase of USAFA’s McDermott Library is an impressive collection of rifles used by U.S. troops throughout the ages.

Have you met the “USAFA Before USAFA History Guy?”

WATCH!  HERITAGE MINUTE IN THE NEWS
It’s the Air Force Academy’s 70th year bringing up great leaders who go on to serve the nation in uniform!