USAFA's Battle Ramp - A Legacy of Tradition

In August 1958 when the Academy completed its move from Lowry Air Force Base in Denver to this permanent location, the cadets first accessed the cadet area by marching up this ramp.

Arriving cadets have been doing so ever since. Every summer, appointees assemble on the footprints, get welcome with their first taste of Academy hospitality, and then head up the ramp to begin their Cadet careers in 1964 the words, "Bring Me Men" were mounted above the ramp in two foot high aluminum letters. The phrase is from a poem about westward expansion written by Samuel Walter Foss entitled The Coming American, first read at a fourth of July celebration in Connecticut in 1894 it contains the lines, "Bring me men to match my mountains. Bring me men to match my plains. Men with empire in their purpose and new eras in their brains." The words began to seem incongruous in 1976 when female cadets enrolled for the first time, as demonstrated by the iconic photo of appointee Julie Richards at in-processing. After decades of discussion and controversy, on March 28, 2003 the phrase Bring Me Men was removed from its spot over the battle ramp. On September 29, 2004 the words "Integrity First, Service Before Self, Excellence in all We Do, were unveiled above the ramp. A black gate protecting the ramp was added in 2001 is the result of security measures instituted in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Before then, the ramp was wide open.

 

 

The Heritage Minute Channel is a production of Ryan Hall and the Long Blue Line Podcast Network and presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation

 

 

 

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