Skies to Conquer: A Year Inside the Air Force Academy

323 Pages·2010·2.29 MB·English

by  Diana Jean Schemo

SCHEMO
$25.95 USA/$30.95 CAN
(continued from front flap)
PRAISE FOR
their defenses with the precision of a SKIES TO CONQUER
They are among the smartest, toughest,
laser-guided bomb. They will learn to
and most disciplined college freshmen in the
fi ght with mud soaking through their
S K I E S nation. They share dreams and ambitions
clothes and covering their ears, to shower
in thirty seconds, to drop for fi fty push- “Skies to Conquer is a terrifi c, important, beautifully written book. Diana Jean Schemo S rarely found among their peers. Over the
ups or more on demand, and to sound K next year, they will be subject to a battery
takes readers deep inside one of the military’s most important, if least understood,
off, shouting an answer to somebody of unbreakable rules, personal privations,
institutions: the U.S. Air Force Academy. It is a book that proves that America’s war- I
inches from their face, usually in one of and numbing routines that would send most
E
three ways: “Yes, sir!”, “No, sir!”, or “No riors of the air are made, not born. Schemo was granted extraordinary, fl y-on-the- college students racing back home. Everything
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excuses, sir!” Those who succeed—and wall access to a new class of training cadets who arrive in Colorado Springs as un- they know and believe about themselves
some won’t—will emerge stronger, their certain, undisciplined teenagers and are molded, sometimes brutally, into the future will be challenged, shaken, broken, and
self-discipline and drive sharpened in the T
leaders of the United States Air Force. A collection of rich, very human portraits of reassembled. All of this will occur as the elite
crucible of academy life. O
institution they attend, the United States Air
these young men and women, the book also offers a troubling, if scrupulously fair,
Skies to Conquer comes complete with Force Academy, struggles to restore an image
portrait of the institution. Written in the wake of the school’s 2003 sexual-assault
profi les of the upperclassmen who have the C and reinvent policies that have been shattered
power of personal gods for these cadets scandal, Skies to Conquer contains startling evidence to suggest that sexual harass- O A YEAR INSIDE THE AIR FORCE ACADEMY by successive scandals and controversies.
and a running account of the academy’s ment and religious intolerance may still plague the academy.”
struggle to put sexual abuse scandals and N In Skies to Conquer, former New York Times
—Philip Shenon, author of the New York Times bestseller The Commission
a controversy over religious proselytizing T O C O N Q U E R reporter Diana Jean Schemo follows a group
behind it, while adapting its strongest Q of freshmen, the Bulldawgs of Squadron 13,
traditions to the realities of the modern as they make their way through their fi rst year
“Diana Jean Schemo gives us entree to a most unusual school that is not only one U
world. It combines powerful and intense at the Air Force Academy. From the moment of
real-life drama with a fascinating portrait of of the world’s most elite war colleges but also a bellwether of the U.S. military’s E their arrival, with no cell phones, radios, TVs,
a major American military institution in fl ux. attempts—and, sometimes, reluctance—to meet the demands of the democratic iPods, tiny refrigerators, or furniture, and no
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society it serves. But this is not a book about strategy, policy, or politics; it’s the story luggage other than a backpack full of white
of young, soon-to-be and never-to-be offi cers and their education, a balanced and underwear, they are in for the toughest year
DIANA JEAN SCHEMO, a A
veteran journalist and foreign empathetic account of how authority is built, bestowed, earned, and undermined in Y of their lives.
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bureau chief at the Baltimore an institution at a cultural crossroads. A fascinating, valuable work of journalism.” A The cadets—who boast an average GPA of 3.9
Sun and the New York Times, R and SAT scores that rival the Ivies, as well as, in
—Jeff Sharlet, author of the New York Times bestseller The Family I
has covered poverty and child N most cases, at least one varsity letter—include
abuse, culture, religion, and S
I a recruited athlete from Georgia, who openly
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education. Her reports have tracked rebels
E doubts his decision to attend the academy; a
“Diana Jean Schemo provides a compelling, nuanced, and balanced portrait of life
in Colombia, counterfeiting in Paraguay, T
young woman who took Junior ROTC in high
and indentured servitude in Brazil. She inside the Air Force Academy that raises critical questions about how we are training H
E school and fi gures the Air Force Academy
has written from more than twenty-fi ve the next generation of air force offi cers. The human story of what happens to these A
offers her the best chance of seeing combat;
countries and regions, including Somalia, I
bright, idealistic young men and women in the cauldron of the academy is both en- R
Iraq, Israel, and the Amazon. For more, F another young woman from California whose
visit www.skiestoconquer.com. thralling and important.” O sights are set on outer space; and the son of a
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rocket scientist, who was homeschooled along
—Douglas Frantz, coauthor of The Man from Pakistan C
E with his nine siblings and looks forward to
Jacket Photograph: ©U.S. Air Force photo/Mike Kaplan A
Author Photograph: Roger G. Breeze C having only one or two roommates.
A
D Weeks out of high school, these cadets, and
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M more than 1,300 others, begin their careers
Y in an explosion of criticism and punishment
that strips their identities raw and demolishes
DIANA JEAN SCHEMO (continued on back flap)
ISBN: 978-0-470-04637-1 EAN: 9780470046371
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S K I E S TO CO N Q U E R
A YEAR INSIDE THE AIR FORCE ACADEMY
Diana Jean Schemo
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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To the Air Force Academy Classes of 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010,
without whose sweat and struggle, insight and, above all, trust,
this book would not exist
Th is book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright © 2010 by Diana Jean Schemo. All rights reserved
All photos © Diana Jean Schemo
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Schemo, Diana, date.
Skies to conquer: a year inside the Air Force Academy/Diana Schemo.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-470-04637-1 (cloth)
1. United States Air Force Academy. I. Title.
UG638.5.P1S34 2009
358.40071'173—dc22
2009034192
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Acknowledgments v
Introduction 1
Part One ON THE HILL
1 Light Travelers 10
2 Th e Ordeal of a Meal 25
3 In the Running 34
4 A New Road Map 45
5 Broken but Still Standing 51
6 Th e Meaning of Knowledge 56
7 Th e Long Jump 62
8 Th e Seesaw 67
Part Two SECOND BEAST
9 Into the Beast 72
10 Of Love and Demons 98
11 Th e Family Line 103
Part Three JOINING THE FOLD
12 Surviving Second Beast 108
13 Parting the River 113
iii
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iv CONTENTS
14 Bernard’s Knock 127
15 Meeker’s Fall 130
16 Back from the Pit 137
17 Barrett’s Roar 142
18 Wars Distant and Near 150
19 (Almost) All Roads Lead to Jesus 158
20 No Excuses 171
Part Four THE DARK AGES
21 Flyboy 184
22 Reaching High and Scaling Back 189
23 Running Man 193
24 Taylor’s Walk 198
25 Th e Four-Dig Slide 202
26 Of Love and Pain 207
Part Five INTO THE LIGHT
27 On the Runway 216
28 Doolies Rising 223
29 Harrison’s Moment 234
30 Closing the Circle 237
31 Th e Beast Rears Again 242
32 Urban’s Honor 268
33 Human Once More 275
34 Hearing the Silence 281
35 Taking Off 291
Epilogue 301
Index 308
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Acknowledgments
I n tracking a year in the life of the U.S. Air Force Academy, it became
clear, almost instantly, that much of what the training cadets go through
is aimed at teaching them that nobody succeeds entirely on his or her
own. Th e same is true for this book. In writing it over the course of several
years, I have relied on the patience, understanding, insight, and support
of many, to whom I owe deep and abiding gratitude. When I fi rst wrote
about the academy, Doug Corcoran, who became my agent, sought me out
and helped to develop and refi ne the proposal for a fuller, more penetrating,
look inside the academy ’ s walls. As investigative editor at the N ew York
Times , Doug Frantz fi rst drew me into writing about the academy, and
he continued to off er invaluable counsel well after we’ d both moved on.
Stephen Power, my editor at John Wiley & Sons, off ered patience and
encouragement, along with unfailingly sound editorial advice. Rachel
Meyers endured “ just one last change ” countless times, and always with
a friendly word. Alison Mitchell and Suzanne Spector, my former editors
at the Times , were kind in accommodating my absences as I journeyed
to Colorado Springs.
At the academy, I owe my thanks, fi rst and foremost, to the cadets who
opened their world to me and trusted me with their stories, unwittingly
signing on for endless queries that followed them across the globe, which
they endured with remarkable grace. Th ey include Miles- T yson Blocker,
v
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vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Elizabeth Simpson, Jonathan Elliott, Brad Bernard, Jonathan Benson, Lucas
VanTassel and Grace Anderson. A special thanks goes to Jamal Harrison,
who volunteered to be my guide more than once, and whose honesty
in discussing and prevailing over his own missteps was perhaps the best
advertisement for the academy ’ s capacity to transform lives. Th e cadets ’
generosity in sharing their experiences and insights was great; any failings
in conveying the nuances of their world are mine alone. Dr. Elizabeth
Muenger, the academy ’ s command historian, provided important back-
ground on the early days of the academy, and source material. Th anks to
the Public Aff airs Offi ce, particularly to Johnny Whitaker, for supporting
my research. Captain Uriah Orland, that offi ce’ s answer to the i ndomitable
mail carrier, rose before dawn, in rain and sleet and snow to get me where
I needed to be.
I save the greatest thanks for last: to my husband, Roger Breeze, who
moved worlds to make room and ended my days with heart, dinner,
and a fresh perspective; to Odelya Valanci-Kaufmann, Rosali Babayev, and
Mariana Brito, whose eff orts allowed me to range far; and to Sarah and
Jacob, whose little souls were large in understanding.
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Introduction
F ew cadets at the United States Air Force Academy would describe
themselves as romantics. Weeks out of high school, they begin their
military careers in an explosion of criticism and punishment that strips
their identities raw and hunts down their defenses with the inexorability
of a laser- g uided bomb. Th ey learn to fi ght with mud soaked through
their clothes and covering their ears, to shower in thirty seconds, to eat
like automatons, and to sound off , or shout, an answer to somebody
inches from their face. Th ey can do fi fty or more push - ups on demand.
And yet, in an era when air travel has been stripped of its glamour,
when commercial fl ights resemble nothing so much as fl ying crosstown
buses, cadets at the Air Force Academy are probably the last young
people who are unabashedly in love with fl ying. Th e nine thousand
high school seniors who apply to the academy each year, of whom only
about thirteen hundred are selected for admission, share an overriding
trait: the dream of fl ight.
Th ree in four hope to become pilots. Some long to fl y an F - 15 Eagle,
a tactical fi ghter, while others yearn to pilot the F- 1 6, the lightweight
fi ghter jet that slashes across the sky at twice the speed of sound, pulling
turns at nine times the force of gravity. Some seek the bulk of heavy
transporters like the C- 1 30 and the newer C- 1 7, the fl ying equivalent of a
Hummer; still others, quirky souls that they are, feel drawn to helicopters.
1
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2 SKIES TO CONQUER
Many of them post pictures of their pet aircraft on their walls like pinups
or doodle them in the margins of their notebooks.
Th e cadets spend hours learning the details of each model. Of course,
not all cadets will become pilots. More than half will work in the panoply
of supporting roles that keep the air force running and planes fl ying: as
engineers, as communications specialists, in logistical support or mainte-
nance, in accounting, in intelligence, or in special operations. Th e ideal,
however, the dream that inspires thousands of cadets in Colorado Springs,
is fl ight. Th e most ambitious and successful of them aim to fl y fi ghter and
bomber jets, each worth tens, or even hundreds, of millions of dollars.
I fi rst came to know air force cadets after women from the academy
alleged that they had been raped and punished by their chain of command
when they reported the assaults. When I interviewed the women, I noticed
that many shared an unusual, seemingly inexplicable, love for what they
had set out to do in joining the academy. Th ey were speaking to me, a
reporter, because in many ways their hopes had been crushed, but when
I asked the women what had fi rst drawn them to attend the Air Force
Academy, the bitterness would disappear, eclipsed by the big dreams of
their younger selves. Th ey would recall an air show, a larger - than - life
uncle who fl ew planes, or the heady pleasure of not only zooming beyond
expectations but also driving them in new, uncharted directions. Eyes
shining, they would talk without embarrassment of their love for their
country and of making a diff erence, of perseverance, and of the quality
of leadership.
R emembering their ideals undoubtedly deepened their disillusionment,
but the cadets themselves were striking: mature, idealistic, and focused—
and, at times, maddeningly controlling. Th ey were completely diff erent
from college students anywhere else. At an age when many teens are
experimenting with breaking the rules, cadets live with an abundance
of rules that circumscribe everything: the places they can walk, the food
they can eat, even the distance between the shirts and the socks in their
drawers. For the most part, they do it all with pride and purpose.
A year later, the Air Force Academy was back in the news, and again
the issue at hand involved the blurring of boundaries. Th is time, the
new commandant of cadets, Brigadier General Johnny Weida, who had
been appointed to restore morality, was promoting Christianity
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