Skies to Conquer : A Year Inside the Air Force Academy

by Schemo, Diana Jean

• ISBN13: 9780470046371
• ISBN10: 0470046376
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-04-26
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

The book follows a handful of Air Force Academy cadets through the school year starting July 2006, covering all the trials and rewards the Academy presents, from the first few punishing weeks of Basic to its conclusion, Acceptance Day, when those who have made it earn the right to be called cadets; to Recognition, when freshman year is nearly over and the survivors win some of the privileges, like free use of phones, that ordinary college students take for granted; to Commitment Day, the last chance to bolt the academy without having to pay back taxpayers for attending; to Graduation, when Thunderbird pilots soar over the academy and cadets leave as 2nd lieutenants in the U.S. Air Force.Diana also follows the first year of Lt. Gen. John F. Regni, who took charge of the Academy to change its scandalous ways. His impressions, efforts, frustrations and successes in trying to rescue the Academy from itself will be a good parallel to those of the students as they try to survive the academy, especially considering that the institution has a reputation for destroying the career of anyone who heads it.

Author Biography

Diana Jean Schemo, a veteran journalist and foreign bureau chief at the Baltimore Sun and the New York Times, has covered poverty and child abuse, culture, religion, and education. Her reports have tracked rebels in Colombia, counterfeiting in Paraguay, and indentured servitude in Brazil. She has written from more than twenty-five countries and regions, including Somalia, Iraq, Israel, and the Amazon. For more, visit www.skiestoconquer.com.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. v
Introduction	p. 1
On the Hill
Light Travelers	p. 10
The Ordeal of a Meal	p. 25
In the Running	p. 34
A New Road Map	p. 45
Broken but Still Standing	p. 51
The Meaning of Knowledge	p. 56
The Long Jump	p. 62
The Seesaw	p. 67
Second Beast
Into the Beast	p. 72
Of Love and Demons	p. 98
The Family Line	p. 103
Joining the Fold
Surviving Second Beast	p. 108
Parting the River	p. 113
Bernard's Knock	p. 127
Meeker's Fall	p. 130
Back from the Pit	p. 137
Barrett's Roar	p. 142
Wars Distant and Near	p. 150
(Almost) All Roads Lead to Jesus	p. 158
No Excuses	p. 171
The Dark Ages
Flyboy	p. 184
Reaching High and Scaling Back	p. 189
Running Man	p. 193
Taylor's Walk	p. 198
The Four-Dig Slide	p. 202
Of Love and Pain	p. 207
Into the Light
On the Runway	p. 216
Doolies Rising	p. 223
Harrison's Moment	p. 234
Closing the Circle	p. 237
The Beast Rears Again	p. 242
Urban's Honor	p. 268
Human Once More	p. 275
Hearing the Silence	p. 281
Taking Off	p. 291
Epilogue	p. 301
Index	p. 308
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