Service Academy Exchange program strengthens bond between Air Force, Army

  • Published
  • By Ray Bowden
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Seven U.S. Military Academy cadets enrolled in the Service Academy Exchange Program were administered the Oath of Affirmation here August 28 by Brig. Gen. Stephen Williams, the Air Force Academy's commandant of cadets.

The evening before Army cadets second class start their fall semester, they take the Oath of Affirmation, their service's equivalent of the Academy's commitment dinner when Air Force juniors state their commitment to the Air Force and the U.S.

The Service Academy Exchange Program promotes professional, academic and social experiences at the Academy, the Military Academy, the Naval Academy and the Coast Guard Academy, according to the program's website.

Cadet 2nd Class Joshua Reed said taking the oath was important even though the ceremony didn't occur at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

"I got to share it with some of my best friends," he said. "It's enough to know we're going through this together, that we get to serve together and go through the great and rough moments together."

The cadets regularly visit Fort Carson to meet officers and learn about career specialties they may apply for as Army officers.

Lt. Col. Joseph Ewers, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, at Fort Carson, said the partnership between the Academy and Fort Carson enhances the cadets' education.

"Any exposure you can have as a cadet to an actual real-life Army organization, whether from a training or social perspective, is only going to make them better leaders," he said.

Visit www.usafa.edu/df/dfr/curriculum for more information on the Service Academy Exchange Program.

(Retired Army Col. Stephen Shambach, the Academy's Senior Officer Development Program analyst and a 1974 U.S. Military Academy graduate, and Army Sgt. William Howard, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs at Fort Carson, contributed to this report.)