U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Scores of cadet candidates celebrated their graduation from the Air Force Academy Preparatory School May 24 in Arnold Hall.
In all, 196 cadet candidates successfully completed the prep school’s 10-month curriculum, designed to prepare select candidates to attend the Academy, said Prep School Commander Col. Gerald Szybist.
“Our job is to prepare selected candidates for admission [to the Academy] who are judged to need additional preparation in academics, physical fitness or character development,” he said from the stage in Arnold Hall.
Szybist said the prep school’s curriculum focuses on academics -- English, math and science -- along with military discipline, character development and physical fitness.
“These elements are absolutely necessary to develop leaders of character -- leaders who will perform successfully,” he said.
The colonel said the graduates can attribute their success to the Air Force core values.
“When the Cadet Candidates began last July, we told them, in a very simplistic way, the keys to success in their prep school year would be found in the core values: integrity, service and excellence. [We told them] they needed to embrace and internalize these values because these values are the heartbeat of our Air Force. If they performed to their personal best, lived honorably and recognized that the Air Force is about service to the nation, they would achieve success and could earn an appointment to the Academy.”
Lt. Col. Samantha Weeks, a 1997 Academy graduate, fighter pilot, and Air Force fellow at the Academy, was guest speaker at the event. She spoke to the graduates about teamwork and loyalty.
“Teamwork is at the center of everything we do in our Air Force,” she said. “It’s the trust and the teamwork you have in your fellow Airmen that allows us to fly, fight and win.”
Weeks also paid tribute to the parents of graduating cadet-candidates in the audience.
“Without the love and support of sometimes a swift kick in the butt, we wouldn’t be here,” she said. “I thank you for your part in getting them where they are today.”