The Air Force Academy’s newly minted second lieutenants will need all the tenacity they developed over their four years to face a rapidly evolving global conflict.
Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink delivered this message to about 900 cadets during a cold and rainy ceremony Thursday morning at Falcon Stadium. The weather grounded the traditional Thunderbirds airshow, disappointing some cadets, but did not dim their ecstatic reaction to capping off four years at the academy.
Meink warned cadets that while their bachelor’s degree is behind them, many challenges lie ahead particularly as international competition with China increases.
“The pressure, the pace is going to continue to increase as you train, deploy and fight in the operational Air Force,” he said.
During the Global War on Terror in the Middle East, the Air Force flew the skies unchallenged, but Meink expects the Indo-Pacific will be this generation’s major challenge. The Department of Defense is preparing the largest military exercise since the Cold War to help deter those threats.
It will also take innovation to stay ahead globally, he said, as the Department of Defense goes through a massive modernization effort.
“If we continue to operate as we have in the past, we will fail in the future,” he said.
Young officers can be critical to those innovations, and Meink cited several lieutenants and captains who have been critical to success, such as a young pilot who dropped GPS guided bombs during his first deployment last year to the Middle East and a captain who brings critical intelligence products to White House officials.
Superintendent Tony Bauernfeind also said he believed the cadets were ready to face the challenges ahead after some arrived as freshmen wearing flip-flops.
“We set the bar high and you leapt over it,” he said.
The cadets also faced particular challenges, with the loss of four of their classmates over their four years. Cadets Hunter Brown, Ryong Adams, Tristen Burton and K. Emily Foster all passed before graduation. Brown died of a blood clot in his lungs, Adams died in a skateboarding accident, Burton died in a motorcycle crash and Foster passed from cancer.
“You offered compassion and support through the unimaginable,” he said.
Ainsley McMullin, the fiancée of Air Force graduate Griffin Anderson, said he knew two of the cadets who died in his class.
“The juxtaposition of the grief and how he was able to unite his squad was really powerful,” she said.
McMullin recalled two blue jays that she saw flying around the stadium during the graduation, noting that it was so beautiful.
“It’s a sign that they were there with them,” she said.
Shannon Meaux said her son 2nd Lt. Rory Meaux knew Brown and Adams and those losses were tough.
“It’s been a long four years,” Meaux said.
The environment was closer this year to his freshmen year because of the changes made by the new superintendent, she said.
After Bauernfeind arrived at the beginning of the school year, he largely restricted cadets to base to enforce higher standards.
During that time, 2nd Lt. Ruth Anand said her friends discovered new things to do on base, such as climbing Eagle’s Peak in a snowstorm.
Anand is one of the few graduates headed for the Army, where she hopes to fly Apache helicopters. The rain and canceled airshow also didn’t cloud her enthusiasm.
“I’m ecstatic, like it’s the greatest moment of my life,” she said.
Sporting Hawaiian leis, Jacob and Joseph Palenapa, fraternal twins, commissioned together and both graduated with degrees in aeronautical engineering. They were relieved to have their time at the academy behind them.
“It feels really good to be done,” they both said.
After graduation they will separate for the first time for pilot training. Joseph Palenapa is headed to Laughlin Air Force Base and Jacob Palenapa is headed to Columbus Air Force Base. He would like to fly F-15 Strike Eagles.
While they are excited for the next step, they loved their time together.
“It was really nice to have a steady rock that we can lean on,” Jacob Palenapa said.
Gazette reporter Nick Smith contributed to this report.
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