The cornerstone of the US Air Force Academy is located on Cadet Plaza for visitors to enjoy. It sits between the US National Historic Landmark stone and 50th Anniversary of the United States Air Force (created in 1947).
"Support for an air academy got a boost with the National Security Act of 1947, which provided for the establishment of a separate Air Force within the United States military. As an initial measure, Secretary of the Air Force W. Stuart Symington negotiated an agreement where up to 25% of West Point and Annapolis graduates could volunteer to receive their commissions in the newly-established Air Force. This was only intended to be a short term fix, however, and disagreements between the services quickly led to the establishment of the Service Academy Board by Secretary of Defense James Forrestal. In January 1950, the Service Academy Board, headed by Dwight D. Eisenhower, then president of Columbia University, concluded that the needs of the Air Force could not be met by the two existing U.S. service academies and that an air force academy should be established.
Following the recommendation of the Board, Congress passed legislation in 1954 to begin the construction of the Air Force Academy, and President Eisenhower signed it into law on 1 April of that year. The legislation established an advisory commission to determine the site of the new school. Among the panel members were Charles Lindbergh, General Carl Spaatz, and Lieutenant General Hubert R. Harmon, who later became the Academy's first superintendent. The original 582 sites considered were winnowed to three: Alton, Illinois; Lake Geneva, Wisconsin; and the ultimate site at Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Secretary of the Air Force, Harold E. Talbott, announced the winning site on 24 June 1954. Meanwhile, Air Training Command (ATC) began developing a detailed curriculum for the Academy program.
The early Air Force Academy leadership faced monumental tasks, including the development of an appropriate curriculum, establishment of a faculty, design of a distinctive cadet uniform, oversight of the construction of the permanent site, and the creation of a structure for military and flight training. To establish the foundations of the Academy program, officials ultimately drew from sources within the Air Force, from West Point and Annapolis, and occasionally from outside the military entirely.
The Academy's permanent site had not yet been completed when the first class entered, so the 306 cadets from the Class of 1959 were sworn in at a temporary site at Lowry Air Force Base, in Denver on 11 July 1955. While at Lowry, they were housed in renovated World War II barracks. There were no upper class cadets to train the new cadets, so the Air Force appointed a cadre of "Air Training Officers" (ATOs) to conduct training. The ATOs were junior officers, many of whom were graduates of West Point, Annapolis and The Citadel. They acted as surrogate upper class cadets until the upper classes could be populated over the next several years. The Academy's dedication ceremony took place on that first day and was broadcast live on national television, with Walter Cronkite covering the event.
In developing a distinctive uniform for cadets, Secretary of the Air Force Harold Talbott was looking for "imagination" in the design. Talbott initially used military tailors, but was unhappy with their products. As a result, the first classes of cadets wore temporary uniforms while the official uniform was developed. Secretary Talbott then sought out legendary Hollywood director Cecil B. DeMille for help. DeMille's designs, especially his design of the cadet parade uniform, won praise from Air Force and Academy leadership, were ultimately adopted, and are still worn by cadets today.
The Class of 1959 established many other important traditions that continue until the present. The first class adopted the Cadet Honor Code, and chose the falcon as the Academy's mascot. In 1957, the Air Force cadets marched in the Inaugural Parade of President Dwight Eisenhower in Washington, D.C.. On 29 August 1958, the wing of 1,145 cadets moved to the present site near Colorado Springs, and less than a year later the Academy received accreditation. The first USAFA class graduated and was commissioned on 3 June 1959." (from (
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