It is that time of the year again, “When jubilant high school seniors receive their diplomas…When more reflective college graduates flip their tassels from one side of the mortarboards to the other…When Service Academies and College Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) graduates proudly render their first salute as commissioned officers, equally jubilantly toss their hats into the air, but even more reflectively consider the solemn oath they have just taken…”
It is now a time-honored tradition for presidents, vice presidents, defense secretaries, military department heads and other dignitaries to address the graduating military academy classes.
Presidents have spoken at military academy graduations more than 45 times, in a ritual perhaps started when Ulysses S. Grant handed out diplomas to Annapolis graduates in 1869.
This past week has seen Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joe Dunford, deliver the keynote address to West Point graduates, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis address 983 new lieutenants at the Air Force Academy, Vice President Mike Pence deliver the Commencement Address at the U.S Coast Guard Academy and president Trump read remarks at Annapolis.
On Wednesday, at the Air Force Academy graduation ceremony in Falcon Stadium outside Colorado Springs, Secretary Mattis told the “Captain Louis Zamperini Class of 2018″* that they must be ready to fight and win and maintain military superiority in the air.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis shakes hands with a newly-commissioned second lieutenant May 23 at the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Class of 2018 Graduation Ceremony in Falcon Stadium. (U.S. Air Force photo/Bill Evans)
Secretary Mattis also told the 60th Air Force Academy graduating class, “You must make it into your own image and you have a legacy to carry forward…”
But what is the “image” of the 2018 Air Force Academy graduating class, a group of 983 young men and women jubilantly throwing their white hats into the air as the Air Force Thunderbirds roar overhead?
Here are some statistics on the 2018 graduating class provided by the Air Force Academy:
— 1,498 were offered appointments to the Academy
— 1,206 men and women entered the 2018 class: 942 men (78.1 percent) and 264 women (21.9 percent)
— 323 (26.8 percent) minorities entered the Academy.
— Of the 1,206 men and women who entered the Academy, including 14 international cadets, 984 were scheduled to graduate. This included 772 men (78 percent) and 212 women (22 percent) and 13 international cadets.
– 273 minorities (28 percent) were part of the graduating class. Seventy-seven cadets are African-American, 105 are Hispanic, 65 are Asian, 13 are Pacific Islanders and 13 are Native-American, not including the international cadets.
— The 13 international cadets are from Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Moldovia, Pakistan, The Republic of Korea, Romania, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates
— 45 graduates were previously enlisted Airmen
— The average cumulative GPA for the graduating class was 3.07
— The attrition rate is 209 cadets (18 percent)
— 417 graduates are scheduled to attend pilot training.
— 114 graduates will head to graduate schools.
Finally, 50,698 men and women have graduated from the Academy, 44,094 men and 5,823 women; 737 graduates have been promoted to the general officer rank, including 10 officers recently selected for promotion to brigadier general; 131 of those generals are on active duty
With more than 400 graduates slated to become pilots, Secretary Mattis, a retired Marine Corps General, rightly emphasized air superiority, “Each of you is now responsible that American air superiority survives in a world of renewed competition,” he said.
You now stand ready to hold the line to protect America’s experiment in democracy with all the cunning, ferocity and grit you have inside you…As you step into your new roles, my expectation for you is quite simple – always be ready to fight and to win. There is no room for complacency as our adversaries will do everything in their power to erode our military’s competitive edge and even less room for a sense of cynicism or victimhood…It is now your responsibility that our adversaries know they should always prefer to talk to our Department of State rather than face the U.S. Air Force.
* For more on Louis Zamperini and the Academy’s “Cadet Exemplar Program,” please click here. Also, please listen to the U.S. Air Force’s theme song below.
Lead photo: Newly-commissioned second lieutenants celebrate as the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds fly over Falcon Stadium at the culmination of the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Class of 2018 graduation ceremony, May 23, 2018. (U.S. Air Force photo/Bill Evans)
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.