United States Air Force Academy Class of 1975

What's New

13 June 2019

June Checkpoints Column with Extras, a selection of the Sunday color strips of the Bedcheck Charlie story arc (very rare) under the Memories tab, a large number of Dodos from 1957-1971, and new photos of the cadet uniforms designed and approved by Cecil B. Demille, both under the History tab.

15 March 2019

March 2019 Checkpoints Column with lots of Extras.

25 January 2019

Recently exhumed from deep in the catacombs of the Class of ‘75 Archives (AKA Paul Kent’s hard drive) emerge the long-lost files from the heady days of ZoomieNation (Now Defunct). Never before seen (Full Disclosure: probably actually seen by a quite a few) columns and over 200 new photos from December 2006 through March 2010. Additionally, dozens of new Memories of… entries with a few accompanying photos to document just some of the outrageous claims, questionable recollections, and dubious war stories, which despite the passage of time and fading memories, are no doubt totally accurate, 100% credible, and in full compliance with the Cadet Honor Code…probably. Also, lots of new internal links to make your surfing experience that much richer and enjoyable (or horrific, depending on your recollections). ZoomieNation columns are linked from within their respective Checkpoints columns.

21 December 2018

Reorganized Nostalgia and History sections, renamed the Nostalgia Tab as Memories, expanded Memories section with additional subject areas and entries; refresh of Checkpoints and Memories page layouts.

13 December 2018

'75 Class Gift Public Phase Kickoff.

7 December 2018

December Checkpoints Column, several Extras, dozens of additional photos, plus hundreds of new photos througuout the site.

13 September 2018

September Checkpoints column, many Extras, plus nearly 100 additional photos.

28 July 2018

New section, Our Heritage under the History Tab, featuring thumbnail sketches of ancestors' military or other service to the country.

2 July 2018

Updated cemetary maps, completed addition of all available Talon magazines in digital form to the Ephemeratorium.

15 June 2018

June Checkpoints column, Extras, plus dozens of additional photos.

12 March 2018

March Checkpoints column, Extras, plus dozens of additional photos including a large gallery of grandchildren, in keeping with the column theme.

7 December 2017

December Checkpoints column, Extras, plus dozens of additional photos.

13 September 2017

September Checkpoints column plus dozens of additional photos.

8 June 2017

June Checkpoints column plus Extras.

10 March 2017

March Checkpoints column plus Extras and several hundred new photos distributed throughout the 41+ years of Checkpoints columns in new Albums and extant Galleries.

24 February 2017

Announcement of the 45th Reunion Class gift.

10 December 2016

December Checkpoints column plus Extras.

15 September 2016

September Checkpoints Column with a lot of Extras.

25 July 2016

Two new Galleries: Doolies and Firsties under the Galleries Tab.

17 June 2016

June Checkpoints Column with lots of Extras.

15 May 2016

Class Coin: Highlights and links to relevant supplemental material throughout the site.

17 March 2016

March Checkpoints Column.

15 December 2015

December Checkpoints Column.

28 November 2015

Tom Laurie's history of Waldo F. Dumbsquat.

17 October 2015

40th Reunion Gallery Posted.

7 October 2015

Special 40th Reunion Waldo F. Dumbsquat column by Tom Laurie.

18 September 2015

September Checkpoints Column, expansion of GBNF, two new photo galleries plus more photos across many Checkpoints columns, a few new Memories of... entries, additions to the Early Academy Concepts under the History Tab.

2 August 2015

Addition of a large number of photos to the Individual Awards Gallery under the Galleries tab.

11 June 2015

June Checkpoints Column including links to select Extras, complete Charley Baby and Waldo F. Dumbsquat columns from 1971-1975 and a Drum & Bugle Corps entry, both under the Nostalgia tab, additional photos in many Checkpoints columns, ongoing format standardization throughout.

1 May 2015

‘News’ tab changed to ‘Checkpoints’, Videos integrated into ‘Galleries’ page, ‘Video’ tab deleted, Coming Events button on Home Page, other minor changes.

17 March 2015

Home Page refresh, March Checkpoints Column, Reunion updates, two new galleries, Prep School and 1975 Campus, relocation of Class of 2015 Legacy events to relevant Checkpoints columns as Extras, plus several additional Checkpoints Extras throughout.

15 December 2014

December Checkpoints Column, addition of several Checkpoints Extras throughout; more as material becomes available.

12 September 2014

September Checkpoints Column, addition of a nascent Reunion Section, linked below, addition of Disqus comment feature on select pages, redesigned Home Page, ongoing minor format refresh and content update throughout.

15 June 2014

June Checkpoints Column, updated History entries on cadet uniforms and early Academy concepts, plus a new entry on Frank Lloyd Wright, refresh of Twitter and Facebook page formats, minor site-wide refresh and content update.

14 March 2014

March Checkpoints Column, minor redesign of individual GBNF pages, several new History entries, two new UPT galleries embedded in the 1976 Checkpoints archives.

13 December 2013

December Checkpoints Column and new Squadron Galleries.

10 September 2013

September Checkpoints Column, all new First Class galleries with nearly 200 new photos, new Falconews content, new Class Legacy Project content, new News links, numerous minor format updates.

12 June 2013

June Checkpoints Column, redesign of the GBNF Home Page and the addition of a chronological listing, a nascent Class History timeline, and a Class Pinterest page (linked below).

4 May 2013

Minor format refresh, consolidation of Class Business and News sections into Class News.

21 March 2013

March Checkpoints Column, Checkpoints archives for 1989-1999, completing the archiving of ALL Checkpoints columns from 1975-2013, updated format and expanded content in the Nostalgia and Class Business sections, the Exemplar Dinner from the 40-Year Class Legacy Project, eight new photo galleries covering the Second and Third Class years, and a gallery of old USAFA postcards.

7 February 2013

Streamlined Checkpoints column format to better accommodate more photos, commencing with the 2012 column.

8 December 2012

December Checkpoints Column, Checkpoints archives for 1987, 1988 and 2000-2004, new photo galleries, new content in Memories of... and History, new Facebook Page, general ongoing content update.

25 October 2012

Checkpoints archives for 1986 and 2005-2009, general ongoing content and format update.

12 September 2012

September Checkpoints Column, Checkpoints archives for 1985

23 August 2012

Refreshed 'look' of all icon directory pages, transition of all completed galleries to new format with many new photos and content, improved navigation features throughout.

21 July 2012

Completion of new and expanded gallery format for fourth class photo gallery, Checkpoints archives for 1984

18 June 2012

June 2012 Checkpoints column, Checkpoints archives for 1983.

19 May 2012

General site tune-up, minor design and layout changes, additional navigation bars, additional and enlarged photos in recent Checkpoints columns, miscellaneous additional content, additional history timeline content, new photo gallery, initial transition to a new photo gallery format, Checkpoints archives for 1980-1982.

26 April 2012

Redesigned Home Page, Checkpoints Extra.

21 April 2012

Checkpoints archives for 1978 & 1979.

15 April 2012

A site-linked Twitter account. . Checkpoints archives for 1976-1977, additional Falconews articles, including some for the Prep Schoolers, reorganized Nostalgia directory page, with a separate directory for the Dodo and Talon magazines, several new issues of Dodo and the first Talon, links (below) to neighboring class web sites.

27 March 2012

March 2012 Checkpoints column.

12 February 2012

Graduation photo gallery.

19 January 2012

December 2011 Checkpoints column.

16 January 2012

Graduation parade video.

15 January 2012

Falconews articles from the Graduation edition.

7 January 2012

Checkpoints archives, commencing with 1975.

22 December 2011

Alan Krukowski on Medal of Honor Recipient William Crawford.

4 December 2011

Site Debuts.

Checkpoints June 2019 Foster Bitton

Days Until Graduation
Class of 2020
Class of 2021
Class of 2022
Class of 2023
Days Since Graduation
Class of 1975
Days Since 5 July 1971

Classmate on the Board: Congratulations to Mark Volcheff for being one of six graduates elected to the AOG Board of Directors! No word yet on how this will affect his goal to visit the 23 more countries needed to make the number of countries he’s set foot in an even 100, but Mark has a lot of energy. There’s no doubt he’ll do an outstanding job as a Board Director and still find a way to reach his countries-visited goal. Mark is the third ’75 grad to be an AOG Board Director, following Dr. Leon Smith-Harrison and Larry Fariss.

Joining the Ranks of the Retired: Jacques Van Ryn retired from the Missouri Air National Guard on 9 February 2019. He may have been the oldest serving graduate in our class, if not in the Academy. If any other classmates are still in uniform, feel free to send your claim of longevity to the humblest of all scribes, moi, and I’ll document it in the next issue of Checkpoints.

John “Sully” Sullivan spent 21.5 years in uniform and followed it up with 22.5 years as a professional staffer on the Congressional House Armed Services Committee. He retired as the third longest serving member of the House Armed Services Committee…ever. After 44 combined years in government service it was fitting that Undersecretary of the Air Force, Matt Donovan, said some kind things at Sully’s retirement...