Hello, my name is Jack Anthony. I am a 1978 graduate of USAFA. I was a doolie in 30th squadron, and there the USAFA Class of 75 did look after us '78 is great' rookies. I served 26 years as an AF officer, mostly working in space related jobs. This included things like teaching astro at USAFA, commanding a Space Ops Squadron, helping design, build, and operate research, military, and intelligence satellites, and even getting to work in temporary NASA positions. I retired as a Colonel in 2004 and went on to serve 20 more years as a contractor supporting military and educational space activities in Colorado, and though I “retired” November 2023, I still get called upon to speak, teach, and help look into funky astro things our adversary’s are doing in space that bugs us. I live in Longmont Colorado. Margo is my bride of nearly 40 years and we have two up daughters. Here in Longmont we are known as Pop Pop and GiGi as grandparents…fun duty!
In 1999 I started a rather unusual hobby for a space nerd. Let me share with you how that started way back in Fall 1975, but picked up in 1999. For Military History I had a teacher named Captain Reed Hansen. I got to know him and he would share that on weekend he and his son would explore “USAFA Ghost Towns.” Hummmm, that was interesting, and he said the area of the north gate entry was rich with old history sites. Well, in 1999 while trail running on USAFA, I found some old foundations and that began my curiosity. I was hooked on learning more about “USAFA before it was USAFA”, that is what and who was here before the academy was built starting 1954. I met historians and archeologists in USAFA CE, I visited the USAFA Special Collections Library, and visited several museums including the Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum. I also started to meet historians and archeologists and researchers, both professional and amateur. I was off and running and learned a lot. I joined the Palmer Lake Historical Society and several of their history experts helped me in my quest to learn about the 18600 acres of USAFA going back to the mid 1800’s. I got permission to go just about anywhere on USAFA to look for pioneer cabin foundations and relics of the railroad heydays before 1900. It was fun! I then started to write and speak…that was fun too.
So, many times I am introduced as the “USAFA Historian.” Well, that’s not me, they have a real historian on staff. I guess I am the “USAFA before USAFA” historian of sorts, and I hope as you peek at what “75bestalive.org” webmaster Bill Estelle has posted will help you understand what USAFA was before it was our alma mater.
God bless you all, and I hope my work is a fun and educational read. Feel free to reach out and ask me any questions OR share with me something I don’t know. That would be cool.
78 is Great, 75 is best alive…and I guess I’d say something nice about every class. Go Falcons!
