Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 29, 1994 TAG: 9501060027
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN L. DAVIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
``You have to prepare yourself mentally for leaving home. How that's done depends on the person. You may want to spend more time with your family before entering the academy, Carter said.
That's what he tells prospective applicants who attend the annual Christmas Grassroots Program. Scheduled for Friday at 3:30 p.m. at the Airport Holiday Inn, the program is designed to give students, parents and high school counselors information about the Air Force Academy and about the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps programs available at selected colleges and universities. The Grassroots Program is presented by academy admissions liaison officers and cadets home on Christmas break.
``The hardest time is basic training,'' Carter said. During those first six weeks, new cadets cannot rely on their usual network of family and friends to get through a summer of grueling GI training, seasoned with honor code instruction and academic preparation.
That time can be just as hard on parents, said Jane Haddad of Roanoke, whose son Alex, a Cave Spring High School graduate, is in his third year at the Air Force Academy, majoring in electrical engineering.
``From the first day they arrive, they can have no contact with their parents for six weeks, except one phone call. You can write to them, but you can't talk,'' Jane Haddad said. She and her husband, Bill, are co-presidents of the Parents' Club, a support system designed to make parents of cadets aware of the stresses their children will face in a military academy environment.
Despite the difficulties and challenges, Carter, who graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1994, looks back on his experience there with pride. Although he admits to times when he thought about quitting, ``It became more enjoyable as I progressed, and I could look back at how I was in the beginning and see how I was growing and learning.'' He tells that to Grassroots Program attendees, too.
Cadets graduate as military officers with the rank of second lieutenant and are obligated to remain on active duty, usually for six years.
Carter, a William Byrd High School graduate and son of Ken and Frances Carter of Vinton, has set his sights still higher. He was awarded a Draper Fellowship for postgraduate study in astronautical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and wants to work in outer space. He applied for the Air Force Academy because it is one of the top schools in the nation in his chosen field. In addition, he wants to undergo Air Force pilot training after receiving his master's degree.
Only about 25 percent of a graduating class, which usually numbers about 950, gets to go to flight school, said Major C. Andrew Hodges Jr., commander of the Southwest Virginia admissions liaison officers. When that extra year of pilot training is included, a cadet's total education is worth about $2.5 million. Even without flight school, an academy graduate is considered a $250,000 asset to the nation.
The schooling is funded by Congress, which means taxpayers pay for it. So, if a cadet decides to drop out after entering the junior year, it is up to the academy to weigh the circumstances and determine whether to require financial reimbursement from the cadet or to induct the cadet into active duty as an enlisted member. Until that time, a cadet may be allowed to leave without any payback obligation.
Capt. Jeffrey Todd Wimmer, who will be speaking at the program, reminds prospective applicants that ``It's not college; it's a job.''
Cadets are in class at least eight hours a day, he said, and ``going to class is your job. You're also required to participate in an athletic event, so every day after school, you report for practice. You're busy from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and afterward you study.''
Every other Saturday, various activities are planned, such as mandatory formation at a home football game or at a distinguished speaker's appearance. Cadets must request leave to go off campus, even to visit downtown Colorado Springs, he said. They earn 30 days off a year.
``You always have Sundays off, but if you get in trouble for anything, they may punish you by taking away those Saturday evenings and Sundays,'' Wimmer said.
Summers are busy, too, with survival training, aviation training, glider and parachute training, or exchange programs in active duty overseas.
Wimmer admits that he had a tough time academically. Fortunately, ``the student-to-teacher ratio is low. The largest class I was in had 18 people.'' The instructors are there ``to get you through it,'' and they willingly offer extra time to help, if asked, he said.
A Northside High School graduate and son of Van and Rose Wimmer of Roanoke County, Wimmer is stationed at Hurlbert Field, Fort Walton Beach, Fla., as a navigator in special operations of AC-130 gunships.
Wimmer's brother, Capt. Van Allen Wimmer Jr., was a year ahead of him at the academy, but they rarely saw each other during class time. ``They purposely keep siblings separated so that you will develop independently,'' he said.
Van Wimmer is stationed in Korea and flies F-16s. Both brothers were Gulf War participants.
Applicants seek a congressional appointment to get into the academy. Rose Wimmer remembered, ``There's a lot of paperwork involved and a lot of travel time going for the interviews.''
Admissions liaison officers provide guidance, and their recommendations carry a lot of weight, said Capt. Edward O. Andrews of Vinton, an admissions liaison officer who now serves in the Air Force Reserve.
``The [admissions liaison officer] interviews the candidate in person and finds out what kind of person he or she really is, not just who he or she appears to be on paper,'' he said. Certain intangible qualities, such as self-confidence, leadership skills and a dynamic personality, mean a great deal, particularly if a person's academic background just meets the minimum requirements.
Physical condition is another important consideration for prospective cadets, as are an applicant's grade-point average, class standing, SAT scores, athletic participation, club positions and community involvement.
Dorms at the academy are coed, but the overall ratio of men to women remains low, about 13-to-1, said 2nd Lt. Gina Hilger, daughter of Jerry and Mary Hilger of Blue Ridge. She graduated from the academy in 1993 and is pursuing a master's degree in public affairs and political science at the University of Maryland. She intends to work in the intelligence field after completing additional training at Randolph Air Force Base in Texas.
Although she graduated as valedictorian from Lord Botetourt High School in 1989, Hilger said, ``You can have average smarts and still get in and make it. How successful you are depends on how disciplined you are, on how well you organize your time and manage stress.''
For Hilger, succeeding in the male-oriented military academy environment did not pose any special problems. ``You have to go in with a positive attitude.'' She also said that she never experienced any kind of sexual harassment.
Susan Whalen, a Floyd County High School graduate in her first year at the academy, agreed, saying, ``They make it a point to see that everyone is treated equally. The emphasis is on teamwork, and you learn how to watch out not only for yourself, but for the others in your group.''
Whalen, who will be at the Grassroots Program, said her brother, a West Point graduate, helped prepare her for what to expect in a military academy environment.
Whatever prospective cadets expect from the academy environment, they're sure to get an idea from Grassroots Program speakers who actually live the academy experience.
by CNB