In August 1958, when the U.S. Air Force Academy completed its move from Lowry Air Force Base in Denver to its permanent location, cadets first accessed the cadet area by marching up what is now known as the "Bring Me Men" ramp. Since then, generations of arriving cadets have followed the same path. Every summer, new appointees assemble on the footprints below the ramp, receive their first welcome to Academy life, and begin their journey as cadets by heading up the ramp.

In 1964, the words "Bring Me Men" were mounted above the ramp in two-foot-high aluminum letters. The phrase comes from The Coming American, a poem written in 1894 by Samuel Walter Foss and first read at a Fourth of July celebration in Connecticut. One of its most memorable stanzas reads:

"Bring me men to match my mountains,
Bring me men to match my plains,
Men with empire in their purpose,
And new eras in their brains."

As the Academy began admitting women in 1976, the phrase became increasingly controversial. A symbolic moment of this change was captured in an iconic photo of appointee Julie Richards during inprocessing.

After decades of debate, the inscription "Bring Me Men" was officially removed on March 28, 2003. On Sept. 29, 2004, the Academy unveiled a new message above the ramp: "Integrity First, Service Before Self, Excellence in All We Do."

In 2001, a black security gate was added at the base of the ramp as part of heightened security measures following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Before that time, the ramp had remained open and unobstructed.