September 2026 Checkpoints
In this issue:
- The 23rd superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Lt. Gen. Paul “Max” Moga ’95, assumes command.
- Celebrate a lifetime of service with Checkpoints’ Distinguished Graduate Award, Leadership Achievement Award and Young Alumni Excellence Award honoree profiles.
- A quarter century has passed since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. Read about the grads who have fought in the Global War on Terrorism and how their time at USAFA prepared them.
- Learn about the Institute for Future Conflict’s new economic warfare fellow.
- Take a deep dive into the results from the Association & Foundation’s recent all-graduate survey.
- Check out photo essays of the Class of 2030 and significant ribbon cuttings from around the Academy.
- The Academy is honoring legendary coach Fisher DeBerry with a bronze statue at Falcon Stadium and endowment in his name.
- Association & Foundation CEO Mark Hille ’97 writes about the commitment to service before self that binds all USAFA grads.
- AOG board chair Cathy Almand ’90 reflects on the USAFA people and events who recently impacted her and reinforced her pride in the institution.
- Learn about those who designed USAFA’s interiors — and so much more!
Newsroom and stories
Checkpoints: Eagles Peak: Jemal Singleton ’99 soars in rarified air — and has the Super Bowl ring to prove it
In April 2025, the Checkpoints team traveled to Philadelphia to visit with Singleton for this feature story and a Long Blue Leadership podcast interview. Singleton also took time from his busy schedule to meet with graduates for a Long Blue Line Social in the City of Brotherly Love.
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Checkpoints: Four graduates reimagining patient care through innovation and education
The Air Force Academy’s influence extends far beyond the cockpit and into health care innovation, as four graduates — among many — demonstrate daily in applying their military precision to pioneering medical advances across diverse specialties.
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Checkpoints: Forged in fire: Largest-ever Culminating Exercise puts Ready Airman Training skills to the test
Over a span of four late-winter days, the U.S. Air Force Academy transformed from a world-class military and educational institution into an Indo-Pacific island rife with escalating geopolitical tensions in what was the largest Culiminating Exercise to date.
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Checkpoints: Augmenting an Academy education
Dr. Paul Kaminski ’64 enjoyed a U.S. Air Force career full of technological firsts that made the United States safer and demonstrated its technological prowess.
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Checkpoints: Combatives courses and clubs prepare cadets for life’s uncertainties
Combatives at the U.S. Air Force Academy is made up of a variety of functional martial arts systems such as freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and even some Filipino and Thai disciplines.
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Checkpoints: Focused on the future
Donor support has always been an important part of the U.S. Air Force Academy’s history. Since its founding in 2007, the Air Force Academy Foundation has focused on cultivating increasing support from donors to help define the future of the Academy, its cadets and its programs – and making sure those gifts are carefully stewarded.
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Checkpoints: Defining athletic excellence
Athletic excellence has been a cornerstone of the U.S. Air Force Academy since its inception. Intercollegiate sports foster teamwork, leadership and perseverance in each generation of cadets, equipping them on the “fields of friendly strife” for service to the nation as Air Force and Space Force officers.
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News: Two graduates join Air Force Academy Foundation board
BJ Jones ’85 of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Gen. (Ret.) Terrence O’Shaughnessy ’86 of Boulder City, Nevada, have joined the Air Force Academy Foundation board of directors.
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Checkpoints: Defining the visitor and heritage experience
From the TrueNorth Commons development to class projects, these capital improvements and peer-to-peer initiatives honor the past while building toward an even stronger future.
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Checkpoints: Defining the cadet experience
Over their 47 months at the U.S. Air Force Academy, cadets interact with donor-supported programs and initiatives almost daily. Academic research, upgraded technology, lab equipment, cadet clubs, symposia and guest speakers all are supported with gift funds.
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Checkpoints: Defining the warfighter
Throughout the Defining Our Future campaign’s seven years, donors contributed more than $330 million in support of the U.S. Air Force Academy and graduate services. This support helps secure the Academy’s focus on developing warfighters equipped to lead on Day 1.
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Checkpoints: Foundation board chair Q&A
For the March 2025 issue of Checkpoints magazine, Kelly Banet, executive vice president for development, conducted a Q&A with the two U.S. Air Force Academy graduates who served as chair of the Air Force Academy Foundation board of directors during the seven-year Defining Our Future comprehensive campaign.
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