Draft:Class of 1979

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This article was started from a graduate's recollections. Class members are asked to add factual material — class size, exemplar, key dates, classmates — as well as the stories that defined the class's experience at the Academy. New to USAFAPedia? See how to contribute.

The Class of 1979 is the United States Air Force Academy graduating class admitted in the summer of 1975 and graduated in 1979. The class holds a specific position in the Academy's history as the last all-male graduating class at USAFA before the Class of 1980 became the first to enter and graduate with women cadets following the admission of women to the federal service academies.

Class identity

Class motto and yell

The class adopted "79 Mighty Fine" as its official class yell.^{[citation needed]}

The class is also associated with an unofficial designation, "LCWB" — Last Class With Balls — circulated as an informal class identifier in the period during and after the Class of 1980 became the first co-educational class.^{[citation needed]} The phrase appeared on unofficial class merchandise of the period and became part of the class's self-conception. It is documented here because it is a factual part of the class's history and the broader history of the Academy's transition to coeducation; the designation reflects attitudes of its time and is not endorsed in any current institutional sense.

Class exemplar

To be added.

Class crest and colors

To be added — physical description, designer, and dedication date if applicable.

At the Academy

The four years of cadet experience for this class — significant events, leadership, training milestones, and notable members — should be filled in by class members.

Notable events during the class's time at USAFA

• The Class of 1979 food fight in Mitchell Hall in the late 1970s, which received national news coverage^{[citation needed]}
• The arrival of the Class of 1980 in summer 1976 as the first co-educational class — an event that fundamentally reshaped the cadet wing during the Class of 1979's upper-class years
• (add other events)

The transition to coeducation

The class's three-class years (third-class through first-class) overlapped with the integration of women into the cadet wing. As upperclassmen, the Class of 1979 was directly involved in setting the tone for how the cadet wing as a whole received the first women cadets — both in formal cadet leadership roles and in everyday squadron and Mitchell Hall interactions. The class's collective memory of this period is part of the documentary record of how the Academy's transition to coeducation actually went, distinct from the official institutional narrative.

Class of 1979 graduates: this is a section that benefits especially from honest firsthand accounts. The transition was experienced differently by different cadets. Add what you saw, what you did, and what you remember now.

AOCs

Air Officers Commanding who served the squadrons during the class's time should be listed where remembered.

Graduation

To be added: graduation date, commencement speaker, number of cadets graduated, class statistics.

Notable members

Add classmates whose names and post-USAFA careers should be recorded. The wikilink format means each named graduate can click through to create their own biography page.

• Example Graduate - career or achievement
• Another Example - career or achievement

Stories from the Class of 1979

Members of this class: add your stories. The class's experience — including its position at the cultural inflection point of coeducation, the food fight, and the everyday realities of cadet life from 1975 through 1979 — is exactly the kind of history that exists nowhere else in compiled form. Sign with any squadron affiliations you held during your four years.

This section awaits contributions.

Reunions

Class reunion notes — dates, locations, attendance, memorable moments.

See also

• Class of 1979 food fight
• Class of 1980 — the first co-educational class
• 1976 admission of women
• USAFA cheers and chants
• Mitchell Hall traditions