The sights and sounds of Army game week began long before U.S. Air Force Academy cadets stormed onto the field, a formation of F-16 Fighting Falcons flew above Falcons Stadium, and the traditional spirit cheese flew around the stadium.
Air Force-Army isn’t the typical college football rivalry, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some good-natured barbs exchanged between Air Force and Army cadets.
“We have pride, so we give the Army guys a little grief,” said Cadet First Class Bryan Stigall, the cheer squad’s mike man on the Falcons’ sideline. “But tomorrow, we’re back on the same team again.”
The drama began early in the week and reached its peak at the spirit dinner and bonfire on the Thursday night before the game. Cadets watched videos making fun of their Army counterparts before walking outside into the 20-degree temperature to await the night’s main event – the sight of the mule replica in flames.
“We’re here to make sure we beat Army,” Stigall yelled to the crowd of cadets and alumni gathered on Spirit Hill on the academy’s campus in Colorado Springs, Colo. A few minutes later, after head coach Troy Calhoun and a couple of Falcons’ players added their own words to the festivities, Stigall, with his face painted Air Force blue and white and clad in a black T-shirt and Airman Battle Uniform trousers, led the countdown before an explosive ordinance disposal crew detonated the mule replica. Upperclassmen then walked over for the traditional socializing at Hap’s Place as the fire reflected in the windows of the nearby classrooms.
Maj. Brian Collins, a 1998 graduate and squadron commander at the Academy, watched the mule burn with his wife, Melissa, and their sons, 5-year-old Peyton and 4-year-old Palmer.
“This is really exciting because I think Air Force-Army is our biggest rivalry of the service academies,” Collins said. “There’s a lot of pride in both services, but it’s more of a rivalry among a band of brothers. We are really one team in one fight, and I think that’s part of what makes this week so special.”
But that doesn’t mean the cadets don’t want their team to crush their rival. The week is filled with good-natured insults and pranks. An Army cadet exchange student found all of his furniture moved from his dormitory room to Spirit Hill, leaving him with only a tent. Army cadets “kidnapped” an Air Force cadet wing commander and held her hostage, videotaping her captivity.
The day in between the bonfire and the game was dedicated to a series of athletic competitions between the two services. Air Force teams faced Army in sports such as cycling, judo and taekwondo, and boxing. Fans in attendance brought the spirit that had dominated the campus all week.
“It’s been really exciting, and everybody’s getting really pumped up about [the game],” said Cadet 4th Class Jeanne Nolan, who attended the service showcase boxing event in the Cadet Gym’s boxing room. “Army-Air Force week is really big, but I think it’s something you have to experience. I know there are a lot of recruits visiting this week, and it’s the best week to be here because I think this is the Air Force at its best.”
On game day, the fans in Section 8 were also at their best, dressed and ready to make noise. Cadet 1st Class Bill Thimmel, clad as a general with an ammunition belt across his chest, led a particularly lively group of fans in the front row above the cheer section, when he wasn’t yelling at Army players or engaging in conversation with the Falcons’ mascot, the Bird. Cadets 1st Class Bryce Bergman and Reed Fleming were dressed as Mexican Luche Libre wrestlers, with red, white and blue masks, while Cadet 1st Class Joel Short wore a President Obama mask with a sign that read “Commander’s-in-Chief Trophy. Here We Go.”
Twenty minutes before kickoff, nearly the entire Cadet Wing broke formation for the traditional Cadet March On and sprinted for their seats in the northeast corner of the stadium. Precision parachuters and flyovers from eight F-16s filled the sky above Falcon Stadium as more than 45,000 fans awaited the 1:30 p.m. kickoff in the 46th game in the Air Force-Army series.
Before the game started, 3-year-old Austin Haney, the son of a fallen soldier, Staff Sgt. A. Randy Haney, had a photo taken with the Bird.
No other time was the spirit of the game more evident than on the coin flip when Air Force wounded warriors 1st Lt. Ryan McGuire, Tech. Sgt. Matt Slayden, Staff Sgt. Jason Morgan and Senior Airman Mike Malarsie joined the Army’s Capt. David Rosecrans, Staff Sgts. Mitchell George and Chris Mountjoy, and Spcs. Gregory Bonine and Cory Fitzwater as the honorary captains.
“We get stoked about football, and it’s a great sport,” Calhoun told The Colorado Springs Gazette before the game, “but that puts it in the viewpoint it needs to be. “You realize the perspective of all of our branches of service, not just Air Force and Army, the service and commitment that men and women are willing to make to voluntarily serve is pretty incredible.”
At halftime, it didn’t look like the fans dressed in blue and white would have much reason to celebrate. Army led 14-0 and could have led by much more, but defensive back Josh Hall stripped Army running back Josh Hall of the ball just outside the goal line late in the first half, and the ball bounced harmlessly out of the end zone for a touchback. The second half was a completely different story, with Air Force scoring 24 unanswered points to clinch a second consecutive Commander’s-in-Chief Trophy. With each score, the cadets dashed from the stands for pushups in the end zone.
When Air Force quarterback Tim Jefferson Jr. put the Falcons ahead for good when he ran untouched into the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown with 15 seconds left in the third quarter, Section 8 showed why it has a reputation for the most spirited Falcon fans. After an interception clinched a 24-14 comeback victory over the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a record 18th Commander’s-in-Chief Trophy, Academy superintendent Lt. Gen. Mike Gould gave the fans what they wanted when he jumped into the stands and allowed himself to be carried among the sea of cheering cadets.
Once the final seconds ticked off for the dramatic Air Force victory, the cadets rushed on the field one last time before the celebration continued on campus that night.
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