The Air Force Academy’s beautiful campus in Colorado Springs is home to around 4,000 cadets each year. The cadets enrolled at the academy are entrenched in military training, athletics, academics, leadership and character development to forge some of the greatest fighter pilots in the world. Like any school, their graduating classes enjoy planning events or donating to support future cadets’ education and development. However, the Class of 1971 had something else in mind.
Over a decade ago, the AFA Class of 1971 had the idea to memorialize General Robin Olds. Robin Olds was a triple ace combat pilot best known for shooting down 17 enemy aircraft in the Vietnam War. In 1967, General Olds was named the commandant of cadets at the AFA and taught fighter pilots for four years, his last being the Class of 1971.
Decades later, the Class of ‘71 raised the money for this wall and brought the idea to life. The hard part began after the idea was formed and the project was underway. The alumni provided text, pictures, and 14 panels measuring 5’ tall and 10’ wide to tell the air combat history throughout each U.S. war and be readable from 6’ away.
These 14 panels span two separate walls, forming an outer ‘V’ surrounding the two bronze statues created by a member of the Class of 1971. The inner ‘V’ consists of 6 panels that display the AFA code of conduct and the AFA fight song, but the star of the show on this history wall is the two photo collage panels in the middle of both walls. Working collaboratively with our partners at Latitude Signage + Design and Direct Embed a framework was created for each of these panels to be installed onsite.
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