As soon as he knew he’d be attending the U.S. Air Force Academy, Christopher Steele began rigorous workouts to ease acclimatization to life at 7,000 feet. Still, he found the transition challenging. So too was the pounding on the door at 0400 to roust him for basic training.
At the U.S. Air Force Academy , cadets can choose from 31 academic majors ranging from English to aeronautics engineering, but the core curriculum skews technical. Everyone has to take astronautics, for example, as well as computer science.
While your major obviously influences your career path, an aeronautical engineering degree is no guarantee that you’ll be selected for flight training. Other factors include medical qualifications, class ranking and demand.
Summer opportunities are wide-ranging. Steele has spent his summers learning to fly a glider and a T-53 (a militarized version of a Cessna), shadowing officers at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana and attending a language immersion program in France.
After graduation in 2017, he plans to train as a pilot, which obligates him to an extra five years of active duty on top of the standard commitment. But he hopes to spend his career in the Air Force.
Read on to find out what life is like at the rest of the five.
— U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
This story is excerpted from the U.S. News “Best Colleges 2017” guidebook, which features in-depth articles, rankings and data.
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Careers Take Flight at the Air Force Academy originally appeared on usnews.com
