Air Force News 

Cadets and faculty in BYU’s Air Force ROTC and Army ROTC programs commemorated Veterans Day last month with activities that focused on both honoring the 212 fallen soldiers on the Memorial Wall in BYU’s Wilkinson Student Center and preparing cadets for their own future military service.

For Colonel Frederick Thaden, his selection as the department chair of BYU Marriott’s Department of Aerospace Studies, also known as BYU Air Force ROTC Detachment 855, is a dream come true.

The past, present, and future don’t often collide, but they certainly did during the BYU Air Force ROTC’s senior capstone event: a six-day staff ride to Washington, DC; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; and other historic sites that allowed senior cadets to connect with and learn from the United States’ leaders of the past and the present. 

The Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business welcomes seven new professors to the Tanner Building this fall.

This past summer, cadets from BYU and UVU in Air Force ROTC Detachment 855 gave the city of Orem a little taste of what flying an F-16 military jet is like.

For over three decades, Air Force Detachment 855 has held an annual military parade, featuring an impressive assembly of cadets marching in strict military formation. BYU Marriott's Detachment 855 is comprised of BYU and UVU cadets and is a satellite of the Air Force itself. The long-standing tradition continued this spring as one hundred sixty cadets drilled across the Richards Building Fields at BYU.

For what feels like the hundredth time that day, BYU Marriott AFROTC cadet Jason Draper, dressed in full uniform and carrying a fifty-pound pack, runs in dirt, mud, gravel, and snow. He doesn't know how far he's going or when he'll stop. All he knows is to keep going—as fast as he can. This training is known as selection—a week of intense, nonstop training necessary to become a combat rescue officer—and Draper of Palm Bay, Florida, has been determined to attend selection since his first day in the ROTC program.

Air Force ROTC cadets typically take on additional responsibility compared to traditional college students, and cadets in BYU Marriott’s Air Force ROTC program are no different. From getting up early for training to attending extra classes, cadets don’t have much free time on their hands. However, every semester approximately forty BYU Marriott cadets also elect to join the newly organized honor guard and use what extra time they do have to set a high standard for other students and compete around the country.

The number of cadets enrolled in BYU Marriott's Air Force ROTC program has taken flight, rising from about one hundred in 2012 to more than 180 today.

Michael Thompson, Shane Allred, and others were recognized at the annual Marriott School Awards Luncheon for their contributions to the university and their respective fields.

Deep reverence will hush over campus Friday morning as members of the Brigham Young University community gather to honor those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.

Army and Air Force ROTC cadets at Brigham Young University will march to Brigham Square Friday, Nov. 8, to be reviewed by BYU Academic Vice President Brent W. Webb during this year’s Presidential Review.

The Brigham Young University Army and Air Force ROTC cadets joined together for a 24-hour flag vigil, honoring the lives lost in the Sept. 11 tragedy.