Cadet PVT
Cadet PFC
Cadet CPL
Cadet SGT
Cadet SSG
Cadet SFC
Cadet MSG
Cadet 1SG
Cadet CSM
Cadet 2LT
Cadet 1LT
Cadet CPT
Cadet MAJ
Cadet LTC
Cadet COL

Arrival and Oath

As soon as you arrive, you’ll realize that the Air Force Academy isn’t your typical college or university. It is a military institution, and the demands placed on cadets are unique. You’ll shed civilian clothes for a military uniform. Your hair will be cut to Academy standards, or for women, you will learn to style your hair within Academy standards. You will become a fourth-class cadet, which is how we refer to first year students at the Academy.

Shortly after arrival, you’ll participate in one of the more solemn occasions of your cadet career: taking the oath that makes you a member of the Armed Forces of the United States. Consider what this country means to you and what defending it involves. You must serve wholeheartedly. If you have any reservations, resolve them before committing to an appointment to USAFA and before taking this oath. This is the pledge of loyalty:

I, (name), having been appointed an Air Force cadet in the United States Air Force, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.