Nearly 1,000 cadets graduated from the Air Force Academy on Thursday with a celebration that included a Thunderbirds flyover and an address by their commander in chief, President Donald Trump.
Nearly 1,000 cadets celebrated their graduation from the Air Force Academy on Thursday with a Thunderbirds flyover and an address by President Donald Trump.
“Today you take the controls,” Trump told the Class of 2019 during the ceremony at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. “You’re going to push it up and chart your course across the sky. Keep the wings level and true, because your country is sending you on a vital mission: To defend America, protect our people, and to pursue our nation’s great and glorious destiny.”
The academy said that 989 cadets were scheduled to graduate, 10 of whom were international cadets from Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Romania, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Tunisia. More than half of those graduates, or 527, are scheduled to attend pilot training, and 56 graduates were previously enlisted airmen.
Nearly 20 percent of the 1,242 cadets who were inducted into the academy did not graduate, the academy said.
In his commencement address, Trump praised the cadets for their hard work, discipline and perseverance over the last four years.
“You’ve done so many things that nobody else can do, and in the end, you’ve come out on top,” Trump said. “You have risen to every challenge, overcome every single obstacle, and proven yourselves worthy of the bars that will soon adorn your uniform.
“You soared in gliders, piloted aircraft and launched satellites that are now orbiting way, way above us, looking down on us,” Trump continued. “You performed advanced research, developed new techniques, you honed your skills as cyber operators, and jumped out of planes thousands of feet above the Earth. Not easy. For America’s airmen, the sky is never, never the limit.”
And Trump praised the parents and other supportive family members of the graduating cadets, who were “beaming with joy – and that’s what they’re doing, they are beaming with joy.”
“Thank you for raising rock-ribbed American patriots,” Trump said. “America is stronger thanks to your love and support for these incredible people, these incredible graduates. Without them, you wouldn’t be here, and that’s the way it is.”
President Trump enters the stadium at the Air Force Academy graduation ceremony. pic.twitter.com/xvl6JRSgwS
— Terri Green (@TerriGreenUSA) May 30, 2019
President Trump enters the stadium at the Air Force Academy graduation ceremony. pic.twitter.com/xvl6JRSgwS
— Terri Green (@TerriGreenUSA) May 30, 2019
Trump tells Air Force graduates that he was given a choice of shaking no graduates’ hands, which would’ve been “smart” for quick-exit purposes, or a mere 1 hand, or 10 hands, or 50 hands, or 100 hands, or all 1,000 hands, and he chose all 1,000 hands.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 30, 2019
Trump tells Air Force graduates that they "won't even believe" and can't even "conceive" of the technological advancements the military is making under him.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 30, 2019
Source: Air Force Times
And that is why we love you, President Trump!