VETERANS DAY 2008: Couple visits Air Force Academy for reunion

The only down side to going to your 40th college reunion is that so many “old people” show up.

That’s how local businessman Maurice Ecung said he felt when he and his wife Antonia Ecung, a dean at Porterville College, spent an enjoyable week at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

It was a week of receptions, briefings, formal dinners, lunch with the cadet wing, visiting with old friends, more dinners and watching the Air Force vs. Navy football game.

“It was a real thrill seeing old friends, many of them retired senior military leaders,” Maurice Ecung said. “The Air Force-Navy football game was exciting. It started with a fly over by the Stealth Bomber and two F-22 fighter jets. The fighters then blasted into afterburners and headed straight up with a roar of power. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.”

Ecung commented on the U.S. Air Force’s loss of the football game with a straight face.

“The Air Force team was very generous to our friends from the [U.S.] Navy,” he said. “Since they traveled so far we basically handed them the game by a score of 33 to 27. Two Air Force blocked kicks and an Air Force fumble all went for Navy touchdowns.”

A highlight of the week for the Ecungs was having lunch with the academy’s female gymnastic team in Billy Mitchell Hall, the cadet dining hall.

They were hosted by Monache High School’s own Cadet 3rd Class (sophomore) Ashley Green. The Ecungs had the opportunity to visit with Green and Cadet 2nd Class (junior) Mark Price, also a Monache alumnus, at the football game.

The two cadets said they want to convey to their friends back in Porterville, who may want to follow them to the Air Force Academy, to do so. 

In and e-mail to the Ecungs, Price talked about classes and gave a little advice to potential cadets:

“ ... Classes are tough this semester but are going well for me,” Price wrote.  “ ... I’ve been having a great time teaching other cadets how to fly sailplanes and having fun on the weekends. And as for advice for future potential cadets, I would say stay fit, get involved with extracurricular activities and enjoy your life as much as possible before coming here. And don’t worry about what it’s going to be like because you will adapt and it will turn out better than you expected.”

Green, too, had advice for young people thinking of becoming a cadet.

“After spending two quarters at UC San Diego and starting out in AFROTC I can definitely say the Air Force Academy is a college experience unlike any other,” Green said via e-mail. “The academy asks a lot of you and you do have to make sacrifices that your friends at civilian schools wouldn’t understand, but I think it is all worth it ... in the long run, the academy offers opportunities that are difficult to find at other schools.

“It is a big decision to choose a college. The deciding factor for me was getting to visit and talk to other cadets and hear all of their stories. And really, where else do you get paid to go to school, and the chance to jump out of perfectly good airplanes?”

Ecung, who retired from the U.S. Air Force, spends quality time encouraging young people to consider a military academy as a choice for a college education.

Academies include West Point (Army), Annapolis (Navy) and Colorado Springs (Air Force). Additional options, Ecung said, include the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine academies.

“I encourage any young person between the age of 17 and 22 upon entry, that is unmarried and of good character, and has a desire to serve their country, to investigate the military academies as an option for getting their university education,” he said. “The four-year university education, valued a $350,000, is free.

“The Air Force Academy, as an example, offers 32 degree choices with advanced degrees, specialty career training and pilot training, as well as post graduate options. The military academies are some of the best educational opportunities in the country.”
 
How to apply
Nominations to the academies are through your congressional representative, and in some cases the president and vice president. For more information or to apply, contact Melissa Mederos at Rep. David Nunes’ office, 733-3861, or by e-mail, Melissa.mederos@mail.house.gov. The deadline for submitting your package to Nunes is Friday, Nov. 14.