Checkpoints (fourth class knowledge)
From USAFA Folklore
This article is about fourth class knowledge. For the magazine, see Checkpoints (magazine).
Fourth class cadets traditionally have to memorize "Checkpoints" each day, and must be able to recite them if asked.
[edit] Checkpoints include:
- Name and rank of the Officer in Charge
- Name and rank of the Senior Officer of the Day
- Number of days until each class graduates
- Number of days until Air Force next beats Army
- Number of days until Air Force next beats Navy
- Number of days until the next Air Force Day
- Meals for the day (main course, drink and dessert)
[edit] News stories
By the noon meal each duty day, fourth class cadets were required to read and learn about three stories in the news (although not officially part of Checkpoints, it was generally considered by most upper class cadets to fall in the same category). The stories normally had to be of national, international or military significance, and were usually recited at the noon meal in Mitchell Hall. After the fourth class cadets started eating, each of the (normally) three smacks at the table would recite one story (thus the need to learn three stories, in case your other two were taken by your classmates). The smack would begin the story by saying, "Sir, in the news today, as reported by the [newspaper name], . . ." then summarize the story in four or five sentences, and answer any questions that the upper class cadets might pose.
Some tables would occasionally have specific requests for types of stories. These specific requests might have been sporting events, stories about specific current events, stories with relevance to a specific area of the world, or occasionally something that was not even a news story (for instance, a "word of the day"). Even if a fourth class cadet sat at one of those tables, he would still be expected to know three actual news stories in case he was asked about it at some other time.
In some cases, it was not considered an honor violation to fabricate a news story, so long as the fictitious story was sufficiently amusing.
