Class of 1994's Recognition
From USAFA Folklore
In the spring of 1991, the Class of 1994's Recognition was postponed following an aborted spirit mission involving the entire class going to the Flatiron prior to wake-up on Sunday. In true Red Tag Bastard fashion, '94's recognition was ultimately held seven days later.
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[edit] The spirit mission, or if you ask the upper classes, "the escape"
On what was supposed to be the final day of recognition training, the Class of '94 pulled off what became one of the more memorable spirit missions in Academy history. The entire class, with the exception of one squadron, left their rooms in the middle of the night and assembled up on the Flatiron. (The remaining squadron apparently did not get up or get organized, and instead assembled in their SAR, so they were not in their rooms when the upperclassmen went around to wake them up.) The intent of the spirit mission was to form a human "94" (or something similar) on the flatiron, but it ended up degenerating into a gaggle of folks on the hill.
At wake-up time, the upperclass went around to bang on the fourth class cadets' doors to wake them up and quickly realized that all of the fourth class cadets were gone. When it was determined where they went, a number of Group and Wing Staff members, along with the Officer in Charge and the Senior Officer of the Day, went to the flatiron to flow control the fourth class cadets back to the Cadet Area.
What happened next is subject to some dispute. Some say that the members of '94 resisted going back to some extent. There were reports that members of '94 chanted (as some had at previous times during Recognition) "Tick, tock, can't stop the f**ing clock"--a reference to their impending Recognition. Some say that some of the staff members were drunk and/or severely hungover from the previous night. Some say that a member of the Class of '94 took a swing at an upper class cadet. In a matter of some debate, the OIC claimed to be swung at as well, which was one of the reasons he supported freezing recognition for the first time in known history, in a later meeting with the acting commandant. Regardless, the class was eventually flow-controlled back to the Cadet Area to continue Recognition training.
[edit] An account
- Before sun-up as 1,000 members of the class of 94 were ascending Flatiron, several senior cadets were returning from downtown (First class cadets were given OVN passes at that time). Some of the "firsties", who were also on wing and group staffs, some of which, were claimed to have been drinking and not yet sober, though according to a first-hand account from the then-cadet-wing command-post NCOIC, none appeared inebriated, tried to halt the assent. Some members of '94 resisted the order to turn back and a confrontation of few versus many ensued. There were accounts of firsties taking swings at cadets. Regardless of the specifics, the underclassmen refused to leave. The Security Police were called in to help via the OIC/SOD radios, and they assisted in returning the underclassmen to the cadet area. A number of the class of 1994 were handcuffed, and barracked in the back room of the cadet command post, while they awaited formal proceedings.
[edit] The remainder of the day
That morning, as the Commandant, BGen Joseph J. Redden was TDY, the decision was made by the acting commandant, in consultation with the allegedly-assaulted OIC, to postpone recognition. They called General Redden, who assented to the decision, and asked for a full briefing upon his return.
The morning's training continued mostly as normal, but by the time noon meal came, there was the clear sense in the Wing that something was up. Noon meal that day was a bizarre mix of reactions--some tables were dead silent; others went "old school" and were particularly intense. Just prior to the end of the noon meal, an announcement came from the Staff Tower that the Class of '94 was to report to Arnold Hall immediately after noon meal.
At Arnold Hall, the Cadet Wing Commander got on stage and, with a reference to '94's chant, told them, "Class of 94, the clock just stopped." He announced that Recognition would be postponed until further notice.
The upperclassmen were called into the cadet wing theater and briefed by an officer who advised that the most effective way to indicate that a real line had been crossed was to simply ignore the underclassmen. Everyone was pretty surprised, but the general feeling amongst the upper classes was that the underclassmen had breached trust.
The cadet wing commander came up and, though obviously shaken by the mornings' events assured us that this was the best way to proceed, and that we could rescue what felt to most as an act less of spirit than open insubordination, especially when accompanied by the now infamous "clock" phrase. Later he mentioned we might as well grab some food on the way out as the recognition party was canceled.
As the upperclassmen filed out, there were some awkward moments, as many friends and relatives of the class of 1994 had come for recognition and didn't know what was going on. The Cadet Wing Hostess, Ms. Cinda Sue Thorhauer had in arranged for a huge spread--chips, sub sandwiches--since it would otherwise go to waste, they, somewhat guiltily, took the food on our way back to the dorms.
[edit] The following week
The details of this briefing were then announced to the wing, and what followed was a very strange week indeed. The Class of '94 was expected to maintain all fourth class customs and courtesies, but there was to be no fourth class training, other than minor spot corrections, until further notice. The week was awkward for everyone.
There were, inevitably some upperclassmen that broke the tension with stunts like bumping into an underclassman, and saying, "Oh, I didn't recognize you there," but by in large most were pretty professional. It was especially odd for 12th Squadron, whose freshmen hadn't engaged in the flatiron fracas. The upperclassmen felt that treatment was especially unfair, and that was where the Class Representative met with some upper class and the AOC about how to best resume training. If those meetings actually affected anything or changed any time frames, it is unknown, but its enough to say that the mood was (slightly) less despondent there.
Ultimately, Recognition training was resumed the following weekend. The Class of '94 completed the Run to the Rock and was awarded their Prop and Wings. Needless to say, it was one of the strangest weeks in Academy history.
The Class of 94 put a number of items on their class crest to commemorate the Recognition incident. Most notable is the Flatiron in the upper right. The Polaris is strategically placed over the number "4" to make it look like "4ยบ", a term used to refer to fourth class cadets. And finally, the seven stars of Orion were added to represent seven extra days as fourth class cadets. Reportedly, the PTB learned about the star scheme, and it was ultimately changed to nine four-pointed stars (to represent "94"), but the original seven are very prominent, while the additional two are extremely small.
[edit] Epilogue
That tensions were high, there can be no doubt. Many of the new firsties didn't trust '94 to train the new class, and pointed comments throughout the following year were not unheard of. One of the results was that the newly minted firsties worked with the officer staff and cadet wing staff to increase the amount of supervision that the second-class gave the third-class as they trained '95 vs. past years.
Some felt there was danger of the atypical (even for USAFA) cynicism infecting 1995. The event echoed years later. Once when, the recognition "cadre" shirts excluded 1994's color during '95s recognition, and later when as firsties, 1994 accused the class of 1997 of stealing a punch bowl from Mitch's during a recognition spirit mission. According to a first-hand account from a member of '97, the idea of recognition postponement was floated to the command-staff, but later quashed.
