Parents access

[Scarsmom]

Good morning

What access do parents have to USAFA? My only experience is with USNA with the DBIDS card we would enjoy many days on “the Yard”, going to Sunday mass, sharing a meal in Dalgren with my Mid, going for walks and yes my favorite part was bumping in a Mid or two. Do we have the same access to everyday life at USAFA? I also love taking photos and would love to be able to take some of the cadets doing their thing.

 

[Falcon74]

Scarsmom, I haven't visited USAFA since the summer of 2021. However, I doubt that much has changed. I can't speak to USNA; however, I had a son at USMA we visited frequently. As a veteran visiting USMA, I could enter the USMA grounds and visit almost anything except the dorm areas. Even then, I never saw a guard posted at/near the dorm areas. I don't know what difficulty a civilian would face trying to enter USMA other than football game weekends. At USAFA, things are quite different. Other than special occasions like Parents' Weekend, a visiting parent can drive to the Arnold Hall (social center) area to meet a DS/DD; however, access to the rest of the Cadet area is not allowed. As a USAFA graduate with 28 years of commissioned service including four years on the USAFA faculty, I would have to follow the same rules. I can't even visit my old office without an escort. As I recall, it is allowed to visit some of the athletic areas that are positioned away from the main Cadet area. Don't worry! Meeting a DS/DD at Arnold Hall is fine. The surroundings are comfortable and there are a few things to see while you wait for DD/DS. Again, I can't speak to USNA, but my impression was always that security was tighter at USAFA than USMA. It would be advisable to check with DD/DS before visiting so that you will know the latest rules to follow.

 

[99Gold]

Note: USMA had changed quite a bit when we went this summer. We (a group of grads, veterans, and former instructor there for a burial) could not go into the cadet areas at all. They have installed gates and fences much like USAFA. You can still walk around the point, but not on the parade grounds or around the academic buildings. It is still great to visit and would be easy to meet a cadet outside the gates like meeting a USAFA cadet at Arnold Hall.

USAFA does not give 4 year passes to parents like USMA, but we've never had trouble getting in base...even to deliver an iPad to a poor cadet who left it in my car after dropoff.

The main time to observe the cadet area and take photos at USAFA is Parent's Weekend. It was great to see everything from my cadet's point of view.

 

[FalconDad2026]

CO parent here. We have access to the base pretty much any time. We usual meet our cadet, his friends and/or the cadets we sponsor at the Field House or Arnold Hall parking areas. From there, we go to most anywhere on base, except the cadet area. The cadet area is only accessible during Parents weekend. You can hang out at Arnold Hall and have lunch, climb Eagle Peak, etc. on base. You can also take the cadets off base for the day, so long as they don't have commitments.

 

[shiner]

For added context to facilities access at USAFA, here are a few bullet points to paint the picture:
1) USAFA is a campus with more than 18,000+ acres of land. That is a HUGE space to protect.
2) It is a military base that has very few areas open to the public. There are two points of entry into the campus - North Gate and South Gate.
3) As a college with sporting events open to the public, sporting venues in the vicinity of the cadet area are generally open to the public but on occasion, the school reserves the right to further restrict access completely to military and/or essential civilian personnel. This could be in cases of heightened security or bad weather.
4) Under most conditions, visitor access is only allowed through the North Gate. Access via the South Gate is generally restricted to authorised contractors, employees, residents who live on base, students who attend Air Academy High School, cadets, or military. On game day when the stadium is in use, the South Gate is opened, but there are interior checkpoints that get manned to prevent unauthorized access to interior parts of the base like housing and the cadet area.
5) Arnold Hall is the equivalent of a Student Union building. This is one of the buildings that is generally open to the public and a great meeting space.
6) When the Cadet Chapel is open (currently under renovation), it too is open to the public and it is common for visitors to attend church services here.
7) Clune Arena and the Cadet gym are also generally open to the public and can be a meeting location.
8) The Barry Goldwater Visitor Center is open to the public and has exhibits and a gift shop.
9) The nickname of the school is "The Zoo" - because it is common for visitors to patrol the Chapel area and overlook the Cadet area at very close range as if they were looking into a zoo exhibit.
10) Outside of these buildings, there is enhanced security that require key card badge access. This is new within the last 20 years.
11) Students do not have the same freedom as normal college students to hop in a car and leave campus to grab coffee or dinner out. We operate on a class based merit system that provides different freedoms and rewards to different grade levels. Freshman have the most restricted movement and Seniors have the most freedom of movement.

Back in the day..... vehicles could drive anywhere on base, including the Cadet area. This was pre-9/11 and pre-Oklahoma City bombing. As a student in the dorms, we would talk about how easy it would be for a determined adversary to simply put a bomb into a u-haul truck and drive it under one of the cadet dorms and wipe out a significant portion of the leadership pipeline of the USAF.

While the current measures are normal for cadets (it is all they know), to old timers it feels really restrictive - but I certainly understand why.

 

[SpiritCommitteeLiaison]

USAFA is an "open base" for visitors. That excludes the cadet area (inside the inner gates). Its highly unlikely that you would be allowed in Mitchell Hall to eat with your cadet, except during Parents' Weekend. You may be able to coordinate with your cadet to eat at one of the eateries in Arnold Hall -- especially if they are upperclassmen.

Having said that, you need to ALWAYS coordinate with your cadet if you plan to visit. Pre-Recognition C4Cs have very little freedom to come and go as pleased. Some weekends are designated as training weekends as well where all cadets are busy.

I cannot stress enough to work out the details with your cadet.