For those who are up to the challenge, the Air Force Academy offers an expansive intercollegiate program. The 27 men's and women's sports sponsored by the Academy offer an array of opportunities. The men compete in Division I of the NCAA and most sports are affiliated with the Western Athletic Conference. The women joined the Western Athletic Conference in 1996, stepping from NCAA Division II status to Division I competition.

Some recent highlights include:
• Winning the coveted Commander-in-Chief's Trophy by defeating both Army and Navy three of the last four years (or seven of nine)
• WAC Football Champions in 1985 and 1995
• 13 post-season bowl appearances
• Two consecutive seasons with football All-Americans (1996 and 1997)
• 1996 WAC Men's Cross Country Title
• 1995 and 1996 Women's Swimming Division II National Champions
• Individually, over 338 cadets have achieved All-American rankings...

The Academy has produced:
• Forty-eight postgraduate scholarships
• over 75 national champions
• Two Budget-Rent-A-Car Scholar Athletes
• Eighty-eight Academic All-Americans
• Nine of 31 Rhodes Scholars
• Beau Morgan, football, 10th in voting for '96 Heisman
• Brock Strom, football, GTE Academic Hall of Fame
• Rich Mayo, football, GTE Academic Hall of Fame
• Michelle Johnson, Women's Basketball, GTE Academic Hall of Fame
• US Olympic Festival - six athletes
• NFL Football Players - six drafted athletes
• Alonzo Babers won two Gold Medals in Track in the 1984 Olympic Games
• Chad Hennings won the 1987 Outland Trophy for being the most outstanding collegiate football lineman in the nation
• Dee Dowis, football quarterback, was a finalist for the 1989 Heisman Trophy

Physical Education and Fitness Testing Program
As an integral part of the core curriculum, every cadet is required to take three physical education courses each year. The physical education department requires that each cadet take the eight required core courses and choose four additional courses from the elective category. The 26 offerings are divided between five disciplines as follows:

Physical Education Curriculum
Combative
Boxing (Male\optional)
Self Defense (Female)
Unarmed Combat I (Freshman Year)
Unarmed Combat II (Elective)
Judo (Elective)
Developmental
Weight Training
Physical Fitness Methods
Aerobic Fitness (Elective)
Academic
Exercise Physiology (Elective)
Scientific Principles and Methods of Coaching (Elective)
Independent Study (Elective)
Aquatics
Basic Swimming
Swimming
Basic Water Survival
Scuba I & II (Elective)
Lifetime
Golf
Tennis
Racquetball
Volleyball (Elective)
Wallyball (Elective)
Advanced Golf (Elective)
Advanced Tennis (Elective)
Soccer (Elective)
Basketball (Elective)
Softball (Elective)

A typical 4-year schedule would be similar to the following:

Physical Fitness Testing
It is important to note that these classes, such as Boxing,are not chosen arbitrarily or as a rite of passage. Rather, all of the required core courses were specifically chosen for their value to officer development and their usefulness to a military career. Another facet of the physical education program the Air Force Academy is the fitness testing program. This program consists of of the Physical Fitness Test and the Aerobic Fitness Test (AFT). You are required to take both tests each semester of your cadet career.

Physical Fitness Test

AFT is one and one-half mile run

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