Air Force Academy

Dec. 15, 2006

The Air Force water polo team has had a solid season, finishing with a 14-17 overall record and 8-5 mark in the Western Water Polo Association, while also ending the year ranked 17th in the nation. But while the Falcons have found success in the pool, their performance out of the water has been impressive as well.

Among those leaders for Air Force are seniors Danny Kimmich, Blake Pickell and Kyle Schafer.

Senior Danny Kimmich

Kimmich, one of the Falcons' team captains this season, has shown his leadership not only with his team, but among his peers in the cadet wing. Most recently, Kimmich was chosen from approximately 20 other individuals to serve as second group commander. As group commander, Kimmich will select a staff of 15 first- and second-class cadets to help oversee operations, training and administration in the group, which is comprised of squadrons 11-20. The group commander holds the rank of cadet colonel, the highest cadet rank at the Academy, which is granted only to the four group commanders, vice wing commander and wing commander.

Pickell, another team captain, has helped lead the Air Force Academy to a second-straight victory at the Inter-Academy Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) Competition. This year, teams from USAFA, West Point, the Naval Academy and the Coast Guard Academy each submitted a paper to the International Law Division of the Army JAG school for evaluation, with the papers scored collectively by three judge advocates. Each team was to write a legal memorandum to the commander of a Combined Joint Operations Center, advising the commander on four different LOAC scenarios.

Senior Blake Pickell

Pickell was part of a group chosen from Capt. Shawn McKelvy's Law 361 (Law of Armed Conflict) class to submit their memorandum to the competition. Now Pickell, along with his teammates, will represent the Academy at the upcoming Pictet Humanitarian Law Competition and the San Remo LOAC Competition.

Schafer, who has been a star for the Falcons in the pool, being named the team MVP in 2005 and an honorable mention all-conference selection in 2006, has also been outstanding in the classroom. A four-time AWPCA All-Academic team honoree, Schafer was most recently named a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship. After being selected as a potential candidate by the Scholarship Committee at the Air Force Academy, Schafer went through the application process and was chosen as a finalist. He then attended an interview at the district level, where only two students would be named Rhodes Scholar.

Senior Kyle Schafer

The Rhodes Scholarship, the oldest and most well-known awards for international study, was established in 1902. Applicants are chosen on the basis of the following criteria: high academic achievement, integrity of character, a spirit of unselfishness, respect for others, potential for leadership and physical vigor. Less than a quarter of students endorsed by their universities for the scholarship reach the finals for the award.

While these three gentlemen have certainly been sources of pride for the Falcons in the water, their accomplishments outside of the pool have been noteworthy as well.