News
Cadet Who Survived 200-foot Fall Gets His Bars
LANCE BENZEL
The Gazette
Nearly three years ago, Air Force Academy Cadet Thomas Avolio shattered his body in a 200-foot fall along a popular hiking trail.
As he lay in a coma for 3 ½ weeks, few stopped to ask if his catastrophic injuries would sideline his career as an Air Force officer. Some doubted he would survive.
Any remaining questions about Avolio’s future were answered Wednesday morning at a ceremony at the academy’s Arnold Hall, where the 24-year-old was granted his diploma a year-and-a-half late, but in good standing and with an Air Force lieutenant’s bars on his shoulders.
“My time here wasn’t done,” he said afterward in a matter-of-fact tone.
Avolio’s improbable story began in April 2006 as he hiked with two friends at Eagle Peak, a 9,368-foot mountain on academy grounds.
After losing his footing along a dangerous path, Avolio plummeted an estimated 20 stories, setting into motion a desperate, five-hour-long effort to rescue him from a remote ledge. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, broken wrist, dislocated ankle, optic nerve damage, cuts, punctures and bruises.
He lay unresponsive through it all, his life hanging in the balance.
After emerging from his coma at Penrose Main Hospital, Avolio endured nearly two years of medical treatment and physical therapy, including a lengthy stay at a Veterans Affairs clinic in Palo Alto, Calif. He staved off a faltering memory and kept his mind sharp by studying when he could.
Avolio, of Des Moines, Wash., was readmitted to the academy in early 2008, after his story reached the secretary of the Air Force, who had to give his approval.
As Avolio approached the dais Wednesday, the watching crowd featured a veritable who’s who of those involved in his recovery, including an emergency medical technician who climbed Eagle Peak to treat him, an El Paso County search-and-rescue team leader who cleared the way for his evacuation by Blackhawk helicopter, and a flight nurse who tended to him on the way to Penrose.
“These guys saved my life,” Avolio said.
Victor Avolio, his father, broke into tears while greeting the rescuers and hospital staff who attended the ceremony.
“If everything hadn’t gone exactly the way it did, he wouldn’t be here,” he said, his voice choking with emotion.
His mother, Barbara Ann Avolio, said the journey has been “overwhelming.”
“He just kept going forward day after day,” she said. “He’s very laid-back, but he doesn’t stop going forward.”
Avolio’s rescuers said they shared that sense of awe.
“It’s an honor to be a part of this,” said Mikel Gabriell, an American Medical Response emergency technician who tended to Avolio on Eagle Peak. “To see him go forward and serve his country is incredible.”
Liz Dienst, the flight nurse, said she was struck by Avolio’s “will to survive.”
“He is a very determined young man who inspired many people along his journey,” she said. “One of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.”
Avolio, who received a bachelor’s in political science, will report to Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Tex., to begin training in military intelligence. Becoming an officer was a childhood dream, he said.
“I’ve always wanted to serve, and I knew that I had to come back to the Air Force Academy do that.”
Cadet Who Survived 200-foot Fall Gets His Bars
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT: Air Force Academy ‘Best in the West’
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT:
Air Force Academy ‘Best in the West’
By Academy Spirit Staff.
The U.S. Air Force Academy was named the best baccalaureate college in the west for the third year in a row, and received high rankings in engineering in the U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges 2010 rankings.
U.S. News evaluated universities which offer only undergraduate degrees, and ranked the colleges in four geographic regions: west, north, midwest and south.
In the western region, the Academy was the #1 best baccalaureate college.
This region includes Texas, Oklahoma, and every state directly north, south and west of Colorado, including Alaska and Hawaii.
The ranking was based on a wide range of criteria, including student-faculty ratio, percentage of full-time faculty, acceptance rate, class size and freshman retention rates.
“We are very proud of the rankings that we have received. These national public rankings are indeed a source of pride,” said Brig. Gen. Dana Born, USAFA’s dean of the faculty. “The rankings validate the many achievements of our cadets and faculty, including top-flight senior capstone design programs, many nationally- competitive scholarships, awards at student research and writing competitions, and relevant, sponsored research for the Department of Defense.” The Academy also received top rankings in undergraduate engineering. The Academy ranked #2 in the nation in aeronautical and astronautical engineering for the ninth consecutive year, behind only Embry Riddle Aeronautical University’s main campus. The Academy also ranked #2 in the county in electrical, electronic and communications engineering, behind only Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
USAFA also fared well in mechanical engineering, according to U.S. News, placing #2 in the nation, with Rose- Hulman being #1. Overall, the Academy tied for #6 in the country for having the best undergraduate engineering program.
The Academy also finished #1 among schools of business with undergraduate degrees only and #12 in the country among schools of business where a doctorate is not offered.
The Academy tied for #74 with eight other schools for the best undergraduate business program in the nation.
The U.S. News & World Report ranking is just one of the accolades the Academy has garnered recently. Earlier this month, Forbes ranked USAFA as the seventh best undergraduate institution in America.
“While we will continue to keep an eye on the national public rankings, it is my hope that all of us (graduates, educators, administrators, prospective students, parents and taxpayers at large), will ask even more questions about the quality of student learning and development,” General Born said. “When you drill down into what goes on every day, you see that we invest in our cadets, because tomorrow they become our wingmen with whom we will fly, fight, and win in air, space and cyberspace.” The U.S. Air Force Academy is a four-year bachelor of science degree university. USAFA’s mission is to educate, train and inspire men and women to become officers of character motivated to lead the U.S. Air Force in service to our nation. All graduates are commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Air Force. For more information on the Academy, visit www.usafa.af.mil
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT: Air Force Academy ‘Best in the West’
Cadet Patrick Warfel Visits South Pole
C1C Patrick Warfel is from Renton, WA. He is majoring in Meteorology and will attend Undergraduate Pilot Training after graduation from the Air Force Academy. He was competitively selected for a "once in a lifetime" research internship to Antarctica through the National Science Foundation.
The Academy Spirit Newspaper wrote an article (beginning on page 10) about his recent trip to McMurdo Station and the South-Pole, Antarctica. Patrick answers many questions in his interview notes. Patrick also has many photographs on Facebook: Album1, Album2, Album3, Album4, Album5, Album6.
