Framing, wiring and roofing  traditional Navajo houses is just part of summer training for Air Force Academy cadets aspiring to be civil and environmental engineers.

The cadets started building hogans on June 3. They were joined by students from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy, boosting the construction crew to 84 students. 

The houses will be taken to Gallup, N.M., in the fall by the Southwest Indian Foundation, which coordinates the donations. 

It is the last year cadets will build the hogans, traditional eight sided homes, to donate, said the academy’s Capt. Lindsey Maddox, who oversees the training.

Next year, the cadets will build and donate modern houses.

“More and more modern families don’t want or need a hogan,” Maddox said.

Cadet Chad Harvey grew up on the Navajo reservation and said it was likely he would know the family who moved in to the hogan he helped build.  During construction Harvey answered cadet’s questions about the spiritual and cultural meaning of the hogan. The most obvious question: Why does it have eight sides?

“The Navajo’s believe evil spirits can hide in 90 degree angles,” Harvey said.

However, Harvey said donating modern houses next year is appropriate because of a general trend toward that kind of housing on the reservation.

Regardless of the kind of home, working for families helps motivate the cadets to do quality work, Harvey said.

“A lot of care goes into it,” he said.

Building homes has been an integral part of the summer program since cadets suggested it in 1998.

Before that, cadets built onsite projects that were later torn down.

This year, cadets balanced building hogans with learning to survey land, test air quality, and take soil samples — tasks they’ll need to master if they’re going on to civil engineering careers in the Air Force. 

“I would guess they learn more out here in a couple of weeks than a whole semester,” said instructor Maj. Scott Stanford.

Before starting their summer training cadets also worked with civil engineers for two weeks at Air Force bases in Guam, South Korea, Alaska, Florida and Nevada. Air Force civil engineers returned the favor by heading to the academy as mentors.

Chief Master Sgt. James Young, a reservist, is in his third year as mentor.  After enlisting 24 years ago, he spent six years as an active duty airman.

He’s helping the future officers get their hands dirty on the job.

“It’s the best thing for someone that’s going to be in charge to know what the enlisted persons do,” he said.

Cadet William Kent works inside a hogan the Air Academy cadets plan to donate to the Navajo Nation. The academy has been built two hogans, traditional eight-sided homes, since 1999. The academy first started building homes to donate in 1998. Photo by MARY SHINN/ THE GAZETTE