The signage unveiled as a “gift” to Air Force’s graduating class during Thursday’s ceremony was added to Falcon Stadium without consulting the athletic department, which fears the changes may violate an agreement with the State Historic Preservation Office.

Now located on the center of the mezzanine are the words “Warfighters,” “Leaders,” and “Critical Thinkers” – identified by Air Force Superintendent Lt. Gen. Tony D. Bauernfeind as the academy’s priorities. The new signs took the spot of air campaigns, which were moved from the center to the north and south edges of the level.

“We have a parting gift for you,” Bauernfeind told graduates on Thursday, turning attention to the new signs that were revealed behind curtains. “If you would look behind you on the middle tier of the stadium, we are unveiling our priorities in the ring of honor. Your legacy as future warfighters, leaders and critical thinkers will live on as a reminder of the skills that our graduates bring to figure fights.

“It’s the same skills that those who came before you employed to defend our country from the Berlin Airlift, to Desert Storm to Enduring Freedom and so many other missions in between and the same skills you will carry with your throughout your Air Force and Space Force careers.”

Athletic director Nathan Pine said he was surprised to see the new signage.

“The athletic department wasn’t part of that project and hadn’t been notified,” Pine said. “So we got to see it together at graduation along with the Class of 2026.”

Pine’s concern is an agreement with the State Historic Preservation Office entered into as part of stadium renovations in 2022. Among the stipulations that allowed for the renovations of the venue that is listed among the office’s registry, was that a handful of conditions would be followed. The east side addition, known as the Kucera Legacy Center, was to be no higher than the previous bleachers to preserve the existing view from I-25. Plaques that were removed in renovation were to be placed in an agreed upon location on the south wall. And the existing signage, including those of the air battles, was to remain in place.

“We’ve got to take a really careful look at that because we might have changed some of those agreement terms with this new signage,” Pine said. “We need to understand it and work with our partners to make sure that we’re in compliance.”

A U.S. Air Force Academy spokesperson said the memorandum of agreement with the State Historic Preservation Office stipulated that lettering on the upper concourses of the west side of the stadium bowl be preserved. The color, size and style of the lettering introduced by Bauernfeind, who has announced his upcoming retirement, matches that of the air campaigns.

“This addition to the Academy’s premier athletic venue is particularly fitting,” the spokesperson told The Gazette via email. “It is where our cadet-athletes compete on what the service academies have long called ‘the fields of friendly strife.'”

The air battles have been listed on the mezzanine for the past six football seasons. Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md., has long had a similar feature, listing naval conflicts, and Air Force followed the example.

The intermingling of signage featuring institutional priorities and historic homage does not appear to be an initiative as multiple service academies, as a Navy spokesman told The Gazette no changes have been made to the signage which continues to strictly honor their battles.

“I can’t imagine those ever being touched,” the Navy spokesman said.

Working with the then-Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein and then Air Force Superintendent Lt. Gen. Jay B. Silveria, Pine and the athletic department consulted an historian and decided on the five campaigns that have been honored at Falcon Stadium since before the 2020 season: Allied Force (the 1999 mission during the Kosovo War), Berlin Airlift (the 1948-49 operation to supply food and supplies after a Soviet Union blockade), Desert Storm (the 1991 mission to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation) and Linebacker II (the 1972 bombing campaign in North Vietnam).

A yet-to-be completed Phase II of the to the heritage project could add an additional 20 campaigns to what Pine called, “a tip of the cap to incredible Air Force achievements and incredible things Air Force Academy grads have been a part of.”