The News

July 6, 2010. : Click here for Diana's wide-ranging interview with Dan Rodricks, host of Midday on WYPR, Maryland Public Radio.

.July 6, 7 p.m., Baltimore, Maryland: I'll be reading from Skies to Conquer, taking questions and signing copies at Barnes and Noble, 1819 Reisterstown Road.

June 28: Just back from Colorado Springs, and meeting parents of the Class of 2014 at the fabulous annual in-processing picnic hosted by the Colorado Parents Association Thursday. A tough time, saying good bye to their young ones, and turning them over to the academy, with no chance to see them again for six weeks. "It's not like college," said one mom. "More like a calling." Some very loving folks at their backs.

June 25: I'll talk about the academy on the morning show at KUSA television in Denver.

June 24: Meeting parents of new cadets at picnic back at USAFA, hosted by the Colorado Parents Association. Later that day, from 4-6, reading and signing at Poor Richard's, 320 North Tejon, in downtown Colorado Springs.

June 7: I'll visit the FoxNews live-streaming Web show Strategy Room, 9:45-10:00 a.m., to talk about Skies to Conquer.

June 4, 2010: Click here for Diana's talk with Ryan Warner of KCFR, Colorado Public Radio. Ryan explores academy life and culture and the debate over the future of service academies.Ryan's show on Skies to Conquer explores academy life and culture, and the debate over the future of service academies.
I also read from book, describing the night drama of cadets as training permeates their psyches, seeping into their dreams.

Here are a few thoughts I've put together for the Washington Post's Political Bookworm blog on ways to improve the Air Force Academy. Take a moment to read, and post your comments to the Skies to Conquer page on facebook.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010: Congratulations Zoomies, Class of 2010. Today, those Thunderbirds fly for you.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010: An op-ed in Friday's New York Times by Bruce Fleming, an English professor at the Naval Academy, questioning whether service academies are worth the cost to taxpayers, prompted a raft of letters to the editor, most of them defending the academy system. Here are the letters from today's New York Times, including one from me. Read through and share your thoughts. Post comments to the Skies to Conquer page on facebook.

Here's Professor Fleming's original op-ed, in which he argues that ROTC trains officers just as well as the academies, at a fraction of the cost, and that the service academies have become training grounds not for leadership, but for cynicism and mediocrity.

May 25: Cholene Espinoza, military correspondent for Talk Radio News and a graduate of the Air Force Academy ('87), interviews me about the service academies, and their profile in today's world.

Save the date: Friday, June 18, I'll be at the Barnes and Noble's in Arlington, Virginia, where I'll read excerpts, take questions and sign copies for readers. B&N, 2800 Clarendon Boulevard at 6:30.

To current and former cadets,

In reporting this first look at life inside the Air Force Academy, it became clear, almost instantly, that much of the training you all go through aims to teach that nobody succeeds on his or her own. The same is true for this book.

I owe you all a great debt for helping me understand the institution and its traditions, for sharing your experiences and your perspectives. For many of you, this came during your most difficult, first year at the academy, when you were still getting your footing and deciding whether military life was even right for you.

Any book is only as good as the material the writer can gather, and the doggedness, insight or talent he or she brings to the work.

Thank you for your candor, and for opening your world for readers throughout the country. I hope that you recognize the flavor and the dilemmas of that world in my account.

I’ve posted a video, first in a series of photo essays on life at the academy, here . You’ll find there lots more information, background documents and updates.

Congratulations to those of you who are graduating, and to all of you, best of luck in the journey ahead.

-Diana Jean Schemo