Air Force to honor Space Force with Air Power Legacy Series in 2022
8/18/2022
We find ourselves in a period of great competition for space with nations that don’t share our view. It’s a competition where the outcome is no longer assured, and it’s a competition that we cannot lose. Because if we lose our access and ability to operate freely in space, we all lose.Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond
Air Force to honor Space Force with Air Power Legacy Series in 2022
The Air Force football team is honoring the U.S. Space Force with the 2022 edition of the Air Power Legacy Series uniform. The Falcons will debut the uniform for the Navy game in Falcon Stadium on Oct. 1.
The helmet features the lightning bolt with a shared image between the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, representing dominance, quick strike, and precision. The helmet base is gradient representing coming into the light.
The jersey features U.S. Space Force base patches on the left shoulder and a tonal United States flag on the right sleeve. The player name plate appears on the front and is opposite the swoosh on the right chest. The unit patches feature Space Base Delta 1 headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base and Space Base Delta 2 headquartered at Buckley Space Force Bases. Fusing together the official mark of the Air Force Academy, the AF, with the Polaris star and orbit appears at the center neck, showing the connection between the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force. The logo will also appear on the right pant hip. The pants have a pair of blue vertical stripes with USSF down the middle in gray.
The U.S. Air Force Academy is the U.S. Space Force’s academy, and commissions around 96 Guardians into the Space Force each year. The Academy has always been the place for space, housing one of the only undergraduate programs in the nation to design, develop and fly real-world satellites, and offering three space-focused majors. In Summer 2022, the Academy hosted Azimuth, a two-week program to introduce cadets to operations in the space domain modeled after NASA’s two-year Astronaut Training Program.
Air Power Legacy Series History
-The Air Power Legacy Series began in the 2016 season with the football team wearing an alternate uniform to celebrate the Tiger Shark teeth nose-art which has been represented on multiple Air Force aircraft dating back to World War II. During the WWII era, fighter plane pilots were called “Flying Tigers” and were part of the U.S. Army Air Corps, which later became the Air Force. The helmets worn for the game featured a shark-teeth design like those painted on the aircraft.
-While 2016 focused on the past, the Falcons honored the present, and future, of air power in 2017 with the F-35 theme. The F-35 completed its first flight in 2006. In 2012, the F-35 program increased to 30 aircraft. In 2016, the F-35A was declared combat ready by Gen. Hawk Carlisle, class of 1978, the commander of the Air Combat Command. The helmet had five different designs. On one side of every helmet will be the familiar Air Force logo often seen on aircraft, which includes the lengthwise bars intersecting the roundel. On the other side was a decal representing one of the five Air Force F-35-A operational fighter squadrons in the Air Force.
-The team honored the AC-130 in 2018. The helmet featured the AC-130 on one side, plus squadron patches on the other. The AC-130 gunship is a heavily armed, long-endurance ground-attack variant of the C-130 Hercules transport fixed-wing aircraft. It carries a wide array of anti-ground-oriented weapons that are integrated with sophisticated sensors, navigation, and fire-control systems. Unlike other military fixed-wing aircraft, the AC-130 relies on visual targeting. Because its large profile and low operating altitudes (around 7,000 ft) make it an easy target, it usually flies close air support missions at night.
-Air Force honored the C-17, a large military transport in 2019. The C-17 commonly performs tactical and strategic airlift missions, transporting troops and cargo throughout the world; additional roles include medical evacuation and airdrop duties. The C-17 is designed to operate from runways as short as 3,500 ft (1,100 m) and as narrow as 90 ft (27 m).
-The Falcons honored the Tuskegee Airmen with the 2020 edition. The uniform was gray with black lettering. The chrome base gray helmet featured the P-51 aircraft flown by the Tuskegee Airmen in combat with signature red tails and nose that helped identify the group. The helmet featured the four squadron emblems for the 99th, 100th, 301st and 302nd fighter squadrons. The pants featured an authentic stenciled information graphic on the side. The custom nameplate on the jersey said Red Tails, inspired by hand-lettered names painted on the side of the P-51 aircraft.
-The 2021 edition honored the B-52 Stratofortress. The helmet was designed after the B-52 that flew in Operation Linebacker II. The Strategic Air Command adored the right check of the uniform while the name plate used the orange outline with airport codes for Anderson AFB, U Tapo and the 7th Bomber Wing patch to represent all former B-52 unites. The left pant leg featured 11 B-52 plane silhouettes representing the 11 days of bombing during the conflict. The right-side pant leg had the tail flash of the plane and the number on each player’s pant leg matches their uniform number for the first time in the history of the series.
The U.S. Space Force defends our country and freedom to operate in space, keeping it secure, stable and accessible for military space power and new waves of innovation.
Gallery: 2022 APLS Uniform
