Sara Cooper (Lt. Col. Ret) - Fencing Coach - Air Force Academy Athletics

Sara Cooper (Lt. Col. Ret)

Title:
Director of Operations
Email:
sara.cooper@afacademy.af.edu
Phone:
719-333-9399

Sara Cooper enters her seventh year working with the USAFA Fencing Team as Director of Operations in 2025-26. Cooper is a 1999 Graduate of the USAF Academy and was a four-year letter winner and team captain of the women’s basketball team.

She served on Active Duty for nine years as an Air Force Personnel officer in various positions, including Section Commander of the 965th AWACS squadron at Tinker AFB (Oklahoma), Chief of AFMC’s Personnel Readiness at Wright Patterson AFB (Ohio), and the Executive Officer to the Director of Training at the USAF Academy (Colorado). In 2008, Cooper transitioned to the AF Reserves and has served as an Admissions Liaison Officer for the USAF Academy in Europe, Washington D.C., and Southern Colorado. She retired from the Air Force as a Lt Col in June of 2023 after 24 years of service.

Ms. Cooper is originally from Littleton, Colo. Her husband, Col. Cory Cooper, is a 2000 graduate of USAFA and is the Head of the Department of Engineering Mechanics at the USAF Academy. They have three children: Kala, Hannah, and David.