Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach (Military)
- Email:
- Brooke.Cultra@usafa.edu
- Phone:
- 719-333-2310
Major Brooke Cultra enters her fourth season as an assistant coach with Air Force women’s basketball in the 2020-21 season. Cultra returns to the Academy after serving several assignments around the world with the Air Force over the past eight years, most recently at Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs.
In the 2019-2020 season Cultra helped the women’s basketball team to new heights as the Falcons finished 10-21 (7-11 MWC), marking Cultra’s most single-season wins since joining Air Force and the program’s most single-season conference wins since Air Force joined the league in 1999-2000. Air Force’s seventh-place finish in the league tied its best-ever finish in the MWC, and is the best-ever finish since the MWC became an 11-team league. Under Cultra’s guidance, the Falcons averaged a program-best 60.7 points per game in league play, marking the team’s best conference scoring average since joining the MWC. Air Force also ranked as high as 11th in the nation in offensive rebounds per game and as high as 25th in the nation in steals. Air Force’s historic season was also highlighted by knocking off regular-season champions, Fresno State, at USAFA. The Bulldogs, who were undefeated in conference (15-0) at the time of the loss, had never lost to Air Force before. Cultra also helped guide Air Force to its first-ever win in New Mexico’s “The Pit”, snapping a 22-game losing streak at New Mexico, as well as the squad’s first-ever win against Nevada in Reno, snapping an eight-game losing streak at Nevada.
Prior to last season, Cultra’s coaching efforts were highlighted by a record-breaking 2017-18 campaign, where she helped guide Air Force to five wins in conference, becoming the most by the program in the Mountain West era, surpassing the previous mark of four wins, set in 2005-06 and 2007-08. Air Force's signature win came in the regular season home finale, posting a 57-47 win over then-first place Wyoming. In addition to winning four of the last six games of the season, Air Force smashed five team records, highlighted by a staunch defense that only allowed 62.3 ppg in the regular season and 59.7 pp in league action, setting new team records in each respective category. The Falcons held opponents below 60 points 11 times on the season, testament to the progression of the defense under the coaching staff. Air Force's 2017-18 season also yielded six new individual school records including the program's first-ever Mountain West Freshman of the Year in Kaelin Immel, who set four program-records highlighted by the most-ever points scored by an Air Force freshman in the Div. I era.
Cultra and staff continued to have success in the 2018-19 season, leading a team that averaged 60.1 points per game in regular season and Mountain West play alike, an average mark 4.4 points more than last season's averages and 12.7 more points per game than in their inaugural campaign. Cultra helped a young Falcon squad check the boxes on numerous milestones to include the team's first win against Army in over a decade and ending a 13-game losing streak to in-state rivals Colorado State. Under their guidance, freshman standout Riley Snyder, who averaged 10 points per game on the season, was added to the Mountain West All-Freshman team. She is the third freshman since the 2017-18 season to earn the honor.
A 2009 graduate of USAFA, Cultra brings a wealth of experience and knowledge for the cadet-athletes, having walked in their path as a four-year letter winner with the basketball program.
Cultra comes back to the Academy after one year at Peterson AFB, where she worked as a procuring contracting officer in the strategic warning and surveillance systems division. At Peterson, she led the contracting support to the North American Aerospace Defense Command Cheyenne Mountain Complex integrated tactical warning/attack assessment program.
Cultra’s three previous assignments prior to Peterson, had her stationed in Saudi Arabia, Florida, Germany and Kosovo. From 2015-16, Cultra was the lead administrative contracting officer for the defense contract management agency Middle East, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She led a team that oversaw 103 contracts and over 26 foreign military sales programs valued at two billion dollars.
From 2012-15, Cultra was a specialized acquisitions contract manager with the air combat command at Hurlburt Field, Fla. She was responsible for planning, execution and contract administration functions for specialized acquisitions valued at $60 million in support of the 505th Command and Control wing’s complex command and control testing, tactics development and training mission.
Her first assignment in the Air Force, from 2009-12, was as a base support flight contract manager in the 700th Contracting Squadron at the Rhine Ordinance barracks in Kaiserslautern, Germany. In Germany, she oversaw contract actions supporting U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Third Air Force, the 86th Airlift Wing and 10 U.S. European Command installations. During this time, she also deployed in support of Operation Joint Guardian as chief, regional contracting office, headquartered in Kosovo. There, she led a team to execute 300 contract actions in direct support of three headquarters, 28 nations and 10 national support elements.
In her four years at the Academy, Cultra was a vital member of the women’s basketball team. As a guard, Cultra played in 112 games, ranking amongst the Academy lists (Div. I era) in career blocks (second – 58), rebounds (sixth – 478), free throw percentage (fourth - .783) and scoring (12th – 782). In her senior season, she was a team captain and ranked second in the team in scoring, averaging 11.0 points per game.
Cultra earned her degree in behavioral science from the Academy in 2009. She earned her Master’s degree in exercise science from the University of West Florida in 2016.
