During my final months in the Air Force, I was selected as a congressional military corporate fellow beginning in the United States House of Representatives, and ultimately, the United States Senate – where I spent most of my appointment. Three months prior to this selection, I received a phone call from my chain of command at the U.S. Air Force Academy. I answered the phone and the colonel said, simply, “hello, Jamie, before you leave the Air Force, would you like to be a part of history?”
Okay, what do you think I said? Of course, I said yes… However, there was one caveat. She would not disclose what I would be doing and I could not let anyone in my chain of command (under her) know I was a part of this secret mission. Still, I said absolutely, with no questions asked.
I had to miss a few Wild Blue Country rehearsals, so I told my NCOIC (non-commissioned officer in charge) that I was asked to be a part of something secret and could not say anything further. He trusted me enough to not ask any details – and as I said earlier – I did not have any to give him.
I walked into the meeting place – a back room in the upstairs of the McDermott Library – at the Air Force Academy. There were eight of us who had been selected and we were told we would be working on behalf of the Superintendent of the Air Force Academy, Lieutenant General Jay Silveria, and 21st Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General David Goldfein to update the U.S. Air Force song and the Air Force Academy Alma Mater. Both are technically the same song – just different sections.
*Side note: In addition to the one well-known stanza of each anthem we sing, every American anthem – from our national anthem to each of our service songs – has multiple stanzas. The Air Force song is made up of three stanzas (with alternating lyrics) and one bridge (referred to by everyone as Verse III) See the lyrics later in this post if you would like more clarification.
I love the Air Force song very much, so I did not want to do much to change it – only the bare minimum. However, the song was filled with several references to men, brothers, etc., and there were zero references to our female airmen.
Since Ester Blake enlisted in the young United States Air Force on July 8th, 1948, women have continued to serve honorably – as well as pay the ultimate American sacrifice, so this needed to be corrected ASAP.
I was honored to play a small part in seeing out this historical vision of our Air Force’s and Air Force Academy’s highest levels of leadership.
We called it Operation Esprit de Corps and one of the two cadets in our group started a channel called Operation Spirit de Corps on the Slack app (as a bit of a play on the words of the name of our mission) in September, 2018. The Slack channel allowed us to communicate outside of our regular meeting times.
During our in-person meetings, we used a white board to go through the song with a fine-toothed comb. We examined every word to see what needed to be changed (and what needed to be kept) to be inclusive of our women warriors. We brainstormed and wrote down options and rhymes to consider for the alternate lyrics to send to the Pentagon.
Once we finished our suggestions, we turned them into the Superintendent and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Each of us were thanked and coined for our contributions. We were told we would hear about it on the news, eventually, and each of us would know that we played a part in that historical moment.
I will never forget that day in October 2015, when our two young children stood beside me on the side of the South Peterson Blvd – lined with airmen and civilians all standing at attention and saluting – as we watched the dignified transfer of Major Phillis J. Pelky. She had been killed in Kabul, Afghanistan earlier that month.
Here is a FaceBook link to Lieutenant General Silveria’s original announcement to the Academy cadet wing of the change:
Academy Alma Mater Now More Inclusive!
Additionally, here is a link to the article distributed to the Airmen regarding the full song’s final changes:
Final Changes to Air Force Song Announced
It was an honor to be a part of that team. Everyone worked very hard to make the best it could be. I am certain there were countless others involved in the song’s final adaptation and the official decision for its release.
Additionally, I am thankful none of us received official credit on our small contributions to the song’s edits and adaptations. Our changes were so minor and could have been done by the song’s composer, Robert Crawford, easily, had he still been alive.
I believe it supports and upholds our three core values of the United States Air Force: Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do. We all acted as wingmen to the many female Airmen who had come before us and contributed to making our USAF what it is today.
As a husband to my wife and father to my daughter, I am so grateful the Air Force got this right. I am proud they took the initiative to make these changes and make the needed advancements of equal representation in the lyrics sang by the male and female Airmen of our United States Air Force. I am honored to stand beside sing my branch’s service song!
Below you can read three chronological versions (1939; 1947; 2020) of the U.S. Air Force Song – with the final version being the current 2020 version with our small contributions:
The full original 1939 version of the song written by Robert MacArthur Crawford was:
Army Air Corps – 1939
Off we go into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun;
Here they come, zooming to meet our thunder,
At them boys, Give ‘er the gun! (At ’em now, Give ’em the gun! now)
Down we dive, spouting our flame from under
Off with one helluva roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey!
Nothing’ll stop the Army Air Corps!
(Verse II) Minds of men fashioned a crate of thunder, Sent it high into the blue; Hands of men blasted the world asunder; How they lived God only knew! (God only knew, then!) Souls of men dreaming of skies to conquer Gave us wings, ever to soar! With scouts before and bombers galore. Hey! Nothing'll stop the Army Air Corps! (Verse III) Here's a toast to the host Of those who love the vastness of the sky, To a friend we send a message of his brother men who fly. We drink to those who gave their all of old Then down we roar to score the rainbow's pot of gold. A toast to the host of men we boast, the Army Air Corps!
(Verse IV)
Off we go into the wild sky yonder,
Keep the wings level and true.
If you'd live to be a grey-haired wonder
Keep the nose out of the blue. (Out of the blue, boy!)
Flying men, guarding the nation's border,
We'll be there, followed by more!
In echelon we carry on. Hey!
Nothing'll stop the Army Air Corps!
In 1941, the service changed its name from Army Air Corps to Army Air Forces, so the song was updated to Army Air Force as a reflection of its new name. Then, on 18 September, 1947, the service became its own independent branch of the military and dropped “Army” from its name. The updated version became U.S. Air Force as a reflection of that change. Here is the 1947 version with which we were working:
The U.S. Air Force (Wild Blue Yonder) – 1947
Off we go into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun;
Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,
At ’em boys, Give ‘er the gun!
Down we dive, spouting our flame from under,
Off with one helluva roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey!
Nothing’ll stop the U.S. Air Force!
(Verse II)
Minds of men fashioned a crate of thunder,
Sent it high into the blue;
Hands of men blasted the world asunder;
How they lived God only knew!
Souls of men dreaming of skies to conquer
Gave us wings, ever to soar!
With scouts before and bombers galore. Hey!
Nothing’ll stop the U.S. Air Force!
(Verse III)
Here’s a toast to the host
Of those who love the vastness of the sky,
To a friend we send a message of his brother men who fly.
We drink to those who gave their all of old,
Then down we roar to score the rainbow’s pot of gold.
A toast to the host of men we boast, the U.S. Air Force!
(Verse IV)
Off we go into the wild sky yonder,
Keep the wings level and true;
If you’d live to be a grey-haired wonder
Keep the nose out of the blue!
Flying men, guarding the nation’s border,
We’ll be there, followed by more!
In echelon we carry on.
Oh, nothing’ll stop the U.S. Air Force!
The release of the updated lyrics was a two step process. The Air Force Academy alma mater (know and referred to as Verse III) was released officially on 27 February 2020 and the rest of the stanzas were released officially on 29 May 2020.
The U.S. Air Force (Wild Blue Yonder) – Adapted – 2020
Off we go into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun;
Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,
At ‘em now, Give ’em the gun!
Down we dive, spouting our flame from under,
Off with one helluva roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey!
Nothing’ll stop the U.S. Air Force!
(Verse II)
Brilliant minds fashioned a crate of thunder,
Sent it high into the blue;
Valiant hands blasted the world asunder;
How they lived God only knew!
Boundless souls dreaming of skies to conquer
Gave us wings, ever to soar!
With scouts before and bombers galore. Hey!
Nothing’ll stop the U.S. Air Force!
(Verse III)
Here’s a toast to the host
Of those who love the vastness of the sky,
To a friend we send a message of the brave who serve on high.
We drink to those who gave their all of old,
Then down we roar to score the rainbow’s pot of gold.
A toast to the host of those we boast, the U.S. Air Force!
(Verse IV)
Off we go into the wild sky yonder,
Keep the wings level and true;
If you’d live to be a grey-haired wonder
Keep the nose out of the blue!
Fly to fight, guarding the nation’s border,
We’ll be there, followed by more!
In echelon we carry on.
Oh, nothing’ll stop the U.S. Air Force!
Jamie Teachenor 
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