‘You all should be proud’: More than 900 cadets graduate from Air Force Academy

More than 900 cadets graduated from the United States Air Force Academy on Thursday, and earned their commissions as second lieutenants in the U.S. Air Force and Space Force.

Vice President JD Vance addressed the graduating class during the commencement ceremony at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“You all should be proud. And I hope you are. Proud of what you’ve accomplished, proud of what you’ve endured. But you should also be sobered by the extraordinary responsibility our nation now entrusts to you,” Vance said.

During his address, the vice president emphasized the unprecedented speed at which global conflict is changing, calling on the graduates to meet these new challenges head-on.

“We ask you to apply that same adaptability, that same innovation that you learned at this academy to an entirely new era of warfare, one shaped by autonomous systems, AI and cyber operations, technologies evolving far faster than military institutions have historically been accustomed to,” Vance said. “You joined that Long Blue Line at a moment when your nation needs your skill, your nation needs your adaptability, your nation needs your discipline, your sense of honor, and your love of your fellow Americans.”

Within the past week, cadets have also graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and U.S. Military Academy, marking the start of their military careers.