Rauhmel Fox, AFA GRAD, has a classmate like Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel. Her name is Amy Young, USAFA ’93, “Proud To Be”
Her origin story: Amy and I met the stringent physical requirements to enroll in the basic free fall parachute program at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) with a reported elevation of 7,258 feet (2,212 m) above sea level. Completing the five (5) free fall jumps to earn the Air Force basic parachute wings or “parachutist badge” from 4,500 feet above, USAFA during Airmanship 490 had its fundamental drama. The process is much more than jumping from a “perfectly good” DeHavilland UV-18B Twin Otters airplane, pulling a ripcord, and hoping and praying for a safe return to the earth!
An AFA™ GRAD is “Unparalleled. Unrivaled. Unequaled.”
The Air Force Academy has the only school in the United States of America (USA) authorized to allow cadets to perform unassisted free fall delays on their first jump, without any prior static line training. It’s not an “interest” like it is for Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy. It’s not a “club” like it is for the Black Knights at the U.S. Military Academy. In other words, before Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel would have adopted the mantra, “Higher. Further. Faster.” she would have focused on her ability to overcome natural born fears and perform under the extreme stresses of potentially life and death situations just like Amy and I did.
“Failure is not an option, but, it is a nagging possibility.”
The program has a rigorous training schedule with heavy emphasis on safety. Before we made our first jump, we were drilled in ground school in a facility with “pea gravel” flooring for more than 33 hours on proper parachuting procedures. The repetition is intended to have the jumper respond behaviorally, automatically and correctly should something unexpected occur during a jump.
“Opening shock! Check and inspect main canopy!”
Photo: After successful completion of Airmanship 490 (AM-490) Basic Free Fall Parachuting Program, a course designed for cadets to develop character, confidence, and courage, Rauhmel Fox earned the United States Air Force basic parachutist badge (non-operational “Jump Wings”) after five (5) jumps.
Opening shock is a twofold process, combining the elements of “snatch force” and “inflation force.” But before you go spread eagle out the door at a very high altitude and accelerate downwards, gaining speed with each second, a lot can dominate your thoughts while falling at terminal velocity until all you can think about is the present moment. Skydiving is hard to fully describe because it happens so fast, and the GoPro camera came later in 2002. Amy and I “bear-hugged” and patted each other on the back after we completed our parachute landing fall (PLF) technique in a plowed field to land safely and without injury because we understood how we had changed from who we were before we made the leap from the aircraft hovering in the sky. Just like Captain Marvel, recalling this specific positive memory is proof that we can survive tough experiences and predicts a greater sense of purpose as a result.
An integral part of Carol Danvers’ fictional identity, long before the chance encounter with a space-faring alien who imbues her with unimaginable power — superhuman strength, the ability to fly, and absorb and redirect energy as she sees fit, would have been her training with a round parachute, an outdated design in today’s modern society. With “reliable” parachutes, we were unable to really pilot the parachute beyond making it turn on its axis, so maneuverability was lacking compared to rectangular chutes. This means that skydivers with circular parachutes would often find themselves having little control over where they’d come to rest or the rate of descent.
Fear is universal.
At some point in time of our lives, we have all experienced being held captive by our own dread. Overcoming apprehension is an exercise in personal and professional character development. This is most evident when Carol Danvers survives a spectacular free fall to earth from space. We grow as individuals but there are some things that we only transform as a result of our relationship to others. Our strength as individuals actually comes from being part of the whole. Amy and I are members of the 35th graduating class of the United States Air Force Academy.
If the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) script writers based the film character Carol Danvers on a real person, she could presumably be from the Class of 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 or 1985 since the film is set in the 1990s. In the records rooms on the 5th sub-basement floor, Nick Fury meets her in 1995, six years after her disappearance following a fateful test flight crash in 1989. The timeline for officer promotions from presidential nomination to Captain (0–3) is 48 months or 4 years “in the promotion zone” and 8 to 10 years to become eligible for the sequenced rank of Major. On June 28, 1976, one hundred and fifty-seven women became the first female cadets to enter the Air Force Academy. The Class of 1980 was the first to graduate women, with a total of ninety-seven “80’s Ladies” graduating that year.
Photo Credit: Troy Niehaus, Prior Enlisted Graduate, USAFA ‘93
You may not belong to an elite special team of “noble warrior heroes” like Carol Danvers in the Starforce, a military task-force comprised of warriors in the service of the Kree Empire, or your exemplary conduct may not be required (See 10 US Code § 8583) as a graduate of one of the five federal service academies like Amy and myself (I am a prior-enlisted “prep-school graduate”), but through filing articles of incorporation, you can become a hero [CEO] for your community and planet. Did you know a nonprofit public benefit corporation, “in carrying out its activities, shall have all of the powers of a natural person, without limitation?”
Reference: California Corporations Code §5140, “Powers”
As a real living human being, a person with a distinct personality, you’re already a sole proprietor of the simplest and most common structure chosen to start an unincorporated business owned and run by one individual with no distinction between the business and yourself, the owner. To establish your alter ego, though, like a real superhero, complete and file a standard form with the California Secretary of State (for example), and then file an Application for Recognition of Exemption.
In order to be exempt as an organization described in section 501(c)(3), your organization must be both organized and operated exclusively for one or more exempt purposes like “charitable.” Title 26 Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) § 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(2) defines charitable to include lessening neighborhood tensions, eliminating prejudice and discrimination, defending human and civil rights secured by law and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency.
Take a moment to read your college or university diploma. There are more than 44 million borrowers who collectively owe $1.5 trillion in student loan debt in the U.S. alone. This document omits “powers’ and essentially means the Office of the Registrar is ensuring you don’t owe the school any money.
The defense lawyer for Thomas Jefferson University in the lawsuit Alaburda v. Thomas Jefferson School of Law, Michael Sullivan, argued that earning a law degree was not a guarantee of a well-paying job.
“I’m not here to tell you a law degree is a guarantee of career success, is a guarantee of riches,” Mr. Sullivan told the jury. “It’s not. No degree is.”
“Here I am and I feel extremely privileged to be here. What a unique opportunity. It was 17 years ago that I sat where you are sitting and received my diploma which reads in part:
The Regents of the University of California, on the nomination of the faculty of the School of Public Health have conferred upon Anthony Iton the degree of Master of Public Health, with all of the rights and privileges thereto pertaining, given at Berkeley, the 24th day of May 1997.
So this degree confers rights and privileges. Of course I am left to wonder what rights and privileges I acquired on that joyful day 17 years ago. The diploma doesn’t spell them out so I am left to speculate.
Mr. Sullivan’s summation of the facts favorable to his client do not include the five federal service academies that guarantee employment in the form of a military service obligation (MSO) for several years after you’ve “BEEN JUDGED WORTHY TO RECEIVE THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE.”
Should you want to ascertain a “right way” or “ethical way” to develop your community-based organization of demonstrated effectiveness that is representative of a community or significant segments of a community and provides educational or related services to individuals in the community, contact me about fiscal sponsorship and becoming an “executive trainee.”
The “jump wings” suggest flight and, together with the open parachute, symbolize individual proficiency and parachute qualifications.
An eight-pointed star streaks across the center of Captain Marvel’s uniform in brilliant gold and red. Although the image originated as part of her Kree Starforce uniform, the star has become a visual symbol of everything Carol Danvers stands for — duty, honor, leadership. This heroic emblem recalls Carol’s history as a United States Air Force pilot, an individual reaching towards the stars across the galaxy.
My AFA™ GRAD logo identifies me as a reputable individual of good moral character as defined by 8 CFR §1292.1(a)(3) and is used “to show in [myself] a good example of virtue, honor, patriotism.” Grey is my class color and Air Force blue is a tone of the color azure, the purest tones of which are identified as being the color of the sky on a clear day.
Captain Marvel will be in cinemas March 2019 to coincide with International Women’s Day. This film is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and features the first solo female Super Hero lead in the MCU. Captain Marvel promotes themes of self-discovery, bravery and teamwork.
Captain Marvel will set the scene for the still-untitled follow-up to Avengers Infinity War. It was her symbol we saw on Nick Fury’s phone in the final scene, revealing Captain Marvel is the last hope the entire universe has against Thanos.
Carol Danvers is played by Brie Larson. Nick Fury is played by Samuel L. Jackson. See full cast.
*NOTE: The Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program (ENJJPT) is the world’s only internationally [staffed] and managed flying training program. The Program was chartered to produce combat pilots for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance.
