The Sponsor Family

All new appointees are given a local sponsor family. It is a home away from home where cadets can get away from the campus and chill. These are local volunteers that support cadets. Cadets come from all across the nation, and often their families live far from campus. The sponsor family program is made up of local Academy supporters in and around Colorado Springs, who are willing to provide a home-away-from-home to Academy cadets. The Cadet Sponsor Program builds a professional mentoring relationship for cadets on a permanent basis during their time at the Academy.

Sponsor families are composed of active duty, retired and reserve officers, senior non-commissioned officers (NCOs), Academy alumni, civil servants and select local citizens. Sponsor families provide cadets with positive adult role models, many of whom are still active in the military, that serve as mentors, friends and advisors in an environment that allows some time to relax away from the rigors of the Academy. The interaction is essential to fostering professional and social development, which is especially important for new fourth-class cadets.

The program is offered for all four years at the Academy. Through Jackie, Graham was fortunate enough to make a by-name request which the Cadet Sponsor Office will attempt to honor. If by-name requests are not made, common interests, hobbies or preferences are used as matching criteria. Sponsors often develop lifelong relationships with their cadets – and many cadets come to consider their sponsors as a second family.

On Monday evening (June 25), shortly after our arrival into Colorado Springs, we were hosted by Graham's potential sponsor family for dinner. They are Dean and Angela Bancroft.

Jackie attended Jamestown College (now University of Jamestown) with Dean and Angela and had kept in touch with Angela through the years, connecting with her for lunch when we were in Colorado Springs years ago for a modern pentathlon event. Angela is from Lehr, ND, and Dean is from New Town, ND. It's comforting to have good people we know from years past offer to be his sponsor family. We even discovered that Angela attended church with one of Jackie's aunts and cousins while growing up.

After graduating from college, Dean attended optometry school and joined the Army to pay for school. The couple lived in Germany for a few years and relocated several times around the United States. Dean has since retired from the military but they have stayed in the Springs. They can offer Graham a perspective of military life that we can't, and can connect him with their friends and colleagues who can help Graham achieve his goals.

Most important, they have offered the comfort of a family home to Graham, including  the company of two children, a dog, a cat and chickens. They have offered Graham full use of their guest room when he can get off base. 

We are grateful for their generosity, support and friendship. Graham is a lucky guy to have them as their sponsor family. 

(Left to Right) Angela, Jackie, Graham, Dean, and Ben