A Maas Family COVID Timeline

The one good result from the Great COVID-19 Crisis of 2020 is that it brought Cadet Maas home, unexpectedly, for months. The evening of Thursday, March 12, we received a text from Graham that he might be coming home. At 10 p.m. the next day, Friday, March 13, we picked him up at the airport.

As luck would have it, our extended family was gathering that weekend for a birthday party celebrating the twin birthdays of Jackie and her big sister Juanita, both born on March 15, but 10 years apart.

Graham was the surprise guest of honor and decorated birthday cakes with his cousins Elise, flown in from Boston, and Erin Hocking and Erin’s husband Matt Huggins. Juanita and her husband Kim Hocking came from Bismarck, and Brian’s sister Lori and her husband Mike Pfeifer, from Oakdale, rounded out the family tree. There was strudel making, Wishek sausage and lots of laughter. Who knows when we will all be together like that again – but hopefully for Graham’s graduation from the Academy in May 2022.

On Monday, March 17, the new normal begins. Everyone is home, working or taking online classes. Brian has been working from home full-time since 2009, so it’s old hat for him. For Graham, the first week is a mix of trial-and-error for students and teachers alike, as each works through how online instruction is best delivered.

March rolls into April. Graham is still home and is forced to bake his own birthday cake to learn “life skills”. 

And then it’s May. Graham is still home. He finishes spring semester finals online, and makes the Dean’s List for the fourth straight semester. He works out by taking runs in French Park. 

And then June – Graham is still home. The Maas family gathers with Grandpa Don and Grandma Marlys in Fargo. GK spends a weekend with Matt and Erin at their cabin in Chetek, WI. 

And then July – Graham is still home, taking an astronautical engineering class online with his best friends from across the country. As he states to us one day, “it’s a hard class, but it is rocket science!”. He and Brian drive his car back to Colorado Springs, as only juniors and seniors are allowed to have cars on campus. Graham spends a few days at the home of Dean and Angela Bancroft, his sponsor parents, and reports to USAFA on Sunday, July 26. While with the Bancroft's, he is loved by their cats and dog. 

Upon arrival at campus, Graham is immediately tested for COVID and begins quarantine. While home, he purchased a hammock, and immediately found good use of it outside his dorm building. His first test on Day 1 came back negative. He will be tested again on Days 7, 10 and 14 before he can leave quarantine. He may end up living in a hotel off base for a while. Eventually he will join his new Squadron, The Fightin’ Fourth, in Vandenberg Hall, across campus from his old dorm but closer to the upperclassmen parking lot. Fall classes are scheduled to begin Aug. 12.

The official logo for the Fightin' Fourth is unique. The patch, a basic circle, has large red "4" on its right side with white, three-dimensional backing. A white contrail, originating from infinity, passes through the center of the "4" and emanates from a pair of silver prop and wings. A light blue starburst sits behind the prop and wings, and a white rectangle with the words "Fightin' Fourth" in black curves across the top of the patch. "Fightin' Fourth" is the motto of the Fourth Cadet Squadron. The bold printing symbolizes the pride and polished attitude of each squadron member. The prop and wings sysmbolize an upperclass cadet. Gold, blue, silver, and red represent the four class colors at the Air Force Academy. This original patch is a symbol to all Fourth Squadron graduates of the squadron's winning tradition. The motto "Fightin' Fourth" was given to the squadron in recognition of the squadron's defense of the falcons against mascot thieves at Lowry Air Force Base, Colo. 

 

We are glad he is on the USAFA campus, and there isn't a prettier college campus anywhere else in the world. 

As parents, we are extremely worried for the safety of Graham and all the cadets at USAF. But the safety of cadets, staff and the entire USAFA community, as well as the Colorado Springs community, remains USAFA’s number one priority. USAFA will accomplish this by:

• Testing cadets for COVID multiple times in their first 2 weeks on campus on days 0, 7, 10 and 14
• Providing random cadet testing going forward to identify any potential asymptomatic cases in the earliest stages possible
• Maintaining Quarantine and Isolation space for cadets with positive tests, symptoms or close contact with positive cases
• Creating space for social distancing when planning military training, classes, cadet living arrangements and other activities 

Classes will combine in-person and online learning. In-person classes may use creative solutions possibly involving outdoor classes, using larger classrooms for smaller classes, and accomplishing labs and other hands-on coursework in small groups to accommodate the proper social distancing space, while carrying out the Academy mission of training future Air Force and Space Force leaders.

During the last semester, Graham opted to change majors from Political Science, with a specialty in International Relations, to Philosophy. The main reason he switched was his goal of graduate school. The number of graduate school scholarship slots for Political Science was cut to one. And Graham would have been up against 100 other cadets for that coveted slot. Meanwhile, in Philosophy, he will be up against 10 cadets. So, he increased he chance of graduate school 10-fold. And it doesn't hurt that the current Chief-of-Staff of the Air Force, General David Goldfein, graduated from USAFA as a philosophy major himself. 

In order to maintain adequate Quarantine and Isolation space in the USAFA dormitories, USAFA officials knew alternative housing for a select group of healthy cadets was going to be necessary going forward as approximately 4,000 cadets return to the Academy from every Congressional district in the U.S.

The Air Force Academy will house approximately 400 cadets in hotels off base for the fall semester, and possibly longer as the pandemic situation evolves. This will free up space for cadets testing positive to be isolated and recover safely.

The next big event for him at USAFA will be the commitment dinner the night before classes begin. It is a tradition established as a formal ceremony to recognize renewed commitment to the Armed Forces.  Commitment Dinner for the second (rising juniors) class takes place at the start of the fall semester. Once the cadets return to the Academy for their junior class year, they incur the financial or active duty “commitment” for their education if they depart the Academy prior to graduation. In other words, if Graham chose to leave USAFA at this point, he would have to pay back the school, as USAFA is a free ride, other than the 5-year commitment of service post-graduation. A commemorative coin is presented to each Cadet in recognition of this milestone.

During the weeks and months home, our family slowed down, spent time together playing board games, watching movies and listening to some great music. We went for long walks in the neighborhood and down by Medicine Lake. 

When lock-down restrictions eased up, Graham met up with high school friends to shoot basics or kick around a soccer ball. Or, he simply rested.

While it was great to have him home, it was also time for him to resume his college career, having to once again “trust the process” that the Air Force and the Academy will keep him safe.