I was privileged to be a part of a high school that not only offered me the opportunity to be involved as a three-sport athlete, but also prepared me academically for the next level.  I am grateful to all the teachers and coaches who gave me their time and attention and who believed in me.

After graduation, I played college basketball, majored in mathematics and spent eleven years as a Colorado State Trooper and eventually finished my career as a high school teacher and coach.  On a personal note, I married my high school sweetheart (48 years ago), we have two great children who then blessed us with four terrific grandchildren. It has been a fantastic ride. Thanks AAHS for the memories!

Max Leroy Stucky was born in Colorado Springs and raised in Black Forest. He attended Black Forest Elementary and Air Academy Junior and Senior High Schools.  AAHS activities included football, basketball, and band activities under the direction of Larry Perkins. Upon graduation, Max attended Western State College in Gunnison.  There he studied Business Administration, Physical Education and fishing.  After student teaching at AAHS, he taught and coached at Genoa, CO.  After two years at Genoa, he returned to the Business Department at AAHS.  Max completed a Master’s degree in Vocational Business Education at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.  Seventeen years at AAHS included teaching business classes and serving as Business Department Chair.  Coaching opportunities included the privilege of coaching with legendary coaches Gary Barnett in football and Dick Fanning in baseball. Great pride in Kadet athletics kept Max busy with score keeping and related duties.  The K-Dome holds special memories having played and coached here. Appreciation for encouragement and support go to family and friends, teachers, co-workers, and students . . . and special thanks for opportunities provided by Academy School District 20 and the Air Academy High School. I WILL ALWAYS BE A KADET!

After graduating from Air Academy in 1978, where she served as president of the Student Council and a member of the cheerleading squad, Karen attended the University of Denver, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in in Political Science and Economics.  In 1983, she received a Master of Arts in Economics from Tufts University, returning to Denver and a nine-year career with Martin Marietta Corporation.  Karen left her corporate career and attended the University of Denver College of Law, graduating second in her class in 1996.  She developed a civil litigation practice, and a specialty in eminent domain law, handling cases in state, federal, and Colorado appellate courts. In May 2014, Governor Hickenlooper appointed Karen to serve as a judge on the Denver District Court, where she presently presides over a criminal division.  In addition to her work, Karen has served as the board chairperson for Historic Denver and has been an avid supporter of the arts community, residing in Denver with her husband of thirty-four years.

With the childhood dream of producing documentary films for National Geographic, Rob attended Colorado State University where, in 1982, he earned a degree in Journalism. Rob began working in “the business” at KCNC in Denver during his Junior year at CSU. Upon graduation he continued in news at KOAA-TV before taking director and cinematographer jobs at an independent production company in COS and a corporation in Denver.  But the yellow brick road that leads to the Oz that is National Geographic didn’t run through Colorado in those days so, in 1988 Rob left the towering Mountains of Colorado for the towering skyscrapers of New York City.

In New York Rob began directing and shooting films on-locations in the Middle East, the Mediterranean and in Africa.  (Note: none of these films were for Nat. Geo, but he was getting closer!)

In 1990, with Cable television beginning to flourish, Rob left Manhattan for an opportunity to join a Tennessee based company that produced programming for A&E, HISTORY and Discovery.  Almost nine years later – after the E.W. Scripps Company bought the family-owned company in order to launch HGTV – Rob folded his Tennessee tent and moved to Washington DC where National Geographic is headquartered.  Shortly after making the move, and with 20 years of experience under his belt, the production doors to Geographic opened fulfilling Rob’s childhood dream.

Today, Rob still directs and shoots programs for Nat. Geo., the Smithsonian, and the Discovery Networks, as well as for broadcasters outside the US.  As trite as it is to say it – that KADET is “Livin’ the Dream.”

Scott Moore, from the Air Academy Class of 1978, retired in 2014 as a Navy Rear Admiral with over 30 years in Naval Special Warfare (NSW).  A 1983 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, he received a cross commission into the Navy and immediately attended Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training.  During his career, he led at every level of NSW, from SEAL platoon commander, to Commander of the Nation’s premier Counterterrorist Force, to Deputy Commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, where he was responsible for training and equipping a 7000-person force.  He also commanded a 1500-person Joint Task Force in Afghanistan, which conducted over 2000 capture/kill missions against enemy leaders.  His staff tours included assignments as; director, of Counterterrorism, on the National Security Staff, White House, directly briefing The President of the United States; as the Assistant Operations Officer for Counterterrorism, The Pentagon, where he advised the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff daily on counterterrorism operations; and as the Deputy Commander for Operations, Office of Defense Representative, Pakistan, where he coordinated NATO operations with Pakistani military leaders.  He earned a masters degree in National Security Studies at the Naval War College, graduating with Distinction. At every level of Adm. Moore’s military career, he was known for his operational abilities, effective leadership and clear decision-making, having personally led numerous “national level” no-fail missions during some of our nation’s most critical strategic moments. Currently, he is the co-founder and CEO of the Karakoram Group, which focuses on coaching leaders, changing cultures and solving global security problems. He also serves as Chairman for SEALKids, a non-profit focusing on keeping SEALs in the fight by covering their children’s educational and enrichment needs at home.

Upon graduation from AAHS, Jason attended the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he graduated with a B. S. (With Distinction) in Aerospace Engineering Sciences.  He attended graduate school at the Joint Institute for Advancement of Flight Sciences at NASA Langley in Hampton, Virginia, where he earned a Master of Science degree in 1994.  In 1995, Jason began work for the U.S Navy, as an engineer for the QF-4 Full Scale Aerial Target program where he converted Vietnam era F-4 Phantom II fighters into targets.  While working on the QF-4 program, he was a football coach for a Pop Warner league, and middle school and high school junior varsity teams.  In 1999, Jason returned to Colorado Springs to pursue a teaching career.  In 2000, Jason began coaching football served as a substitute teacher, while enrolled in the Alternative Licensure Program at UCCS.  In the fall of 2001, Jason began his teaching career at AAHS.  At AAHS, Jason has taught math and engineering. In 2005, he began teaching engineer full time and began coaching District 20’s first robotics team.  He continues in this position today.

Robin is a Colorado native and started her Academy 20 education in 5thgrade at Rockrimmon Elementary.  She then attended Air Academy Junior High before graduating from AAHS in 1988. She attended CSU and completed her undergraduate degree at UCCS.  She holds a master’s degree in teaching from Colorado College and another in Curriculum, Instruction and Leadership from UCCS.  Robin has returned to “the nest” as an assistant principal at AAHS and keeps all of Academy 20 near and dear to her heart.

After graduating from AAHS, Lieutenant Commander Bradley Monger attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2003.  Upon completing 16 months of flight training, he was designated as a Naval Flight Officer in 2004.  In 2014, he earned a Master’s degree in Security Studies of East Asia from the Naval Postgraduate School.

LCDR Monger’s operational assignments have included one tour as the assistant navigator about the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and two tours with the “World Watchers” of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron ONE (VQ-1), where he accrued over 2000 flight hours in the EP-3 aircraft, the Navy’s only dedicated airborne reconnaissance platform.  He has supported worldwide operations to include IRAQI FREEDOM, ENDURING FREEDOM, INHERENT RESOLVE, and ODYSSEY DAWN, as well as the 2011 relief efforts for the tsunami disaster in Japan.

LCDR Monger now serves as the Operation Test Director for the MQ-4C Triton, the Navy’s first unmanned high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft.  He currently resides in Maryland with his wife, Jennifer.

Kristin Nielsen Ray graduated from Air Academy High School in 1998. After high school, she studied biology as an undergraduate at Harvard University and medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, graduating in 2006. She completed a residency in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 2009. After residency, she worked as a pediatric hospitalist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and as a pediatrician for the Indian Health Service in New Mexico. She then pursued a research fellowship in general academic pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, completing a Master’s of Science in Clinical Research in 2014.

Dr. Ray is now an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She practices as a general pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Primary Care Center, and oversees a research program focused on improving the effectiveness, family-centeredness, equity, and value of pediatric health care delivery systems. Dr. Ray also leads quality improvement initiatives for a large network of pediatric primary care sites. She is a member of the Academic Pediatric Association Health Care Delivery Executive Committee and the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Pediatric Workforce. She lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and their two children.

Anna was born in Russia and moved to the U.S. at the age of four.  She continues to speak fluent Russian.  While a student at AAHS, Anna volunteered over 800 hours at the Memorial Health System where she was named Volunteer of the Year. Anna was also an accomplished figure skater.  She earned a Gold Medal from the U.S. Figure Skating Association in the areas of Ice Dance and Moves.  Anna was accepted to the 7-year accelerated Honors Program in Medical Education at Northwestern University in Chicago where she received her medical degree.  She remained at Northwestern for medical school and residency in Family Medicine, where she served as Chief Resident, and has since become a member of the faculty.  Anna is currently a Fellow at the Osher Center of Integrative Medicine at Northwestern.  Anna continues to be passionate about volunteering, working to bring access to medical care to low income communities.  In her free time, Anna love spending time with her fiancé, friends and family, participating in marathons and triathlons, skiing, cooking, writing, and anything outdoors in nature.

Anna would like to credit AAHS for the strong foundations and incredible mentorship from teachers that led her to where she is today.  She deeply regrets not being able to be present at homecoming and would like students to know she is always available for questions and mentoring.

After graduating from AAHS within the top 10 of his class, Benjamin went on to attend the Colorado School of Mines, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Physics and a Master of Science degree in Applied Physics.  Benjamin transitioned to the University of Colorado at Boulder to pursue a doctorate degree in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics.  He defended his dissertation in 2017 on high-order harmonic generation, a process to generate laser-like X-rays starting with infrared laser light.  In 2018, Benjamin began a career at Sandia National Laboratories as a R&D Optical Engineer.  He contributes to large scale science at the Z-Backlighter facility, helping to operate and improve one of the largest lasers in the world designed to support the Z-Machine, a pulsed power facility aimed at studying inertial confinement fusion, high energy density physics, and other topics relevant to national security. Benjamin married his high school sweetheart, Jennifer Lynn Richardson in 2015.  They are expecting their first child in October 2018.

While a student at AAHS Alli served as president of the Spanish Honor Society, was a member of the National Honor Society and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.  She ran cross country and qualified for state her junior and senior years, ran track and played soccer.  After high school Alli attended the University of Northern Colorado where she graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Spanish and K-12 Education. For five years Alli taught Spanish and was an assist cross country coach at AAHS.  Alli and husband David are the proud parents of daughter Cosette.  This year Alli is teaching Spanish at Douglass Valley Elementary.