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In 1952, Paul enrolled in Weber Junior PHOTO BY BURT ANES
College in Ogden, Utah. He wanted
to be a pilot and at the time, the Air Paul poses with his flight mask which supplies pilots with oxygen.
Force required a two-year degree to be
considered for admission. A year and a establishing an honor code (No violations keep up academically, and others left for
half into his studies, Paul learned the were tolerated), a mascot (a falcon), minor or serious infractions of the Honor
rules were being relaxed, so he dropped traditions and sports teams. Famed Code. Lasen advised, “It’s not like today
out of school, passed the entrance exam Hollywood producer Cecil B. DeMille where punishments are proportionate
and enlisted in 1954. He reported to designed their dress uniforms, which to the violation. Then, if you violated,
Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio are still in use today. The class designed no matter how small it was, you were
for basic training. During basic training, their class ring. Without upperclassmen out.” On June 3, 1959, Lasen was one of
he was told the pilot training program to train and haze the new cadets, the Air 207 cadets to graduate. Graduation was
was full, so he was assigned to the Force brought in junior officers from other memorable for Lasen for another reason. A
navigator training program at Ellington service branches. Lasen recalls, “They did few hours after, Lasen married the love of
Air Force Base in Houston. While in their best to make our lives miserable 24 his life, Barbara Jean, in a nearby chapel.
navigator training, Lasen learned of hours a day, seven days a week.” Life Magazine featured a photo of several
the creation of the Air Force Academy. graduating cadets, including Lasen, on its
“If I stayed in as a navigator, it would The curriculum was difficult and the
have taken at least four years before training strenuous. Some cadets couldn’t Continued on the next page
I could progress to pilot training,” he
says. “The Academy would give me four JULY 2017 SUNRAYS | 77
years and a degree. The bigger plus for
me was the fact that it was mandatory
that you go to pilot training if you were
physically qualified at time of graduation.
I always wanted to be a pilot, and this
was my way of getting to that position.
It’s worked out beautifully.” Hoping to
be one of the 306 cadets to be admitted,
Lasen sat for a three-day test crafted by
the Air Force, followed by the SAT. He
completed the Navigator Program and
was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in
June 1955. Upon graduation, he learned
he had been accepted to the first class of
the Air Force Academy. Lasen resigned
his commission and became a USAFA
cadet.

With the permanent campus yet to be
built, 306 cadets reported to Lowry Air
Force Base in Denver on July 11, 1955
where they were housed in renovated
World War II barracks. The dedication
ceremony was broadcast on television
nationwide with Walter Cronkite
announcing. Inasmuch as they were the
first class, the cadets were tasked with

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