first superintendent. The original 582 sites considered were winnowed to three: Alton, Illinois (by purchasing Principia College); Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (near Big Foot Beach State Park); and the ultimate site at Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Secretary of the Air Force, Harold E. Talbott, announced the winning site on 24 June 1954. Meanwhile, Air Training Command (ATC) began developing a detailed curriculum for the academy program.
From 1954 to 1956, the new Colorado Land Acquisition Commission purchased parcels of land that would host the new academy. The first parcel purchased was also the largest; it was the 4,630-acre (1,870 ha) Cathedral Rock Ranch, owned by Lawrence B. Lehman of the Lehman investment family. The purchase price was $300,000, or about $65 per 1-acre (4,000 m2). 140 parcels were eventually purchased to create what is now a nearly-18,500-acre (7,500 ha) government property.
=== Early years ===
Early Air Force Academy leaders could look at West Point and Annapolis in designing an appropriate …
