Vance Challenges Air Force Academy Class of 2026 to Defend America’s Future

By: Eric Young | Colorado Politics

As artificial intelligence and space defense become more prevalent in warfare, Vice President JD Vance told the 2026 Air Force Academy graduating class to uphold their standards while embracing innovation on a cloudy Thursday morning.

Marking the academy’s 68^th graduating class and the United States of America’s 250^th anniversary, Vance told this year’s 931 graduating cadets to apply the skills and character they developed over the last four years as they enter “an entirely new era of warfare.”

He recalled the Air Force’s history in American conflicts in European airspaces, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, along with the “extraordinary skill and professionalism” of its servicemen and servicewomen and its ability to adapt to innovations throughout this time.

A Marine Corps veteran and the first of such to serve as the nation’s vice president, Vance pointed to the increasing implementation of AI, autonomous systems and cyber operations by militaries that the next generations of servicemen and servicewomen will need to adapt to.

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