About United States Air Force Academy (Saint Michael) · Air Force Academy, Colorado
Saint Michael Catholic Chapel serves the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, under the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. The parish community gathers principally at the Community Center Chapel (5134 Cathedral Drive) while the historic Academy Cadet Chapel — a National Historic Landmark — undergoes a multi-year renovation projected to complete around 2028. The Catholic chaplain team ministers to cadets, permanent-party Airmen and Guardians, civilian employees, retirees and families attached to USAFA, offering Sunday and weekday Mass, Saturday reconciliation, retreats, religious education and sacramental preparation in the heart of a major U.S. military academy.
- Established
- 1963 (Catholic Chapel dedicated September 22, 1963)
- Patron
- Saint Michael the Archangel
- Diocese
- Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (with physical location within the Diocese of Colorado Springs)
Why belong here
Saint Michael is the Catholic home for the USAFA community — cadets, officers, civilians, retirees and their families. It offers a stable Sunday and weekday Mass schedule, Saturday confession, Catholic religious formation for September through May, retreats and sacramental preparation, all led by chaplains committed to combining spiritual direction with the leadership formation at the heart of the Academy. Worship is currently centered at the Community Center Chapel during the Cadet Chapel's renovation, with the historic space set to welcome the community back when restoration completes.
Mass times at United States Air Force Academy (Saint Michael)
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 3:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Parish Overview & Identity
Saint Michael is the Roman Catholic parish serving the United States Air Force Academy community in Air Force Academy, Colorado. Canonically part of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA — under Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio — and physically within the Diocese of Colorado Springs, it ministers to cadets, permanent-party Airmen, civilian employees, retirees and family members. The parish takes its name from the patron saint of soldiers and police officers.
- Patron: Saint Michael the Archangel
- Diocese: Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA
- Geographic deanery: Colorado Springs
The Cadet Chapel — A National Historic Landmark
The Academy's signature building is the Cadet Chapel, completed in 1962, designed by Walter Netsch of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, and constructed by Robert E. McKee, Inc. of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Standing 150 feet tall, it features 17 spires each made of 100 aluminum-clad tetrahedrons with stained-glass seams. The Cadet Chapel won the AIA's National Twenty-Five Year Award in 1996 and the Cadet Area of which it is the centerpiece was named a National Historic Landmark in 2004.
- Architect: Walter Netsch (SOM)
- Builder: Robert E. McKee, Inc. (Santa Fe, NM)
- Completed 1962; Catholic Chapel dedicated Sept. 22, 1963
- AIA Twenty-Five Year Award (1996)
- U.S. National Historic Landmark (2004)
The Catholic Chapel — Art & Architecture
The Catholic worship space occupies the terrace level beneath the main Protestant chapel, seating about 500 in a nave roughly 56 feet wide. The aesthetic is luminous and modern: amber-glass side walls, cast-glass strip windows set in precast concrete, an Italian-marble altar (a gift of Cardinal Spellman), and a six-foot nickel-silver crucifix. The reredos by Lumen Martin Winter is an abstract mosaic of blue, turquoise, rose and gray tesserae depicting the firmament, with two ten-foot Annunciation figures — the Virgin Mary and Archangel Gabriel — in Carrara marble flanking a marble dove of the Holy Spirit. Winter's fourteen Stations of the Cross are carved from four-inch slabs of marble.
- Reredos and Stations of the Cross by Lumen Martin Winter
- Italian-marble altar gifted by Cardinal Francis Spellman
- Moller/Holtkamp pipe organ in 100-seat choir loft (36 ranks, 29 stops, ~1,914 pipes)
- Reconciliation room, Blessed Sacrament Room and baptistery in the Catholic level
Worship Schedule
Public Catholic Masses are ordinarily celebrated at the Community Center Chapel during the Cadet Chapel's renovation. Cadet-focused Sunday Mass is currently held at Polaris Hall. Weekday Masses are not celebrated in January; otherwise Mass is offered Tuesday through Friday at 11:30 a.m. Reconciliation is available Saturday afternoons before the Vigil Mass.
- Tue–Fri Mass: 11:30 a.m. (no weekday Masses in January)
- Sat Reconciliation: 3:00–3:45 p.m.
- Sat Vigil Mass: 4:00 p.m.
- Sun Mass: 9:00 a.m. (Polaris Hall during chapel renovation)
- Sun Religious Formation: 10:15 a.m. (Sept–May)
Religious Formation & Cadet Life
Religious formation for the Catholic community meets Sundays at 10:15 a.m. from September through May. Cadets participate in worship as choir, praise team, ushers, lectors, altar servers and Eucharistic ministers, and they lead the Cadet Catholic Parish Advisory Council. Two annual retreats are planned and executed by cadet leadership each year.
- Sunday Religious Formation (Sept–May, 10:15 a.m.)
- Cadet choir, praise team, ushers, lectors, altar servers, Eucharistic ministers
- Cadet Catholic Parish Advisory Council
- Two annual retreats led by cadets
Sacraments & Sacramental Preparation
Catholic chaplains offer preparation and celebration of the sacraments for the USAFA community. Infant baptisms can take place in the Cadet Chapel's baptistery once restoration is complete; meanwhile arrangements are made at the Community Center Chapel. Programs of preparation accompany First Communion, Confirmation and Marriage, and Reconciliation is offered Saturday afternoons.
- Baptism (Baptistery, Cadet Chapel Catholic level)
- First Communion
- Confirmation preparation
- Marriage preparation & weddings (chaplain case-by-case)
- Anointing of the Sick on request
Chaplain Team & Archdiocese Linkage
Catholic chaplains assigned to USAFA are Air Force chaplains-priests in service of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, whose archbishop is the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., current president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Reservist chaplains also serve the Academy — among them Gregg M. Caggianelli, who served as mobilization assistant to the USAFA chaplain and was named an auxiliary bishop of the AMS by Pope Francis in February 2025, ordained May 9, 2025 in Boynton Beach, Florida.
- Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA
- Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio
- Bishop Gregg M. Caggianelli (auxiliary, formerly USAF chaplain at USAFA)
Cadet Chapel Renovation (2019–c. 2028)
A four-year restoration of the Cadet Chapel began in late 2019. Discovery of asbestos during demolition extended the timeline; the current estimated completion is around 2028. With the chapel closed, the Catholic community worships at the Community Center Chapel and Polaris Hall. The Academy continues to provide for the diverse religious and spiritual needs of cadets, staff and families throughout the work.
- Renovation began: late 2019
- Estimated completion: 2027–2028
- Catholic Sunday Mass relocated to Polaris Hall
- Community Center Chapel hosts Vigil Mass and weekday Masses
Visiting, Address & Contact
The Community Center Chapel (10th ABW/HC) is at 5134 Cathedral Drive, Suite 100, USAF Academy, CO 80840-2700. The main office is reached at (719) 333-3300 (DSN 333-3300), with duty hours 0730–1630. After duty hours or in pastoral emergencies, contact the Command Post at (719) 333-2633. Visitors to the Academy installation must present photo ID at the gate.
- Address: 5134 Cathedral Drive, Suite 100, USAF Academy, CO 80840-2700
- Phone: (719) 333-3300
- Fax: (719) 333-3441
- DSN Phone: 333-3300
- After-hours emergencies: Command Post (719) 333-2633