USA Bobsled and Skeleton visit CMAFS

CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN AIR FORCE STATION, Colo. – The USA Bobsled and Skeleton team visits with Airmen and tour Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Colo., June 19, 2017. The USABS team is currently training for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Korea. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Dennis Hoffman)

Published June 27, 2017
By Senior Airman Dennis Hoffman
21st Space Wing Public Affairs

CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN AIR FORCE STATION, Colo. -- The USA Bobsled and Skeleton team visited Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Colorado, and met Airmen, June 19, 2017.

The USABS team, lives and trains at the U.S. Olympic Complex in Colorado Springs, Colorado, just miles away from Cheyenne Mountain AFS. Though the proximity to each other is relatively close, Olympians and Olympic hopefuls rarely get the chance to venture onto the restricted area and peer into the guarded complex.

“It was an honor to tour the Cheyenne Mountain AFS,” said Lauren Gibbs, USA women’s bobsledder. “I don’t think any of us had any idea of what to expect.”

The USABS team was taken on a tour through the complex and were educated on the its construction, history and saw firsthand how the complex maintains vigilance through their workings inside of America’s fortress.

“This was such a cool experience,” said Sherry Von Riesen, U. S. Olympic Committee athlete services coordinator. “It makes me feel good to see our athletes interact with the military. I know they use these interactions to fuel them as they represent our country when they are out there competing.”

Throughout the tour, the USABS team stopped and interacted with service members from all branches. The team said the support they receive from the military makes it even more special to wear their personal U.S. uniforms.

After stops at the gym, chapel, engine room and the underground lake, the team was even able to open and close the blast doors that keep the complex safe from the most catastrophic strikes.
With the support of the Airmen and service members of Cheyenne Mountain AFS behind them, the USABS team said they will head back to their training hoping to eventually stand atop their respective podiums carrying the star-spangled flag with which both sides love so much.