Air 
Force ROTC cadets took the oath of enlistment for the first time in decades on the Yale University campus in New Haven, Conn. Yale AFROTC Detachment 009 Commander Col. Scott Manning administered the oath for cadets from Yale and cross-town partnership institutions during a Sept. 6 ceremony. The return of an Air Force ROTC detachment to the Ivy League school came about under the agreement signed in September 2011 by Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Yale President Richard Levin. University officials agreed to allow the detachment’s return after the Obama Administration’s repeal of the law banning homosexuals from openly serving in the US military. Yale previously had an AFROTC detachment on campus until 1957. Yale’s new AFROTC detachment officially opens its doors on Sept. 21 with 38 cadets, according to AFROTC officials at Maxwell AFB, Ala. Classes at Yale began for the academic year on Aug. 29. (Maxwell photo caption by Michael Marsland)
We looked back on the past 12 months to find the stories that resonated the most with you, our audience, and these 10 topped the list. Maybe you missed one the first time around, or perhaps you’d like to revisit a favorite.