It’s a sweltering Saturday in Colorado Springs as 33 new recruits, some of them baby-faced, line up to be sworn in at the Air Force Academy’s Falcon Stadium.
Off in the wings, there are chaps-clad bull riders waiting to battle against 1,600lb (725kg) horned bovines.
It’s an in-your-face marriage of Western grit, rodeo and military strength. Billed as Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Space Cowboys, the one-off event is celebrating America’s 250th anniversary. But the spectacle is not just trying to draw fans to rodeo, but also to branches of America’s military and law-enforcement agencies.
