Ramsey: Serratore loses daughter, Air Force gains cadet

At times, you almost expect Frank Serratore to break into songs of praise for the Air Force Academy.

Such a wonderful place, he says. Such great kids. Such an uplifting atmosphere.

But wait.

Here comes the chorus:

His daughter, Carly, begins processing Thursday for her first year at the academy.

Soon, she will be making her bed just right and shining her shoes and obeying orders and sleeping in tents alongside hundreds of cadets at Jack's Valley.

"I'm thrilled," Frank said of his daughter's decision. "I really believe in this place. I believe in the young people we have here.

"I think it's great. I think she's a great fit. This validates everything I've always preached about the academy."

Serratore is heading into his 13th season as Air Force's hockey coach. In 2008-09, he led the Falcons to 28 wins, the Atlantic Hockey Association title and the national quarterfinals.

Along the way, Serratore has become an unabashed academy booster. One of his favored sayings is, "There's no utopia."

And yet, for Serratore, AFA comes close.

Still, Serratore's near-utopia is a destination of enormous demands. At other colleges in the Land of the Free, freshmen wear tattered jeans, sleep late and indulge in sweet liberty.

At AFA, students march to breakfast, wear tailored uniforms and reside in a realm of regimentation.

Carly, a Pine Creek High grad, understands these realities. She's enjoying what she calls "my last hurrah" with her mother, Carol, at a cabin in northern Minnesota.

She knows her sleep will be drastically reduced. She knows older cadets will boss her around.

"But I've seen all the positive things," Carly said by cell phone. "I know it's going to be challenging, but it will bring out the best in me, and I hope to bring out the best in others."

Carly's cousin, Andrew Herzog, is entering his senior year at the academy. At the Serratore dinner table, Carly has listened to Herzog reveal AFA's challenges. She knows there will be brutal days.

But she also knows the rewards.

Herzog traveled to South Korea last summer for training. He's in Egypt this summer. The possibilities, Carly said, are "just ridiculous."

Carly laughed as she considered basic training, which stretches five weeks.

"Honestly," she said, "I'm so nervous."

She's heard about life as a cadet, but, she emphasizes, hearing about the challenges is much different than actually conquering them.

"Everyone tells me I have an advantage over others," she said, "but, honestly, I really don't."

Meanwhile, Frank is nonchalantly confident about his daughter's upcoming adventure.

"She'll do fine," he said. "She's the type of kid we have at the academy."

For years, Serratore preached to hockey parents the wonders of the academy. They should be proud of their sons, he said.

He wasn't just talking.

As he sat in his office, talking about the daughter who soon will be a cadet, he was the very picture of a proud parent.