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College Marketplace is the student-only buy and sell app for the United States Air Force Academy in USAF Academy, Colorado, just north of Colorado Springs. Every account is verified with an @afacademy.af.edu email address, so you're only ever trading with other Falcons — not strangers from Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.

Housing here works nothing like a civilian campus. The entire Cadet Wing lives in two dormitories on the hill: Vandenberg Hall, which holds 1,320 rooms and houses Squadrons 1 through 23, and Sijan Hall, which houses Squadrons 24 through 40. There is no housing lottery, no off-campus option, and no moving out after sophomore year. You are in a squadron room for all four years, and your first roommate is assigned during Basic Cadet Training. That makes the secondhand market here less about furnishing an apartment and more about the things that actually fit a shared room and a very full schedule. Falcons post bikes, monitors, speakers, coffee makers, storage bins, civilian clothes, ski and climbing gear, and gently used textbooks every semester, usually for a fraction of retail.

It pays to know what is already in the room before you buy anything. Cadet rooms run roughly 13 feet by 18 feet and are built for two, with two large closets, a counter with a built-in sink, a large mirror and a medicine cabinet. Each cadet gets a twin-size modular bed, a dresser and a desk. The Academy issues uniforms, bedding and linens, so none of that is worth shopping for. Appliance privileges are tied to class year: fourth-class cadets may have radio or stereo equipment starting spring semester, third-class cadets may keep a coffeepot, second-class cadets are cleared for most electrical appliances, and first-class cadets may have a television in the room. Check the current Cadet Standards and Duties Instruction before you buy anything that plugs in, because rooms are held to SAMI order.

Meeting up is simple when everybody lives inside the same cadet area. Arnold Hall and its Richter Lounge food court are the easy handoff on nights and weekends, while Mitchell Hall, McDermott Library, Fairchild Hall and The Terrazzo all work between formations. Cadet Field House is the obvious pick around athletic events. No shipping labels, no delivery fees, no meeting someone off campus.

Popular categories at Air Force: textbooks and course materials · dorm furniture and room storage · mini fridges and microwaves · bikes and scooters · Air Force apparel and game day gear · electronics and monitors · event tickets · outdoor and ski gear · desk lamps and organizers