Dave McFarland personally traveled all over the world to meet and invite famous aviators to participate and be honored in the program, and his name is referenced in the annual booklet that was published for each gathering.
Each year, people who have made a significant contribution to Airpower receive invitations to a week-long event to share their personal stories of courage, perseverance, and innovation to the ACSC class and local community.
GOE has been an annual event since 1982 and has honored over 450 Eagles including Neil Armstrong, Jimmy Doolittle, Bea Haydu, John Glenn, Curtis LeMay, and Chuck Yeager.
The first "Eagles" — George Vaughn, Leigh Wade, Jimmy Doolittle, Curtis LeMay, George Gay, Joe Foss, John Mitchell, "Chuck" Yeager, Gail Halvorsen, Paul Tibbets, "Gabby" Gabreski, Robin Olds, Mike Novosel, "Pete" Knight and Neil Armstrong spanned aviation history from World War I to the Space Age.
The Eagles who followed included Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., "Robbie" Risner, George Bush, John Glenn, Joe Engle, Jeremiah Denton, "Bud" Day, Dolphin D. Overton III, Ramon Colon-Lopez.