MARYVILLE, Mo. — Anyone who watched Northwest Missouri State head athletic trainer David “D.C.” Colt fidget alongside head basketball coach Steve Tappmeyer on the bench during games knows he was a Bearcat to the core.

But after 27 years, Colt, who also holds the title of assistant professor, has taken wings to become a Falcon at Air Force Academy.

At Air Force, Colt will serve primarily as an athletic trainer for the Falcons’ baseball program.

“Dave has had a Hall of Fame career at Northwest where he has served thousands of Bearcats,” Northwest athletic director Dr. Bob Boerigter said in a release. “As an educator, both in the classroom and in the training room, Dave has impacted many lives. We wish him nothing but the best as he moves forward in this new professional opportunity.”

Colt was inducted into the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) Hall of Fame on June 19. He was previously inducted into the Missouri Athletic Trainer’s Association (MATA) Hall of Fame in 2001. He’s been a member of the NATA board of directors and served on and chaired many NATA committees.

Colt was inducted into the 2006 Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and named the most distinguished athletic trainer by the NATA in 2004. He earned NATA Division II Athletic Trainer of the Year honors two years later. Last year, Colt was inducted into the Mid-America Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame.

“I would like to thank Northwest Missouri State University for 27 years of wonderful care and memories,” Colt said in a relase. “My wife, Susan, and I will truly miss the university, the city of Maryville and its people. We’re leaving a wonderful group of friends and colleagues, but I look forward to seeing many of them again on either a return trip to Maryville or at a Bearcat game in the Colorado area.”