Academy hosts Board of Visitor, Sept. 25-26

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Brus Vidal
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  The Air Force's Academy hosted the U.S. Air Force Academy Board of Visitors September 25 - 26. During the two-day visit, the board received a series of updates from Academy senior leadership and held separate panel discussions, cadets and staff and faculty.

The Board of Visitors is established under Title 10 U.S. Code, § 9355 to inquire into the morale, discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods and other matters. The BOV has 15 members and is required under its charter to visit the Academy.

The BOV updates included remarks from Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson; a review of Religious Respect Training from Academy Command Chaplain Col. Randall Kitchens; an academics update from Dean of the Faculty Brig. Gen. Andrew Armacost; an introduction to the ongoing Inspector General inspection from the Academy IG Col. David Kuenzli and a summary of Athletic Department operations from Academy Athletic Director Dr. Hans Mueh. Academy Plans and Programs director Col. Cheryl Beineke will also provide the BOV a summary of Academy performance metrics.

General Johnson began her remarks Sept. 25 by recalling previous BOV updates, to include a briefing in March about budget impacts to the Academy's mission and detailing how Academy leadership responded to budget reductions by identifying the elements essential to the USAFA experience - its essence. In June, she briefed the board on the Academy's methodology for relating this essence - what we do to why we do it - to produce agile and inclusive Airmen, highlighting "how we do it," via a new "Pathways to Excellence" initiative. 

"This methodology has given us a framework for how we can implement positive change moving forward," General Johnson said.

During her remarks, she highlighted the Air Force's new 30-year Strategy, "America's AF: A Call to the Future," released at the end of July, which outlines how the Air Force must operate in the future.

"This document is not just a Call to the Future, but a Call to Action - it recognizes we're at an inflection point," General Johnson said. "This is a moment of opportunity to choose bold and imaginative new ways of delivering Airpower on behalf of the nation -- the current How is neither sustainable or affordable; it recognizes we must be 'fearless' in our efforts to build agility into our processes, capabilities, concepts, and thinking; and it acknowledges the Air Force must adopt a culture of inclusiveness to harness all possible airmen and resources.

"Using our internal what-how-why methodology, which aligns nearly perfectly with the Air Force strategy, we're working to make major progress over the coming year and posturing for continued progress in future years," she said.

General Johnson said the Academy translated this methodology into a commander's intent for the coming year that focuses on three main areas of effort: Culture of Commitment and Climate of Respect, Innovation and Integration, and Refining our Processes and Improved Communication.

Another topic of discussion during the Superintendent's update was two-fold: budget stability and personnel stability.

"We are concerned about the impact of the force management programs on our personnel demographics," General Johnson said, highlighting that many of the personnel programs are still on-going. She also said that Academy leadership, to get a sense of its current status, examined its personnel manning pre-force management actions in April 2014 versus post-force management actions, August 2014. 

"Although this is simply the first round, the data suggest minimal impact on our demographics," General Johnson said, attributing the minimal impact to proactive planning. "You may recall we've made every effort to make our personnel cuts in a smart way - beginning with eliminating vacant positions, followed by a scrub of those occupied positions that must be eliminated.

"We expect more rounds and anticipate additional impact, but we'll continue to work to stabilize the Academy's budget and personnel."

On Sept. 26, the board visited the Faculty Department for an academic innovations tour, which included a mathematics classroom visit to observe a new take on instruction, a stop by the Management Department for a briefing on innovation and entrepreneurship, a tour of the Cyber Lab, and a discussion with Research Department leaders on technology transfer.

"Part of the board's charter is to inquire into the, curriculum, instruction, and academic methods here at the Air Force's Academy and we were thankful for the opportunity to showcase the excellence of our faculty and our cadet students," General Armacost said. "As every service academy has a slightly different model for producing officers, events like these are invaluable in fostering understanding for the members of the board about how we educate and train our future leaders of character.

"They also reinforce and strengthen our ties with the board members for decades to come."

According to Alfredo Sandoval, board president, it was extremely important for the board, in its advisory role capacity, to hear from Academy senior leaders about the Academy's culture and climate, and how it continues to execute its mission of developing leaders of character for the Air Force and the nation.

"We take our advisory role very seriously and these visits allow for us to take the pulse of the institution and its people," Mr. Sandoval said.  "The discussions with Academy senior leaders are incredibly important and help to keep us apprised on current issues, but the interaction with cadets, staff and faculty is even more helpful to us so we can see and experience, first hand, the great things that happen here every day.

"These visits serve as an outstanding reminder of how professional the cadets, staff and faculty are and also underscore the consistent excellence here."