Statement from the Association of Graduates Board of Directors on the Conviction of Lt. Col. (Ret.) Larry Brock ’89
December 16, 2022
On Jan. 6, 2021, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Larry Brock, a 1989 graduate of the Air Force Academy, unlawfully breached the Capitol Building, disrupting a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election. He was arrested on Jan. 10, 2021.
Shortly after the events of January 6, 2021, the Association of Graduates (AOG) Board of Directors stated:
“Without question, our Board unanimously condemned the actions of all who entered the Capitol, assaulted law enforcement personnel and desecrated the hallowed halls of Congress. We affirm one’s constitutional right to assemble peacefully but would never support unlawful or illegal acts.”
Additionally, the Board, having learned of Brock’s then-alleged breach of the Capitol, stated at that time:
“With respect to any AOG member involved in the illegal activities surrounding the 6 January event — the Board will review membership in accordance with our bylaws which require a 45-day notification to anyone who may have their membership revoked.”
On February 19, 2021, the Board met for a regularly scheduled meeting. Though, in that meeting, the Board initiated, by vote, the bylaws-defined process of terminating Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brock’s membership in the Association of Graduates, it decided in the coming months to await the final outcome of his case and then take the appropriate action. The Board recognized that Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brock, like anyone in our nation charged with a crime, no matter how egregious, was presumed innocent until proven guilty – a bedrock principle of our justice system.
On November 16, 2022, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brock was found guilty in the District of Columbia of the felony offense of obstruction of an official proceeding and five misdemeanor offenses related to his unlawful January 6, 2021, breach of the Capitol Building.
With Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brock’s November 16, 2022, conviction, the AOG Board again took up the matter of his status as a member. A search of the AOG’s membership records indicated that no graduate, since the AOG’s inception in 1965, has been removed from our rolls even as, unfortunately, some of our own have failed to live up to our Academy’s core values and our expectations of one another. From discussions in meetings held on December 8, 2022, and December 16, 2022, the AOG Board of Directors determined that censure of Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brock’s actions on January 6, 2021, is appropriate. As such:
The Board condemns Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brock’s actions on January 6, 2021. His actions were unlawful and wholly counter to our core values – Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do – and to our shared oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Censure of a member of our Association of Graduates is a serious matter, and the Board of Directors will take no further action related to Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brock at this time.
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Contacts:
AOG members wishing to share feedback on this matter may email feedback@usafa.org.
Members of the press with questions about this matter may contact: Wyatt Hornsby, APR, Vice President of Marketing & Communications, via email.