USAFA Update

From Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria ’85, USAFA Superintendent

Greetings from sunny Phoenix, where I'm joining the SecAF, CSAF, and thousands of Air Force fans from around the country to cheer on our football team.  As we continue gathering for holiday festivities I wanted to share a small cross section of what each organization at USAFA is doing as we move into the New Year.  Hopefully this brief sample helps you see how everyone on base is focused on our priorities: producing innovative leaders of Airmen, instilled with a warrior ethos, who embody a culture of dignity and respect. 

Athletics:

Our football team is experiencing a banner year, with national rankings and our bowl game tonight.  Similarly, across the AD our teams are experiencing success -- our women's cross country team finished 2nd in the conference, earned a trip to the NCAA championship meet, and finished 8th in the nation.  This is one of the best finishes in Air Force athletic history.  In addition, one of our great club sports, women's rugby, defended their national championship this year with a 26-10 victory over Navy.  Beating Navy certainly makes the victory extra sweet.

Academics:

The number one funded undergraduate research institution continues to produce in the classroom.  The results are already in for two of the most competitive international graduate school scholarships - the Marshall and the Schwarzman scholarship.  The Marshall scholarship pays for intellectually distinguished young Americans, their country's future leaders, to study in the UK.  The Schwarzman scholarship pays for young leaders to study at Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.

Our winners for the class of 2020 are:
Marshall:  Mary Hood, Katie Scheibner, and Zach Bailey
Schwarzman:  Youssef Abubaker, and Gordon McCulloh

The contributions made by our cadets and top faculty resulted in seven additional patents in 2019, some of which are developed in direct support of our warfighters.  We are continuously seeking to translate what is learned in the classroom to real-world applications.

Cadet Wing:

As 2019 wraps up, I am excited for the refocus on a 4-class system designed to encourage dignity and respect where everyone can reach their full potential.  While much of the new training plan will look and feel the same, the intentionality of each event and the grounding of those events in outcomes is the reason I hired our current commandant.  Her deep background in training and education of our Airmen has been a huge benefit as she looks at how we adapt our own training to keep up with our near-peer competitors.  Just as we should never fight the last war, we should also adapt our training plan accordingly.  Change isn't always easy, but if we are to win our nations wars and prepare these men and women for the 21st century battlefield, purposeful change is necessary. 

Headquarters:

At the headquarters level, we are adapting and developing a new strategic plan that will prepare USAFA for the future fight and ensure that all mission elements are focusing on the same lines of effort.  Our culture climate and diversity office has led our resiliency efforts and our SPAR office took the lead on a national-level conference --- Pathways to Prevention.  In the same way CW is looking at reinforcing an environment of dignity and respect in the cadet wing, these organizations are looking across the installation to do the same in a synchronized way.

Our entire institution is supported by the Center of Character and Leadership Development.  In addition to the amazing research and education provided by CCLD, they have managed the rapid growth of the National Character and Leadership Symposium. This year NCLS will host former SecDef Robert Gates, and General Stanley McChrystal among other thought leaders as we wrestle with this year's theme:  The Human Condition, Cultures, and Societies. 

ABW:

Along with their day-to-day efforts keeping our installation moving, the ABW did a great job supporting CORONA this year during a massive snow storm and continues to innovate solutions to make our Airmen more effective.  One prime example of this innovation is SMART Fuel, where the ABW provides food (fuel) to our Airmen when and where they need it like the gym and in Mitches during off hours.  Much like the changing face of Cadet training, this effort is designed to produce more effective warfighters prepared to meet the challenges of today's battlefield. 

Prep School:

Our prep school continues to prepare young men and women to enter our USAFA.  One major change we have been working on for a while is the ability to allow our prior enlisted Airmen  to promote while at the prep school, recognizing their hard work and success while in the enlisted force.  We have seen a handful promote already and it is a perfect opportunity to highlight them as leaders and also extol the value of our enlisted force to future officers. 

306th FTG:

Our AETC partners at the 306th FTW have leveraged the use of virtual reality in DF and HQ to return to a full solo program in powered flight.  In addition, the flying team continues to succeed in national competitions while the Wings of Blue represent the USAFA and the Air Force across the country.  We are thankful the 306th continues to put the Air in Air Force Academy. 

That quick update may seem like a lot is going on, but it is only a small sample of 100s of institutional success stories that emerge from thousands of personal stories of courage and grit.  I am humbled to be your Superintendent as we enter a new decade, excited for the future, and proud of each and every one of you.  I close with a special thanks to all for what  you do in service to our nation. 

Thanks you, JS