Leaders explain Air Force manning impacts on Academy

  • Published
  • By David Edwards
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFNS) --  Air Force officials are implementing a strategy for force management, and the Air Force Academy is included in those efforts.

Under the plan, the size of the cadet wing will be reduced from roughly 4,500 to 4,000 cadets by Oct. 1, 2012. Enrollment for each incoming freshman class will be shrunk gradually.

The 2012 freshman class will consist of 1,120 students. That number will dwindle to 1,050 for the class of 2016, but the following year the number will climb to approximately 1,165 cadets, where it will remain. Normal attrition is also being factored into the drawdown of the cadet wing's strength.

In comparison, this year's freshman class has about 1,285 cadets.

"It's tough on our admissions people; it's going to be tough on athletics," said Superintendent Lt. Gen. Mike Gould. "It's going to have an impact on diversity."

The planned cutbacks come on the heels of directives from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and members of Congress to trim the military budget and lower the number of people serving in the armed forces.

"Without additional measures, we could grow to 7,000 over our authorized end strength by the end of fiscal year 2012," said Gen. Norton Schwartz, the Air Force's chief of staff. "Based on these projections and our need to operate within our means, the secretary of the Air Force and I made the decision to intensify force management actions to meet our congressionally mandated ceiling by the end of fiscal year 2012."

The expected aftermath of those force-management actions cuts across a wide swath of the Academy's cadet-wing operations.

The impact will be felt from the admissions process onward. With fewer spots available for incoming cadet classes, an already competitive process will become even more competitive.

Col. Carolyn Benyshek, the director of admissions, said her office will not change the way it evaluates applications or the criteria used in admissions decisions.

"We're going to keep our same standards, which are pretty high," Colonel Benyshek said. "I don't foresee that changing."

The force management effort "simply means fewer qualified young men and women will get an opportunity to attend," she said.

She also said the change will require Academy officials to make appointment offers later than they have in previous years.

In addition, there will be implications for applicants who are admitted and complete Basic Cadet Training. Smaller class sizes will create more opportunities for interaction between cadets and instructors. Cramped conditions in dormitories will be eased because cadets will no longer be assigned three to a room.

Faculty levels, hiring and research should remain unaffected by the force management actions, said Lt. Col. Robert Kraus, of the Dean of Faculty's Office.

He said that's because current levels are based on a calculation of 4,000 cadets.

Finally, because actual enrollment will be brought in line with budget projections, the Academy will be able to spend more per capita on the education of each cadet.

Concerted efforts to make the Academy more diverse will continue as before, officials said, although those efforts may not show up in the statistics.

Gatekeepers said they are determined to do their part to prevent a lack of diversity in future incoming classes.

Dr. Adis Vila, the Academy's new chief diversity officer, said the Academy's recruiting directorate is spreading the word about the Academy and searching for young people who might be cadet material.

A group within the directorate focuses on attracting candidates of diverse backgrounds.

"Our aspirations are to make (the Academy) more inclusive," Dr. Vila said. "And that means those at the Academy, including cadets and permanent party -- whether civilians, retired military or contractors -- the Colorado Springs community, and all who share in this Academy. After all, the United States Air Force Academy is the Air Force's Academy and every taxpayer's Academy."

Col. John Linn, the director of resources and personnel, said the force management actions "will create challenges for our permanent party," but that the "silver lining" is it will be easier to support a smaller cadet wing.

For permanent-party personnel who are apprehensive about their job security as a result of force management, he offered some reassurance.

"Caring about each other is the core precept of our wingman culture, and we are obviously concerned about the effects various force management programs may have on our team," Colonel Linn said. "We have a team of selfless leaders and supervisors poised to prepare our personnel for involuntary measures, and if necessary, support the very small percentage that may be affected by force management considerations."

Dr. Hans Mueh, the Academy's athletic director, said the impact of reduced class sizes on Falcons sports wouldn't be readily apparent.

He said it will take a few recruiting years under the new structure to determine what effects the athletic program will incur as a result.

But he offered his best guess on a few points of concern.

First of all, he noted a direct link between enrollment and the ability to recruit athletes.

"At the D-1 level, recruiting is everything," Dr. Mueh said. "There is almost 100 percent correlation between recruiting and competitiveness.

"On the other hand, the Air Force Academy has certainly shown through the years that there is a great intangible called 'heart,' which is tough to assess," he said. "We bring in athletes we believe will be the best Air Force officers we can produce and leave it up to the coaches and players themselves to develop them to a competitive level. I would submit that we've been pretty successful in that effort."

He also provided a breakdown of the numbers, which, unlike heart, are tangible.

"In any incoming class of cadets, we have approximately 23 percent recruited athletes," Dr. Mueh said. "If you do the math for the expected incoming class of 2015, at 1,120 cadets, that gives us about 260 recruited athletes. We had been expecting to recruit about 300 cadets.

"We have allowed the five revenue sports: football, men's and women's basketball, hockey, and volleyball, to continue to fill the numbers they had been recruiting and will spread the reduction of 40 recruited athletes among the other 22 sports."

Dr. Mueh also said that spreading the smaller numbers across the athletic program is likely to minimize the impact of the enrollment reduction.

He added that the coaches have been "totally supportive of this directive from the Air Force" and that "the effect on competitiveness will be minimized."