Report focuses on Air Force Academy instructors

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Scott Elliott
  • Air Force Print News
WASHINGTON --  Service and Department of Defense officials have agreed with most of the findings in a congressionally mandated study of faculty at the Air Force Academy.

The Study and Report Related to Permanent Professors at the United States Military Academy was directed by the 2004 National Defense Authorization Act to review and make recommendations on changes in policy and law pertaining to the selection, tenure, utilization, responsibilities and qualifications of the academy’s permanent professors.

Retired Adm. Charles Larson, who served twice as superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, conducted the review.

The study, known as the Larson Report, resulted in 12 findings and made 13 recommendations.

“We found all of the findings and recommendations to be thought-provoking and to have merit,” said Michael L. Dominguez, assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and Reserve affairs.

“In the instance where we disagree, we have an alternative approach that we believe is more appropriate,” Mr. Dominguez said. “We recognize that our ability to make the right change at the right time is what will allow us to improve the academy.”

Although it was not in the study’s charter, one of the findings was that the atmosphere for women at the U.S. Air Force Academy has improved.

The study found, in discussions with midshipmen and cadets who had served exchange tours at sister service academies during the first semester of the academic year, unanimous agreement that the climate for women at the Air Force Academy has improved dramatically, and attributed some of this positive momentum to the Agenda for Change and the promulgation of the new Officer Development System.

One of the not-agreed-upon recommendations concerned the “re-blueing” of permanent professors. While the permanent professors would like the current prohibition on assuming command while on sabbatical leave lifted, the study disagreed. Department of Defense and Air Force officials concurred with the permanent professors on this issue.

“The law (Title 10, U.S. Code 9334) should not exclude the option of command in operational units on those infrequent occasions wherein it makes sense for the academy, the affected unit and the officer,” wrote Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz in letters to the chairmen of the Senate and House committees of armed services.

The Larson Report’s goal was to provide a detailed look at the Air Force Academy in a side-by-side comparison with the Army’s U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy.

The report’s final recommendation, which was fully supported by all agencies, was that “one size does not fit all.” Admiral Larson stated each service should continue to have the capability of structuring its own system to meet its service’s needs. He urged all three services to resist external pressures to try to come up with a common model for all three academies.

The report can be found at www.af.mil/library/posture/larson_report.pdf.