Current State of the Academy

Unfortunate thread with current geopolitical environment. Seems as though nothing is sacred where we can punch through the snowflake pressures for the sake of our country.
 
Usafa27-Dad said:
Hopefully you realize that all the Generals and all Academy Superintendents have a boss, and it lives in the White House and in Delaware during the weekend. And just in case you didn’t see them or heard about them, you had people wearing black suits during Recognition (they were not the Men in Black I guess) as observers. What they were observing, God only knows. All this mess goes way over the Superintendent and his staff. Unfortunately
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No way you just tried to connect recognition to that 😂
 
moho said:
No way you just tried to connect recognition to that 😂
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Believe me, I am not connecting anything with Recognition. All I did was state the fact that people were there as observers. The snow cancelled all the Recognition festivities, 2 feet and counting.
 
moho said:
No way you just tried to connect recognition to that 😂
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Actually, he’s 100% spot on. The Com changed a few things, but the civilian leadership has been very focused on rec. The joke is that everything is squadron specific, so each squad’s PP and cadet leadership will respond differently to the pressures from Congress. But, the changes to Rec were came from outside the AF.
 
justme said:
I can't imagine this going over too well with the Cadets...
Maybe these anonymous posts aren't going to be too anonymous to those leaders soon enough.

www.usatoday.com

To combat bullying and extremism, Air Force Academy turns to social media sleuthing

Monitoring cadets' posts would align with efforts elsewhere to screen disinformation and hate speech, but experts worry about privacy rights.
www.usatoday.com
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On the upside of that nightmare, cadets may learn electronic signature management better than the current generation of officers...
 
My son just came home. He was disgusted with the whole recognition process. He was definitely not alone in his feelings. The firsties from what I
understand were also pretty disgusted.

No doubt the Doolies were happy to cruise through except for the Cadets like the OP, and I hear this from other kids whose parents were grads as they also expected something more challenging, better, and more in line with what a military academy should be, not a D E I experiment.

And on top of that the entire Cadet Wing was held hostage from spring break unless they signed a release that allowed the academy unfettered access to their social networks.

The school has gone to hell. My son tells me nobody cares anymore, there's no pride- they just hunker down and hope they don't get hit by a DEI arrow.

I would love to tell you what his AOC told her first classmen about her tour there, but that's a whole other thread, and it's enough to make me sick to my stomach.


Pretty sure I'm going to cancel the endowment I had planned on leaving to usafa. I know the pendulum swings, but there's a political cancer, and it's spreading. God help our young grads.
 
Stormbird said:
My son just came home. He was disgusted with the whole recognition process. He was definitely not alone in his feelings. The firsties from what I
understand were also pretty disgusted.

No doubt the Doolies were happy to cruise through except for the Cadets like the OP, and I hear this from other kids whose parents were grads as they also expected something more challenging, better, and more in line with what a military academy should be, not a D E I experiment.

And on top of that the entire Cadet Wing was held hostage from spring break unless they signed a release that allowed the academy unfettered access to their social networks.

The school has gone to hell. My son tells me nobody cares anymore, there's no pride- they just hunker down and hope they don't get hit by a DEI arrow.

I would love to tell you what his AOC told her first classmen about her tour there, but that's a whole other thread, and it's enough to make me sick to my stomach.


Pretty sure I'm going to cancel the endowment I had planned on leaving to usafa. I know the pendulum swings, but there's a political cancer, and it's spreading. God help our young grads.
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Please share and don't hold back.
 
Usafa27-Dad said:
Hopefully you realize that all the Generals and all Academy Superintendents have a boss, and it lives in the White House and in Delaware during the weekend. And just in case you didn’t see them or heard about them, you had people wearing black suits during Recognition (they were not the Men in Black I guess) as observers. What they were observing, God only knows. All this mess goes way over the Superintendent and his staff. Unfortunately
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I have to agree with you in your characterization of "that boss" as being an 'it'------ agree, agree.
On the other hand, I would dispute the use of the words "... and it lives in the White House and Delaware during...." to me it seems as though the "It" in questions is more or less maintained in a sub-concious state, sometimes at the WH bus mostly on some sort of as they tell us, "on vacation" in DE. ----and THAT is the problem. Without proper leadership how can this institution function. It can't. Feeling so sorry for all of those students up there who are disillusioned and disappointed with the choice they made in hopes of contributing to a functioning branch of the Armed Forces.
Sure wish we had more than the two current November choices, if you know what I mean.
 
My DS both understand the process was the best the Firsties and PP could do with the restrictions placed upon them but they both wanted this to be the trial it was meant to be. They wanted it to challenge them to remember what they were like during BCT and how far they have come. They just want it to be "The Academy" not another university which is only different because it has uniforms and cool training programs like jump. I fear the career longevity of grads will diminish without some kind of return to a military academy that instills standards, discipline and pride while reinforcing their already strong desire to serve their country.
 
smokey% said:
I will say this thread is making my decision a lot easier…
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Don't believe for a minute that this isn't also affecting and will affect the other SAs as the uproar over the new USMA Mission statement recently proved. All the SAs work under the same basic framework and will all feel the impact of societal change and political decisions at some point and to some degree no matter who they are. Your decision ultimately should be about the future role in which you wish to serve and how to best accomplish that.
 
All3Services said:
Don't believe for a minute that this isn't also affecting and will affect the other SAs as the uproar over the new USMA Mission statement recently proved. All the SAs work under the same basic framework and will all feel the impact of societal change and political decisions at some point and to some degree no matter who they are. Your decision ultimately should be about the future role in which you wish to serve and how to best accomplish that.
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Yeah, I agree, but as someone who is considering going to USAFA, the specific commentary about how much it sucks rn is alarming.
 
Just so the candidates are aware, this is not just a USAFA issue. I meandered over here from the USNA sub-forum because I saw the title and we are experiencing a very similar problem at USNA. The standards, traditions, and events that make USNA great are all much more lax. I'm not going to share in-depth the gravity of the situation on a public forum, but trust that this is not an isolated event. The culture is softening at all the academies. While frustrating, don't let hearing about this influence your decision.
 
smokey% said:
I will say this thread is making my decision a lot easier…
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Sure, go to USNA where you will have "guest speakers" talking about police brutality, white supremacy, and many other super important subjects. Or USMA, where we are all aware of what is happening over there. It is the entire system, not just one part of it.
 
These issues impact all SA’s, but I’ve gotta say that the public USMA Parent/Cadet conversations aren’t so heavily focused on these negative aspects. That leaves an impression.
 
I recently visited USAFA (last Friday) and I was asking about recognition and what the academy is like and many of the cadets felt pride in the academy. Although they did recognize that they are definitely on the "looser" side of the pendulum. They think that the pendulum is going to swing back in the stricter direction by the time the '28's graduate. Long story short it all depends on who you talk to. Things could vary by person, squad, what have you. While there are legitimate grievances regarding the state of the academies at its core you can't worry about things out of your control. Just make the best of whatever situation you're in.
 
Bquiz44 said:
I recently visited USAFA (last Friday) and I was asking about recognition and what the academy is like and many of the cadets felt pride in the academy. Although they did recognize that they are definitely on the "looser" side of the pendulum. They think that the pendulum is going to swing back in the stricter direction by the time the '28's graduate. Long story short it all depends on who you talk to. Things could vary by person, squad, what have you. While there are legitimate grievances regarding the state of the academies at its core you can't worry about things out of your control. Just make the best of whatever situation you're in.
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There is one way to differentiate oneself from the rest of the cohort. @Bquiz44 attitude is one way to do it.

Congratulations and best of luck going forward! Wherever it may be. Your attitude is an excellent predictor of futures success.
 
cb7893 said:
There is one way to differentiate oneself from the rest of the cohort. @Bquiz44 attitude is one way to do it.

Congratulations and best of luck going forward! Wherever it may be. Your attitude is an excellent predictor of futures success.
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Thank you! We shouldn't forget that we chose to go here and that we are serving. Keep your mind in the right place and we'll get through.
 
I went to the 2023 Summer Seminar and from what little I have been introduced to, they got rid of doolie for a day and had us do practically no physical activity. Instead they had us sit through many assemblies about diversity, mental health, why drill sergeants and yelling is outdated/bad, and signs of potential suicide. While it was informational I cant help but connect it to what the OP said about the current climate at USAFA. They said it was so different this year due to "problems with insurance" but it does make me a bit worried. Im coming into the class of 28 so I'm hoping it isn't as severe of a change as some on this thread have said.
 
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