The sponsor family program at USAFA is a great thing and I think is successful most of the time. There are some reasons why it might not work out, though. Remember, the Academy is pairing 1300 new cadets with families in the COS area, based on questionaires filled out by both parties. Like any relationship, both halves have a part in making the match successful. Sometimes a cadet just might not 'click' with the sponsor family, and in that case there is a chance for the cadet to request a new family. Other times the family may be trying hard, but the cadet is not involved in the relationship for whatever reason, and contact becomes less and less until it just stops. I think a majority of the time it works out, but we have seen friends of our son in the situations above.
You asked about success stories, so I will share our son's experience:
Our son's sponsor family is probably one of the best experiences that he has had at the Academy. His sponsor dad is a retired Colonel and USAFA grad. The sponsor mom and dad keep in touch with our son a lot, and our son visits them occassionally. Now that he is a 2 degree and has a vehicle he doesn't rely on them for rides to the airport anymore, but he still has dinner on Sunday with them about once a month. Sometimes it is at their house, and sometimes our son takes them out for brunch. The family sponsors another 2011 cadet who spends a lot of time at their house studying and doing laundry. They also sponsor a prep school cadet. The sponsor family has had a cookout every year at their house after the football game on Parents Weekend. All the families of the cadets that they sponsor are invited, and it is very easy to see how much they care for each of their sponsorees. Their refrigerator is filled with photos of each of the past cadets who they sponsored, as well as pictures of the graduate's kids, and pictures of them at duty stations around the world. These people obviously care about the cadets and continue to keep in touch with them long after they leave USAFA.
Stealth_81