anon_cadet
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2025
- Messages
- 2
I am writing this because I believe there needs to be transparency about what is going on here. Before I get attacked by some of the older grads who will make ad hominem attacks please address what I am saying and not just claim I am "one disgruntled" cadet, or that I should leave if i don't like it
Class of 29 I am not saying that you should or should not come here, but that you should do research. Understand that the military is a pengelum and swings back and forth between good and bad.
Lastly I will do my best to separate fact from my opinion by putting my opinion in paratheses and at the very end of this post.
1. WATERED DOWN TRAINING - When Gen. Marks arrived at USAFA he significantly changed how this place is run, watered down training to the point if someone made a basic or freshman do even slightly more PT then authorized it could very likely be classified as hazing and get you disenrolled. Currently, this last training event consisted of ~18hours of practicing manning a gate, a job that is strictly done by security forces, and large majoriy of officers won't man a gate or even hold a gun as a part of their job.
2.LACK OF HONESTY (1/2) - This past year both Gen. Marks and Bauernfind decided to restrict the cadet wing due to a “lack of standards” takeing away civilian clothing, and closing haps. The wing was told “privileges will be reinstated when grade standards are meet” ie ami, sami, and pai score average where above a certain number. When this was meet privileges where not reinstated it was only until much later that they where only partially reinstated. The big issue here is not that privileges where taken away it was that it was very evident leaderships was not honest about intending to suspended privileges longer then stated or that they wouldn't reinstate privileges to the same degree. (To be clear my issue is that leadership said one thing and then did something else, effectively a bait and switch, I would much rather from the beginning being told "We are taking all this away and later give you back only part of it" as opposed to "You will get it back once you do XYZ")
(2/2) - Earlier in the academic year the group 1 commander was mysteriously fired and very few explanations/answers where given (Behind closed doors Marks reportedly said "a commander must breed compliance" a very usual way of describing the role of commander, but it appears that Marks wanted to set an example and that dissent against his decision would be punished.)
3. FOOD SHORTAGES - Despite both Bauernfind and Marks knowing they would restrict the cadet wing well in advance, they didn’t bother to inform Mitchel hall of their plan. This resulted in a massive oversight on the part of both generals when Mitchell hall had constant food shortages, especially for airfield and IC cadets, who would finish late at night and Mitchell hall would be closed without food and all other food option on base wouldn’t take more orders due to the massive influx of cadets. Resulting in cadets effectively going to bed starving, this was the case for several weeks. (I can't stress how much of a lapse in leadership this issue is. A junior officer or even enlisted would stop to evaluate the consequences a decision like this and how to plan for it, this kind of mistake from a junior officer can be under stable, but two general officers is astonshing.)
4. TONE DEAF - When informed of these issues Marks addressed the wing by saying "I hear your problems so I am authorizing......spirit missions" It was not until weeks later that general Bauernfind spoke on the food shortage issue. (When a general is being informed of this kind of issue and responds in that matter it adds insult to injury I would preferer not to hear anything then hear spirit missions)
5. DOUBLE STANDARDS - When questioned as to the reason for these changes i.e. why are we doing Ready Airman Trainings or why was the affordable inexpensive wifi option removed, the most common answer is "to reflect the operational air force". However this answer only seems to apply when convenient. USAFA doesn't allow hands in pocket, walking on phone, operation PT test. etc. All of which is allowed in the operational Air Force however most notable is the pass system, in the operational AF at the end of the duty day when you are done, that is it, you are free to leave, here you are not. (Furthermore, upper leadership seems to have rules for thee and not for me, as many have been seen walking with hands in pockets, on phones etc.)
6. MICRO MANAGMENT - As of writing this the superintend is the approving authority for nearly all SCAs which excuses individuals from class, and other military duties to do other things. Currently he and has denied nearly all of them, most notably he has denied the special warfare team to miss marching during noon meal formation to go train in the pool (The superintend claims to have priorities of "war fighter to win" yet when the special warfare team want to go do actual war fighter training in the pool instead of marching they are told no. Furthermore a 3 star general deciding excusals is extremely odd, with very rare exception no where in the operational AF is a 3 star making these decision, I believe there is much bigger issues that a 3 star needs to worry about then this)
7. LACK OF RESPECT FOR EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES - Again at the time of this writing "Family emergencies" come 4th on the order of priories for SCAs. Many cadets have missed weddings, funerals, graduations, and other once in a life time event for military traings
8. RETENSION - Many high quality cadets have left for far better futures then here, a specific example was of a cadet who aspires to attend med school and missed lunch in order to study for an exam, the cadet was told they would receive probation for doing so. When the cadet informed their commander that this would effectively ruin any possibility of med school and they would take any other punishment the cadet was told "I don't care". This individual got accepted to a great under grad program received a full ride and pretty much guaranteed med school. Furthermore this is seen in the class of 29 admissions, with USAFA having to send letters encouraging people to accept their offers. (For context this cadet is a text book poster cadet, preforms well academically, athletically and militarily, excluding minor paperwork. The Air force is losing valuable personal daily to the public sector because of a lack of common sense. Does the punishment fit the crime? furthermore, is eating a meal together with squad important? Absolutely, but when nearly an hour each day is wasted to march and eat, when a cadet can eat food that have in their room in about 5min, it's easy to see where the frustration comes from.
9. ACADEMICS - While accreditation is staying for at least the next 2 years, it is pretty evident there will be majors and minors that get cut, the question is, which ones? Furthermore USAFA dropped educate from its mission statement while this may not seem like a big deal in context of what is occuring here this should raise some red flags (some believe the big engineering ones like Astronautical, aeronautical and mechanical, while others say philosophy and English. While the basis for removing civilian faculty is under the claim that USAFA is operating over budget, it is pretty clear that civilians are much cheaper then military officers, which USAFA is an anomaly in this aspect compared to the operational AF. On a side note a very good quote by Thucydides, a skilled Greek General and philosopher "The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools.” Just something to consider)
10. DEOCS - The deocs is a survey taken each year to see how a unit is preforming, this last one had some of the worst records of moral, sexual assault, and other very bad statistics that unfortunately seems to be trending worse and worse. (When cadets attempt to bring up issues they are frequently told they do not understand what is going on, discussion is frequently stifled and silenced)
11. QUESTIONABLE EXPERINCE - Marks graduated USAFA in 96 and has never deployed once, how has some avoided deployment for that long during a time that our military was most active in the last several decades? (It's somewhat ironic that a general officer is talking about being ready for war when he has not been to war and some prior cadet here have been deployed and have more war experience then their commanding officer.)
I could keep going but I believe everything here pretty accurately sums up the state of USAFA, untimely there is a few sentiments I would like to sum up: USAFA is often described as a "leadership laboratory for cadets" it feels as if thought recently its more like a "leadership laboratory for generals". Second when General Brown said "accelerate change or lose" I don't think he meant just make change without a good reason, if something is not broken don't try to fix. To be clear I am not saying there are not problems at USAFA that need to be fixed but what is currently happening is not intentional change it is just haphazard. Third is that some will make the argument "you are not a general, you don't know what is going on", the argument of authority is probably one of the worst ones I frequently hear, I do not need to be a general officer to use the ears, eyes and brain God gave to make reasonable conclusions about something. Four I am not the only one who thinks these same thoughts, they shared by other generals publicly, in an opinion that was discussed on this forum a while ago (see link at bottom) and it is even more prominent internally. Lastly you may have a question about the validity of what I am saying. If you would like proof of anything I'd be happy to send a message to anyone privately with anything that I can provide without disclosing unauthorized information, however I will say a majority of what I am saying is public information can be found by doing a quick google search. I hope writing this helps someone, I am open to thought and criticism but please keep it constructive, and I'm open to any questions.
Class of 29 I am not saying that you should or should not come here, but that you should do research. Understand that the military is a pengelum and swings back and forth between good and bad.
Lastly I will do my best to separate fact from my opinion by putting my opinion in paratheses and at the very end of this post.
1. WATERED DOWN TRAINING - When Gen. Marks arrived at USAFA he significantly changed how this place is run, watered down training to the point if someone made a basic or freshman do even slightly more PT then authorized it could very likely be classified as hazing and get you disenrolled. Currently, this last training event consisted of ~18hours of practicing manning a gate, a job that is strictly done by security forces, and large majoriy of officers won't man a gate or even hold a gun as a part of their job.
2.LACK OF HONESTY (1/2) - This past year both Gen. Marks and Bauernfind decided to restrict the cadet wing due to a “lack of standards” takeing away civilian clothing, and closing haps. The wing was told “privileges will be reinstated when grade standards are meet” ie ami, sami, and pai score average where above a certain number. When this was meet privileges where not reinstated it was only until much later that they where only partially reinstated. The big issue here is not that privileges where taken away it was that it was very evident leaderships was not honest about intending to suspended privileges longer then stated or that they wouldn't reinstate privileges to the same degree. (To be clear my issue is that leadership said one thing and then did something else, effectively a bait and switch, I would much rather from the beginning being told "We are taking all this away and later give you back only part of it" as opposed to "You will get it back once you do XYZ")
(2/2) - Earlier in the academic year the group 1 commander was mysteriously fired and very few explanations/answers where given (Behind closed doors Marks reportedly said "a commander must breed compliance" a very usual way of describing the role of commander, but it appears that Marks wanted to set an example and that dissent against his decision would be punished.)
3. FOOD SHORTAGES - Despite both Bauernfind and Marks knowing they would restrict the cadet wing well in advance, they didn’t bother to inform Mitchel hall of their plan. This resulted in a massive oversight on the part of both generals when Mitchell hall had constant food shortages, especially for airfield and IC cadets, who would finish late at night and Mitchell hall would be closed without food and all other food option on base wouldn’t take more orders due to the massive influx of cadets. Resulting in cadets effectively going to bed starving, this was the case for several weeks. (I can't stress how much of a lapse in leadership this issue is. A junior officer or even enlisted would stop to evaluate the consequences a decision like this and how to plan for it, this kind of mistake from a junior officer can be under stable, but two general officers is astonshing.)
4. TONE DEAF - When informed of these issues Marks addressed the wing by saying "I hear your problems so I am authorizing......spirit missions" It was not until weeks later that general Bauernfind spoke on the food shortage issue. (When a general is being informed of this kind of issue and responds in that matter it adds insult to injury I would preferer not to hear anything then hear spirit missions)
5. DOUBLE STANDARDS - When questioned as to the reason for these changes i.e. why are we doing Ready Airman Trainings or why was the affordable inexpensive wifi option removed, the most common answer is "to reflect the operational air force". However this answer only seems to apply when convenient. USAFA doesn't allow hands in pocket, walking on phone, operation PT test. etc. All of which is allowed in the operational Air Force however most notable is the pass system, in the operational AF at the end of the duty day when you are done, that is it, you are free to leave, here you are not. (Furthermore, upper leadership seems to have rules for thee and not for me, as many have been seen walking with hands in pockets, on phones etc.)
6. MICRO MANAGMENT - As of writing this the superintend is the approving authority for nearly all SCAs which excuses individuals from class, and other military duties to do other things. Currently he and has denied nearly all of them, most notably he has denied the special warfare team to miss marching during noon meal formation to go train in the pool (The superintend claims to have priorities of "war fighter to win" yet when the special warfare team want to go do actual war fighter training in the pool instead of marching they are told no. Furthermore a 3 star general deciding excusals is extremely odd, with very rare exception no where in the operational AF is a 3 star making these decision, I believe there is much bigger issues that a 3 star needs to worry about then this)
7. LACK OF RESPECT FOR EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES - Again at the time of this writing "Family emergencies" come 4th on the order of priories for SCAs. Many cadets have missed weddings, funerals, graduations, and other once in a life time event for military traings
8. RETENSION - Many high quality cadets have left for far better futures then here, a specific example was of a cadet who aspires to attend med school and missed lunch in order to study for an exam, the cadet was told they would receive probation for doing so. When the cadet informed their commander that this would effectively ruin any possibility of med school and they would take any other punishment the cadet was told "I don't care". This individual got accepted to a great under grad program received a full ride and pretty much guaranteed med school. Furthermore this is seen in the class of 29 admissions, with USAFA having to send letters encouraging people to accept their offers. (For context this cadet is a text book poster cadet, preforms well academically, athletically and militarily, excluding minor paperwork. The Air force is losing valuable personal daily to the public sector because of a lack of common sense. Does the punishment fit the crime? furthermore, is eating a meal together with squad important? Absolutely, but when nearly an hour each day is wasted to march and eat, when a cadet can eat food that have in their room in about 5min, it's easy to see where the frustration comes from.
9. ACADEMICS - While accreditation is staying for at least the next 2 years, it is pretty evident there will be majors and minors that get cut, the question is, which ones? Furthermore USAFA dropped educate from its mission statement while this may not seem like a big deal in context of what is occuring here this should raise some red flags (some believe the big engineering ones like Astronautical, aeronautical and mechanical, while others say philosophy and English. While the basis for removing civilian faculty is under the claim that USAFA is operating over budget, it is pretty clear that civilians are much cheaper then military officers, which USAFA is an anomaly in this aspect compared to the operational AF. On a side note a very good quote by Thucydides, a skilled Greek General and philosopher "The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools.” Just something to consider)
10. DEOCS - The deocs is a survey taken each year to see how a unit is preforming, this last one had some of the worst records of moral, sexual assault, and other very bad statistics that unfortunately seems to be trending worse and worse. (When cadets attempt to bring up issues they are frequently told they do not understand what is going on, discussion is frequently stifled and silenced)
11. QUESTIONABLE EXPERINCE - Marks graduated USAFA in 96 and has never deployed once, how has some avoided deployment for that long during a time that our military was most active in the last several decades? (It's somewhat ironic that a general officer is talking about being ready for war when he has not been to war and some prior cadet here have been deployed and have more war experience then their commanding officer.)
I could keep going but I believe everything here pretty accurately sums up the state of USAFA, untimely there is a few sentiments I would like to sum up: USAFA is often described as a "leadership laboratory for cadets" it feels as if thought recently its more like a "leadership laboratory for generals". Second when General Brown said "accelerate change or lose" I don't think he meant just make change without a good reason, if something is not broken don't try to fix. To be clear I am not saying there are not problems at USAFA that need to be fixed but what is currently happening is not intentional change it is just haphazard. Third is that some will make the argument "you are not a general, you don't know what is going on", the argument of authority is probably one of the worst ones I frequently hear, I do not need to be a general officer to use the ears, eyes and brain God gave to make reasonable conclusions about something. Four I am not the only one who thinks these same thoughts, they shared by other generals publicly, in an opinion that was discussed on this forum a while ago (see link at bottom) and it is even more prominent internally. Lastly you may have a question about the validity of what I am saying. If you would like proof of anything I'd be happy to send a message to anyone privately with anything that I can provide without disclosing unauthorized information, however I will say a majority of what I am saying is public information can be found by doing a quick google search. I hope writing this helps someone, I am open to thought and criticism but please keep it constructive, and I'm open to any questions.
