{"id":535,"date":"2025-05-25T12:01:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T12:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sewellconsultancy.com\/?p=535"},"modified":"2025-05-26T03:05:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T03:05:35","slug":"bauernfeind-wants-warriors-from-the-air-force-academy-so-hes-cutting-education-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sewellconsultancy.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/25\/bauernfeind-wants-warriors-from-the-air-force-academy-so-hes-cutting-education-opinion\/","title":{"rendered":"Bauernfeind wants warriors from the Air Force Academy, so he\u2019s cutting \u201ceducation\u201d (Opinion)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Watching recent events unfold at the U.S. Air Force Academy is like having front row seats to a slow-motion train wreck. The Air Force Academy’s new superintendent, Lt. Gen. Tony D. Bauernfeind, arrived in August of 2024 and immediately embarked on his own personal shock and awe campaign.<\/p>\n

According to reports from The Colorado Springs Gazette<\/a> and other news outlets, Bauernfeind is planning on reinventing the Air Force Academy in the spitting image of the Special Operations Command in Florida, which he just left. This small, specialized unit represents only about 6% of the regular Air Force.<\/p>\n

The first phase of this campaign is a massive reduction in the number of civilian faculty<\/a>. Behind the scenes, a plan is being implemented to replace these civilians with active-duty officers who have little or no teaching experience. The general predicts that this would somehow increase the number of cadets wanting to attend pilot training. It would be amazing if senior Air Force leaders are actually on board with the idea of reassigning mission-ready pilots to teach entry-level academic classes at the Academy.<\/p>\n

Winning wars on the battlefields of the future is increasingly dependent on developing entirely new weapons<\/a> and technologies. The current focus is on dominating space (via the newly created Space Command), computer cyberwarfare, and the use of less expensive force multipliers, such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles that don\u2019t need pilots at all — to name just a few. It\u2019s not just about traditional air power anymore.<\/p>\n

Despite all this, the general seems to have found a receptive ear in the \u201ccut twice and measure later\u201d bazaar of ideas that is alive and well in the nation\u2019s capital. Selling a plan to reinvent the Academy as a solution to the ongoing pilot shortage is exactly the kind of quick fix that plays well in D.C. when politically expedient.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for him, this kind of high-level top cover can be remarkably fickle and quickly shift allegiances when risky programs like this don\u2019t bear fruit immediately or they become an unexpected political liability.<\/p>\n

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Excellence of Air Force Academy\u2019s educational programs at risk if civilian faculty cuts continue (Opinion)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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With minimal institutional support, zero buy-in from Academy graduates intent on protecting the institution, and no real backing from the Colorado Springs community at large, one really must wonder if his vision is just a house of cards.<\/p>\n

Blunting the \u201ctip of the spear\u201d by stealing away busy warfighters from operational units already stretched thin seems like a monumental waste. Do we really want to start pulling flyers out of the cockpit to teach Chemistry 101?<\/p>\n

If reducing spending is your thing, know that Gen. Bauernfeind’s plan will cost more than what is traditionally spent on the faculty. An unbiased study by the highly regarded RAND Corporation bears this out, concluding that we would save money by hiring more civilian educators, not the other way around!<\/p>\n