Letters from USAF Academy Senior Officer, Staff: USAF Academy Shows True Colors

Published On: September 20, 2011|Categories: MRFF's Inbox|0 Comments|

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Dear MRFF,

Thanks for forwarding the letter below from one our dedicated faculty and staff here at USAFA.  I couldn’t say it better myself–I’m just bewildered by the whole situation.  We’re constantly reminded that we should maintain and enforce an environment of respect and that we should trust our senior leadership at USAFA–both admirable goals.  But, when the Chief of Staff of OUR Air Force, the direct boss of our commander sends a signed letter with specific instructions for ALL commanders throughout the Air Force, and weeks later we at USAFA only get to see it because of external press releases, internet links, MRFF news alerts, and by forwarded e-mails from colleagues in the outside Air Force, it’s very hard for us to believe that our leadership respects US, nor do they trust US with a firsthand read of our Chief’s guidance.

The letter came to me from an acquaintance working in another Major Command after the MAJCOM commander had sent it down through his chain to include ALL commanders instantly upon receipt.  A first lieutenant was sending this out throughout an organization commanded by a colonel–and I got the letter more than a week ago.  Still, though, nothing from USAFA to the faculty, cadets, and staff–at an institution where the professor is considered the “Commander in the Classroom,” and has daily contact with the future leaders of our Air Force.  Next, an article hits Air Force Times this week about the Chief’s letter and still nothing at USAFA–not even a citation of the article in our daily, morning news clip that contain almost everything about USAFA found on a Google search of the media.

I can’t for the life of me understand the motivation for not forwarding such a watershed letter of instruction from our CSAF to all leaders throughout the Air Force.  No reasonable person could imagine that it would not gain widespread distribution anyway, so why NOT send it to everyone in your organization immediately?  It’s from your boss–he won’t get mad–just do it.

It’s more clear than ever to me that USAFA’s leadership can talk the talk, but when our most senior leader decides that he wants everyone to walk the walk, too, USAFA senior leadership stumbles badly.

(Senior USAF Academy Official’s name, rank, position withheld)

 


Mikey, do you have any knowledge as to why Lt. Gen. Gould has refused to distribute the Sep. 1, ’11 “Religious Neutrality” letter which the USAF Chief of Staff, Gen. Schwartz sent to the entire Air Force? There are many of us here at USAFA who were overjoyed to see this letter from the Chief. We only saw it when you sent it to us and then it was in the media some, too. We have to live in the awful atmosphere here at USAFA of extreme religious intolerance everyday. Intolerance which favors only one religion, extreme Christianity. And I’m a Christian too. Gen. Schwartz’s letter is seen as a “Godsend” here, no pun intended. Noone in the USAF needs to read it and fall in line with it more than USAFA staff and cadet leadership here. Lt. Gen. Gould has only further worsened an already intolerable situation here at USAFA by refusing to send this letter from Gen. Schwartz out to all of us here. It’s all anyone is now whispering about. If we did not before see Lt. Gen. Gould’s true colors, we sure do now. And he wonders why we all have no place to turn but to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation?

(USAF Academy Graduate and USAFA Staff Member’s name, rank, position withheld)

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