April 19 - United States Air Force Academy

More documents

Recommendations

Info

2 commentary Academy Spirit FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2013 American History returns to Academy’s core curriculum for fall 2013 By Lt. Gen. Mike Gould Academy superintendent On 10 April, the Academy Board returned American history to its core curriculum for a select group of cadets starting in the fall semester. The Board brought back the course, previously part of the core curriculum from 1962-1987, amid concerns USAFA graduates did not have a deep enough historical understanding of the U.S. Constitution and the nation they are pledged to serve. For several years, the Department of History surveyed cadets to determine if they were part of a nationwide downward trend in knowledge of American history among post-secondary school students. Not surprisingly perhaps, the DFH found a substantial number of cadets deficient in the areas of basic U.S. history, understanding the founding principles of the United States (most importantly the historical context of the Constitution), the development of American ideas regarding democracy, the struggles for racial, minority, and gender equality, and the place of the U.S. in the “ ethnic History 200Z will pay special attention to those issues involving racial and minorities, gender equality and constitutional freedoms in the development of American identities. ” — Lt. Gen. Mike Gould world. In addition, data suggests a general decline in the knowledge of the discipline across the four years of the Academy’s academic program. The new “test” course, History 200Z, consists of a one-semester examination of our nation’s history from its colonial origins to the present. Surveying the broad landscape of America’s past, the course will explore the people and institutions that have helped shape American political, intellectual, social and economic change over time. History 200Z will pay special attention to those issues involving racial and ethnic minorities, gender equality and constitutional freedoms in the development of American identities. It will also strengthen other courses in political science, economics, geography, and law in the core curriculum. Tied directly to the outcomes of Respect for Human Dignity; Civic and Cultural Competency; and strongly related to our commitment to diversity and inclusivity, this course will help selected cadets arrive at a clearer and more meaningful understanding of our nation’s past and their responsibility as citizen-Airmen in a free, complex and changing society. To avoid expanding the already large core curriculum in the short term, History 200Z is targeted to 150 cadets who demonstrate deficient knowledge of American history and have an opening in their academic schedule. The dean of faculty will simultaneously undertake a longitudinal study to evaluate the course’s efficacy, benefits and costs with regard to the entire core curriculum. Apart from the selected group of cadets enrolled, we will also offer the course as an option to others who desire more exposure to our nation’s rich heritage. academy spirit To responsibly inform and educate the Academy community and the public about the Air Force Academy Lt. Gen. Mike Gould — Academy Superintendent Lt. Col. John Bryan — Director of Public Affairs 1st Lt. Brandon Baccam — Chief of Internal Communication Ray Bowden — Editor Don Branum — Staff Writer Amber Baillie — Staff Writer Carol Lawrence — Graphic Designer The Academy Spirit is published by The Gazette, a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force, under exclusive written contract with the U.S. Air Force Academy. This civilian enterprise Air Force newspaper is an authorized publication for members of the U.S. military services. Contents of the Academy Spirit are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the Department of Defense or the Department of the Air Force. The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force, or The Gazette, of the products or services advertised. Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other non merit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. The printer reserves the right to reject any advertisements. Editorial content is edited, prepared and provided by the U.S. Air Force Academy Directorate of Public Affairs. The editor reserves the right to edit articles to conform to Air Force policy and Associated Press style. All photos are U.S. Air Force photos unless otherwise indicated. SUBMISSIONS Send submissions to: usafa.pai@usafa. af.mil. Deadline for free classified ads on a space-available basis is noon every Tuesday for that week’s publication date. Paid classified publishing is accepted by the publisher at 719-444-7355. For display advertising, please contact Marie Rush at 719-476-4818. Deadline for all stories is noon Friday, one week prior to the desired publication date. Refer questions to the Academy Spirit editor at 333 -7657. The Academy Spirit also accepts story submissions by fax at 333-4094 or by e- mail: pa.newspaper@usafa.af.mil. Your newspaper should ‘stand out’ like you do By Ray Bowden Academy Spirit editor We could have maintained our previous design for conformity’s sake, but the new design means better quality and a better paper overall. Why not make the Academy’s only official newspaper stand out as much as the Acad- “emy does itself? ” — Ray Bowden Academy Spirit editor Some of you may have noticed the Academy Spirit newspaper you’re holding today is slimmer. This is true – we’ve lost about an inch on the margins, an area commonly referred to as dead space in the newspaper production world. This new design is the result of months of forethought and teamwork between the Academy Spirit staff and our publisher, who recently moved their printing processes from Colorado Springs to Denver to take advantage of the latest available newsprint technology. We could have maintained our previous design for conformity’s sake, but the new design means better quality and a better paper overall. Why not make the Academy’s only official newspaper stand out as much as the Academy itself? Among the benefits of the new design are better print clarity and cleaner pages for our readers. We may be slimmer, but our level of content will remain the same and we will continue to highlight Academy news with an average of 16 pages each week. Our publisher prints 6,500 copies of the Academy Spirit every week. While most of these copies are distributed across the Academy, various businesses across Colorado Springs also receive copies. Last month I was chatting with the manager of an auto repair shop in Monument when I noticed a stack of Academy Spirits resting against a wall in the lobby. I introduced myself and asked the manager if he ever read our paper. Not only does he read it every week, he said, but it’s the first thing he does every Friday morning after bringing the stack into his store and breaking the band holding the stack together. “I like to know what’s going on up there,” he said. We like to know what’s going on up here as well, and we hope you continue to keep us informed on any newsworthy events that affect the Academy whether they occur inside or outside our property line. New design or not, our audience is watching … and reading. For more Academy news, visit www.usafa.af.mil. Find us on US Air Force Academy (Official) USAFA Cares National Suicide Prevention 800-273-8255 Mental Health - Active Duty, Dependents 719-333-5177 Equal Opportunity 719-333-4258 Peak Performance Center 719-333-2107 Employee Assistance Program 719-333-4364 Chaplains Cadets 719-333-2636 Non-cadet 719-333-3300 Sexual Assault Response Staff 719-333-7272 Military Family Life Consultant Adult:719-377-1990 Child: 719-651-3759
news Academy Spirit FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2013 3 Air Force survey looks at community programs’ effectiveness By Air Force News Service JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AFNS) — The 2013 Air Force Community Assessment Survey launched earlier this month and this time includes reservists, Guardsmen and spouses. The assessment is designed to assist chaplains and people working in installation-level Airman and family readiness centers, family advocacy programs, health and wellness centers, mental health clinics and child and youth programs, to better meet the needs of service members and their families. “We need to make sure our programs are meeting the needs of Airmen and their families,” said Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Cody. “This survey is one way we can learn how well we’re doing that. It’s every Airman’s responsibility to provide some honest feedback to help.” Topics covered in the survey include personal and family adjustment, individual and family adaptation, community well-being, resiliency, post-traumatic stress and help-seeking stigma. For the first time, the Community Assessment Survey will be a total force survey. Approximately 160,000 active duty members, 40,000 reservists, 40,000 Air National Guard members, 160,000 spouses of active duty members, 10,000 spouses of reservists and 10,000 spouses of Air National Guard will be randomly selected to participate in the survey. All appropriated fund civilians also will be asked to participate in the survey. The survey will be available through May 30 and is completely anonymous. A notification letter including a link to the Web-based survey will be sent out to the work e-mail address of each service member selected to participate. Spouses will be sent a postcard in the mail with the Web link. Everyone selected is encouraged to participate to aid in the success of the project. The survey should take service member and spouse participants 30-45 minutes to complete. Data collected from the survey will be analyzed and briefed to wing and Air Force leaders. The information will help make communitywide program planning and resource allocation decisions, which ultimately enhance the quality of life, readiness and retention of Air Force personnel. “Everything we do depends on our people, the living engine of our Air Force. The entire Air Force leadership team is committed to doing all we can to support our Total Force Airmen and their families. We know that through your valuable input, the state of our Air Force will remain strong, ready and capable of delivering airpower, whenever and wherever the Nation calls,” said Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley. Previous survey results are credited with expanding financial counseling programs to members and their families, developing a user-friendly support network for Air Force single parents and setting up marriage-support seminars for junior enlisted members and their spouses. For more information, visit www.afpc.af.mil/ lifeandcareer2013. Budget request provides for best Air Force possible, Welsh says by Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone Marshall Jr. American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (AFNS) — The Air Force’s $114.1 billion fiscal 2014 budget request will provide for the most capable airpower arm possible, the Air Force chief of staff said April 12. Testifying with Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley, Gen. Mark Welsh III told the House Armed Services Committee his service’s portion of the Defense Department’s fiscal 2014 budget proposal will support what he believes will be a continuing demand for American airpower. “America’s foreign policy choices reflect the conscious reliance on its Air Force to help realize success,” Welsh said. This, he said, currently involves managing the airlift requirements for a responsible drawdown in Afghanistan, addressing increasingly vocal international actors in the Asia-Pacific region, and satisfying the growing national reliance on space-based capabilities, he said. The general said these choices are also bounded by shifting fiscal realities that will force the entire DOD to focus on capabilities and missions that are essential in the future. “As an indispensable part of that joint force, the Air Force intends to continue operating in air, space and cyber, and to prioritize those core missions that have existed since our birth as a separate service in 1947,” Welsh said. “America’s Airmen perform these missions exceptionally well,” he added. “And in doing so, they do provide global vigilance, global reach and global power for America.” Welsh said the fiscal 2014 budget request does not fully account for necessary recovery actions from the current budgetary turbulence, and it doesn’t fully incorporate the potential cuts for sequestration in 2014 and beyond. The proposed budget, however, does prioritize efforts to reverse the Air Force’s declining readiness trend, he said, noting that low states of readiness negate many of the strategic advantages of airpower. “Flying hours are allocated to maintain, and in some cases, incrementally improve readiness levels across the total force in this budget,” Welsh said. “In the past, we’ve relied on overseas contingency operations funding to partially fund those flying hour programs and to maintain our current and substandard readiness levels.” The general said the Air Force will continue to reduce its reliance on OCO funding for the flying hour program through 2015. “At which point,” he said, “we should have as much as 90 percent of our peacetime flying requirement back in our baseline budget.” Additionally, Welsh said, the Air Force has restored emphasis on its training ranges, funding about 75 percent of the requirement in that area, up from recent lows of only 25 percent. After years of trading quantity for quality, he said, the Air Force now has fewer people in aircraft than at any time since it became an independent service. “Unfortunately, while the numbers have gone down, both the real cost of personnel and their proportion relative to the rest of the budget has increased dramatically,” Welsh said. Meanwhile, “pay and benefits continue to rise, as have the costs of the DOD health care program, which has grown approximately 270 percent over the last 11 years,” he said. Welsh said Air Force leadership supports DOD’s request to limit the military pay raise to only 1 percent in this budget proposal and to explore “meaningful” modifications in the TRICARE health care system. The Air Force will look to consolidate infrastructure and reduce excess capacity where allowed, he said, and supports DOD’s request for further base realignment and closure authority in fiscal 2015. “As difficult as a BRAC would be for everyone, we can simply no longer afford to retain unnecessary overhead that diverts precious resources from readiness and modernization,” Welsh said. Welsh said the Air Force’s portion of the proposed fiscal 2014 budget also strives to protect modernization to support current defense strategic guidance. “The KC-46 (tanker), F-35 (Lightning II) and long-range strike bomber remain our top-three investment priorities,” he said. “We need the F-35. It remains the best platform Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley (left) gives his opening statement during a hearing with the House Armed Services Committee in Washington April 12. Both Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh III were on Capitol Hill to discuss the Air Force’s fiscal 2014 budget. SCOTT ASH to address the proliferation of highly capable integrated air defenses and new air-to-air threats.” And the long-range strike bomber “will give our nation a flexible, credible capability to strike globally with precision on limited notice should the national interest require,” Welsh added. The KC-46 tanker is the Air Force’s highest modernization priority, he said, and it will ultimately replace a third of the current tanker fleet. “(This) tanker fleet puts the ‘global’ in global vigilance, global reach, and global power,” Welsh said. “It provides strategic options for our nation. We simply must modernize it.” The general also noted that four of the Air Force’s 10 largest modernization programs are space-based platforms. “We’ll also contend to invest in our most important resource — our Airmen,” Welsh said. “We’ll provide the training, education, and professional development opportunities they need to be the best in the world at what they do. “If we can’t do that, they will find other work,” he added. “We’ll continue to do everything in our power to care for our Airmen and their families, while balancing the resources required to do that, with the understanding that our primary job is to fight and win the nation’s wars.
Page 1: www.usafa.af.mil U.S. AIR FORCE ACA
Page 5 and 6: Academy Spirit FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 20

April 19 - United States Air Force Academy

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?