Leadership 101

Leadership 101 teaches that when assuming command of any organization, whether it be a
Scout troop or the Department of Defense, a credible and effective leader takes the necessary
time to understand their people, relevant history, and the unique missions within their new
command – before attempting to reinvent the entire organization.

We can only surmise that the Superintendent skipped class that day. However, he certainly hit the ground running, micromanaging anything and everything from Day 1… no matter how
trivial. Every pilot who has served as a squadron commander knows that this approach leads to nothing but disaster. In the air and on the ground, true leadership always requires the leader to personally set the example. Eventually, the good citizens of Oz always peek behind the curtain.

The military and civilian faculty would jump at the chance to speak out publicly if only they
could. However, they are being unrelentingly intimidated; forced to bite their tongues and
maintain a neutral façade because if they revealed the truth retribution would be swift,
merciless and very likely career-ending.

There is a reason why only the Air Force Academy is being targeted for such crippling cuts,
while West Point and Annapolis are not. Their Superintendents are standing up for them
instead of muzzling them. General Bauernfeind is serving up the Air Force Academy on an
ambitious silver platter – but to what end?

The last few decades have been a treatise on how the Air Force Academy became a national
leader in academic excellence and athletics, all the while producing fierce and dedicated
warriors who daily give of their lives in defense of the nation.

This well-rounded education, now under attack, taught them to become critical thinkers and
many of them now serve masterfully in the highest levels of government.

If we’ve learned anything from the devastating wildfires in California, it’s that what we value
most can be destroyed in a fraction of the time it took to build it. We must not stand idly by
while these far-reaching decisions are treated as nothing more than poker chips in a political
game of dice. The very future of the Air Force Academy is being wagered.

We must fight back and involve our duly elected Representatives to stop this Ponzi scheme
before it’s too late. The Generals’ only hope of pulling off this coup, before the public realizes
what he is up to, is to accomplish it very quickly.

If things get delayed by debate, then exposed to open discovery, his top cover will melt away
like frost in the Colorado sun. However, should it become a fait accompli, it will be nearly
impossible to reconstitute this unique, hand-selected faculty. They will be forced to move on to other places and opportunities. Tragically, what took over 70 years to create could be lost
forever.

Kent R. Murphy, MD
Colonel, ret. USAF
USAFA Class of 1980