Democratic Lawmakers Urge DOD to Provide Details on Air Force Academy Faculty Cuts

Democratic lawmakers are asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to share plans for cuts to civilian faculty members at the military academies and war colleges.

The May 1 letter signed by 14 Democratic representatives asked for Hegseth to provide the timeline and scale of cuts to the institutions and the metrics used to justify the changes.

The letter drew on Gazette reporting highlighting the coming cuts to civilian faculty and staff at the Air Force Academy and it could hurt technical majors. West Point and the Naval Academy have not announced cuts and did not respond to Gazette requests about whether the schools are planning cuts.

The lawmakers sent their request as the Department of Defense is cutting 5%-8% of its civilian workforce to focus on the president’s priorities and restoring readiness, a news release said.

The letter expressed concern that cutting civilian faculty could lead to cuts to majors and minors and hurt the diversity of thought at the institutions.

“Gutting civilian faculty can harm educational quality, stretch military instructors even thinner, damage research partnerships, and limit the critical thinking skills that save lives when plans fall apart in the field,” the letter said.

The letter gave a deadline of 14 days to respond to a series of questions about cuts and their potential impacts.

The questions asked for impact assessments of the coming cuts and for details about the processes to ensure that high academic standards will continue to be met.

The letter was also sent to the leaders of West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, the Merchant Marine Academy, the Naval War College, the Army War College, the Air University, the National Defense University and the Marine Corps War College.

The letter did not have any signatories from Colorado, but Rep. Jeff Crank, R- Colorado Springs said he planned to be engaged in the issue at the Air Force Academy.

“As a member of the Air Force Academy Board of Visitors, I anticipate this being discussed in the coming months. I look forward to examining how any proposed changes would affect the curriculum at the Air Force Academy,” he said.

Former Army Ranger Rep. Jason Crow, D- Aurora, said he has heard about the concerns about cuts at the military academies.

“I will always fight for young Americans who have made a commitment to serve our country,” he said, in a statement.

The same day lawmakers sent their letter, the Denver Post published an opinion piece that raised similar concerns and garnered more than 90 signatures, including six retired generals. It specifically addressed the Air Force Academy.

“Civilian faculty, almost all with PhDs and deep backgrounds in both education and related research (including many experienced U.S. military veterans), bring depth, balance, continuity, and forward-looking insights to cadet education,” the opinion piece said. It also said the cuts would put the school’s accreditation in technical fields at risk.

The school employs 491 faculty members, with 308 uniformed members and 183 civilians, the Gazette reported previously. Civilians represent about 37% of the faculty.

At West Point, civilians represent 26% of the faculty and at the Naval Academy it’s a 50-50 split between civilians and uniformed instructors.

The cuts at the Air Force Academy are expected to extend beyond faculty to other civilian positions, such as child care, finance roles and communication. In January, the Academy employed about 1,360 civilians.

Since the Air Force Academy is overbudget for its civilian workforce, Superintendent Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind said on April 11 he is preparing to cut 240 civilian positions. He did not know at the time if 140 people who he said had resigned voluntarily or retired early would count toward the 240 positions to be eliminated.

The Secretary of the Air Force press desk said Monday it could not say how many Academy employees had currently taken deferred resignations or early retirement.

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