As classes resume at the Air Force Academy for the fall semester, U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank asked the superintendent Thursday for a clear staffing plan after many civilian faculty members resigned earlier this year. 

The academy saw more than 104 civilian employees leave as the Department of Government Efficiency offered deferred resignation and early retirement programs. The vacated jobs will be eliminated, in addition to another 36 positions that are still staffed, an academy memo said earlier this year. The academy was working with the remaining staff members on different positions. 

Among the jobs slated for elimination, 52 are faculty jobs, and among those, 19 were staffed, it said. The cuts were required, because the academy was facing a $10 million shortfall for civilian pay.

Air Force Academy cutting 140 positions; majors affected?

During a Board of Visitors meeting, Superintendent Gen. Tony Bauernfeind responded to the Republican congressman for Colorado Springs that the academy has been working with the Department of the Air Force and Air Force Personnel Center to bring in members from active duty and reserves who have the “requisite academic credentials to continue the academic rigor at the United States Air Force Academy.”

Crank is a member of the board tasked with providing advice and oversight, which recently saw an influx of new members appointed by President Donald Trump. Board Chairman U.S. Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, said he planned to speak with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth personally about the meeting. 

Faced with staffing vacancies, Bauernfeind did not say how many faculty positions previously held by civilians have been filled with uniformed personnel. But he did note that no academic majors have been cut and that the school has added two minors, in aerospace materials and “quantum,” and added that the school is working on a minor in future conflict, he said. 

Air Force Academy's staff cuts unclear amid mass resignations; cadets assured of 'world-class' education

The school also is working on an agreement that will allow cadets to earn master’s degrees through the Air Force Institute of Technology, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, Bauernfeind said. He wanted to offer cadets an option to pursue higher degrees, because so many cadets arrive with dozens of college credits. 

The school has welcomed 60 new faculty members this summer who all attended the usual five-day course to prepare them for teaching, Bauernfeind said. 

However, the academy is unique from other colleges and universities, because about 25% of its faculty are new each year as uniformed staff arrive, said Col. Steven Hasstedt, the acting dean of faculty. In addition to the five days of onboarding, new instructors are matched with other professionals to develop their teaching skills. 

Many of the uniformed instructors join the faculty with just a master’s- or doctoral-level degree, Hasstedt said.  

Kent Murphy, a retired Air Force colonel, was among those who advocated at the meeting for retaining high-quality civilian staff, who tend to have cutting-edge knowledge in their fields. He called on the lawmakers to petition Air Force Secretary Troy Meink for a temporary budget carve-out to protect civilian faculty members.  

“Many of them are retired military, and all of them take the responsibility to graduate leaders of character here quite seriously,” he said.