USAFA Realigns Academic Enterprise to Forge “Day One” Warfighters
Two U.S. Air Force Academy cadets majoring in electrical and computer engineering collaborate during a lab exercise in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Sept. 25, 2024. Under the Academy’s academic realignment, the department will become part of the School of Integrated Engineering Sciences, strengthening collaboration across disciplines while maintaining academic excellence. (U.S. Air Force photo by Trevor Cokley)
U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The U.S. Air Force Academy is evolving its academic structure to maintain its academic programs’ relentless focus on mission through three operational priorities: Forging Warfighters to Win, Inspiring Leaders of Character and Quality, and Motivating Critical Thinkers to Adapt, and align the Academy’s structure, governance, and resources directly with the future needs of the Air Force and Space Force.
To achieve this, the Academy is executing several key changes. Beginning Aug. 5, the Dean of Faculty organization will be designated also as the Academic Wing. While the statutory “Dean of the Faculty” title will be retained in recognition of the position’s leadership of the Academy’s academic community, the position will also adopt the “Academic Wing Commander” title in recognition of its responsibility for the academic mission. In alignment with broader higher education standards, the senior academic leader will be authorized to concurrently use the title of “Provost.”
Additionally, the realignment, aimed at ensuring new officers are ready to lead in a complex, contested environment from Day One, structurally aligns the Academy’s academic enterprise with its military mission, establishing four interdisciplinary schools, including a School of Integrated General Studies to serve as the institutional home for the core curriculum. Under this framework, these schools will be led by Deans who will serve concurrently as Group Commanders with command authority.
The move is designed to intentionally and structurally connect the liberal arts, STEM, and warfighting instruction. This will be achieved through the four-school model: the School of Integrated General Studies, the School of Integrated Engineering Sciences, the School of Integrated Basic Sciences, and the School of Integrated Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.
“This evolution builds on a long-standing record of academic excellence,” said U.S. Air Force Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Tony D. Bauernfeind. “To ensure the Academy remains the nation’s premier military service academy and preeminent commissioning source for the Department of the Air Force, academic programs must have a relentless focus on the mission. USAFA is not moving away from the liberal arts or STEM; rather, the Academy is integrating them more deliberately to develop citizens, warfighters, leaders, and critical thinkers who understand what they are fighting for, who are technically literate in the tools of modern warfare, and who carry the moral seriousness the profession of arms demands.”
The new structure strengthens governance across 20 separate departments and empowers school-level leadership to better align resources, faculty development and curriculum with the Academy’s core priorities. This organizational realignment sets the table for potential future changes and forthcoming academic policies, establishing a structured path to achieve increased academic excellence across the enterprise.
“The demands of modern warfare are inherently multidisciplinary,” said Dean of the Faculty Brig. Gen. James Valpiani, who will serve as the institution’s future Academic Wing Commander. “Our graduates must be able to connect what they know across fields, to judge well under pressure, and to understand what they are fighting for. An education delivered in disconnected pieces will not form the judgment they need to deter conflict or, if necessary, to prevail in combat.”
“Coherence must be built on purpose; that is the objective of our realignment,” he continued. “It structures the academic enterprise so that what we teach is integrated by design, ordered toward the profession of arms and reflective citizenship, and held to an academic standard worthy of the Airmen and Guardians our graduates will lead.”
Academy officials emphasized that the statutory role of the Dean of the Faculty remains and that the core of what makes a U.S. Air Force Academy education unique—its blend of military training, academic rigor, and highly competitive athletics—is only being strengthened by this evolution to ensure the Academy remains the preeminent commissioning source for the Department of the Air Force.
The U.S. Air Force Academy Academic Wing is organized into four integrated academic schools, including the School for Integrated General Studies, which serves as the institutional center for the Academy’s core curriculum.