This article has been updated with additional reporting from more faculty sources.
According to several Air Force Academy (USAFA) sources, about 100 furloughed civilian instructors will return to teach on Wednesday.
This comes one week after the federal government shutdown amidst a funding fight in Washington between Democrats and Republicans with no end in sight.
Since the Oct. 1 shutdown, only military faculty and a handful of non-federal instructors have continued teaching USAFA cadets.
According to sources, when possible, this entailed finding larger classrooms to combine multiple sections of cadets if the same class was being offered simultaneously.
One instructor wishing not to be named said some classes that normally had 25 cadets jumped in size to 50 or 75.
"Upper division classes are being 'overseen,' but since there aren’t military faculty with sufficient expertise, they are essentially being self-taught," the source said.
If combining sections wasn’t possible, instructors had to teach multiple offerings of a course in addition to their typical workload.
On the USAFA website shutdown information page, Academy leadership acknowledged this additional load on remaining faculty “is not sustainable if the government shutdown extends beyond one week.”
USAFA did not independently verify this reporting. When reached for comment, an automatic reply from the Academy said the email account “is still being monitored, however, due to the government shut down, replies may take additional time.”
In emails obtained by KOAA sent on or around Sept. 30, faculty were told that the shutdown and subsequent course instruction would proceed in three phases.
According to the emails, Phase 1, which lasted the first week of the shutdown, was intended to “provide accountability, coverage, and where able, sufficient education.” But the email noted that there could be a “loss of lesson opportunities.”
Phase 2, which had to be approved, would bring back a number of civilian faculty. This appears to be the phase being implemented Wednesday.
Phase 3 would return more civilians to cover additional areas “that keeps USAFA on track for graduation.”
These furloughs come as controversial proposals by Academy leadership this year threaten to severely slash civilian faculty numbers in an attempt to reduce the federal workforce and bring in more military faculty.
These cuts have been met with loud opposition from current and former faculty as detailed in previous investigative reporting. Current faculty have previously expressed low morale already in effect as a result before the furloughs occurred.
A faculty member described the current situation with the cuts and shutdown as a "less than ideal work environment," and expressing fears of military and civilian faculty members being overstretched.
"We get the job done, that’s what we do, but there is a toll and a tax that is levied on the military and civilians as well as the students," the faculty member said.
Another current instructor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said their main concern now was having enough civilian faculty to continue covering classes during the shutdown.
Meantime, President Trump acknowledged Tuesday reporting on a White House draft memo that federal employees were not entitled to back pay once the shutdown ends.
In response, another USAFA instructor noted “pay is always a concern when the President threatens to not provide back pay for active duty and furloughed civilians as he did today (Tuesday).”
Another instructor said while they've been furloughed, they have worked briefly at times, but expressed trepidation they'd still receive back pay.
"It is degrading to know that we will later be paid for work we did not do," the instructor said.
Other faculty members said missed paychecks weren't the biggest concern.
"I think we are all more concerned, however, about the long-term quality and functioning of the institution and, MOST importantly, the potential impacts to our ability to deliver the top-tier developmental and educational experience for the cadets and the war fighting mission," the faculty member said.
Email Senior Reporter Brett Forrest at brett.forrest@koaa.com. Follow @brettforrestTV on X and Brett Forrest News on Facebook.
Brett can also communicate via encrypted apps like Signal. Due to the sensitive nature of ongoing reporting from federal actions, he is willing to take steps to protect identities.
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