AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (KOAA) — After months of reporting on proposed civilian cuts at the Air Force Academy through leaks, background conversations, and a lack of clear, concrete acknowledgment from the institution, the first outward-facing evidence of the controversial proposals has been widely disseminated to staff this week.
In an email sent Tuesday by the Air Force Academy’s interim Dean of Faculty, the institution indicates it is eliminating 140 civilian positions and is short about $10 million in their Fiscal Year 2025 civilian pay.
The email said the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) must find alternate sources to pay for that shortfall through reduced contracts, limiting travel and other means.
You can read a portion of the email below:
“In FY25 our Air Force is reducing civilian manpower by 5,000 billets and USAFA's portion of this reduction is 140 positions (36 are encumbered).Additionally, USAFA is currently short ~$10M in our FY25 Civilian Pay... requiring all to find alternate O&M sources to pay this shortfall (e.g. reduced contracts, limited travel).”
In the context of this email and military language, “billet” means a position, and “encumbered” means that role is currently filled by someone.
Multiple sources working within USAFA confirmed they received the email this week. The Academy has not yet responded to a detailed list of questions and a request for comment. This story will be updated.
This comes after reporting on KOAA’s Sunday night broadcast that at least 50 civilian faculty had already left USAFA this year through a voluntary Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) without their positions being backfilled.
This is in addition to active-duty military faculty cycling out. Sources within the Academy who previously spoke to KOAA feared the civilian cuts could double or triple, which appears to be confirmed by this week’s internal email.
The email also noted a “25% summer faculty turnover.” It’s unclear if that’s from active-duty faculty moving assignments or for other reasons.
Colonel Steve Hasstedt, the interim Dean of Faculty, sent the email to staff just hours after KOAA published that report online on July 1.
USAFA leadership stressed there is no Reduction in Force (RIF) for now, but hinted there could be “involuntary separations” if they are unable to meet their budgets.
You can view the email below:
“As you're aware, we remain in a dynamic and uncertain fiscal environment. No RIF is approved at this time, but budget reductions at the DoD & Air Force level are part of a broader government wide effort to address the long-term national strategic risks posed by the nearly $36 trillion national debt.”
Concerns over the national debt could be exacerbated now as the massive reconciliation bill is estimated to add nearly $3.3 trillion to the deficit from 2025 to 2034, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
The "Big, Beautiful Bill," as dubbed by President Trump, passed the House on Thursday.
In the USAFA email, Superintendent Bauernfeind noted the Academy will first seek to laterally reassign civilian staff “to keep talented civilians,” consider options for voluntary early retirement through a process known as the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA), and then ultimately consider an RIF.
In the federal context, VERA allows agencies that are undergoing substantial restructuring, reshaping, downsizing, transfer of function, or reorganization to temporarily lower the age and service requirements in order to increase the number of employees who are eligible for retirement.
Bauernfeind also encouraged supervisors to help employees look at other job opportunities “by providing references, offering flexible interview schedules, and pointing our teammates to transition services.”
In previous KOAA reporting, current and former USAFA faculty and staff expressed concern about the reduction in civilian staff, leading to a decrease in academic majors offered, a decrease in the institution’s academic rigor, and the possible loss of accreditation in technical fields.
Sources further expressed fear that the Academy’s leadership was withholding public discussions on this drastic restructuring in order to avoid cadets leaving the Academy.
But, there are others who've expressed support for more active-duty instructors at the Air Force Academy as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has emphasized a focus on "lethality," calling civilian instructors "woke" in his confirmation hearing.
There's been discussion to bring the active-duty to civilian teaching ratio to 80:20.
Despite the Air Force having about 1,800 active-duty members with PhDs, it could be a tall order to reassign many of them to teach at the Air Force Academy to meet the ratio goals.
The reductions in staff aren’t just for civilian teaching faculty, but other civilian roles which include positions such as lab technicians and A/V staff.
One source speaking on condition of anonymity expressed frustration with what they felt was a lack of pushback from USAFA leadership against these budget and staff reductions.
The source questioned why it didn't appear the other military academies were facing such severe cuts as the Air Force Academy.
The email notes that the civilian cuts are part of a larger Air Force effort to cut 5,000 civilian positions as directed through the 2025 Fiscal Year National Defense Authorization Act.
Due to the $10 million pay shortage, interim Dean of Faculty Hallstedt said “all O&M [Operations and Maintenance] funded travel is canceled to include previously approved trips.”
He noted the budget restrictions were made “to ensure we have the capability to continue to fund the positions of our colleagues…”
Faculty sources within USAFA said these trips typically entailed presenting research at academic conferences or attending events put on by professional societies within specific disciplines.
The email also indicated the reduction in 140 civilian personnel was just the start, with more positions to be identified for cuts in the next Fiscal Year (FY26) set to begin October 1. Congress is currently working on next year's budget.
The loss of staff could also lead to other impacts including “potential vertical cuts (i.e., what do we stop doing)," according to the email.
One source within the Academy said “vertical cuts” could mean everything from wholesale chopping of majors, departments, or athletics to possibly ending aspects of the civil mission on the base itself (security, road maintenance, utilities, etc).
Regarding concerns about eliminating or combining majors due to a decrease in teaching faculty, the email said Superintendent Bauernfeind has not made any recommendations to do so “at this time.”
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.
Concerns Rise at Air Force Academy Over Civilian Faculty Cuts
Tom Bewley, the Air Force Academy's Distinguished Visiting Professor for Mechanical Engineering, has stepped forward to raise alarm about proposed cuts to civilian faculty at the academy. In a recent conversation, he expressed his commitment to the institution's success and the concerns of many faculty members who remain silent due to their positions in the military or civilian roles.
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