A general gives a speech - was it enough?
Lt. General Jay Silveria is the Superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colorado. He recently gave a stirring speech after racists messages were left on message boards outside the doors of five African-American cadets.
According to the website Military.com the 10th Security Forces Squadron at the Air Force Academy is investigating the incident. I suspect they are being joined in that effort by the local detachment of the Air Force's Office of Special Investigations at the Air Force Academy. For fans of the CBS police procedural series "NCIS", this is the Air Force's equivalent of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
That's all well and good and I am sure they will do their best. While my late father dreamt of my becoming a commissioned officer, it wasn't my dream. I never wanted to be a lieutenant, let alone a lieutenant general. But if I were the Superintendent of the Air Force Academy, I would have gone further than just this brilliant speech. Further than having the local law enforcement and OSI personnel conducting an investigation.
This is the Cadet Honor Code at the Air Force Academy:
We will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does.
In 1984, the cadets themselves voted to add an Honor Oath to the code:
Furthermore, I resolve to do my duty and to live honorably (so help me God).
If I were the Superintendent of the Air Force Academy I would not rely on the law enforcement investigation. I would call the highest ranking cadet into my office (If Wikipedia can be relied upon, that's a Cadet Colonel named Elliot Knowles) and have him (her) standing tall in front of my desk. I would say "I want you to line up every single cadet and one at a time, ask them:
Did you write those racist messages?
Do you know who did?
The penalty for an honor code violation is normally disenrollment from the Academy. I submit that living honorably involves not doing, condoning or hiding this kind of racism. Whoever did that does need to "...get out..." of the Air Force altogether.
According to the website Military.com the 10th Security Forces Squadron at the Air Force Academy is investigating the incident. I suspect they are being joined in that effort by the local detachment of the Air Force's Office of Special Investigations at the Air Force Academy. For fans of the CBS police procedural series "NCIS", this is the Air Force's equivalent of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
That's all well and good and I am sure they will do their best. While my late father dreamt of my becoming a commissioned officer, it wasn't my dream. I never wanted to be a lieutenant, let alone a lieutenant general. But if I were the Superintendent of the Air Force Academy, I would have gone further than just this brilliant speech. Further than having the local law enforcement and OSI personnel conducting an investigation.
This is the Cadet Honor Code at the Air Force Academy:
We will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does.
In 1984, the cadets themselves voted to add an Honor Oath to the code:
Furthermore, I resolve to do my duty and to live honorably (so help me God).
If I were the Superintendent of the Air Force Academy I would not rely on the law enforcement investigation. I would call the highest ranking cadet into my office (If Wikipedia can be relied upon, that's a Cadet Colonel named Elliot Knowles) and have him (her) standing tall in front of my desk. I would say "I want you to line up every single cadet and one at a time, ask them:
Did you write those racist messages?
Do you know who did?
The penalty for an honor code violation is normally disenrollment from the Academy. I submit that living honorably involves not doing, condoning or hiding this kind of racism. Whoever did that does need to "...get out..." of the Air Force altogether.
posted by me at 8:36 PM
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