By Thomas Novelly | Military.com
Nearly 100 cadets at the Air Force Academy in Colorado are being investigated after widespread cheating was discovered on a weekly knowledge test, which is a violation of the school’s honor code.
Dozens of cadets “have admitted to either cheating or tolerating cheating” on the test and were punished, a news release from the school said.
Those who admitted to the honor code violations “have received punitive sanctions and rehabilitation actions.”
Honor code violations are overseen by the cadets themselves, Jeff Troth, an Air Force Academy spokesman, told Military.com, and punishments are issued by the students.
“We will not lie, steal or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does. Furthermore, I resolve to do my duty and to live honorably, (so help me God),” the Air Force Honor Code states.
Troth told Military.com that the knowledge tests are for freshmen and are given online each week to test the cadets on general information about the Air Force. He was not aware of anyone being expelled for the cheating violations, he said.
“The honor code is foundational to the U.S. Air Force Academy and the character necessary of warrior leaders,” Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, the academy superintendent, said in a news release. “Everyone at our academy must live and enforce the honor code.”
Air Force Academy officials said they’re still investigating whether other cadets cheated or assisted in cheating.
“We will use the information discovered during the investigation to make changes that strengthen enforcement and commitment to the honor code,” academy said in the news release.
The news of the widespread honor code violation is only a few years removed from another major cheating scandal at the academy in Colorado Springs.
In 2020, the Air Force Academy placed 210 students on probation, while nearly two dozen others were either expelled or chose to resign from the school, Military.com previously reported.
An investigation into the widespread cheating showed it happened with cadets’ papers, tests and homework in the months when the school transitioned to remote learning during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 210 cadets put on six-month probation at that time were not permitted to represent the academy at sporting events or competitions and could not participate in any school clubs. They also faced additional honor code training and instruction.
At least 22 others were either expelled or voluntarily decided to leave the service academy during ongoing investigations.
First published on Military.com
Academy investigates cadet Honor Code violations (USAFA, 4 March 2025)
The U.S. Air Force Academy is currently investigating potential violations of the Honor Code during a weekly knowledge test.
Nearly 100 U.S. Air Force Academy cadets have admitted to either cheating or tolerating cheating. The cadets who admitted to violating the Honor Code have received punitive sanctions and rehabilitation actions, and the Academy will hold accountable any other cadets identified during the investigation.
“The Honor Code is foundational to the U.S. Air Force Academy and the character necessary of warrior leaders,” said Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, U.S. Air Force Academy Superintendent. “Everyone at our Academy must live and enforce the Honor Code.”
We are continuing to investigate and identify whether additional cadets cheated on the test or facilitated cheating. We will use the information discovered during the investigation to make changes that strengthen enforcement and commitment to the Honor Code.
Observation by a STARRS supporter:
About the latest scandal at USAFA: While AF “leadership” is coming down with a bad case of the vapors over this recent academic cheating scandal, I ask WHAT DID YOU EXPECT???
Back in 2022-23 the Air Force Academy “revamped its honor code implementation for freshman and sophomores”.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reported that former Supe Gen. Richard Clark “asked the school to solicit ideas from cadets about how to encourage participation in the code and found that it can be tough for the youngest cadets to turn in others.”
The solution: “to revamp our code, or the practice of it, so that it resembled the developmental journey.” (This from BG Gavin Marks, commandant of cadets).
This brilliant idea, along with another decision made at USMA to have the Honor Code be “aspirational” in nature is why this crap continues!!
The answer is NOT to continue to water down the standards at the academies and continue to coddle these students.
If they haven’t learned the importance of telling the truth from their parents while they were kids growing up, what the hell are they doing at the service academies getting a $400,000 education on the taxpayer’s dime?
Telling the truth was a lesson I learned as a young child of 7 because of an incident at a birthday party and because my mother reinforced the importance of not lying by her immediate discipline of me.
I had just returned home from said party at a friend’s house and was proudly waving around the “top prize” that I had won during the Pin the Tail on the Donkey game. I ended up telling my mom that it was easy because the blindfold had been poorly adjusted and that I could see right through it. Therefore, I was able to place the tale on the exact spot on the donkey and walk away with the best prize.
My Mother instantly reprimanded me and told me in no uncertain terms how ashamed she was of me, that this was cheating and that she would not tolerate it!! I was promptly marched right back to my friend’s house and forced to totally humiliate myself by confessing to the child and her parents what I had done and also to return the prize I had “won”.
I never forgot the embarrassment I suffered and the feeling that I had disgraced myself and my parents by outright cheating. Yes, my mother came down hard on me and it was a long time before I once again felt her trust in me. But it was a necessary lesson, and I respect her to this day for enforcing it upon me. Although she passed away almost 25 years ago, the lesson she taught me endures to this day!!
I suggest these academies “grow a pair” and start coming down on these cadets, midshipmen – or wherever these incidents happen – hard and fast!! If a little child of 6 or 7 can learn to tell the truth, why can’t these students at the age of 17 or 18 do the same?????
The USAFA Honor Code is a joke and has been for a long time. Long gone are the days when violations resulted in automatic expulsion. Honor among cadets is now a “goal” rather than a requirement. That kind of nonsensical thinking has been the hallmark of a succession of progressive, new-age superintendents who wouldn’t recognize a battlefield if one dropped on their head.
My hope is that Secretary Hegseth turns the academies back into military institutions rather than civilian colleges with an enhanced ROTC program. Returning the Honor Code to its original intent and implementation should be part of that process.