Remarks and recommendations submitted by Mike Rose, USAFA ’69 (STARRS Executive Vice President & General Counsel) to the July 20, 2026 USAFA Board of Visitors meeting:
Transcript:
I am Mike Rose. I am a 1969 Air Force Academy graduate, a lawyer, General Counsel of STARRS (starrs.us), and a member of this Board of Visitor’s Cadet Disciplinary Task Force.
In December, 2025, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report comparing the conduct and disenrollment systems at the five service academies, and found USAFA the most deficient.
The GAO found USAFA does not collect data on conduct offenses,[i] appeals,[ii] and the use of administrative sanctions or disenrollments resulting from a conduct offense;[iii] and USAFA was the only one of the five academies that could not provide the GAO data about its conduct violation cases, including hearings and findings.[iv]
The USAFA conduct system operates unlawfully because it does NOT provide cadets a hearing before disenrolling them,[v] even though multiple federal Circuit Court decisions[vi] cited by the GAO ruled that a fair hearing before disenrolling cadets is required by Fifth Amendment due process.
The hearing before disenrollment should be about (1) whether facts alleged to justify disenrollment are accurate and (2) whether facts that are accurate warrant disenrollment versus a lesser punishment, by clear and convincing evidence.
Cadets disenrolled are required afterwards to repay as much as $150,000 or serve years in Air Force enlisted status, all without a hearing where they can rebut charges and evidence and show why disenrollment, recoupment and enlisted service should not be required.
Anywhere in America we can get a jury trial about whether we must pay a small fine for driving a few miles an hour over the speed limit, but USAFA can throw out cadets shortly before graduation and require payment of more than $150,000 or years of enlisted service without first giving the cadets a fair hearing.
The Board of Visitors should recommend that the Secretary of the Air Force order a fair hearing for any cadet before disenrollment; that cadet punishments be for rehabilitation and deterrence, not retribution; and that cadets be disenrolled only rarely and for a compelling reason based on facts as determined with a fair due process hearing.
[i] GAO Report, at 38.
[ii] GAO Report, at 37.
[iii] GAO Report, at 39.
[iv] GAO Report, at 74 (Table 24) – 79 (Table 30).
[v] The GAO report states that at USAFA “hearings are not typically required to adjudicate offenses.” GAO Report, at 25, 32.
[vi] Second Circuit Court of Appeals decisions identified by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) require a fair hearing before disenrolling a cadet from a service academy, and state a fair hearing consists of reasonable prior notice of allegations, evidence and punishments; a fair opportunity to rebut the allegations and evidence with a personal appearance, calling witnesses, the assistance of legal counsel, reasonable time to prepare for a hearing, impartial decision makers, etc. The hearing provided before disenrollment should be about whether (1) facts alleged to justify enrollment are accurate and (2) the facts that are accurate justify/warrant disenrollment versus a lesser punishment. See GAO Report (Dec. 2025), at 9-10, citing Wasson v. Trowbridge, 382 F.2d 807 (2d Cir. 1967)(due process requires that individuals facing expulsion from a military or quasi-military institution be given a fair hearing where they are informed of the charges and allowed to present a defense; cadet’s allegations regarding impartiality of the panel, denial of witnesses, and lack of full disclosure of evidence merited further examination); Hagopian v. Knowlton, 470 F.2d 201 (2nd Cir. 1972)(when an accumulation of awarded demerits renders the cadet subject to separation, he must be granted a fair hearing before being separated, including the right to personally appear and to present witnesses and other evidence in his behalf); Phillips v. Marsh, 687 F.2d 620 (2d Cir. 1982); Andrews v. Knowlton, 509 F.2d 898 (2d Cir. 1975) (due process requirements “not a rigid formula,” depends on balancing multiple factors, including military operational needs).
RECOMMENDATIONS
TO USAFA BOARD OF VISITORS
BY
SENATOR (SC State ret) MIKE ROSE, JD/MBA, AFA ’69
COLONEL (JAG USAF ret) MARK STOUP
July 13, 2026
Senator (ret) Mike Rose and Colonel (ret) Mark Stoup urge the Air Force Academy Board of Visitors (BoV) to recommend that the Secretary of the Air Force order implementation of improvements to the Air Force Academy (USAFA) conduct/honor/disenrollment systems, as and for the reasons stated below.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Senator (ret) Mike Rose and Colonel (ret) Mark Stoup recommend USAFA improve fairness by ensuring fair hearings before disenrollment, minimizing Article 15 punishments, and aligning disciplinary practices with legal standards.
They urge clearer communications, proportional sanctions, training, holding accountable officers and cadets, data tracking, and addressing coercion concerns.
Emphasizing rehabilitation over retribution, they call for accountability and legal compliance to protect cadet rights and ensure integrity, fairness and perceived fairness.
This document urges the U.S. Air Force Academy Board of Visitors to recommend comprehensive reforms to the Academy’s cadet conduct and disenrollment systems to ensure due process, fairness, transparency, and proportionality.
Key recommendations include
- requiring fair hearings before disenrollment,
- minimizing the use of Article 15 punishments,
- ensuring punishments are reasonable and rehabilitative,
- improving advance notice and training for cadets and officers,
- enhancing data collection, and
- fostering a culture that values legal compliance, fairness and cadet development over punitive measures.
Read More: Memorandum to AFA BoV – Mike Rose, Mark Stoup 7.13.26 (pdf)
Leave a Comment