By Col. Ron Scott, PhD, USAF ret, USAFA ’73
STARRS President & CEO
This is a presentation I made on Friday at the Air Force Academy Association of Graduates Board of Directors meeting. The protocol requires attaching a copy of these presentations to the published board minutes.
Toward the end of the meeting, one of the directors argued that my presentation should not be included as an attachment.
I sent a note to the Board Chair about it and point out how the director’s attempt at censorship further evidences my assertion: “The Specter on that occasion continues to haunt the current Board.”
The presentations are limited to 2 minutes. I was cut off by the Board Chair before I could close with the last paragraph.
Some leftist factions (i.e., Affinity Groups) are demonizing our efforts–claiming that we are the ones politicizing the AOG. Are we not allowed to celebrate the American Creed and our Founding documents?
The Coming American
USAFA AOG BOD Membership Moment
As a Life Member of the AOG, I call upon our Board of Directors and Staff to recognize the need for more vigorously adhering to the core values of integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all that we do.
AOG Board proceedings this past year have been dysfunctional and politicized patriotism–revealing agendas fueled by ideological differences about Americas values. Perhaps the leading example is the different perspectives related to the Marxist ideology called Critical Race Theory and its praxis known as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
This difference is a visceral one, clearly manifested when in May 2023 the previous Board Chair impugned the integrity of Lt Gen Rod Bishop and me when he labeled us as untrustworthy and dishonest brokers for our cause. The Specter on that occasion continues to haunt the current Board.
Sam Walter Foss envisioned service before self in his 1894 poem, The Coming American.[1] STARRS[2] patriots promote this vision in their American Creed presentation. The Creed was codified by our country’s Founding Fathers in our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights.
Two weeks ago, LTC Allen West spoke about these principles and values at the Center for American Values in Pueblo, Colorado. This speech personified what the pursuit of excellence is all about.
Another example is the Call Sign Courage documentary about the Honorable Matt Lohmeier, former STARRS Executive Vice President and now the Undersecretary for the Air and Space Forces. Within 48 hours the film generated 30 million viewers.
Americans are hungry to embrace the values of our American Creed—which is why we serve our Nation.
In closing, the AOG’s leadership has an opportunity to promote the Academy’s mission to forge leaders of character by revitalizing our AOG Chapters[3] to champion the American Creed and our core values. Let’s get to work. Thank you.
Notes:
[1] The opening line in Sam Walter Foss’s poem, “The Coming American, is “Bring me men to match my mountains.” Read at Mr. Henry C. Bowen’s Annual Fourth of July Celebration, at Roseland Park, Woodstock, Connecticut, July 4, 1894.See https://www.best-poems.net/sam-walter-foss/the-coming-american.html. This was my inspiration when I ascended the ramp into the Academy on June 23, 1969—with the front range and chapel in the background.
[2] Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services, Inc., established as a 501c3 educational nonprofit in April 2021. It has 4,000 members. See https://starrs.us/.
[3] Numbers have fallen from around 90 to 45.
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