Letter from Col. Ron Scott, PhD, USAF ret, USAFA ’73
STARRS President and CEO
To the USAFA Superintendent
Dear General Clark,
I hope this email finds you well.
While my last message to you indicated I would not physically attend this year’s NCLS (February 21-23, 2024) due to concerns about the theme and some of the speakers, I did monitor the event virtually. And since I received an invitation for feedback, I am providing that feedback directly to you.
The Wednesday afternoon presentation by Bryan Stevenson appears to fit a pattern for the Colvin Lecture: all three so far (2022, 2023, and 2024) appear to focus on the sin of systemic racism. While the first part of the presentation was useful in explaining the importance of identity and proximity, it teed up the racism narrative.
I recognize the existence of bigotry, and it tends to be a manifestation of ideology. When bigotry adversely affects others, then the pursuit of justice is an important remedy. Racial discrimination has been illegal since the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Meanwhile, narratives can unjustly exploit the notion of systemic racism, making it profitable. For example, Kendall Qualls, President of Take Charge, published the attached graph showing how this narrative fuels a correspondence between manipulated sentiment and chief diversity officers (CDOs) since 2003.
During the opening ceremony on Thursday morning, your personal experience as the Defense Attaché in Egypt was an interesting story, driving home the important role our senior officers play on a global battleground, I also noted in your opening remarks that you said some things that appear incongruent with your non-response to my previous two emails: “opening dialogue so we can have civil discourse,” “it [civil discourse] starts with valuing others even when they are different from us,” and to “be introspective,” “open and ready to listen to build a connection,” and “engage.”
If you are making an exception for me or STARRS, then perhaps the justification for the exception might be explained, building a constructive connection so that we can help you preserve the Academy’s mission to develop good leaders based on good character.
I was impressed with Alison Fragale and the Polaris Dawn Panel–I could not determine how their content related to the NCLS theme but their respective message was certainly appropriate for developing good character as the foundation for good leadership.
I can only speculate on why there was no Q&A following United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby’s presentation.
I picked up on the story about not hiring a career fighter pilot and former wing commander when he was not nice in the cafeteria. Yet, according to news reports, the CEO fired hundreds of pilots who chose not to take the EUA COVID vaccine (see United Airlines says 593 employees face termination for failing to comply with vaccine mandate (cnbc.com) and United Airlines’ Vaccine-Pushing CEO Must Be Held Accountable (thefederalist.com)).
Additionally, I’m not sure what the “high stakes poker experience” had to do with leadership, but perhaps hinted at other radical behaviors such as dressing in drag (see United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby’s viral ‘drag queen’ video sparks outrage (msn.com)). While it would be unChristian to be judgmental about behaviors such as this, positioning an individual, with this publicly known background, as an exemplar for cadets to emulate is problematic.
None of the above would fit in the category of being egregious, yet it represents the subtle and insidious nature of evil. As Hannah Arendt observed in her book, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, evil tends to be banal–it creeps up on us.
The irony here is that the theme for this NCLS, “Valuing Human Conditions, Cultures and Societies,” promotes a context that makes us vulnerable to this banality, such as LGTBQ+ lifestyle choices.
It is one thing to protect one’s privacy in behaviors such as this; it is another to institutionally endorse lifestyle choices in speaker selections (i.e., transgender Colonel Bree Fram, astronautical engineer for the U.S. Space Force and former president of SPARTA).
Fram’s selection might be considered an anomaly if this endorsement was not already manifested in affinity clubs such as foreign culture affiliations, Spectrum, Way of Life, and the Schulte Assembly (see Clubs • United States Air Force Academy (usafa.edu)). These “cultural” clubs are contrary to traditional assimilation into an overall “American culture,” implied in our national motto, E Pluribus Unum, inspired by our Declaration of Independence, and codified in our Constitution.
I can appreciate the already heavy burden of your leadership position; however, I would be remiss if I tolerated the above by remaining silent.
I speak for many others as well–cadets, parents, grads, and friends of the Academy.
We look forward to your response.
V/r,
Ron
Ronald J. Scott, Jr., Ph.D.
Colonel, USAF (Ret)
President and CEO
Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services, Inc. (STARRS)
Another STARRS member response after watching the Scott Kirby talk at NCLS:
“Just watched it. Amazingly vanilla. My only push back would be why is USAFA presenting the cadets with an example of a super rich CEO—bragging about his seven houses, Super Bowl tickets, high stakes poker games, etc—-who didn’t stay in the service past his five years commitment? The airlines being a huge competition to USAF and pilot retention bonuses now in the $500K+ territory, why would USAFA want to highlight that the path to wealth goes through the private sector, not military service?”
Response from the STARRS Chairman:
“I, too, think cadets deserve a better “warfighter” as an example to look up to! Are we trying to motivate cadets to leave military service after serving only 5 years so they can go make millions? I had thought Service Academies were supposed to be the main source of our career officers?”
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