United States Air Force Academy

The USAF Academy's Diversity and Inclusion Task Force is working to increase the amount of scholarships offered to minority students.

A priority for the Academy is to "promote DEI through professional development programs to ensure the Admissions team can effectively recruit and mentor target population applicants and candidates." The goal for the Admissions team is for each staff personnel "to attend/complete at least one admissions-related professional development each year."

According to the Academy's Diversity and Inclusion Plan, the USAFA has a goal to "expand diversity" in admissions. The plan states the Academy's priority is to "positively adjust the demographic makeup of the applicant pool for the Cadet Wing by executing an outreach and recruiting plan that targets all segments of society" but "is optimized to reach under-represented target population."

All cadets and cadet candidates are required to take a training course on "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Students." This course is an "introductory Diversity and Inclusion course as part of our commitment to working with cadets and cadet candidates in fostering a safe community built on mutual respect, teamwork, and personal dignity." Included is a video on the subject of Black Lives Matter.

Fox News reported, "Incoming cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy are required to watch a video that promotes support for the Black Lives Matter movement." According to the U.S. Air Force Academy, the video is "required training for inbound cadets (appointees) ahead of their arrival to the U.S. Air Force Academy."

The Defense Department reversed a Trump administration action to "halt training on subjects including critical race theory and white privilege."

Documents shared by Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., reveal that DEI training was administered to cadets. Such training involved eliminating the words 'mom' and 'dad' in an effort to coach inclusion language usage as part of the diversity and inclusion training.

On July 7, 2023, Judicial Watch reported that after filing a November 2022 FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) lawsuit, it learned that the Air Force Academy's instructional materials include "Presentations on Critical Race Theory, White Privilege, and Black Lives Matter" and that the academy "attacks" the "American ‘Creation Myth’ of the Declaration of Independence." Instructional materials also included power point presentations that showed "a set of tables with the headline 'White Americans’ Support for Democratic Candidates for President as a Function of Old-Fashioned Racism'" while another slide "depicts tables which purport to show 'Correlations between Republican Party Identification and Old-Fashioned Racism among White Americans'.”

The Superintendent of the USAFA affirmed that cadets receive "16 hours of diversity, equity, and inclusion training across all four years of schooling." He stated, “We must embrace diversity as a strength.”

Regarding the mandatory class Political Science 211, “Politics, American Government, and National Security," the USAFA told the Washington Times, "some elements from CRT canon are included in the course to encourage critical thinking." However, "[CRT] is not a theory endorsed by the institution as institutional doctrine."

On March 23, 2023, it was announced by Judicial Watch that a 167 page document was received from the U.S. Department of Defense. This document extensively details ways in which the U.S. Air Force Academy has enacted race and gender as priorities within instruction. This includes the consideration of a core class requirement of 'Class, Race, Gender, and Sexuality' in addition to a curriculum review to incorporate DEI topics into material for all cadets and staff. Many other steps and actions are highlighted in the document.

One of the expected "student outcomes" of the academy's Systems Engineering program is described as follows: "an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors."

Graduates of the academy's Computer Engineering program will demonstrate "an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts."

A job listing for an "Assistant Professor" position at the USAFA states "Prospective candidates must engender a climate that values and uses diversity in all its forms to enliven and make more inclusive the work of the organization."

In order to increase the development of staff and faculty, the Academy established "diversity education and training programs that include culturally responsive learning and teaching strategies" by incorporating the methods "into the existing education and training curriculum." Initial trainings must be "conducted onsite for all USAFA permanent party personnel;" however, "continuation training may include both on-site and off-site training opportunities" with the goal of providing "refresher training to at least 15% of the staff and faculty each year."

On December 7, 2022, it was announced by Fox News that the Department of Defense invested $91,000 for funding training in the form of “diversity and inclusion seminars for the Air Force Band.”

USAFA offers a minor in Diversity and Inclusion Studies which was "designed" in part to "[p]repare cadets to lead inclusively within a diverse organization, act responsibly in a diverse society, and meet cross-cultural challenges in a diverse world."

In February of 2023, USAFA's Department of Computer and Cyber Sciences hosted the Jean Bartik Computing Symposium which "seeks to promote fellowship among women and minorities in computing majors at the service academies and provide technical training through interactive workshops that will make them competitive for their future careers in service to the Nation."

USAFA offers a "Sustainability Minor" in which cadets will "learn technical and social approaches to historic and emergent sustainability problems and learn to integrate environmental, economic, and social considerations across disciplines." As part of the minor, students can choose to study the principal concentration "Sociocultural concentration" which "focuses on the societal impacts of an organization and approaches towards creating value for all stakeholders such as communities, employees, or individuals."

The academy provides resources on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The USAF Academy offers a Diversity and Inclusion certificate program.

The Diversity and Inclusion Task Force has been working to provide additional support for minority individuals.

On July 7, 2021, The Washington Free Beacon released an article describing how an associate professor of political science at the United States Air Force Academy promoted the teachings of critical race theory at the academy. Professor Lynne Chandler Garcia conceptually prompted cadets to “identify the structural racism and inequality that has been endemic in American society.”

A political science professor at the academy said, "I teach critical race theories to our nation’s future military leaders because it is vital that cadets understand the history of the racism that has shaped both foreign and domestic policy" in an op-ed in the Washington Post. The professor added, "In other words, racism was ingrained in the system from the beginning, and the military still struggles with these issues."

The Air Force's Air University has a video on "unconscious bias."

A "Diversity and Inclusion Reading Room" was opened at the academy.

In 2020, the academy released a video titled, "Seek to Understand, Microaggressions."

The Academy offers the Cadet Wing Diversity and Inclusion Program, which "promotes inclusive leadership" and "advocates for equitable treatment of all cadets." According to the USAFA, following the completion of the program, "each cadet wears a purple rope across their left shoulder symbolizing their position as a diversity representative."

On June 20, 2023, the Washington Examiner published an article by an Air Force Academy cadet titled, "Inside the 'woke' takeover of the US Air Force Academy," which discusses his experience with CRT and diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings at the Academy. The cadet reported that "...leftist ideologies, including critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings, being forced upon us by academy leadership have divided the cadet wing from within, in a profession where unity is essential." He also stated the following: "at the beginning of my sophomore year, we saw some of the most divisive training to date. We were told during a DEI briefing not to refer to our parents as 'mom and dad' because it was 'divisive language because everyone might not have a mom and a dad'.”

USAFA links to a US Air Force "Diversity & Inclusion Resource List" which includes materials on "unconscious bias," "race-specific learning," and "courageous conversations."

The US Air Force Special Task Force released a "Diversity and Inclusion" update. The task force stated it "finished post-production of a new video on unconscious bias to highlight bias mitigation strategies that will maximize talent and benefit the entire force." Furthermore, the task force "is assembling options for department leaders" to determine "how training will be rolled out to the forces over the coming months and years."

On January 30, 2025, NBC News in Southern Colorado reported that the USAFA has "dropped its Diversity and Inclusion Studies minor from its website after President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week prohibiting the Department of Defense from promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs."

On February 11, 2025, The Gazette reported that the USAFA is "reviewing all of its cadet clubs for compliance with President Donald Trump's order to end diversity, equity and inclusion programming across the federal government." The Air Force also announced recently that it would no longer use resources to "celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Black History Month, or any other month associated with cultural identity."

On June 4, 2020, senior officers at USAF Academy gathered to discuss the events surrounding George Floyd in order to "denounce bigotry and intolerance in the wake of the international protest movement surrounding racial injustice in the U.S."

The Washington Examiner reported, "Critical race theory was referenced during the academy’s Acceptance Day Parade."

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley defended the study of critical race theory in a June 2021 congressional hearing. Milley said, "So what is wrong with understanding, having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend? And I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our commissioned, non-commissioned officers of being, quote, ‘woke’ or something else, because we're studying some theories that are out there."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in June 2021, "We do not teach critical race theory, we don’t embrace critical race theory and I think that’s a spurious conversation...We are focused on extremist behaviors, and not ideology, not people’s thoughts, not people’s political orientation."

Lynne Chandler Garcia, who is a political science professor at the United States Air Force Academy, released a statement announcing, “I teach critical race theories to our nation’s future military leaders because it is vital that cadets understand the history of the racism that has shaped both foreign and domestic policy.” The professor further states that teaching critical race theory “helps students identify the structural racism and inequality that has been endemic in American society.”

The Judicial Watch reported that the academy did not respond to an FOIA request on August 5, 2021 to release “any and all PowerPoint presentations used for training and/or classroom instruction discussing critical race theory (CRT) and/or ‘white supremacy’” as well as “emails about this issue for Air Force Academy senior leadership.”

On February 2, 2023, the United States Air Force announced that “Senior Air Force leaders and the Air Force Academy Band took center stage across several schools in Rapid City, Jan. 26 and 27, to highlight Air Force diversity through the Air Force Recruiting Service’s General Officer Inspire program.” Furthermore, the General Office Inspire Program is a “diversity outreach initiative” launched for general officers to “engage with youth and youth influencers (parents, teachers, coaches, civic/community leaders, etc.) to increase diversity in the Air Force's flying community.”

On December 6, 2022, the United States Air Force Academy announced that the Board of Visitors for the academy held a meeting in D.C., where Gen. Clark “admitted to hearing concerns from some graduates and congressional members that USAFA is no longer focused on military preparedness and instead spending too much time on other training, such [as] diversity, equity and inclusion” and responded “That couldn’t be further from the truth. The program is as robust as ever.”

According to emails obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, the USAFA's "top official worried" the Supreme Court’s decision deeming race-based admissions unconstitutional "would set back the service’s 'warfighting imperative' of building a racially diverse military."

The Academy awards the "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Innovation Award" to faculty, staff, and cadets who contribute to DEI efforts. Candidates are "evaluated on their operational impact, innovation, and inclusive leadership."