The U.S. Air Force Academy Board of Visitors met virtually July 20; the meeting was open and accessible to the public. 

The meeting focused on Academy leadership transitions, infrastructure needs, discipline policies, artificial intelligence, athletics and the ongoing restoration of the Cadet Chapel.

BOV Chairman U.S. Rep. August Pfluger ’00 opened the meeting by welcoming and swearing in new board members, highlighting congressional efforts to support the Academy and stressing the board’s responsibility to provide recommendations to the secretary of war.

Rep. Pfluger recognized recently appointed members, including Sens. Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Chris Coons (Delaware) and Jacky Rosen (Nevada), as well as presidential appointees John Hotaling and Erika Kirk. He also welcomed back Dina Powell, who was reappointed to the board. He pointed to recent honors for the Academy, including Forbes naming USAFA a "New Ivy" and several athletic programs earning perfect NCAA Academic Progress Rate scores.

The chairman praised outgoing Superintendent Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind ’91 for guiding the Academy through a challenging period.

“Gen. Bauernfeind, we thank you for service before self and for leading the Air Force Academy,” Rep. Pfluger said. “We wish you well in the next phase of your career and your life.”

Rep. Pfluger also touted several National Defense Authorization Act provisions supported by the board, including efforts to restore the Cadet Wing to 4,400 cadets, establish a dedicated funding line for the Academy and explore modernization partnerships with affiliated nonprofit organizations.

At the same time, he noted delays in responses from the Academy to board information requests.

“We have to have timely, accurate and transparent responses in order to accomplish our statutory responsibilities,” Rep. Pfluger said, citing delayed and incomplete submissions related to climate surveys, cadet standards and the chapel renovation.

Rep. Pfluger then swore in the BOV’s newest members.

Brian Scarlett, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, thanked Gen. Bauernfeind for his service, noting the challenging post-COVID environment that he faced and his efforts to restore the warrior ethos at the Academy.

Scarlett acknowledged the concerns about delays in furnishing information to the BOV and pledged improvement.

“I think we are going to see a much quicker turnaround,” Scarlett said. “I’m hoping that we can correct that, and that this was the last meeting that you had to call that out.”

Scarlett said several board recommendations have already influenced Air Force initiatives, including a comprehensive review of officer commissioning sources and long-term planning efforts under the USAFA 2050 initiative.

Scarlet concluded his remarks by noting the department’s partnership with the BOV to advance the Academy and produce excellent officers.

Vice Superintendent Brig. Gen. Nicholas Evans ’99 informed the board that Gen. Bauernfeind’s absence was due to the superintendent completing retirement out-processing requirements. Gen. Evans thanked the board for its continued advocacy and introduced two new members of the Academy’s senior leadership team: Col. Brandon Tellez ’01, commandant of cadets, and Brig. Gen. James Valpiani ’04, dean of faculty.

Col. Tellez said his priority is preparing cadets for the realities of future conflict by building on the Academy’s existing foundation while placing even greater emphasis on warfighting.

“We inherit our nation’s finest,” he said. “It is my job now to ensure that through every experience they go through here, they walk away as warfighters.”

Col. Tellez said today’s cadets must be challenged beyond what they believe they are capable of and exposed to the technologies and operational concepts they will encounter as officers.

“Our nation demands folks that are pushed to the edge of what they think is possible,” he said. “By the time they graduate, they are prepared to fight.”

He added that while resource constraints remain, the Academy is finding new ways to expose cadets to air, space and cyber operations and emerging technologies such as autonomous systems.

Gen. Valpiani spoke next, stating that the Academy's academic mission remains unique because every course ultimately supports preparing officers for service in the Air Force and Space Force.

“The academic mission here at the Air Force Academy is distinct from that of other institutions of higher learning, specifically in our alignment toward the Air and Space Force mission,” he said.

He outlined three priorities for academics: providing a distinctive military-focused education, integrating learning across disciplines and ensuring every graduate develops a strong understanding of air, space and cyber power alongside humanities and STEM education.

At the BOV chairman’s urging, Gen. Valpiani also briefed the board on the Academy’s evolving approach to artificial intelligence, describing AI as one of higher education’s greatest opportunities and one of its greatest challenges.

He said the Academy is intentionally sequencing AI instruction, so cadets first develop independent thinking before relying on AI-assisted tools.

“There are foundational elements of thinking that our cadets need to develop here, and much of that has to happen in an environment in which they are not dependent upon artificial intelligence,” Gen. Valpiani said.

He said the Academy plans to establish institution-wide guidance rather than leaving it to the individual faculty to develop, which could lead to inconsistent approaches.

“By the time they depart this institution, they must be masters of artificial intelligence,” he said. “They must know how to use it effectively to accelerate how we do business in the Air and Space Force.”

Following Gen. Valpiani’s briefing, Rep. Pfluger said the BOV could help connect the Academy with industry expertise, pointing as an example to board member Powell’s experience leading artificial intelligence initiatives in the private sector.

Col. (Ret.) Jennifer Block ’92, executive director of athletics, briefed the board on the NCAA’s new “five-in-five” eligibility model, which allows student-athletes five seasons of competition within a five-year period.

While service academies currently operate on a four-year model, Col. Block said the policy creates an opportunity to explore broader changes that could benefit both cadet-athletes and the Academy.

Possible options include graduate degree opportunities, expanded STEM or warfighting studies, additional flight training and other developmental experiences for selected cadets, though such changes would require congressional authorization.

The board received an extensive update on the Cadet Chapel restoration from Brig. Gen. Patrick G. Miller, commander of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, who said the renovation work continues to gain momentum following direction from Air Force leadership to accelerate construction.

Gen. Miller said a 2025 memorandum from Secretary of the Air Force Dr. Troy Meink removed administrative barriers, expanded project oversight and gave contracting officials greater flexibility to authorize work while negotiations continued, allowing construction to move faster.

“We've worked really hard to take down barriers,” Gen. Miller said. “We’re holding the contractor accountable while reducing the bureaucracy.”

The project, he said, is now scheduled to reach beneficial occupancy April 28, 2028, allowing the Academy to regain control of the facility before graduation and giving chaplains time to reinstall religious artifacts and prepare the building for worship before the Class of 2028 graduates.

Construction will continue through August 2028 to complete landscaping, final exterior work and contract closeout.

Gen. Miller also announced that the temporary enclosure surrounding the chapel is expected to begin coming down in July 2027, with the goal of removing it completely by January 2028.

“We're going to work on getting that box down,” Gen. Miller said, referring to the large white enclosure that has surrounded the chapel during restoration. “Folks can see what’s going on inside that box — or see the chapel from the road or the Terrazzo.”

He highlighted several milestones completed in recent months, including restoration of nearly all Protestant pews, installation of the Catholic organ, completion of a new gutter system designed to prevent the water intrusion that contributed to years of deterioration, and the start of stained-glass installation and interior finish work.

The project has also increased public outreach by launching a website with regular construction updates and installing informational displays along the construction fence so visitors can follow the restoration’s progress.

Recognizing that several graduating classes have never experienced the chapel interior, Gen. Miller said the restoration team worked with Academy officials to provide tours for every member of the Class of 2026 before graduation and plans to do the same for the Class of 2027.

“We're doing the best we can to inform folks of what’s going on and the current status of the chapel restoration,” he said.

Looking ahead, Gen. Miller said crews expect to complete the chapel’s east and west exterior walls by November, begin installing the north and south curtain walls in December and have the building fully weather-tight by spring 2027. That milestone will allow crews to remove the enclosure, accelerate interior work and complete installation of the remaining pews and Protestant organ before the facility is returned to the Academy.

Following the briefing, board members praised the accelerated timeline. Vice Chairman Col. (Ret.) Doug Nikolai ’89 encouraged project leaders to continue exploring opportunities to open portions of the chapel even earlier if feasible, while Rep. Pfluger noted that six Academy classes have graduated without seeing one of the institution’s most iconic landmarks.

Following the public comment portion, the board voted to merge two existing action items – Space Education Center and Update on BOS-I-USAFA – into a broader USAFA 2050 initiative while keeping the topics under active review. 

In his closing remarks, Rep. Pfluger again thanked Gen. Bauernfeind for his service as superintendent and described the current moment as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to improve the Academy’s resources, governance and infrastructure. He said the board intends to continue pushing for reforms and investments necessary to prepare future Air Force and Space Force officers.

“This board wants to see that legacy continue,” Rep. Pfluger said. “We want to do everything we can to advocate for those graduates to be as prepared as possible.”

The meeting adjourned with the board requesting written responses to member questions by Sept. 30 ahead of its next meeting in October.

On July 22, the National Defense Authorization Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives. The House bill includes several provisions influenced by BOV members, including provisions restoring the Cadet Wing at USAFA to 4,400 and authorizing the superintendent to partner with affiliated nonprofit organizations on installation modernization projects. Another of the bill’s provisions redesignates the dean of the faculty as provost and dean of the faculty as part of a broader effort that the Academy would undertake to improve academic outcomes. The bill will now go to the Senate.

Established under Title 10 U.S. Code 9455, the Board of Visitors inquires into the morale, discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods and other matters relating to the U.S. Air Force Academy that the board decides to consider.

The board consists of six members appointed by the president of the United States, three appointed by the vice president of the United States, four appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, one designated by the Senate Armed Services Committee and one designated by the House Armed Services Committee.

• Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Dan Clark, Doug Nikolai, Dina Powell, Erika Kirk, Jon Hotaling — appointed by the president of the United States.
• Colorado Rep. Jeff Crank, Texas Rep. August Pfluger — appointed by the speaker of the House.
• North Carolina Rep. Donald Davis, Vacant — appointed by the House minority leader.
• North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer, South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds — appointed by the House minority leader.
• Delaware Sen. Christopher Coons, Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen — appointed by the Senate minority leader.
• North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd — appointed by the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman.
• Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper — appointed by the Senate Armed Services ranking designee.
• Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon — appointed by the House Armed Services Committee designee.
• New Mexico Rep. Gabe Vasquez — appointed by the House Armed Services ranking designee.

For more information about the USAFA Board of Visitors, including its charter, bylaws and official minutes, click here to visit its webpage.