Tag Archives: mark welsh

USAF Academy Cadets Talk Respect, Dr. Mike Rosebush

The US Air Force Academy made several homosexual cadets available to reporters for a conference call last week and subsequently released a summary article:

Carol, Stephanie and William, three cadets in the Academy’s Spectrum club for LGBQ and allied cadets, spoke to reporters with both local and national newspapers and blogs to talk about their experiences and the support they’ve received from the Academy’s senior leaders…

The three cadets were identified only by their first names, and the group generally spoke neutrally or well of Dr. Rosebush:

“Frankly, I didn’t know he existed until his name showed up in the press,” William said. “My personal opinion is that he’s been here long enough, he’s shown he can work here without pressing his views on other people. If he does his job and does it well, and he’s not trying to influence or treat people differently than anybody else, then personally, Read more

AF Generals Mark Welsh, Larry Spencer Highlight Need for Respect

In a commentary entitled “Every Airman Counts: Treating each other with dignity and respect,” General Larry Spencer, Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, nobly attempted to laud the virtue of respect.  He recounts the story of a fellow Airman using the “N word” during a flag football game many years ago:

I was certainly no stranger to harsh language or “trash talk.” However, this was different—and it literally hurt…I was an American Airman and I didn’t expect that kind of verbal attack from a fellow Airman…

Several Airmen, on both sides of the ball, spoke up — forcefully. They chastised the offender and made it clear they did not approve of his outbursts or attitude. The referee, who was an NCO, also stepped forward and not only ejected him from the game, but directed him to report to his first sergeant the following day. The next day, not only did my teammates (on both teams) go out of their way to apologize for this single Airman’s behavior, but the Airman who committed the act also personally apologized.

Gen Spencer later said  Read more

USAFA Reviews Hiring Practices After Criticism

After accusations the US Air Force Academy could not justify hiring Dr. Mike Rosebush, the Academy has now said it will review its hiring practices to make sure they are

legally sound, equitable and unbiased

The Academy has repeatedly said that Dr. Rosebush has performed his duties well and there have been no complaints.  Still, USAFA said they will “specifically focus” on his hiring.  Three homosexual USAFA cadets — presumably those who would have been most harmed by Dr. Rosebush, according to critics — even told the press they’d never heard of Dr. Rosebush until his name came up in the press.

According to at least one talking head, some of USAFA’s response to the criticisms of Dr. Rosebush has fed the fires.  The Air Force Academy has repeatedly emphasized that Dr. Rosebush  Read more

Groups Demand Air Force Academy Fire “Ex-Gay Cure Advocate” Mike Rosebush

As reported at the Air Force Times, groups have called on the US Air Force Academy to fire Dr. Mike Rosebush, a member of its Center for Character and Leadership Development, for his

extensive history of work with organizations that seek to change gays’ and lesbians’ sexual orientations.

Dr. Rosebush is a 1975 graduate of the Air Force Academy — one year senior to General Mark Welsh, current Air Force Chief of Staff.  Dr. Rosebush was a fighter pilot and retired in 1995 as a Lieutenant Colonel.

John Aravosis of the homosexual advocacy AmericaBlog and Evan Hurst of Truth Wins Out led the charge, with Truth Wins Out saying Rosebush was an “ex-gay charlatan.”

The Air Force Academy initially provided only a short response saying they are “committed to human dignity:”  Read more

Fighter Pilots Decline Bonus over Boredom

Acting Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning said “just a few” fighter pilots have taken the $225,000 bonus offered by the Air Force to get their long term commitment. The reason?  Boredom.

pilots are not taking the service up on the offer because of reduced flying hours caused by budget cuts, acting Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning said.

“If you’re not flying your F-22 because it’s grounded, you might as well go fly something else,” Fanning said.

A few weeks ago, Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh Read more

USAFA Says “So Help Me God” is Optional

In an anticlimatic but optimistically predicted result, LtGen Michelle Johnson declared that the “so help me God” portion of the USAFA Cadet Honor Oath is optional:

“Here at the Academy, we work to build a culture of dignity and respect, and that respect includes the ability of our cadets, Airmen and civilian Airmen to freely practice and exercise their religious preference – or not.” said Lt. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson, Academy Superintendent. “So, in the spirit of respect, cadets may or may not choose to finish the Honor Oath with ‘So help me God.'”

The current USAFA Athletic Director, Dr. Hans Mueh (BGen, Ret), was part of the faculty that decided on “so help me God” in 1984, when it was created in response to a cheating scandal:

“To add more seriousness to the oath, we decided to mirror the commissioning oath and add the words, ‘so help me, God,'” Dr. Mueh said.

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, the “religious freedom” advocate who Read more

USAFA Pulled Poster of Fallen Ace Robbie Risner’s Plane


General Mark Welsh, US Air Force Chief of Staff, announced that retired BGen James Robinson “Robbie” Risner passed away this week.

In a cruel twist of timing, the poster pulled down by USAFA last week (because it offensively said “so help me God”) was of BGen Risner’s F-100F, the “Spirit of St Louis II” — in which he crossed the Atlantic as Charles Lindbergh did, but in only 6 hours.  (The aircraft remains on static display in front of the USAFA Prep School.)

BGen Risner is probably most famous for his time as a POW in Vietnam’s infamous Hanoi Hilton — where he roomed with other well-known men like Col Bud Day and LtCdr John McCain.  BGen Risner, then a LtCol, was the ranking POW and the leader of the men in the prison — and it turns out he might have had an opinion on that “God and honor” thing going on at USAFA [emphasis added]:

When asked what kept him going throughout his imprisonment, Risner said in a 2004 interview on CNN Larry King Live that his survival was due to exercise and his “faith in God and Read more

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