Air Force Academy removes commandant of cadets from job amid investigation

STARS AND STRIPES ^ | Published: April 29, 2019 | COREY DICKSTEIN

[robowombat]

Air Force Academy removes commandant of cadets from job amid investigation

WASHINGTON – The general in charge of the U.S. Air Force Academy’s 4,000 cadets has been removed from her duties and is under investigation, officials at the Colorado institution said Monday.

“Effective immediately, Brig. Gen. Kristin Goodwin is no longer performing her duties as the commandant of cadets pending the results of an ongoing investigation,” Lt. Col. Tracy Bunko, a spokesman for the academy, wrote in an email. She declined to provide any additional details about the nature of the investigation or who was conducting it.

Bunko said Air Force Col. Scott Campbell had temporarily taken command of the academy’s Cadet Wing. Campbell most recently had been serving as commander of the 355th Fight Wing at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.

Bunko did not answer questions Monday including who relieved Goodwin of her duties or whether Goodwin would be temporarily assigned elsewhere while the investigation is conducted.

Goodwin’s direct superior is the Air Force Academy’s superintendent, Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria.

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Goodwin’s firing comes just weeks before she was slated to leave her position in a regular rotation of leadership. The Air Force announced in December that Brig. Gen. Michele Edmondson was scheduled to replace Goodwin in the summer.

Goodwin was expected to transfer to the Pentagon and serve as the director of current operations for the Air Force deputy chief of staff, according to a service announcement last year.

The commandant of cadets is in charge of overseeing daily life for Air Force Academy cadets. The person is responsible for “character and leadership development, military training, supervising cadet life activities, and providing facility and logistical support to all cadets,” according to an Air Force description.

Goodwin’s selection for commandant of cadets, a position she took in May 2017, garnered media attention because she was the first openly gay Air Force general to serve in leadership at the academy.

Her selection was praised by LGBT advocates, but it also faced criticism from religious groups. That included one organization that filed a complaint with the Pentagon’s Inspector General’s Office, claiming Goodwin must have lied about her sexual orientation to enter the service, which at the time barred any gay individuals from serving. The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which allowed gay individuals to serve if their sexual orientation was not made public, was enacted about one year after she entered the service.

Goodwin is a 1993 graduate of the Air Force Academy. She is a pilot by trade, who has recorded more than 2,900 hours flying aircraft including B-52 Stratofortress bombers and B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, according to her Air Force biography. She has commanded units including the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana and the 509th Operational Support Squadron at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.

According to the Air Force, she was part of the team that planned the first night of the U.S. “Shock and Awe” air campaign leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She later led planning of air operations for the initial phase of 2011’s Operation Odyssey Dawn, the American bombing campaign in Libya that would lead to Moammar Gadhafi’s ouster.

Immediately before joining the Air Force Academy’s staff, Goodwin served as the top aide to then-Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James.

Goodwin’s tenure at the Air Force Academy has been praised and criticized, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.

The newspaper reported some people had credited Goodwin with installing tough discipline policies. Others, however, criticized her for treating subordinates poorly, among other issues, the paper reported, citing unnamed sources.

[Bonemaker]

I joined the USAF in 1963 and had the honor of being in General Lemay’s Air Force for his last two years. Universally respected. Ditto Chappie James.

[rlmorel]

And let us not forget this "four star" Admiral appointed by Obama, the first woman ever, and the first black woman ever:

I remembered her because I looked at the list of officers who where being considered for promotion to four star at the same time she was (IIRC only one out of the list of 10 or so candidates were going to be promoted to that rank.)

---

It was easy to look up their past commands. She had commanded an LSD once. Here is an overview of the rest of her experience (From Wikipedia, on which her page looks quite different from other four star admirals you might look up.):

Howard's shore assignments include: Course Coordinator/Instructor for the Steam Engineering Officer of the Watch (EOOW) course; Action Officer and Navy's liaison to the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Military Services (DACOWITS) in the Bureau of Personnel; Action Officer J-3, Global Operations, Readiness on the Joint Staff from 2001–2003; Executive Assistant to the Joint Staff Director of Operations from February 2003 to February 2004; and Deputy Director N3 on the OPNAV Staff from December 2005 to July 2006.

Howard was the Deputy Director, Expeditionary Warfare Division, OPNAV staff from July 2006 to December 2006, and senior military assistant to the secretary of the Navy January 2007 – January 2009. She served as chief of staff to the director for Strategic Plans and Policy, J-5, Joint Staff from August 2010 until July 2012.[3] From August 2012 to July 2013 VAdm Howard served as Deputy Commander U.S. Fleet Forces Command headquartered in Norfolk, Va.

Howard assumed command of Expeditionary Strike Group 2 and Combined Task Force 151 (CTF 151) aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer in April 2009. Boxer was the flagship for CTF 151, a multinational task force established to conduct counter-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean. She played a key role in the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, whose kidnapping by Somali pirates became a major motion picture film.

Howard was promoted to rear admiral (lower half), effective September 1, 2007 and to rear admiral, effective August 1, 2010. She was promoted to vice admiral on August 24, 2012.

On July 1, 2014, Howard was promoted to admiral. She became the 38th Vice Chief of Naval Operations the same day.

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A hagiographic Wiki entry, to be sure. She played a key role in the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips!

At the time she made four star, I looked at the list of candidates and what their job experiences had been, what ships they commanded and actions they had taken part in, and it was clear she was a typical Obama Affirmative Action appointee. If there was a list for promotion to four star, and the list was 30 instead of 10, she wouldn't have even been on that list in a meritocracy-based promotion system. The difference in command, war fighting experience, and actual warship command was astonishing. She had held command of one LSD. But it was obvious they were grooming her with her shore based commands.

[Blurb2350]

. . . and according to the article, she’ll be succeeded by a general named Michelle.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

These days, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a woman.

[Enlightened1]

Remember this little hoax incident done by the Air Force Academy head?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oinwPwCLG14

I remember when it first happened my red flag went immediately up. This is because I grew up in an Air Force family. We lived on some bases too. Racism did not exist and nor did I ever see a single incident of it in the Air Force.

When I saw this incident happened at the Air Force Academy my red flag went off when I saw anti-military Leftist celebrating and sharing this. Well it turns out it was a hoax just like my gut confirmed.

The student that did it said he was asked to do it and that is why he should not have been kicked out of the Academy. It was to help address “racism” and planned by Air Force Academy head who was lecturing the rest of the students as if they were guilty. What is sad because there was no racism they had to create it. That way they have a bogey man to point to.

It sickens me this General was lecturing to the Cadets when he was the guilty guy. That General left not too long once it was revealed.

Well guess what? They found out Kristin Goodwin was also involved in the planning on that fake hoax. She was secretly awarded for it, but has now been caught. That is the real reason why she is leaving. At least that is what they are saying on the web.

There was never any racism at the Air Force Academy. These Lefist that crept up the ranks and created a hoax in order to create the racisim bogeyman that did not exist to make their bogus case. Furthermore, to falsely blame the white cadets of something they never did.

These two former heads of the Academy not only disgraced the the Academy but the entire Air Force. They should have been dishonorably discharged and lose their pensions in my opinion. Furthermore, it should be taught this is what happens when you do these things.

I let my father know what is being reported what really happened since he is now a retired full bird Col (31 years and was originally enlisted). As you can imagine he was not pleased to hear this happened to the Air Force he loves.

[jagusafr]

Cannon AFB was still painting buildings “Creech brown” (a legendary TAC/CC) when I got there in ‘85.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Wasn’t in TAC but heard plenty of stories about him.

[vetvetdoug]

General Daniel “Chappie” James. A true hero. I was honored to have been selected and presented Airman of the Year in 1976 at an airbase by General James.

[Bonemaker]

Too many lickspittle political generals these days and not enough war generals.

[kagnew]

‘Our military should not be used for social experiments. Period.’

Couldn’t agree more, but too bad the the “Bent one” President didn’t have enough common sense and guts to put an end to the social experiments and probably let hillary dictate the social experiments to billy boy. Just my personal opinion.

[Midwesterner53]

She in fact did lie on her applications if she denied being homosexual. No matter these days. Homosexuals and Muslims are at the top of the PC chain. Good riddance woman.

[Gritty]

One can only hope Goodwin is bounced out of her fat career on her ear, along with her “wife”. Putting her there in the first place was a disgrace.

[Gritty]

I served in the same Wing with Chappie James. What a great officer and patriot he was!

[ken in texas]

re. Putting her there in the first place was a disgrace.

Indeed.

[schurmann]

“Our military should not be used for social experiments. Period.” [txrefugee, post 5]

Couldn’t agree more, but the military has been used that way since before USMA at West Point officially opened in 1802 (officer training had been going on, de facto, before 1798). The uniformed military have been captive lab rats for centuries; politicians and high officials know they follow orders and don’t complain much. And that if they do get that uppity, action can be taken gainst them that few governmental types would contemplate, against mere civilians.

The political games are equally old. President Jefferson instituted the present system of Congressional appointments to broaden the social base” of the officer corps. Some researchers have stated that he did it to neutralize any political influence the officer corps may have been accruing, as a counterweight to his own administration. Opponents were tending to cluster there.

Plain competence isn’t the only casualty.

Here’s a link to an article by Frederick V Malmstrom (USAFA 1964), SEA combat veteran and PhD:

http://classof1964usafa.org/Malmstrom_Frederick/Dodo.pdf

A brief history of _The Dodo_, a cadet humor publication which began just after USAFA opened, but fell victim to political correctness some 15 years back.

[Bonemaker]

“I served in the same Wing with Chappie James. What a great officer and patriot he was!”

You are very, very honored to have that experience!

[QBFimi]

Check out the pix.

Fellow Air Force vets will instantly note the jump wings below the pilot wings. That means she’s a “Ring Tapper” (Air Force Academy grad). No matter your rank, they all made sure you noted that they were better than you. (By having, as they said, “A million dollar education shoved up their a$$ a nickel at a time”.)

And check out the ribbons. Wow!

Notice that one in the middle of the pack - it’s the National Defense Service Medal. When I was in the Air Force we called that the “Alive in ‘65” medal. (If you were alive in 1965, you got one.) No big deal.

So, what’s all that stuff under it? Got one for cleaning your room? For getting coffee for the brass? Jeez.