USAFA Officials: Shutdown is ‘Completely Disruptive’

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Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson, superintendent of the US Air Force Academy, addresses the press about the government shutdown.
Credit Andrea Chalfin
Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson, superintendent of the US Air Force Academy, addresses the press about the government shutdown.

With more than 1000 civilians furloughed at the United States Air Force Academy, officials there are calling the government shutdown 'completely disruptive.'

Almost 20% of specialized academic courses are suspended, and others combined.  Other activities are curtailed. Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson says operationally, while things like safety and medical continue, they’re having to account for some of the basics of life, like laundry and toilet paper.

It’s unfortunate that there’s a bureaucratic term for our colleagues of “non-essential,” because it couldn’t be more wrong about what we rely on.  And, it’s a accounting term that we’ve used, but it certainly does not apply to the worth of our colleagues, from very basic things to even grander things.

Lt. Gen. Johnson says long-term, they’re concerned about the impacts on graduation requirements and accreditation. 

In the short run, we can attempt to cover that with our military faculty.  But where we’re taking stock of as we go along is what are the impacts on graduation requirements, accreditation requirements, because we obviously award Bachelor of Science degrees, and there are certain requirements for that for accreditation, so we’re taking close accounting of that as we go along.

Saturday’s Air Force-Navy football game in Maryland will go on, thanks to a donation from USAA.  The rest of the Falcon football schedule is, as of now, essentially canceled.