Air Force Academy cadets admit to cheating
by Chad Groening
February 20, 2007
(OneNewsNow.com) - - A former cadet group commander at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, says he believes two dozen freshmen cadets who have admitted to cheating will be expelled from the school. Twelve other students at the school are under investigation, but have denied wrongdoing.The Air Force Academy says the cheating occurred when cadets obtained answers to an upcoming test and forwarded them through an Internet social group and private computer messages. The test was part of a weekly series of exams dealing with general knowledge of the Air Force and do not effect cadets' grade point averages; however, the tests are required for students to advance to their second year.
Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Buzz Patterson served as a cadet group commander at the Air Force Academy for three years. He says the school's honor code is quite clear, "and that's where these guys are going to be in a lot of trouble, I think -- their honor violations."
The honor code is "where the academy separates itself from most colleges across the country," Patterson explains. "We expect, in the Air Force, a much higher standard," he says. "If they did cheat, there's no doubt in my mind that once that's proven, they're going to be looking for another university to attend school."
The Air Force must maintain high standards, the retired officer notes, because many of its graduates go on to flight school where they must learn to fly state-of-the-art, multi-million dollar aircraft under stressful, high-intensity circumstances. "You don't want people in those situations who can't handle the pressure, who can't manage their own personal lives, who can't allocate their time responsibly," he says.
And most importantly, Patterson adds, "I think, more than anything else, you don't want people representing our country in uniform who can't comply with the highest of standards. I mean, that's the bottom line with the academies in general."
According to Patterson, the Air Force Academy's cadet honor code forbids lying, stealing, and cheating as well as tolerating anyone who does these things. Typically, he says, normal punishment for failure in any of these areas is expulsion from the school.
