By Frances Hesselbein
Major General Randall Fullhart and I were met in Colorado Springs by my aides, Captain Emily Bulger and Cadet Katherine Dials for the 17th Annual National Character and Leadership Symposium, Guardians of Trust: Leaders in the Modern Era, where I was invited to speak.
The Mission of the United States Air Force Academy is to educate, train, and inspire men and women to become officers of character, motivated to lead the United States Air Force in service to our nation.
While touring the Academy Visitors Center with Cadet Olsowski, who happened to be a proud Brownie Troop leader, I learned that a cadet’s first year begins in June with six weeks of Basic Cadet Training called “BCT.” At the end of BCT, cadets receive their shoulder boards signifying acceptance into the Cadet Wing and the official start of their freshman year.
The Symposium was kicked off with Superintendent Lt General Mike Gould and the Cadet Rifle Team. There were more than 700 participants from all three sectors.
Judith Registre, the Director of Policy and Outreach at Women for Women International, UK, was a featured speaker. She has spent the last eight years doing field work in Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Africa and Sudan.
Throughout the three days of the Symposium, I met groups of cadets, including a luncheon at the request of 23 cadets who are women, who had all been Girl Scouts. I was even reunited with a University of Pittsburgh Hesselbein Leadership Summit alumni, Reed Traphagan.
The positive culture at the U.S. Air Force Academy is palpable.I came home inspired and grateful to the cadets and faculty who, in the end, sustain the democracy.
