AFlight Conference
Brig. Gen. Dana Born, Air Force Academy dean of the faculty, and her service academy peers participate in the Cadet Wing parade Wednesday. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Bill Evans)
Service academies’ deans drop in, tune in for annual get-together



by David Edwards
Air Force Academy Public Affairs

10/7/2011 - U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- he annual military service academy deans' conference this week, providing an opportunity for all five U.S. service academies to get together and talk shop.

Air Force Academy Dean of the Faculty Brig. Gen. Dana Born oversaw the Deans AFlight Conference program, which allowed the attendees to discuss ideas and share "best practices" at their respective institutions.

Born and her counterparts at the Naval Academy, Coast Guard Academy, Merchant Marine Academy and U.S. Military Academy convene every year, typically in the fall, to compare notes, confab and try to induce a little envy in showing off their institutions.

The event rotates among the five academies and has a slightly different name based on which one is hosting. When it's at West Point, it's Deans AFoot, and at Navy it's Deans AFloat.

The other two academies couldn't manage to keep that AF thing going for some reason. So the Coast Guard's version is Deans ADrift and the Merchant Marine Academy settled on Deans AWeigh.

"Ultimately, we try to build on one another's best practices," Born said. "It's really (about) face-to-face communication, and we usually come up with a theme."

This year's theme was "Continued Academic Excellence in an Era of Diminished Resources."

Born said the deans and the subordinates they bring work on a peer-to-peer level on topics of mutual cooperation such as cadet exchanges, leadership development and programs that inculcate understanding of foreign languages and cultures.

During breaks from the business of best practices, the attendees received such hallmarks of Falcon hospitality as glider rides, airplane rides and parachute jumps.

They were also treated to a Pass and Review on the Terrazzo and a Mitchell Hall lunch with exchange cadets.

In addition, the deans were briefed by Jeh Johnson, the Defense Department's general counsel.

"We're similar programs; we're Athens and Sparta," Born said. "But we're also trying to produce servant leaders for our respective services. We're all in the same business. It's really kind of an exciting time."