This story originally aired on broadcast Jan. 21. This written report adds new comments from the Air Force Academy.An internal climate survey taken by the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) Department of Faculty staff revealed alarm ing trends for low morale, a perceived increase in sexist and racist harassment and discrimination, and leadership concerns following a tumultuous year of civilian faculty reductions.The survey detailed the sharp decrease in USAFA staff from year-over-year, with numbers that seemingly contradict what Academy leadership has publicly stated as the institution has grappled with controversial civilian cuts since initial reports leaked last April.The Defense Organizational Climate Survey (DEOCS) is a tool that provides commanders and other Department of Defense (DoD) leaders with important feedback about the current climate within their unit or organization, according to the DoD.The USAFA DEOCS, which was disseminated to staff in mid January, was conducted in October and November last year. News5 obtained a copy of the internal slides presented to staff, highlighting the survey results.In response to questions from KOAA, an Academy spokesperson said the DEOCS is an ongoing effort, and as it remains active and open, any information obtained regarding the results' has not been validated or analyzed, and we would caution against relying on incomplete or unofficial data. A slide in the survey results called them a snapshot in time.But sources within the Academy whove spoken on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, placed validity on the results. With one source stating the respondents described the causes of these abysmally low morale ratings as a clear consequence of the rapid institutional changes imposed and poorly communicated without clear objectives by [Superintendent] Bauernfeind.According to the DEOCS, 72% of staff said the climate at USAFA was worse in 2025 compared to the year prior, with most respondents attributing the discontent to factors outside of their department or the overall Department of Faculty. This would indicate issues and concerns with the higher levels of the Academy and the Defense Department leadership. 54% stated they had high morale in 2024, but that decreased to just 30% in 2025. The slides note morale trended lowest among supervisors, civilian faculty, junior enlisted, and women.Racist and sexist behaviors and discrimination were also noted to increase year-over-year. Many of the comments focused on statements and policies outside of the Department of Faculty, according to the slides. The U.S. Air Force Academy does not tolerate harassment, discrimination, or sexism, a USAFA spokesperson said in response to this noted increase.The slides also state that Department of Faculty stress levels have increased each year since 2021, but this years increase was attributed to civilian faculty cuts and uncertainty surrounding significant changes at the Academy and the DoD as a whole throughout President Trumps first year of his second term.A summary of the survey noted Chronic work overload perpetuated by personnel reductions and criticized Superintendent Tony Baurenfeind with a bullet point noting USAFA leadership decisions disconnected from academic mission insufficiently explained. Since last April, KOAA has extensively reported on controversial decisions at the Academy to implement civilian faculty cuts that many fear will lead to a loss in majors, possible risk to accreditation, and the inability for the Academy to recruit the best and brightest instructors in the future. Superintendent Bauernfeind has continually stressed these reductions are mandated across the Air Force.The DEOCS notably stated there was a decrease in participation for this particular survey Due to decreased manpower, eligible participants dropped from 895 to 759.Thats a decrease of 136 positions, or over 15% of the Department of Faculty staff. The survey respondents included all teaching faculty (military, civilian, and visiting), but also research faculty, librarians, lab technicians, research contractors, and support staff. Its unclear how many total departures there are, but not all of those 136 positions were teaching roles.This appeared to be the first hard evidence of how many faculty have departed since the controversial cuts began last year. But publicly, the Academy and Superintendent Bauernfeind have maintained that only 25 civilian faculty departed last year through retirement, deferred resignations that were pushed across the federal government last year, and term-limited positions.Superintendent Bauernfeind said 19 of them were already replaced by military instructors. That would indicate only a net loss of six instructors.In response to a question about the apparent discrepancies in how many departures have occurred, a USAFA spokesperson said, We're confident in the accuracy and consistency of our publicly released figures.One source within the Academy who asked not to be identified said the number of faculty losses highlighted in the DEOCS exposes the hollowness of leaderships claim of just six net losses to the faculty.Dr. Rich Buckley, Lt Col (ret), was an Air Force Academy active duty military instructor for many years before returning in 2019 to teach as a civilian instructor. In total, he said he spent a total of 14 years teaching at the Academy.He left his post as an Assistant Professor of Aeronautics this semester to take a position with Colorado State University. Buckley said his experience throughout last year was indicative of the larger trend of low morale and high stress of faculty as outlined in the DEOCS survey.In an interview with KOAA, Buckley disputed USAFA leaderships publicly released faculty reductions. As of December, he said there were 11 total people gone between the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering, which alone, if accurate, would represent a larger number of departures than whats been stated by leadership.Last June, Buckley said he was told his position had been eliminated and he was going to be fired. An email from the acting dean told him he should begin looking for another job.The whole experience broke trust, he said.Your term is renewed automatically every four years or so and the intent is that you're going to stay there until you're ready to retire, said Buckley. You have trust between your leadership and yourself, and that trust gets built over the almost 15 years that I worked there. And being told that your position is no longer important to us. Your position no longer exists, right? That broke that trust. That promise made to me, basically. And it hurt.And Buckley agreed with the DEOCS response, criticizing the abrupt institutional changes and tremendous amount of uncertainty.Across the board, not just in whether or not we're going to have a job, but also were we going to change the basic structure of the academy? Were we going to change the number of majors that we have? Were we going to go to a trimester? said Buckley. There's just so much churn that that raises your stress level.Reflecting on the responses, noting an increase in discriminationwhich would have stemmed from anti-DEI initiatives issued from the Trump administration and Department of DefenseBuckley recalled the impacts those broad strokes had at the Academy.During the spring semester last year, Buckley described posters on the second floor of an Academy building that displayed history and milestones celebrating Native Americans and trans members of the Air Force, for example.Those just quietly disappeared one day, he said. But they were noticed. They were noticed by the cadets. They were noticed by the faculty. There's no real explanation. They just went away.As a result, he said staff scrambled to put additional explanations on posters highlighting women in science and engineering so that they wouldnt be taken down as well.Through the tumultuous previous year, Buckley said the stress was too much for himself and likely many others.The uncertainty of are we going to lose our jobs? Are we going to lose 8% this year and another 8% next year and another 8% a year after that? That just raises everybody's stress level and uncertainty in the whole situation, said Buckley. And there's also kind of a loss of the purpose of the Academy in there, with the change of focus apparently away from education.Email Senior Reporter Brett Forrest at [email protected]. Follow @brettforrestTV on X and Brett Forrest Newson Facebook.Brett can also communicate via encrypted apps like Signal. Due to the sensitive nature of ongoing reporting from federal actions, he is willing to take steps to protect identities. ...read more read less