AFP broke the story last month of an alleged verbal assault on two USAFA Association of Graduates (AOG) retired general officer board members by the spouse of the AOG Board Chair Cathy Almand -- Dave Almand.
SPOUSE OF USAFA AOG BOARD CHAIR ACCOSTS OTHER BOARD MEMBERS IN ANGRY FIT
Air Force Academy graduates have decided to further publicize the incident, after trying to work with the Association of Graduates (AOG) to resolve the situation.
The two officers assaulted were from the 'Unity Slate' of AOG board members recently elected, with an open agenda to fix the problems at USAFA.
One retired officer familiar with the entire situation told AFP, "Why did the husband of the BOD Chairwoman think/feel he should/needed to intervene on behalf of his BOD Chairwoman spouse regarding the two BOD members the husband criticized/assaulted? Did he think/feel she needed his help because she was not capable of resolving BOD issues herself/on her own? Was she not capable of doing that? Does her silence regarding her spouse’s hostile conduct on her behalf mean she condones her husband’s hostile conduct?"
Below are a string of emails from Colonel Ron Scott (USAF, Ret):
From: Ron Scott
Date: Sat, Aug 30, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Subject: Fwd: Self-inflicted Scandal and Recommended Solution
To: Cathy Almand
Madam Chair,
I am following up on two emails I sent to you and members of the board. Several board members have responded indicating support for a resolution. I have not heard from you.
Do you intend to respond? If not, I shall consider no response as a response and regretfully proceed with making the issue more public. If I do not hear from you by Monday, September 1, 2025, then I will conclude that you have no intention to respond to a paid life member of the AOG.
I look forward to hearing from you.
V/r,
Ron
Ronald J. Scott, Jr., Ph.D.
Colonel, USAF (Ret)
Class of 1973
Class President, 2013-2023
From: Ron Scott
Date: Sun, Aug 24, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Subject: Re: Self-inflicted Scandal and Recommended Solution
To: Cathy Almand, AOG Board Of Directors, Mark Hille, NIKOLAI, DOUGLAS J CTR USAF ANG 182 FS/149OG/BGI, Mike Rose
To Whom It May Concern:
Based on very useful feedback I received yesterday (especially from two upperclassmen), I want to publicly apologize for the approach I took. In hindsight, it would have been more appropriate to have sent the letter only to the Board Chairperson, encouraging a quick remedy.
One of the assaulted parties told me he was being encouraged to "just let it go."
Yet, in one of my exchanges with an upperclassman, he said: "And if XXXX's confrontation is the worst thing that YYYY and ZZZZ have endured in their lifetimes, then they have enjoyed a blessed and issue free life." My response: "I tend to agree; however, two books by Hannah Arendt--The Origins of Totalitarianism and Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil--caution its readers to notice and then respond to the type of developments (typically sentiment) that can lead to totalitarianism. Banality is an appropriate descriptor. The verbal assaults appear banal in a sense; however, letting them go tolerates potentially dangerous behavior."
I share the above because the assaulted parties were called "racists." This is not an isolated sentiment. Was it coincidental that, as I walked past a stack of books in my study this morning, the one on top of the stack was Race Matters by Cornel West? Earlier this morning I also watched this clip by Victor Davis Hansen: Joy Reid and the Rise of Open Racism From the Left.
Our Articles of Incorporation ban favoring or opposing political ideas. This is nearly an impossible standard. We all embrace political ideas--the Constitution is a political idea (and ideal), and we favor it.
The issue here is to not demean another for different perspectives. The opportunity is for the AOG (via leadership from the BOD) on behalf of the Long Blue Line to fulfill their important vision/mission while navigating the turbulent sea of a politically-infused/charged culture.
As a grad and Lifetime (and paid) AOG member, I look forward to hearing how this issue has been solved.
V/r,
Ron
Ronald J. Scott, Jr., Ph.D.
Colonel, USAF (Ret)
Class of 1973
Class President, 2013-2023
Further comments were provided by Colonel Ron Scott (USAF, Ret):
Corruption does not always manifest in a patently grotesque manner. Yet, its banality can signal a dangerous pattern of sentiment.
A looming situation with the US Air Force Academy Association of Graduates (AOG) Board of Directors (BOD) is a symptom of corruption. This situation involves a retired senior officer (a colonel) verbally assaulting two superior retired senior officers (a lieutenant general and a black brigadier general) in public venues. The spouse of the assaulting officer, who currently serves as the BOD chairperson, witnessed one of the altercations and did nothing to intervene. The two retired general officers authored memoranda for the record and were made available in a recent article: https://armedforces.press/spouse-of-usafa-aog-board-chair-accosts-other-board-members-in-angry-fit/.
Since the publication of the above article, I contemplated what a moral duty calls for, and it was this past Sunday's sermon by Bishop Barron (see Don’t Play the Pride Game - Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermon) on the greatest of all capital vices (sins)--pride--that compels me to act. For the record, below is a chain of emails I sent to encourage reconciliation. As of this writing, there has been no response from the Board chairperson, and only five private supportive responses--a minority among the current directors--an example of complicity regarding those who chose to remain silent. Does this mean the honor code and core values--integrity first, service before self, excellence in all that we do--no longer matter to some graduates?
Below is Scott's letter to the AOG Board:
