Hal Bidlack
Back in 2008 when I first decided to run for Congress, I thought through the issues that I would like to confront directly, should a miracle happen, and I be elected as a moderate Democrat in the deep red district around Colorado Springs in which I lived. And I admit, when I spent hour after hour dialing for dollars from thousands of potential donors, my mind did occasionally wander to the things that I would like to get done, if elected. The voters of Congressional District 5 ultimately (and unsurprisingly) chose to keep the incumbent Republican, Doug Lamborn, in office, and my musings remained just that, musings.
I was reminded of some of those reveries when I read a recent Colorado Politics story that reported on a minor change in language in the next iteration of the National Defense Authorization Act. Buried in section 553 is, as reported in CoPo, the new language would prohibit any star athlete at any of the military service academies from deferring military active duty until after that athlete attempted a career in professional sports, almost always football or basketball.
This is a subject that I have long paid attention to during my 15-plus years on the faculty of the U.S. Air Force Academy, teaching political science. And I admit, over those years, my thinking changed. I was initially entirely unsympathetic to athletes that wanted to head to the NFL or NBA, given that they had voluntarily entered a military academy. One attends a military academy, in my view, as a path to national service in uniform. But my thinking evolved.
During my time teaching at the AF Academy, I had the pleasure of having Bryce Fisher as a student of mine. He was bright, thoughtful and was also an amazing athlete. He and I had several conversations about his future, and he was conflicted, in that when he entered the Academy as a brand new “basic” in summer basic training he had no idea he would become the exceptional athlete he would be just four years later. Bryce was conflicted, as he very much wanted to serve as an officer in the Air Force, but yet also heard the siren song of the NFL, which I consider entirely reasonable. Bryce, like others before him, served a modified initial military tour, and then was allowed to head for the NFL after a couple of years, followed by service in the reserves.
I’m OK with that system, which the new language would apparently ban, and will require such service academy graduates to serve their entire 6-plus year tours before being allowed to separate and only then head for the pros, albeit years after their likely best pro years. Under the old system, the officer-athlete would serve a couple years or so on active duty, and then would, frankly, become ambassadors for their military academy. In the past, a good bit of public attention was garnered by those individuals, putting a positive spin on military service and perhaps even helping the overall recruiting process.
And so, though I would urge the system for student-athletes to remain unchanged, there is one major change I had planned to introduce, had I been elected to Congress. I deeply and strongly feel that one should attend a military academy (or enroll in ROTC, as I did) when he or she has the goal of military service; even better if one wishes to make a career of such service. During my time at the AF Academy, I had the honor of serving as deputy commander of the basic cadet training one summer. That training is the intense introduction to military service that all service members, in one form or another, go through as a rite of passage and an introduction to the military way of life. This training is intense, and I admit that my heart often ached for some of those young people who were dealing with homesickness and culture shock. The subset of kids that were recruited athletes often had a harder time, as their recruiting was focused on their athletic futures, rather than on the overall military experience.
And so based on that experience, I resolved, if elected, to introduce legislation that would move all the service academies from NCAA Division I to Division III. At that level, those who wished to pursue athletics would be welcome to do so, but active recruiting of potential athletes would end. Frankly, I consider it immoral to recruit athletes to a military academy. As noted above, you should only attend a military academy to pursue military service, and not as a path to the NFL.
And so, I am OK with remarkable cadets and midshipmen pursuing an athletic career following a tour of duty, and I am not sure we need the above noted change to the defense bill. I would like to see the academies move from Division I, but I admit that is not likely to happen. And those few with pro potential should have a path to the pros, albeit after some reasonable time on active duty.
We’ll see if that new language stands. Stay tuned.
Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
