Colorado Springs – Lt. Gen. John Rosa was praised Monday as a capable leader whose straightforward management style served him well during a series of controversies at the Air Force Academy.
Rosa, 53, the academy superintendent, announced last weekend that he would leave the Air Force after 32 years to become president of his alma mater, The Citadel.
The academy’s next leader should possess the same quality that defines Rosa: honesty, said Michael Josephson, an ethicist who issued a report this year on character development at the academy.
“The question is, ‘Is the Air Force going to appoint a politician who is more concerned with modulating the image than with making genuine reforms and dealing with genuine problems?”‘ said Josephson, president of the Josephson Institute of Ethics.
Rosa was named superintendent in July 2003 and is credited with initiating reforms after a sex-assault scandal erupted early that year. Since Rosa took the helm, reports of sexual assault have declined at the academy and surveys show women are more willing to report incidents.
The academy is embroiled in a controversy over whether it favors evangelical Christian cadets over non-Christians. A task force report on the religious climate is due this week.
This month, in a speech to the Anti- Defamation League in Denver, Rosa said: “As a commander, I know I have problems in my cadet wing. I have issues in my staff, and I have issues in my faculty – and that’s my whole organization.”
Kristen Leslie, a professor at the Yale School of Divinity who led a group of Yale students that examined chaplains during basic training a year ago, said Rosa’s admissions to the ADL were “very important.”
The Air Force, she said, should pick a leader who “understands the importance of accountability … and is willing to recognize that there are standards being set around religious matters and it’s being set by the conservative agenda.”
U.S. Rep. Joel Hefley, a Republican from Colorado Springs, said Rosa did an “outstanding job” bringing about a culture change at the academy.
“In my years associated with the academy, I’ve seen many superintendents come and go. I have confidence the Air Force will pick a successor to Gen. Rosa that will bring the qualities of leadership necessary for this unique position,” he said.
U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., a member of the board of visitors, an academy oversight committee, said through a spokeswoman that Rosa “did a super job during very difficult times at the academy.” Allard said he would like to see a successor “who will be responsive to the need to create a good educational environment at the Air Force Academy.”
Air Force officials have said it could take up to six months before Rosa is officially removed from active duty.
Staff writer Erin Emery can be reached at 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com.
