Hundreds of American Air Force Academy cadets ‘cheat’ during online learning

COLORADO SPRINGS: The Air Force Academy is reviewing its honour code in the wake of suspicion that hundreds of cadets cheated last spring after being sent home for online learning at the height of the pandemic, foreign media reported.

Two of the nearly 250 cadets suspected are no longer at the academy. Most of the remainder have admitted to cheating and are on six months of probation and remediation, according to the service academy.

On Friday, the academy announced the review as well as the alleged infractions, which were discovered through faculty academic safeguards. Those infractions ranged from failing to properly cite sources and using unauthorised tutoring websites, to receiving solutions to exam questions in real time and completing final exams in small groups, according to an academy news release.

“The honour code is not only foundational to the Air Force Academy, but it serves as a guide for cadets to live an honourable life, whether serving in uniform or not," Lt-Gen Richard Clark, the academy’s superintendent, said. “Honour serves as one of my fundamental institutional priorities for developing leaders of character.”

The alleged violations occurred after officials sent approximately 3,000 of the school's 4,000 cadets home in March, in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, transitioning them from in-person to virtual learning. All alleged cheating cases involved freshmen, sophomores and juniors, according to the academy.

“Remediation is a consequence and not an act of leniency,” Clark said. “If earned, remediation provides an opportunity to reset the moral compass and deepen a cadet’s understanding of and respect for the honour code. Developing leaders of character is not without life lessons and learning from these mistakes.”

Per the honour code, cadets pledge to "not lie, steal, or cheat nor tolerate among us anyone who does.”

The incident is the first major honour code violation at the academy since 2011, according to Gazette records.

A cadet-led process to investigate honour code infractions of the cadets who didn’t admit to cheating is under way. The academy noted that COVID-19 restrictions have slowed the process, but that accountability is paramount.

“We will let the process work for each cadet and go from there,” said Lt-Col Michael R Andrews, spokesman with the Air Force Academy.