Senior guard Raimee Beck happened to be playing a basketball game for Air Force during “100s night,” a special time for the seniors when they learn their post-graduation assignments. Falcons coach Andrea Williams wanted to do something special for Beck anyway.
After Air Force’s game against UNLV last week, Williams announced Beck’s assignment to the crowd. Beck will be an assistant coach at the prep school next year.
“At a place like this, with what they work for four years, it needs to be special,” Williams said. “It’s not a regular Senior Night we’ll have against New Mexico. It’s her selection, her service to her country, her duty, what she’s been striving for, to be an officer.”
The gesture was nice, and it is another sign the first-year coach gets what it means to be at a service academy. Williams made sure, as a civillian, that it was OK for her to present Beck with the news after the game.
“You need to respect the military side tremendously, like we do, and know it’s an honor and a privilege to present that to her,” Williams said.
The presentation also reinforced to the younger players that Williams is interested in their success off the court as well.
“It was cool,” Williams said. “It was a nice night.”
Andrea Williams – an oasis in a desert of dispear.
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So is this young lady going to do something in the AF or just coach basketball?
Tony, I see you one these posts disrespecting the service these Americans are making. Have you ever served? If you have you would understand it takes links in the chain to have success. Not everyone is the primary link, not everyone is behind the scenes. Use your time supporting our Nations servicemen/women, or leave. Whats wrong, that 7-11 career you have is not as fullfilling as you originally thought?
Good grief…the coaching assignment is just the first assignment…and more than likely, a short assignment (1-2 years). A strong leader like Raimee will serve the AF wonderfully as a leader to the young ladies that come through the prep school. And I’m sure she’ll “do plenty” in the “real” Air Force after her service as coach.
Some people like complaining and judging about service assignments. Check the post on the football seniors on the blog. Why, I’m really not sure, seems pretty disrespectful to me. (Yet, these people also complain about the coaches at the Air Force if they don’t win enough … how’s that for irony?)
As a Naval Academy graduate and an active duty officer well beyond my Academy service commitment, I can, with more impunity than that afforded to “Tony” state that, while our football players may spend a summer or semester helping at the prep school or academy, they are all given actual assignments in the field as line officers. The AFA has a record of assigning varsity athletes to relatively minor assignments in an attempt to recruit other athletes that don’t want to actually want to serve their country at the expense of their athletic career.
Actually, many of your football players never really go on to serve at all. If they were going to serve in a real MOS, why wouldn’t the AFA list that MOS or OCC Field?
And Franco, I am an active duty Marine Major. Not like that matters, but you trying to pull the service card is pretty funny. You obviously think that serving as a basketball or football coach is service to the nation. Sorry bub, but that ain’t the case.
Frank Schwab,
Instead of being a homer newspaper reporter, perhaps you could ask the AFA why these young men won’t be serving in primary occ fields like the others. It’s hard to afford “respect” to officers that are not going to really serve after getting a great taxpayer deal.
Frank, your comparison to coaching at the academy and graduating servicemembers is absurd, in relation to fans complaints. A COACH is hired at 20 times the salary ($350,000 – $500 000 +) of a graduating cadet to create men first, and win second. They serve at the expectation of success on both roles.
The CADET serves by commitment and duty to Country. They are not engineered six figure salaries( starting a@ $32,000) and they have more responsibilty than a few athletes.
Fans have every reason to complain about excessive salaried coaches who do not perform.
Fans are directing displeaaure at coaches who are not successful. Period. Your comparison is illogical Frank. Sober up my good man!
Hey Kim,
You’re “sure” she’ll serve eh? Take a gander at these AF coaches who spent more time “serving” the football team than the country.
=================================================
Head coach Troy Calhoun graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1989. Of his six years of active duty in the Air Force, four were spent as an academy football coach. From 1989-1990 he was a graduate assistant for Fisher DeBerry. From 1993-1994 he was DeBerry’s recruiting coordinator.
Blane Morgan is the quarterbacks coach for the Falcons. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1999 and spent the next year as a graduate assistant. After spending 2 1/2 years doing less important work at Laughlin AFB, he returned to the academy in 2003 to complete his active duty obligation as the wide receivers coach and an assistant coach for the junior varsity team.
Running backs coach Jemal Singleton is a classmate of Morgan’s. He spent two years of his active duty obligation at Little Rock AFB. The rest was spent in Colorado Springs working in the athletic department, and as an assistant coach with the USAFA Prep School, junior varsity, and varsity football teams.
Mike Thiessen graduated from USAFA in 2001 and remains on active duty while coaching the team’s wide receivers. Thiessen not only carries out this daring mission as a coach, but he had the unique opportunity to defend the Constitution by playing minor league baseball. Through the Air Force’s vital World Class Athlete Program, Thiessen more than repaid the taxpayer’s cost of his education by hitting .278 for the Lancaster JetHawks. If that wasn’t already of incalculable benefit to the American people, the former Falcon quarterback also spent the three seasons prior to 2007 as the offensive coordinator at the prep school.
Joining Thiessen on active duty is Charlton Warren, another 1999 academy graduate. Capt. Warren is the least accomplished of this elite military unit, having spent the majority of his military career doing things other than football, and in places other than Colorado Springs. Fortunately for you & me, though, he’s back serving where America needs him most: as the Air Force secondary coach.
Tight ends coach Ben Miller is a real hero. I’m not sure if he wasted any time on active duty at all. Following his 2002 graduation, Miller signed with the Cleveland Browns. He spent 2005 as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad, and in 2006 was a graduate assistant at Illinois.
Brian Knorr, a 1986 grad who coached linebackers at Air Force, was hired away this week by Jim Grobe at Wake Forest. Knorr should feel right at home in Winston-Salem, though, as he will be joined by another group of Air Force Academy patriots. Steed Lobotzke, the Demon Deacons’ offensive coordinator, is a 1992 graduate of the Air Force Academy that jumpstarted his military career with a two-year graduate assistant job immediately following graduation. Another new Wake Forest assistant, Steve Russ, is a 1995 Air Force graduate who, like Ben Miller, didn’t bother with the hassles of active duty military service. Instead, Russ went straight into the NFL. After spending 5 years with the Denver Broncos, Russ began his college coaching career at Ohio, where Knorr was head coach in 2001.
Tony,as a Major you don’t get to decide who or what degree of service, is National service. Are you a Dictator, It appears you would like to have your fingerprints on determining level of service, but you obviously are just going to have to settle with being a Major vs. A Dictator. THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE, EITHER WAY
lol nice cop out. I’m glad you consider basketball coaching a serious assignment for new Lts though. When the AF gets its personnel cut in FY12 I’m going to be grinning and thinking about this quote:
“Tony,as a Major you don’t get to decide who or what degree of service, is National service.”
Franco – so let me get this straight, the only reason fans complain about Reynolds is his salary? If he was making $32,000, it would be all good? For some crazy reason, I don’t buy that.
My point is this – fans want great coaches but don’t want anyone to spend any active duty time coaching. One or the other. If it’s that these graduating cadets never coach until they’ve served whatever role makes you happy, for as long as would make you happy, then don’t complain about the team’s records.
And yeah, Tony, I’m a homer. Totally dead on there.
Frank,
It’s a legitimate question to be asked when graduates of the service academies are risking their lives and dying for the country. AFA, USNA and USMA grads are all risking their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. Why should some Lts get a cushy sports position instead of cutting their teeth in the operational world? I don’t care if they are admin, missile guys, pilots, etc. Those assignments directly support the AF’s mission. Coaching bball doesn’t.
Frank,regardless of whether you buy it or not…if the AFA hired a coach ie. Tim Anderson active duty Officer to Coach mens BB, of course the level of expectations and critique would be different. Fans want competition, they want, service first(the real AFA fans) and we want to respect the individual who
leads. Reynolds is a poor fit at this academy, salary extension unwarrented and he cannot win. This is a poor venue to defend a position, so I’ll just state…no one who has seen JR results is happy. SALARY to a losing coach makes it that much harder to swallow.
Tony, it is a legitimate question, one I’ll probably write about soon, but here’s the thing – Air Force has decided that having an athletics department benefits the school, and it wants to be competitive in those fields. Now, if you don’t think there’s any value to Air Force to have an athletics department, or, if you don’t think there’s any value to having a winning athletics department, then I’m willing to concede the argument. If you think that a service academy should be solely focused on military service and not field teams, I will not argue. It’s a valid point.
But, if you do think Air Force gets value out of having an athletics department/successful athletics department, well, then we have a contradiction. Someone needs to coach them, correct? And do I think these cadets get something out of the leadership of a Troy Calhoun, or a Ben Martin or Charlton Warren, or Mike Kazlausky? I do, yes. And judging by the “thank goodness for Calhoun setting an example of loyalty to the cadets” responses when he stayed, I think others feel that way. So if you need coaches, someone has to do it, no? Like I said in one of the comment threads – the retired Air Force active duty lifer picking up a whistle for the first time in his 40s and leading the Falcons to winning records in the Mountain West is not happening.
Frank, I’m sure there are several capable coaches in the world who got their start in places other than the Air Force Academy. The choice is not “have cadets go into coaching for their career” vs. “be stuck with bad coaches.” That’s ridiculous.
Tony, Ill tell you why some are ordered to one venue and others are ordered to support AFA sports. Because, life is unfair at many levels..suuck it up and act like an adult, not a sour grape member od the armed forces. If in 2012 you use your grinning and smiiling for having some hand in any decisions…perhaps you will have rethought your limited vision? Im almost convinced by your comments you have no business directing anything to do with military service. By your comments you are either a young kid or a disturbed impaired Major CASE! Good luck in 2012.
Franco, to criticize Reynolds is fair, he hasn’t posted very good records, etc. – but to say that the reason you dislike him is because of his salary … I mean, come on. If he took a 50/75/90 percent salary cut tomorrow you’d have a totally different opinion of him? Really?
Frank, you are not comprehending today…read again my comment, then show mw where I say it ONLY his salary I dislike. Go to the blog about JR That Ramsey wrote today
I detail 5 different reasons I would rather have a coaching change. Geez man, my droid finger is killing m, dude!
Franco, comprehending just fine. “Fans have every reason to complain about excessive salaried coaches who do not perform.” So if JR said “Fine, pay me $30,000,” you’re good with it. He is no longer an “excessive salaried coach.” Salary has nothing to do with it, is all I’m saying. To use your word, it was absurd to bring it up.
Frank,
You so conveniently omitted my comment,
” fans are directing displeasure at coaches who are not successful. Period!”
Comprehension, Frank. Comprehension!
Franco has no business talking about reading comprehension based on his previous posts.
The funny thing is that Franco thinks basketball coaches are a link in the warfighting chain. Guess I missed that in the military org structure.
G-1 Admin
G-2 Intel
G-3 Ops
G-4 Log
G-5 Plans
G-6 Comm
G-10 Sports Coaches
Mike J,
Thanks for the military org. Structure…they are waiting for you at the Armed Services Committee to share your dispute with Sevices/Academy Policy, Don’t forger to bring your nipple with you! You may be waiting indefinetly?
Frank, as was alluded to above, the concept that many us take issue with is AFA’s policy of using its graduates as coaches while they are on active duty. It is being used as a recruiting tool to show potential cadets that there are ways for them to come to AFA, play sports, and then avoid having to serve in an actual military operational capacity after graduation. It circumvents the purpose of the service academies and cheapens the meaning of military service. AFA athletics is supposed to be a means to an end, not an end unto itself.
The coaches did tell us about ways to “soften our commitment” by serving at the prep school, so it’s not like this is unheard of. Serving at USAFA as a football coach is service.
Sorry, I am back. The gazette blocked my IP at work…pretty cowardly. So Franco thinks stuff like this can’t reach that level. As a former HAC-D guy, it definitely can. Mr. Comprehension is having a hard time spellling and also making any type of cogent argument as to why serving as a sports coach is actually military service.
If the average AF fan thinks that is service, then that’s pretty much all we need to know about the USAFA and its priorities.
“Serving at USAFA as a football coach is service.”
Please elaborate.
Wow. Isn’t the mission of AFA (and the other service academies) to produce front line officers (“Unrestricted Line Officers” in the Navy, Trigger pullers, of some sort)? I could buy the “service” argument, but not from academy grads. It certainly looks like an end run around the commitments.
To think the prep schools are under fire in some circles…
BTW: Eric, your elite national security team had me about to fall out of my chair laughing.
If you’re a great athlete and want to avoid military service, there’s a far better way. Here’s the Naval Academy model — http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/12874836/eckels-murky-navy-exit-leaves-shadow-over-super-bowl-appearance
Take the hate somewhere else squids.
You are so dumb. You realize that he was separated from the Navy…not sanctioned to play football like the AF does it.
Pretty sure these blog posts have increased the Gazette’s readership tenfold.
MKL, what about this guy? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_Hall
Is he still getting a salary from the AF? What about repayment on his USAFA education?
As I said on the other article, I’ve got a pretty solid hunch that at some point in the last five years, at least one USAFA grad separated has been separated from the AF for misconduct prior to completing his/her five year commitment.
Eckel was found to be a subpar officer and was booted and forced to repay part of his USNA tuition and training fees. That’s a bit different than being allowed to “serve” out your five year commitment in the NFL or as a coach.
Exactly, but don’t tell MKL that. He doesn’t like it when his spurious analogies wither like a shanty house in a monsoon.
Chad Hall’s serving his time in the reserves. Exactly the same thing David Robinson did.
Eckel was found to be subpar long before he graduated from USNA. But the athletic department used its considerable influence to keep him around all the way until graduation for obvious reasons. Sadly, they weren’t nearly as successful keeping Marcus Curry around. Flunking a drug test wasn’t enough to do the trick, but the subsequent infractions were more than even the Naval Academy was able to tolerate.
My point is this . . . how ridiculous it is for all you Naval Academy types to be over here expressing outrage over the nefarious practice of allowing a small number of grads to serve brief stints as coaches. It’s not as if your house is completely clean!!! Why don’t you take all that pent up energy and frustration and direct it toward the issues at your own institution!
Because they aren’t “brief stints.”
So USAFA has never had a football player get a little “assistance” from the administration to graduate? I knew plenty of non-football players who I thought got too many chances. That happens occasionally, just like I’ve seen it happen on occasion in the Marine Corps.
But saying prep school coaches=Kyle Eckel=sexual assault=Marcus Curry=David Robinson is a bit of a stretch.
Just mark this statement as true or false and I’ll know exactly where AF fans really stand, and if there’s any point in trying to reason with you:
TRUE OR FALSE: Service academy graduates should be allowed to spend up to half of their five-year service commitment in non-operational coaching positions at academies or prep schools.
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