The Library of the Future

While serving at the United States Air Force Academy, I walk out of my cubicle, which is on the fourth floor of the library, when I see the Dean of Faculty, Brigadier General Dana Born, escorting some folks and pointing pretty much at every wall and corner of the floor.

As I come upon her and her guests, I greet them and offer to help them with whatever they’re doing. “May I help you with anything, General?” I ask. “Chief,” General Born replies, “We’re envisioning the library of the future.” General Born and I have known each other for a few decades so she knows I’m a fairy creative guy and I always have a solution for any challenge. I take my iPhone out of my pocket, show it to the group, and suggest, “This is it! It’s in their pockets.” Some looked at me in astonishment, probably wondering how such a wise, and Ruggedly Handsome Chief, is among the many folks on staff, while others got a chuckle. I was being serious, by the way. I still am.?

I often went to see General Born to suggest ways of making life at USAFA better. We usually had good discussions. I often suggested that we issue each cadet an iPhone and an iPad as they finished Basic Cadet Training that included certain apps with which we could stay immediately connected with them. Out with the sign out logs! We know where you are. Interestingly, when we last had that conversation the General asked me, “Do you think they’ll carry it (their iPhone) with them, Chief?” “They’d leave their MOPP gear behind before they’d leave their phone behind, General,” was my reply.

One of my pet peeves the 19 years I served at USAFA was that the Four-degrees had to run the strips for no reasonable purpose that they knew of. Do it, or else! And that they had to carry these huge backpacks as they ran the strips, in their left hand. Now, there was ALMOST a purpose in that. They had to carry their books to their classes which were waaaaayyyyy over at Fairchild Hall. And the reason for them carrying them in their left hand and not on their backs as they were designed for (BACK pack?!) was so that they could salute with their right hand. OK. That’s what I heard.

My pitch to General Born regarding the iPhone and the iPad issue was that everything is online by that time. They didn’t need to carry fifty pounds of books in that backpack. Just carry the phone and the tablet. Okay, I DO own Apple stock, but that’s not the reason I suggested their products. They’re just better. Sorry, but that’s the truth.?

God bless General Born. Just before she retired, she told me that USAFA was en route to doing what I suggested. It never happened. At least through February of 2022, when I retired. I’m not sure why. I don’t really care. I’m a Chief. We should take care of our cadets better. Do it now!

If you’re a grad or know any, or you attended USAFA for a year, you probably have back problems. You probably tend to lean to your left. If you ever wondered why, and now you can tell the VA or your chiropractor how that happened, is because for an entire year you carried 50 pounds of stuff in you left had as you RAN to class every day. Now you know. You’re welcome!

LESSON LEARNED: I’m not sure it’s still the case, but we used to say that the Air Force was always 20 years behind the rest of the world. I’m not sure that’s ever been so. I saw some stuff during my active-duty years that would suggest that it was all a facade to confuse the enemy. USAFA should be the tip of the spear for technology. It should have the best electronic, and other, support in the world. And the Cadets should be empowered to think creatively and help go beyond what “experts” think as far as personal growth methods and knowledge. Yeah, education is expensive, but try ignorance.