This story originally appeared in the March 2025 Checkpoints magazine.

Throughout the Defining Our Future campaign’s seven years, donors contributed more than $330 million in support of the U.S. Air Force Academy and graduate services. This support helps secure the Academy’s focus on developing warfighters equipped to lead on Day 1 across air, space and cyber, bolstering national security and sovereignty amid Great Power Competition.

From the Institute for Future Conflict to the Madera Cyber Innovation Center, private support through the campaign has significantly enhanced military training and preparation for the Air Force and Space Force leaders of tomorrow — and well into the future.

The Air Force Academy’s Institute for Future Conflict benefited from nearly $17 million in contributions through the Defining Our Future campaign. The IFC prepares cadets for emerging challenges, focusing on creating and cultivating flexible warfighters who are prepared to prevail in conflict regardless of the form it may take in the future.

With a combination of federal funding and private support, the IFC has integrated subject-matter experts into USAFA’s curriculum to prepare cadets to address global threats, particularly from near-peer adversaries like China and Russia. This includes recruiting experts to enhance training in areas like geopolitical strategies, space operations and policy, artificial intelligence, logistics, nuclear strategy and more.

The Institute for Future Conflict was conceived in 2018 by Dr. Paul Kaminski ’64, a technologist who is well known for his leading role in the development of stealth aircraft. Dr. Kaminski approached USAFA leadership with the “Big Idea” and a challenging question: How do we better prepare cadets for warfare of the future? The “Big Idea” consisted of three major points: Anticipate rather than react to changes; contribute to the next military offset; and expose Air Force Academy cadets and permanent party to the technologies, organizations and ideas shaping future conflict.

With the support of Academy senior leaders and alumni, the “Big Idea” led to the Institute for Future Conflict, which formally began in late 2019.

“Dr. Paul Kaminski recognized several years ago that the nature of warfare has changed significantly and that the USAFA curriculum needed to change in a major way,” says IFC supporter and former fighter pilot Paul Rossetti ’70. “Today’s conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine vividly demonstrate that reality. I have supported the IFC from its early days to jump-start the effort to update and adapt the USAFA cadet experience to that reality. Time is our enemy. The [Air Force Academy] Foundation board had the vision, and we needed the talent to develop the programs outside of the normal government channels. Today, we have the talent and the programs and are implementing the needed new programs in coordination with the dean much more expeditiously than had we simply waited for official channels. These programs are very consistent with the Air Force focus on STEM disciplines and related technologies.”

Generous private support played a pivotal role in the IFC’s development and expansion. Notably, a $1 million donation from John Fox ’63 helped create the Fox Fellow position, a leadership role that brings specialized expertise to the Academy. Former U.S. State Department official, Brig. Gen. (Ret.) David Stilwell ’87, was the inaugural Fox Fellow and brings deep and broad expertise in China and North Korea to the Academy. Recently, the IFC benefited from a $5 million donation from Dr. Kaminski for a chair focused on augmented intelligence.

Brig. Gen. Linell Letendre ’96, dean of the faculty, says IFC support has played a key role in securing specialists.

“Some of these high-powered experts have developed and taught new courses, giving cadets and other faculty a front row seat to what’s just over the horizon in geopolitical competition,” she says. “Foundation support of the IFC helped raise its stature in the Air Force to the point where coming to research here is now an Intermediate Developmental Education program, like Air Command and Staff College. This brings us a few IFC Fellows each year who research ‘where the puck is going to be’ in terms of the future of war but also teach in the classroom where they are qualified, extending their reach to cadets.”

The IFC’s collaborations with various departments, military branches and facilities like the Multi-Domain Lab give cadets a hands-on experience in joint operations and future conflict scenarios.

Maj. Gen. (Ret.) David Scott ’78, senior adviser to the IFC, tells Checkpoints that the Defining Our Future campaign allowed the IFC to host four active-duty Ukrainian service members in February 2025. They participated in classes and a panel discussion to a standing room-only crowd of more than 220 cadets and an additional 30 permanent party.

“During this visit with the Ukrainians, we met the new USAFA mission statement of forging leaders of character, motivated to a lifetime of service,” Gen. Scott says. “The time spent with the four Ukrainians enabled cadets to understand what it takes to be warfighters to win and leaders of character and quality along with how to think critically and adapt to new situations in the battlespace. We believe this makes them better prepared to prevail in conflict regardless of the form it may take in the future.

“Without the funding and support of our donors and the Foundation, this would not have been possible,” he adds. “This enables the IFC to continue to create and cultivate flexible warfighters who will understand current and future conflicts to meet the superintendent’s three priorities and develop them to lead our Air Force and Space Force as we fight and win our nation’s wars.”

Additionally, USAFA graduates coming for their reunions have received IFC briefings from the center’s director, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Bradford “B.J.” Shwedo ’87, and other key personnel. Gen. Shwedo has also taken his briefing on the road, speaking at chapter events.

“Without the outstanding and generous support of the donors with their gifts to balance the organization, we would not have been able to operate at the level we have since our inception,” Gen. Shwedo told Checkpoints in November 2024. “When you can hire the former assistant secretary of the state for Asian Pacific Affairs who knows more about China than most individuals along with the former Joint Staff J4 who helped the chairman with the logistics of both Ukraine and the Afghanistan withdrawal, you have the expertise to meet our mission of creating flexible warfighters.”

During a 2023 news conference focused on the Madera Cyber Innovation Center’s construction, Col. Judson Dressler ’05, permanent professor and head of the Department of Computer and Cyber Sciences, said “the nexus of cyber and artificial intelligence” is being integrated into warfare and future conflict.

“[The Madera Cyber Innovation Center] represents a commitment by the Air Force to our cadets and to our nation’s future security,” he said.

Combined with $30 million in federal funding, hundreds of donors, including USAFA classes, committed more than $39 million in gifts and technology — notably, Paul ’78 and Joan Madera, Cisco Systems and The Anschutz Foundation — to help produce cyber-savvy airmen and guardians ready to lead on Day 1. The Madera Cyber Innovation Center, which is set to open to cadet use this year, was another signature priority of the Defining Our Future campaign.

The Madera Center will support the Academy’s Department of Computer and Cyber Sciences, offering seven specialized labs, including those focused on robotics and autonomous systems; industrial controls and platform security; cross-domain integration and command and control; immersive environments, data visualization and decision-support; cyber security, networking, radio frequency and telecommunications and more. The center will provide space for cadets to work on capstone projects and collaborate with industry and academic partners.

CyberWorx, described by the Air Force as “a Department of Defense cyber mission-focused, operational problem-solving organization,” will also be housed in the new facility.

The center’s namesake, Paul Madera, says the Defining Our Future campaign has positively impacted each of the USAFA mission elements, benefiting cadets for decades to come.

“The campaign has had a huge effect on both the training and the lives of cadets — as it has been targeted at every aspect of cadet life from athletics to academics to military training and daily life,” Madera says. “We have seen an amazing number of large projects come to life over the past 24 months with the Kucera Legacy Center, the Cyber Innovation Center, the Martinson Honors Program and many more that are targeted at individual sports teams or clubs. The campaign has enabled grads, parents and other supporters to have an opportunity to participate in programs we support and believe in.”

Madera adds, “I have spent my civilian career in venture capital — and have seen firsthand how cyber technology is not only a pervasive threat in our lives, it is a problem as well as an offensive opportunity that requires constant innovation. And it is already ever-present in all military conflicts we as a nation will face. I sincerely hope the center will ensure that cadets are better prepared for this massive threat of cyber warfare and disruption. It is simply imperative we prepare cadets, faculty as well as the larger Air Force and Space Force for the reality of the changing nature of conflict.”

Additionally, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Dick McConn ’66 was instrumental in obtaining necessary Air Force approvals for the building.

Many of USAFA’s military-focused cadet clubs have also benefited from the Defining Our Future campaign.

The Air Combat Club, for instance, has grown significantly since its 2021 launch, expanding from just a few cadets to more than 400 members. The club, supported by generous donations, helps cadets learn aerial combat physics and tactics through virtual reality flight simulators. Notably, Rossetti has contributed funds to purchase simulator equipment, enhancing the club’s training capabilities. The club’s offerings include guest speakers, fighter pilot insights and opportunities to compete. Rossetti says the club provides valuable training that will benefit cadets in pilot  training and beyond.

“This was another opportunity to get the cadets more aviation experience, to learn real aerial combat tactics and maneuvering, and to have a lot of fun in the process,” Rossetti explains. “[The club] is very competitive as well, which is good for the cadet development. The Academy staff has a huge amount of aviation combat experience, so the cadets could learn from real-world experts in residence. Today it has numerous computers and display screens, and it is the largest club on the campus. The cadets compete quite successfully against the other service academies!”

And it may sound like fun and games, but the Academy’s Drone Racing Team, formed in 2021, has gotten serious about its craft. The team practices multiple times a week in the Holaday Athletic Center and competes in the Collegiate Drone Racing Association circuit, while promoting STEM and preparing cadets for future roles in the Air Force, especially in understanding drone technology for defense. Funded through donations, the team purchases equipment and maintains its drones.

The Defining Our Future campaign’s impact on preparing cadets for future conflict can be felt beyond the classroom. For instance, the Strategy and Warfare Center Symposium — held last year at the Academy — focused on the impact of disruptive technologies like autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, hypersonic weapons systems and quantum computing on future warfare. Supported by donors and sponsored by Raytheon Technologies, the event gathered over 600 cadets from various academic disciplines to explore how these technologies will shape military conflict.

The symposium is planned to be an annual event aimed at keeping the Academy at the forefront of military strategic and technological advancements.

Another example: The National Security Strategic Studies Partnership, a cooperative effort by USAFA, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and the University of Colorado at Boulder, is slated to be held twice a year, rotating among the three campuses. The partnership brings together Colorado higher education, private industry, and civilian and military agencies to provide national security thought leadership in the areas of space and cyber security. 

The event, made possible by a grant from The Anschutz Foundation, is designed for students from the three institutions to engage in conversations surrounding strategic national security issues in the space domain.

A workshop held at USAFA in April 2024 featured seven sessions touching on topics like the domestic roots of national strategy to space-based security threats. Experts in the industry spent time leading roundtable discussions with students who were challenged to think critically.

Gen. (Ret.) Gregory “Speedy” Martin ’70, who retired from the Air Force in 2005 as commander of Air Force Materiel Command and went on to help launch the IFC at USAFA, delivered the keynote speech and spent much of the time discussing China, Russia and the increasing need for national security in space and the role of the Space Force.

“We cannot wipe our hands clean,” Gen. Martin told those gathered at the event. “[This] is just the start of a group of people who are single-mindedly focused in making sure that our space domain has what it needs to be secure and to provide the kind of supporting revival to the entire national security structure.”