Academy Stands up Leadership Center

The Air Force Academy opened a new Center for Character and Leadership Development (CCLD) in July, said Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson, superintendent of the Academy, at ASC16. The focal point of the center is a new building on the Academy installation near Colorado Springs, Colo. With a 105-foot glass and steel tower directed at a 39-degree angle toward Polaris, even the design of the center’s new space communicates a vision of dedication to principles of character. While praising the “modern collaborative space” of the center’s interior, she stressed that the leadership program is based around “experiential opportunities.” The CCLD will focus “not on leadership in a classroom learning about theory, but doing it,” she said. The center gathers leadership programs that have been in development for more than a decade at the Academy under the leadership of a permanent professor assigned to the Commandant of Cadets.