The U.S. Air Force Academy took another step toward emerging from a senior leader shakeup this week with the selection of a new commandant of cadets—though it is still unclear who will be the Academy’s next superintendent with the impending retirement of Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind.
Col. Brandon J. Tellez will succeed Brig. Gen. Gavin Marks as commandant of cadets in a change of command ceremony in May, according to a USAFA announcement. The commandant is in charge of the Cadet Wing and oversees military training and extracurricular activities at the Academy.
Tellez is a 2001 graduate of the Academy and a fighter pilot with time in both the F-15C Eagle and F-22 Raptor. Currently the senior executive officer to the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff, he previously commanded the 1st Fighter Wing at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va.
A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School, Tellez also holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree in national security resourcing strategy from National Defense University. He has more than 2,500 flight hours, including about 300 combat hours.
“I offer my congratulations to Col. Brandon Tellez on his selection,” Bauernfeind said in a statement. “As a combat-tested leader who understands the demands of current and future military operations, he is exceptionally well-qualified to ensure our cadets embody a warfighter mindset and are prepared to lead Airmen and Guardians on Day One.”
Tellez will succeed Marks, who has served as commandant since June 2023 and is retiring after a 30-year career. In a release, USAFA officials noted that Marks expanded “year-round, adversary-focused training” for cadets, updated Basic Cadet Training to include “expeditionary skills and realistic tactical scenarios” and introduced the Cadet Warfighter Instructor Course to give upper-class cadets more responsibility for planning and leading exercises.
The appointment of Tellez comes less than a month after Brig. Gen. James Valpiani formally took over as USAFA’s Dean of Faculty, filling a position that had been vacant for nearly a year. The Dean of Faculty oversees the academic side of the Academy.
Like Tellez, Valpiani is an Air Force graduate, class of 2004. A career F-15E pilot and former commandant of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Valpiani led the aerial combat autonomy research program at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency before transitioning to USAFA. He holds a doctorate in astronautical engineering.
Valpiani was promoted to brigadier general upon taking over as dean. Tellez will likely follow suit, as the commandant of cadets is typically a general officer.
For now, both Tellez and Valpiani will report to USAFA Superintendent Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind. But Air Force Secretary Troy E. Meink announced back in February that Bauernfeind would retire in “three to six months.”
Bauernfeind started the job in August 2024, and depending on when he officially retires, he could be the shortest-serving superintendent in Academy history—every previous superintendent served at least two years.
The White House has yet to formally nominate someone to succeed him, and any nomination must be approved by Congress.
The leadership changes come in the wake of some upheaval at USAFA, where civilian faculty positions were slashed in 2025 as part of a broader Defense Department-wide push to trim the civilian workforce. Air Force leaders said then they planned to fill more positions with uniformed instructors. The faculty cuts sparked complaints from current and former faculty members, resulting in a procedural review of USAFA’s accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission that was closed without any affect on the Academy’s standing.
The Academy was also swept up in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s drive to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and his focus on “Warrior Ethos.” USAFA dropped a minor in “Diversity and Inclusion Studies,” conducted a library review to scrub for texts that promoted DEI, and revised its mission statement, replacing the word “educate” with “forge” and “service to the nation” with “fighting and winning our nation’s wars.”
The new mission is: “To forge leaders of character, motivated to a lifetime of service, and developed to lead our Air Force and Space Force as we fight and win our nation’s wars.”
Morale has reportedly declined. Local TV station KOAA reported in January that an internal staff survey revealed 72 percent of staff said the climate on campus was worse than the previous year, and just 30 percent of respondents said they had high morale, though leaders have said the results of that survey were preliminary.
A cheating scandal in March 2025 resulted in nearly 100 cadets being disciplined, and men’s basketball coach Joe Scott was suspended and then fired amid an investigation into his treatment of cadet-athletes. And the $335 million Air Force Academy Chapel renovation project, which President Donald Trump termed a “mess” in October, continues to be plagued with problems and now faces a possible investigation.