<p>The class of 2016 will be limited to 1,050 appointments and will be the smallest class in modern memory. It will also be the MOST competitive in history. SAT and ACT scores will be critical. Shoot for 700’s, or upper 30’s…seriously.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/air-force-academy-colorado-springs/1088792-leaders-explain-air-force-manning-impacts-academy.html?highlight=1+050#post12010093[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/air-force-academy-colorado-springs/1088792-leaders-explain-air-force-manning-impacts-academy.html?highlight=1+050#post12010093</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/air-force-academy-colorado-springs/1083279-new-force-management-measures-announced.html?highlight=1+050#post11956021[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/air-force-academy-colorado-springs/1083279-new-force-management-measures-announced.html?highlight=1+050#post11956021</a>
Still 1050.</p>
<p>Military.com|by Bryant Jordan
The Air Force Academy is reducing the size of its cadet corps as part of the service’s efforts to live within budgetary constraints.</p>
<p>By the end of 2012 the Colorado Springs-based service academy will slash its population by 10 percent, said academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michael Gould at the 2011 Air Force Association conference going on this week near Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>“We were on the glide slope to reduce it to 4,200, but we briefed it to [Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz], and they said to bring it down to 4,000,” Gould said.</p>
<p>The reductions have already begun. Gould said they brought in fewer students for the Class of 2015, and next year will bring in fewer still.</p>
<p>“A year from now we’ll be down to about 4,000, give or take a few,” he said.</p>
<p>The slimming down on future officers is just part of the Air Force’s stated goal of reducing its end strength by more than 5,000 Airmen.</p>
<p>Donley told reporters at the conference that it will be difficult to hold to a higher end strength “going forward” as the Defense Department looks at $350 billion in cuts.</p>
<p>Boom years in recruiting and retention were bloating the Air Force by 7,000 Airmen beyond authorized strength by the end of next year. As a result the service implemented force-shaping measures in 2010.</p>
<p>The Air Force now has about 330,000 Airmen, including about 66,000 officers and over 260,000 enlisted personnel, according to the Air Force Personnel Center at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.</p>
<p>The smaller class sizes will make admission to the Academy even more competitive. Gould said the school already accepts less than ten percent of those who apply.</p>
<p>“The odds are going to get a bit tougher,” he said.</p>