CADET KICKED OUT FOR DRUGS

Neil McColgan entered the Air Force Academy four years ago with dreams
of flying jets, becoming an officer like his grandfather and making his
parents proud.

But on Wednesday, a week after his cheering classmates celebrated their
graduation from the academy, McColgan stood quietly before Judge Col.
Patrick Rosenow and his parents and in a quivering voice offered regrets
for his behavior as a cadet, trying to salvage his military career.

"I apologize to the academy, to my fellow cadets and to my family,"
McColgan said. "I feel I've let them down. I feel I will never get the
trust that I once had. I also apologize to my late grandfather, who was
the model officer that I wanted to become."

In the end, Rosenow dismissed McColgan and sentenced him to four months
in military prison.

McColgan, 21, from Milton, Mass., was in military court as the sixth
cadet to be court-maritialed for drug-related charges in the academy's
ongoing drug scandal. McColgan was the roommate of Stephen Pouncey, the
cadet investigators say is at the center of the academy's drug scandal.

On Wednesday, McColgan admitted taking Ecstasy at least twice in Denver
clubs last year but pleaded with the judge not to dismiss him. A
dismissal is equal to a dishonorable discharge.

In emotional testimony, McColgan told the judge he will live with
unfulfilled dreams of becoming a pilot and with the shame of destroying
his family's military tradition.

"The opportunity I lost is my lifetime punishment," he said. "I will
think about what I lost at the academy for my whole life."

McColgan said he turned to drugs last year because he was depressed
about troubling news from home. In the fall of his junior year, McColgan
learned his grandfather had terminal cancer and his sister had multiple
sclerosis.

"These are two of the most important people in my life," he said. "I was
scared at losing those two people who I loved so dearly. I felt I could
handle these things on my own."

He soon discovered he couldn't, he told Rosenow.

His grades slipped, he slept more and he was placed on probation. He
began skipping classes, failed to show up for formations and quit the
"Soaring Program," which is a cadet-run flight training program.

"I started sleeping and trying to drink away my problems," he said.

His father, George McColgan, testified that his son stopped calling
home. McColgan's commanding officer told his father that his son was
heading for trouble. His father flew out to see his son and get him into
counseling.

Then the drug scandal broke, and McColgan was charged. Throughout the
year, McColgan continued to wallow in despair, watching his friends and
classmates attain their dreams and graduate while he waited for his
court-martial date.

His attorney, Capt. Erin Glenn, asked Rosenow for more prison time in
exchange for not dismissing McColgan.

"Keep everything in perspective," she asked Rosenow. "He never used
drugs at the Air Force Academy. He didn't distribute drugs to the cadet
wing. It was during a time when he was depressed. One week ago, the
class of 2001 graduated. That was his dream. He's lost his dream.

"Now, he's going to have a federal conviction on his record. He goes
from being a cadet to a convict. That will be with him his whole life.
(The prosecution) is asking for you to bury him. We're asking you to
throw him a ladder down into that hole."

Rosenow dismissed McColgan anyway.

All six of the court-martialed cadets have received prison terms.

Another awaits court-martial, one who was suspected of using drugs
resigned, and at least six are still under investigation.

Pouncey received 31/2 years in prison for using and selling drugs but
not before he identified other cadets, including McColgan, who had been
involved with drugs.

McColgan originally was charged with using LSD, smoking marijuana,
ingesting hallucinogenic mushrooms and taking so-called club drugs,
gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), Ketamine, an animal tranquilizer and
Ecstasy.

He also was charged with taking dextromethorphan, a substance found in
over-the-counter cough medicine, to get high and for alerting Pouncey
their squadron was about to be tested for drugs.

With those charges, McColgan faced a maximum of 27 years in military
prison as well as dismissal, forfeiture of pay and other fines.

But prosecutors and McColgan's attorneys worked out a plea agreement in
which McColgan would plead guilty to taking Ecstasy in exchange for a
reduced sentence to be determined by the judge.

Prosecutors, who could have requested five years in prison, instead
asked for 11 months and dismissal.

Rosenow would not explain why he dismissed McColgan. But he did reduce
his prison term, saying the loss of McColgan's dream will be punishment
enough.

"The lost opportunity will be the saddest part of this case," he said.
"Hopefully, in the long run, this case will become a success story."