But that’s not how West Point is dealing with its current cheating scandal, in which 73 cadets, the majority of whom are athletes, have been accused of cheating on a math exam. Congressional representatives might be restricting nominations (for some unknown/unspecified reason), which are essential to attend West Point (and other service academies), and therefore are preventing women from attending. I knew a man in Rochester who had eczema on his insteps. Our vaunarblity is…, If I'm not mistaken...there was a secret deal stru…, T. Shaw: . Suggest that what’s in the tail of the bell curve (and how normal officers interact with it) matters. Additionally, instead of responding to cadet failure with an insistence that cadets rise to the challenge and meet the standard, the bar for passing the course itself is simply lowered. Duty, Honor, Country” — those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. While to most, John Sedgwick’s legacy is … I would have to agree, the commie cadet is an aberration. The title West Point Graduate carries a great deal of weight in this world. Still, most men passed. The place has a board of visitors which includes nine members of Congress. During my first tour on the faculty (I was a CPT at the time), I noticed that 4th class cadets were going on leave in civilian clothes when the regulation clearly stated they were supposed to be wearing a uniform. West Point was once special, and it can be again. Naturally, along the way you’re going to have questions. The following excerpt is from my official letter of resignation from West Point: I do not wish to be in any way associated with an institution which willfully disregards the Constitution of the United States of America by enforcing policies which run counter to the same. I have already been labeled a “traitor” by some at the Academy due to my sworn statement’s appearance in the media circus surrounding Spenser Rapone. being at west point, and our minimal exposure to the real army, there is one thing we learn: west point produces the same quality officers as any other comissioning process. While there are certainly numerous problems with the developmental program at West Point and all service academies, the tipping point of my decision to resign was the realization that countless officers here and throughout the military are guilty of blatantly violating the oaths they swore to defend the Constitution. It is not at all surprising that the Academy turned a blind eye to his behavior and to his very public hatred of West Point, the Army, and this nation. Sorry to say, times change and military requirements change with them. Partisan Democrats have made hay about Donald Trump’s I-Y classification for some issue with his achilles tendon and Rush Limbaugh’s for a pilonidal cyst. Conduct and disciplinary standards are in perhaps the worst shape of all. We can take advantage of women’s vocational skills in uniformed and civilian auxilliary corps without trying to remanufacture women into fighters. He's always had a hang-…, Don, Forgive me if this is not appropriate. Lt. Gen. Caslen’s response to date has been sufficiently vague and laden with red-herrings that the smart money says Lt. Col. Heffington’s skeletal points are true. Without Prayer nothing good is done. In fact, there is now an addition to the honor system (the Willful Admission Process) which essentially guarantees that if a cadet admits a violation, then separation is not even a possibility. The gulf between the intent of a General Officer and the execution of that intent by those in positions of immediate authority is massive in a complex bureaucracy entrenched in over 200 years of tradition. of History faculty, I asked why plebes were going on leave in civilian clothes. On the other hand, an entire semester of military history was recently deleted from the curriculum (at West Point!). Edgar … I've heard West Point described as having a quarter million dollar education shoved up your butt one nickel at a time. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the American Revolution. Unfortunately, they have largely succeeded. In response to this utter nonsense, and much more, I initiated an Equal Opportunity investigation earlier this semester. They know they can re-take the course over the summer when they have no other competing requirements, and their new grade completely replaces the failing one. you have to obey anyone that is older than you during your freshman year, your bed has to be made very tightly, etc. Waal, how long did it take military tribunals to process the blatantly guilty Nidal Hassan? Forgot to add the Boy Scouts (soon to be referred to as Boy/Girl/Question Mark Scouts) to the list of institutions caving and going down the tubes. Academic standards are also nonexistent. Our vaunarbl…, If I'm not mistaken...there was a secret dea…, T. Shaw: . There was also a table for the younger visitors where they could handle safed submachine guns (some of WW2 vintage). My wager would be that the fall in standards has several sources, and one might have been the recruiting trouble the military was having when the Iraq War was going south. The "pandemic" is not exactly fake, but…, Now we know he has no supernatural faith whatsoeve…, Pandemix do not have expiration dates. People are running away from reality & objective truth as fast as their two legs can carry them. ©2021 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Yeah, go ahead and cite statistics from the early 1970’s. Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country. My experience as a cadet had a profound impact upon who I am and upon the course of my life, and I remain forever grateful that I have the opportunity to be a part of the Long Gray Line. Today marks my final roll call with you. Heffington, a former member of the faculty at West Point, has written an open letter which details the rot that permeates West Point: Before you read any further, please understand that the following paragraphs come from a place of intense devotion and loyalty to West Point. ZPOROZCIE! Perhaps with enough external pressure brought to bear by continued civil rights activism, America's military leadership will one day soon be forced to realize that non-religious soldiers are not enemies of the state to be shunned, ridiculed and marginalized, but rather patriotic, honorable Americans to be respected as equals. That would have begun the gradual change in the perception of what a military is for. This is part of the ongoing war against masculinity in our “culture” designed to destroy even marriage & turn boys into feminized, over protected pussies. Cadets in my class foolishly “hoped” we would get to go to war one day – whereas nearly every graduate since 2001 has had multiple combat tours and every cadet who has volunteered to go to West Point since 2005 has known going into the Academy that they were destined for combat. A great lake property. We made it easy for you to exercise your right to vote! Just look at everything wrong within the Church Herself — which has such a promise. Why West Point? If you asked me why I chose West Point over a “normal” college, I’m not sure that I could give a straight answer. I…, https://fatima.org/news-views/catholic-apologetics…, I agree with Edith: “Every damn fool thing you do…, The devil appears to have the management of the Ca…, Prayer and penance is the task most of have been a…, Lo and behold the leprechaun lives. I’d wager another was the usual depredations of institutional diverstocracies, present nowadays wherever you find careerist professional-managerial types and likely on steroids during the Obama msAdministration. Then again, your complaint is with the Naval Institute writers and editors, not me. You can have… I think up to two, but my info is quite old these days. The position of commandant of cadets appears to be a two-year appointment by custom and has had nine different occupants since 2004. The average cadet today is every bit as patriotic and professional as his/her predecessors and we are blessed as a nation to have them protecting our future. I also served a tour at the Academy as an instructor and Officer-in-Charge of the men’s rugby team. It is like everything else in the PC crazy Romper Room – reality means nothing, only if everybody FEELS good. These are strong words that I do not use lightly, but after years of clear personal observation I am certain that they are true. Be safe out there, use the "recon … What Robert Conquest said, “Bureaucratic behavior can be explained by assuming every organization is controlled by a secret cabal of its enemies.”. No urine tests for drugs, no Ritalin, few anti-depressants, few gang tattoos. Mary Jane hangs around in your system for weeks; traces of cocaine disappear in a few days. The existence of decades of legal precedent and policies prohibiting this pervasive religious bigotry has not stopped it from happening in the past, and will most certainly not stop it from happening in the future so long as the many who oppose it remain too timid to stand up and be counted. The commandant of cadets he refers to as berating him over the phone was likely Robert Caslen as well. At first glance, East Point seems like a pretty topsy-turvy name for a place that juts out to the west. This anecdote highlights the fact that West Point’s senior leaders lack not the ability but the motivation to enforce their will upon the Corps of Cadets. 1997 written by a lapsed DSA member about the organization’s sad demographic evaporation – moving from one hq to a smaller and seedier one that they could still afford, &c. I’m surprised they still exist. You're misreading Francis. It’s not that any given white man at West … If you think a fellow West Point graduate is a great leader, see how she/he behaves after having a soldier vaporized by an RPG in front of him. This appears in our weekly iPad magazine, Huffington, in the iTunes App store. I proceeded to correct him and then reported him to the chain of command the next morning. Trump: Miss Me Yet? …that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice, and knows no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy.”. They exist on paper, but nowhere else. Cadets derisively call it the “I Hate America Course.” Simultaneously, the plebe International History course now focuses on gender to the exclusion of many other important themes. Where this gets bad, however, are the comments that are made in lieu of such a decision. I hate to say this, but some of this may have been forseen when women were admitted to the Academies. It is as if West Point’s senior leaders believe their job is to “protect” cadets from the staff and faculty at all costs. I understand the head of the Air Force Academy is a “married” lesbian mother of two children! Cadets are jaded, cynical, arrogant, and entitled. When I questioned what he was doing there, he remained seated in his chair and sneered at me that he “was authorized” because he was a First Class cadet. I bid you farewell. At the honor hearing the next day, I ended up being the one on trial as my character and reputation were dragged through the mud by the cadet and her civilian attorney while I sat on the witness stand without any assistance. This in tum has caused the staff and faculty to give up even reporting honor incidents. During our last bout of military conscription, 12% of male age cohorts were categorically disqualified and 12% were contingently disqualified (it was a tad lower during the 2d World War). To make matters worse, the senior leadership at West Point actively discourages staff and faculty from reporting honor violations. West Point (USMA) produces about half the number of officers of Army ROTC. The United States Military Academy at West Point is one of the most elite institutions in the country. It is named after a failed black Marxist, Fred Hampton, who died in a shoot-out with the police in Chicago in 1969]. All of these things seem enticing, but for me personally they are not worth it. I can feel your frustration and total disbelief for what is occurring. It used to be a place where standards and discipline mattered, and where concepts like duty, honor, and country were real and they meant something. The ranking chaplain here responded to some of these instances of clear prejudice with the useless statement that he will "do what [he] can in good conscience" (which was nothing) instead of fulfilling his legal obligations. of only 25%, and THAT stat was mostly due to failure to graduate high school— when I was in boot camp in ’01, we had a GED program. Although not intentionally racist, it was certainly tone-deaf and after months of debate, the Secretary of Defense authorized additional hairstyles that are used by black women serving, seen by some West Point cadets as an unfair bending of the rules. If we’re serious about the military, that stops. After nearly three and a half years here, there is no reason to suspect that I would be in any way incapable of completing the final requirements and walking across the stage in Michie Stadium with diploma in hand in another 174 days. A great asset. Sorry to say, times change and military requirements change with them. While walking around I overheard several conversations by cadets. They give you the chance to do and see things that you won’t experience anywhere else. It has been made clear that cadets can fail a multitude of classes and they will not be separated. The US Military Academy at West Point is dealing with the fallout from a major cheating incident involving 73 cadets, the largest cheating episode at the elite school since 1976. However, if a staff or faculty member attempts to correct the cadet in question, that staff/faculty member is sure to be reprimanded for “harassing cadets.” For example, as I made my rounds through the barracks inspecting study conditions one evening as the Academic Officer in Charge, I encountered a cadet in a company study room. An acceptance to West Point is a major accomplishment, and one that we hope you’ll be motivated to pursue. It breaks my heart to know first-hand what West Point was versus what it has become. “youtube the army- mccarthy hearings,,,,,,everything old is new again.”. The tradition … 2. Cadets routinely fail multiple classes and they are not separated at the end-of-semester Academic Boards. require sectarian religious participation, Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers. Lieutenant Colonel Robert M. Heffington (US Army, Ret.) ONE reason why West Point is feeling especially vulnerable to DOGs at this time is the historic experiment the corps tried out last year on the plebes. Nevertheless, they keep volunteering and they continue to lead our soldiers with valor at the company grade level where the rubber meets the road. Is it because you have seen the Army, some elements of its life and people, and decided that it is not the *life* you want? I am a little surprised by the depth of horror happening there; it has gotten pretty bad. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and nothing else, and was covered in tattoos. they … Not buying. Moreover, this is not unintentional; it is a deliberate action that is being taken by the Academy’s senior leadership, though they refuse to acknowledge or explain it. Who was the president for the past 8 years and who said that he will fundamentally change America. “Not buying. His answer astonished me: “That rule is too hard to enforce.” Yet West Point had no problem enforcing that rule on me in the mid-1990s. As a tax payer I want to know how long will it take to undo the damage to this once respected service academy? On January 27, 1778, Brigadier General Samuel Holden Parsons and his … Why would the graduates of a purportedly fabulous education fear being in the bottom 8% to 10% of the work force? This is not a “Corps has” story; it is meant to highlight a deliberate and radical series of changes being undertaken at the highest levels of USMA’ s leadership that are detrimental to the institution. They were all what could be called motivated and professional. Thanks Bill. The few remaining members of the staff and faculty who are still trying to hold the line are routinely berated, ignored, and ultimately silenced for their unwillingness to “go along with the program.” The Academy’s senior leaders simply do not want to hear their voices or their concerns. He is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. When it comes to issues of race and gender, West Point can be a lot like an online comments section. In the end, of course, the cadet was not found (despite having at first admitted that she lied), and she eventually graduated. No urine tests for drugs, no Ritalin, few anti-depressants, few gang tattoos. While there are certainly numerous problems with the developmental program at West Point and all service academies, the tipping point of my decision to resign was the realization that countless officers here and throughout the military are guilty of blatantly violating the oaths they swore to defend the Constitution. The cadets and midshipmen in federal service academies receive very expensive educations. In reality, separation is not a possibility anyway because the Superintendent refuses to impose that sanction. Harper’s had an article ca. I found it impossible to believe that the several hundred field grade officers stationed at West Point could not make teenagers wear the uniform. I am an old grad – Class of 80 – retired infantry Colonel with multiple tours in the 101st Airborne Division (AASLT). A Continuing Series-43, Life Lessons From Babylon 5: Always Go With Realfacts, Lent With Job and Saint Thomas Aquinas: Chapter Twenty-Three, Trump: Miss Me Yet? God help the troops led by such cadets as described by Colonel Heffington. Why would a staff or faculty member expend the massive amount of time and energy it takes to report an honor violation-including writing multiple sworn statements, giving interviews, and testifying at the honor hearing-when they know without a doubt the cadet will not be found (or, if found, the Superintendent will not separate the cadet)? l was unfortunate enough to experience this first hand during my first tour on the faculty, when the Commandant of Cadets called my office phone and proceeded to berate me in the most vulgar and obscene language for over ten minutes because I had reported a cadet who lied to me and then asked if “we could just drop it.” Of course, I was duty bound to report the cadet’s violation, and I did. Jackfish Lake is a spring fed lake, great for swimming, boating, fishing, and other recreational activities. Nothing matters anymore. It seems that the Academy’s senior leaders are intimidated by cadets. They are so reticent to separate problematic cadets (undoubtedly due to the “developmental model” that now exists at USMA) that someone like Rapone can easily slip through the cracks. Shaugnessy’s points about sociological corruption. First and foremost, standards at West Point are nonexistent. In recessions, about 8% to 10% are unemployed. If a cadet is worried about a test, they visit John Sedgwick. As soon as I stepped out I knew it … Fr. Spenser Rapone never should have been admitted, much less graduate, but he was-and that mistake is directly attributable to the culture of permissiveness and apathy that now exists there. Now I’m only left wondering why this fool hasn’t been throw out of the military. thats such a cliche answer. Every year, West Point admits more than a thousand students to its incoming plebe (freshman) class. Choosing to resign at this point also carries significant risk. Let us hope so Colonel. It is where the Great Chain was stretched across the Hudson to protect New York City during the Revolutionary War. Life Lessons From Babylon 5: Is It Worth It? Cadets know they will not be separated for violating it, and thus they do so on a daily basis. Tap here to turn on desktop notifications to get the news sent straight to you. This really hit me hard! Without much change in the proportions, you can have an organization wherein malefactors are sanctioned and the heroes set the overall tone or an organization devoted to containing the embarrassments generated by the scoundrels. Some arrive to class unshaven, in need of haircuts, and with uniforms that look so ridiculously bad that, at times, I could not believe I was even looking at a West Point cadet. Given my recent tenure on the West Point faculty and my direct interactions with Rapone, his “mentors,” and with the Academy’s leadership, I believe I can shed light on how someone like Rapone could possibly graduate. Here’s how. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn… In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield. Further, I have confirmed that officers at West Point have been given a gag order by senior leadership to specifically not talk to the media about any aspect of my departure. and actually, west point 2nd luitentents have a bad rep going into the army already and that works against them. Was there ever any promise that the gates of Hell would never prevail against the United States Military Academy? They routinely talk back to and snap at their instructors (military and civilian alike), challenge authority, and openly refuse to follow regulations. Even when we run, If this pope ends up in Hell, may God save him from that fate, PopeWatch hopes that whatever pit he is. He was a good student in the sense that he could take a test and score high, but he was also very interested in smuggling drink into the barracks and having other adventures. Consider carefully *why* you are leaving: 1. Women are far more likely to suffer serious joint injuries than men at the USMA. West Point generally doesn’t teach those facts that would cause cadets to feel embarrassed by or skeptical of the state. Rapone posted pro-Communist rantings on social media back in the Fifties? What’s the point in even having them? First, let me say this: going to West Point is an honor and if you complete, you will have a very good education. West Point and the Army are WORLD CLASS organizations and are without a doubt great places to start your adult life, build a career and learn lessons you won’t get anywhere else. The senior administration at West Point inexplicably refuses to enforce West Point’s publicly touted high standards on cadets, and, having picked up on this, cadets refuse to enforce standards on each other. Update: I am proud to affirm that I am continuing in my public position as the Director of West Point Affairs for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which currently has 165 cadets, faculty and staff clients; a 21 percent increase in client load since I went public. They are shown through policy that the Constitution guarantees their freedom of, but not from religion. It also had people who were anything but. LTC, U.S. Army (Retired), West Point Class of 1997, In this chapter Job asserts that the wicked are punished in this world or in the next: After describing the different kinds. Located in West Point, NY, West Point is also known as the United States Military Academy. The rot at West Point unfortunately also exists at the AFA. Dissent is crushed-I was repeatedly told to keep quiet at faculty meetings, even as a LTC, because my dissent was neither needed nor appreciated. It is an open secret that women get passed along with a wink & a nod when it comes to the physical training even when their standards have already been lowered. tail gunner joe was after more than what your little mind can understand, AT EASE AND AS YOU WERE, DISMISSED! Meet “Smitty,” the West Point Corps of Cadets’ new mascot. I graduated from the AF Academy (AFA) and many years later my daughter did as well. The cadet honor code has become a laughingstock. He was classifed I-Y. Examples of these policies include mandatory prayer, the maintenance of the 3rd Regiment Shield, awarding extra passes to Plebes who take part in religious retreats and chapel choirs, as well as informal policies such as the open disrespect of non-religious new cadets and incentivizing participation in religious activities through the chain of command. Those ideas have been replaced by extreme permissiveness, rampant dishonesty, and an inexplicable pursuit of mediocrity. Always seek the minority view of any situation or story! I do think an official inquiry is needed to determine how in the world Rapone graduated and was commissioned.
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