DON VINCENZO writes:

There was a time when the U.S. Military Academies were thought to have one – and only one – purpose: to send its graduates, grounded in a “warrior culture,” to aid and abet the security of this nation.  But that was then and now is now.

At the recent graduation of the midshipmen (I will not say or write, (“midshippersons”), the current Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter, announced that two of the graduates, Keenan Reynolds and Joe Cardona, would be allowed to “defer their military service” in order to fulfill their dream: play professional football. The fact that these two men knew that, upon entering the academy, there was a five year commitment to serve in the Navy as the quid pro quo of having drawn a monthly wage, as well as having their room and board paid for by the U.S. taxpayer, would not now be applied; Secretary Carter said so. The ruling applied retroactively to Cardona, a 2015 graduate, who has “fulfilled” his service obligations by working once a week at a Navy prep school and the rest of the week for the Boston Patriot football team. Yes, today’s “warriors” come in all shapes and sizes.

I cannot add more about our current SecDef than was enunciated by Laurence J. Peter decades ago, whose “Peter Principle” states: For every job that exists in the world, there is someone, somewhere, who cannot do it. Given sufficient time and enough promotions, he (or she!) will arrive eventually at that job, and there he (she) will remain, habitually bungling the job, frustrating his co-workers, and eroding the efficiency of the organization.” Bingo!

But the SecDef was not alone in opening up new horizons for the two graduates. None other that the current Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, chimed in: “When we have guys coming out of the Naval Academy who go on and play professional sports, or go on and do other things that are high profile, it gives us a chance to show who we are and show the type of people that we attract and recruit. “Attract and recruit” for what purpose, one might add.

But the rot that now permeates the military academies has seeped into its very pores: they have morphed into “social engineering” factories, and this was on display when a photo of graduating seniors from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point went viral on the Internet. A group of 16 all black female cadets was photographed giving the “black power salute,” which, under previous academy rules, would have prevented them from graduating…but that was then and now is now. Immediately, the excuses came forward: it was all “youthful exuberance,” you see. None other than the Academy Superintendent, Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen, Jr. lamented the photo causing “division” instead of “shared unity,” and added: “We all must understand that a symbol or gesture that one group of people may find harmless may offend others. As Army officers, we are not afforded the luxury of a lack of awareness of how we are perceived.” On May 21, all 16 were given a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

Not all agreed, of course: an Army Drill Instructor and Iraq veteran perhaps was more in keeping with the traditions of the 214 year old academy when he opined: “The fact that it could offend someone by its usage qualifies it as a symbol that goes against Army policies. It’s not the fact that they are wrong for having their beliefs, it’s the fact they did it while in uniform.”

I do not believe that a Trump victory in November of whatever proportions will alter what has slowly – but surely – eroded the trust and confidence America’s citizenry increasingly has of its graduates from military academies. Are we producing the graduates who are chosen because they represent the best of those who will serve their country? That question rarely if ever arose thirty or more years ago, but that was then and now is now.

— Comments —

Sven writes:

I won’t dispute the cultural and institutional rot that is happening in the U.S. military, but I do want to point out that service deferments for especially talented athletes have been going on a long time. These athletes bring positive publicity to the service by representing on the field. I don’t see a problem with this as long as it is a privilege reserved only for the best athletes.

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