Midshipman Ethos: Shaping Character in the Leaders of Tomorrow

[@nicholasgeorge3868]

My roommate got kicked out youngster year. He didn't rat out anyone else, and none of the cowards came to back him up. It was a whole platoon of mids who did the deed in question. So I don't have a good memory of the honor concept, the honor squad, the knock on the door at night and all that. In fact, it made me wonder. And when my other roommate got kicked out for academics and performance that too soured my outlook. I myself, me, me, me, I kicked ass and graduated near the top of the class. But I never forgot that the dudes who preach the loudest are the biggest frauds. To me that's the honor takeaway. Out in the fleet its the same. The careerists and the liars float like oil to the top. Gundecked quals, favors to defense contractors, faked training stats, faked objectives in war, bias confirmation, sucky machinery (who remembers the Humvee which looked cool but had no armor. So many disabled vets I met could speak to that.) Unreliable gear led to the death of my XO. The worst is not doing anything of risk so you don't fail. How about the Soviet style officer ranking system. 4 out of 4 in a very competitive field. Has to be that way. It's a pyramid system. Who's in charge is life or death. In Afghanistan it was the Taliban then the Karzais then the Taliban again. Reagan's support of the Jihadist Mujahideen led to the rise of the Taliban in the first place, with plenty American weapons. Still happening. What about the uncleared mine fields. BZ. Did nada in Yemen which is all beachfront. Let everyone die. Not even a freaking hospital ship. Go Navy. SEALS got Bin Laden. Good intel. But do mountains of nothing all day. Write best sellers on leadership. Can u tell I pissed? I deeply regret not going to bat for my bros. I miss you guys. Capt Rimmer, you sound like a real piece of works. Mental health includes not being a narcissist.

[@phillipkeuhlen12]

Interesting piece, but it appears wholly aspirational. USNA has compromised the Honor Concept by introducing "remediation," apparently available more than once, and in all 4 years. It has eliminated discussion of the Honor Concept from BGO candidate interviews, apparently because they think later generations are morally inferior as they arrive at USNA compared to previous generations. If the Honor Concept is the minimum standard, then where is the programmatic guidance defining the relationship between the two and implementing actions. Otherwise, this is just a digital feel good statement. Interpretation and implementation appears to be left in the hands of individual midshipmen. The same group that Navy already sees as incapable of meeting the minimum Honor standard with respect to lieing, cheating, or stealing.