Tag Archives: usna

Cheating Officer: Everybody Does It

Former US Marine 2nd Lieutenant Adam Ballard has given his excuse for his lapse in integrity, in which he cheated on a land navigation test:  everybody’s doing it, and it was the school’s fault:

Ballard admits his actions were wrong but said they were facilitated by “inordinately lax procedures at [the basic officer school]…”

Over half of the three hundred Marines in our company possessed the same information that I had and that those numbers were comparable, if not more, in all the other training companies past and present…

As noted here often, neither a “culture” that seems to encourage cheating, nor a tangible disadvantage for not cheating are excuses for making the “easier” wrong choice.

The US Military Academies and Mediocrity

Bruce Fleming, a 23-year professor of English at the US Naval Academy, publishes a fairly scathing critique of the military academy construct at the New York Times (oddly timed as the Academies host their graduations this week).  He blasts the cost, the apparent lack of unique ability, preferential treatment of football players, the apparent trend of “unofficial affirmative action,” and the “backdoor” for less-qualified students in the preparatory school.

Fleming has long been a commentator on, and largely a critic of, the institution that employs him (and he has received some grief for it).  He questioned Read more

US Military Academy Graduations 2010

President Obama spoke at the US Military Academy commencement at West Point on Saturday.  Admiral Mullen will address the US Air Force Academy graduation on Wednesday.  The Naval Academy graduation will be addressed by Vice President Biden on Friday.

Obama’s address, which can be viewed at the White House website, contained some interesting quotes.  Many focused on his stated “international order” and missed his statements on religion and war:  Read more

Traditions Change at US Naval Academy

The Herndon Monument climb, a tradition over which the outgoing superintendent of the US Naval Academy Vice Adm Jeffrey Fowler had already expressed displeasure, was done without the lard and water-spraying of previous years.  As a result, the first year midshipmen managed a near-record time of 2 minutes and 5 seconds, as opposed to the more average time of 2 hours or more.

This was not the first time for either the absence of water (banned last year) or a slicked up monument, though it has been decades since the plebes scaled the obelisk without the challenge of lard.

The change was reportedly “to improve the safety of the event.”

The Naval Academy graduation is this Friday.

USNA Superintendent Wants to End Cadet Tradition

According to the Military Times, US Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler has expressed displeasure with the decades old tradition of “freshmen” midshipmen climbing the Herndon monument.  The annual climb is the symbolic end of the plebe year.

The article does specifically say Fowler is not canceling the event, though he anticipates that “risk management” will eventually lead to its demise.

The article contains a fairly detailed description of the climb, as well as its history.

1 … 4 5 6