Here’s a link to an AP news article titled: “Some lawmakers send few to academies,” by Brian Witte:

 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091120/ap_on_re_us/us_military_academies_minorities

The article discusses that most of the Reps with low nomination totals are from urban districts with high minority percentages.  Some of the worst offenders, however, are also leaders in the anti-war efforts, although a direct correlation is not necessarily made between their politics and low nomination count.  But it also discusses how some Reps who support the system still have difficulties in drawing candidates to nominate because of a perceived poor opinion of serving in the military by minorites and others in their districts/states.  I do have one problem with the the article and its title.  A Rep or Senator can only have 5 seats filled at each academy at one time, even though they can nominate up to 10 candidates for 1 seat.  They could nominate any amount from 15 to 150 candidates over 4 years, but could still fill all 15 seats with just 15 nominees.  Therefore, they would still be sending the same amount to the academies as others, just nominating less.  The bigger problem is if seats available to Reps and Senators are going unfilled, which is not addressed in the article.  It would be more interesting to know who these people are.

Fortunately, there are many Americans who are not merely content with remembering the horrors of Sept 11, 2001. They act on those memories. On that clear and fateful morning, Gil Sanborn was working in his office across from the World Trade Center. He heard the first plane and saw the second plane hit the buildings.

In his words, Gil tried to find “an emotional and moral compass” that could transcend the national upheaval since the attacks. Motivated and inspired after he witnessed the commitment and heroism of rescue workers in the attacks of September 11, 2001, Gil decided to focus on Soldiers.

Gil rallied his friends and neighbors to reach out to Soldiers serving in Iraq. Together, they “adopted” the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Infantry Division, known as the Dagger Brigade, during their deployment in 2006-2007 to Baghdad and Ramadi. Gil selected the Dagger Brigade because of its overseas posting in Germany, far from support of family and communities. Gil founded “Weston Supports“, a community-based support initiative to engage Americans with our Soldiers. The purpose is three-fold to:

• provide direct help and support to Dagger Brigade Soldiers and Families
• demonstrate support from America through a community linkage
• educate Westonites (Weston, CT) on the dedication and sacrifices of our Soldiers

Soldiers and their families have been the focus of Gil Sanborn’s life and energy ever since.

In March 2009 during their deployment in 2006-2007, Lt. Col Bob Whittle (former Commander of the Task Force Guardian of the Dagger Brigade) asked Gil if he would come out to Ft. Riley to address his 1st Engineer Battalion at their pre-deployment ball before they headed off to Iraq and Afghanistan. He asked Gil to talk about his experiences on Sept 11, 2001. Gil, honored, gladly accepted.

On this National Day of Service and Remembrance marking 8th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, Gil shared those remarks with me. In turn, I shared them with Mike Pratt ‘87, who was in the building next to the World Trade Center on 9/11. This morning we spoke as we had on that date 8 years ago.

Click here to read Gil Sanborn’s remarks to the 1st Engineer Battalion.

Hi One and All,

I would appreciate your assistance. My team @work is collecting anecdotal background information in support of our social media offerings. We are currently polling people’s activities in social networks. Can you please go here http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=zVxaTvIOcpb3NbgeIfjOgQ_3d_3d and complete the poll?

This poll will not collect any PII nor will we be able track you, personally. This is decidedly a nonscientific poll.

Please go here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=zVxaTvIOcpb3NbgeIfjOgQ_3d_3d

Can you pass this on and ask your friends?

Thank You! Gordon

I just got back from marching/walking in the Staten Island Memorial Day Parade and partaking in food and drink with sailors from Fleet Week at our American Legion post.  I was reveling in the glory and acclamation of the crowd: “Thank you for all you have done”, “We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you”, “Thank you for my freedom”.  Even the sailors back at the post put forth a begrudging thank you to us Army Vets.  I was on the top of the world.

I was on the top of the world until I got home and read the post about MAJ Jason Everett George.  It hit me like a tsunami.  The tears are pouring from my eyes as I type.  This day is not about me, my fellow veterans that marched in the parade, or even the sailor from Fleet Week. This weekend is about soldiers like MAJ Jason Everett George, someone that has given the ultimate sacrifice for their country. 

I now realized that I marched for those who could not march.  I ate for those who could not eat. I drank for those who could not drink.

Memorial Day is to honor those who are no longer among us:  the ones that gave the ultimate sacrifice.  When we participate in these Memorial Day activities, we participate as the fortunate ones; the ones that served and survived, or the ones that benefited from the sacrifice. 

I don’t know how to wrap up this blog other than to say; this day has changed my life.

1st Lt. Dan Choi, 2002 West Point graduate, Arabic linguist and Iraq War veteran, is being fired from the United States Army for publicly announcing that he is gay.

In the Army equivalent of a pink slip received by postal mail on 23 April 2009, Choi was informed of his firing because of what he said. The Army wrote, “You admitted publicly that you are homosexual which constitutes homosexual conduct. Your actions negatively affected the good order and discipline of the New York Army National Guard.”

The Army doesn’t care that Choi is gay, but they do care that he told everyone. The Army’s explanation is a weak justification of his firing. More appropriate would have been to say you violated policy, the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, therefore you are fired.

Under federal law, openly gay people are prohibited from serving in the United States Armed Forces. The military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy is the only law in the country that allows for the firing of a person based on open expression of sexual orientation alone.

More than a decade after its implementation, the policy continues to create significant anxiety among gay service members. It is a policy which encourages gay soldiers to lie in order to continue in their chosen profession and selfless service to the Nation. This is in direct conflict with “integrity”, one of the Army’s seven core values. Integrity, by Army definition, is “do what is right, legally and morally. Be willing to do what is right even when no one is looking.” The Army proffers that integrity is its “moral compass” and inner voice. This makes sense: integrity builds trust, and trust builds unit cohesion.

So how does a service member’s admission of sexual orientation “negatively affects the good order and discipline” of a military unit? What makes Choi’s being gay detrimental to good order and discipline? That question remains to be answered. In the early 1990’s, when then President Bill Clinton moved to allow gays in the military, Pentagon brass commissioned a Rand Corporation study of the issue. The study found that gays and lesbians could serve without negative impact to the military. The study was suppressed.

A more appropriate question might be what negatively affects good order, discipline and morale in military units? A few common to mind. Leaders who do not lead by example – they say one thing and do another; leaders who are guided by self-interest – not for the good of the unit or mission; and units where standards are not uniformly enforced. Two more obvious ones are sexual harassment and fraternization. But these are already regulated – we don’t need special regulations for gays and lesbians. Meanwhile, the distancing and dishonesty that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell requires of serving gays and lesbians certainly has a negative impact. One could argue that the policy itself is detrimental to good order and discipline.

Since the enactment of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, more than 12,500 soldiers have been discharged from the military for being lesbian, gay, or bisexual. According to figures from the General Accounting Office, the cost of training replacements for those soldiers exceeded $360 million from fiscal years 1994 through 2003. Included are soldiers in military occupational specialties with critical shortages, such as pilots, intelligence analysts and Arabic linguists. With the dismissal of 1st Lt. Dan Choi, the number just increased.

In a 2004 article for Compass: A Journal of Leadership Magazine, a publication of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, former Army Maj. Lissa Young, also forced out of the profession of arms because of her acknowledgment of her sexual orientation, addressed the failure of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. She wrote:

We are afraid to challenge the assumptions of our institutions even as we respect their foundations. A notable example of our failure is the unwillingness to lift the unconstitutional and incoherent policy, commonly called ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ that prohibits homosexuals from serving openly in our armed forces. They are told they can serve only if they treat their sexuality as a secret they must hide from the world. And in the next breath they are told that a soldier never lies.

What the 12,500 figure does not include are soldiers who complete their service obligations but choose not to continue their military careers because of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Many gay veterans are proud of their service and likely would have continued to serve, but the toll and cost of keeping one’s life secret became too great. It is a choice many talented, patriotic and committed soldiers have had to, and continue to, make.

The time has come to change the current policy. The commander-in-chief has the authority to suspend gay discharges under federal law (10 U.S.C. §12305) to retain any member of the military he believes is essential to national security. President Obama, please invoke your authority and leadership while you work to change the policy.

The Sunday (April 20, 2009) Washington Post Outlook article by Thomas Ricks recommends closing down the the federal service academies will not only trim the federal budget, but will improve leadership in the US.

Ricks offers the standard position of cost to begin his argument. “[S]ervice academies [are] more than twice as expensive as taking in graduates of civilian schools ($300,000 per West Point product vs. $130,000 for ROTC student).” He fails, predictably, to note the value of the education in terms of national service both in and out of uniform.

Given his writing credentials, Ricks article lacks rigor and fact. It relies heavily on anecdotal comments such as comparing a West Point education with that one offered at a community college. If I am not mistaken West Point repeatedly ranks in the top 10 of all colleges and universities. All one has to look at are the Forbes and US News and World Report Rankings.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/16/AR2009041603483.html

Ricks will discuss this article at 1300 hours EST. on Monday 20 April at www.washingtonpost.com/liveonline. Let’s all join the conversation and share some facts with him.

Thomas E. Ricks is a special military correspondent for The Washington Post and senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq. His most recent book, The Gamble, covers the Iraq war between 2006-2008. Ricks is a graduate of Yale University.

Future Congressman CA-10

My classmate, FUTURE CONGRESSMAN ANTHONY WOODS. This inspiring and unifying man is just the leader we need to give us hope and represent so much of what is RIGHT in America. West Point and Harvard JFK School of Govt graduate, two tours in Iraq. He will make all us old grads so proud.

AMERICANS have a new rallying point. Let’s support this selfess servant and awesome role model.

In honor of Founder’s Day, I wanted to share a little “song” I “wrote”  and delivered as the youngest grad some 13 years post graduation.  This was my feint attempt to rhyme our four years of experiences.

I acknowledge that I borrowed the melody of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” written and produced by Billy Joel and included on the Storm Front CD.  Mike Pratt quickly noted that my musical count was inaccurate–Joel used an 13 count, McAleer only a 10 count

Michie Stadium, R day, Say Good-bye
Is this the catcher in the rye?
Red sash, about face, neck back , lock heels,
Do we ever get to eat a meal?

WB Four, Report to WB nine
Kiwi, Brasso, now I need a spit shine.
How’s the cow? Start the days…
Will I ever make it out of this maze?

Ping out, pop off, poop deck
What the heck?
Yes sir, no sir, sir I do not understand.
Miss, you need to act like a man!

In ranks, present arms, parade rest,
when are we going to get to the mess?
PT , cold C’s, hot A’s
How many more days….until May?

Thayer Day, Star Day, Minute Call
There is no more water in the mess hall!
Cattle call, Cullum Hall
Cadet, get up against my wall!

Moving out to 4th class development time
I knew the squad leader was no friend of mine.
The national anthem-mister the second verse
oh no I have gotten the curse
Sir, In the New York Times, it was reported that
Plebes rank no higher comm’s cat

DPE taught us  flexibility in gymspactics
testing the durability of our “Gym A” elastics
Rock swimming and boxing were two favorite classes
although we were always on our asses

“Bob and Travel”, speck and dump,  and all nighters
Were designed to make us better fighters

Spirit week and missions to steal the goat
All intended to beat those guys in the big boat
Gave us reprieve from those  Bugle Notes
Yet in the parade will still carried damn rain coats

Go Army, Beat Navy
Oh no, more slum and gravy

Stay awake, stay alive, take boards, stagger desks
or you’ll find yourself in one big mess
Quill will, punishment tours, and area birds
These cadets were no academic nerds

With the arrival of June Week and Recognition parade
we thought we had it all made,
We could gaze around the mess hall
About to do our last minute call

Next came the best summer of our lives
Prone position, low crawl, land nav
All this fun could give you hives
Jut how much fun can we have?
Camp Buckner, Heartbreak Hill
a full summer with no drill

Slide for life and fun runs
When can we fire those big guns?
Kill rabbits, kill chickens all during infantry week
with little food and less sleep this is not for the meek.

OC, AO, TOC  and the TAC
Is it now, time for some rack!
M-16’s, 203’s, 105’s
Is this some kind of Army Jive?

Gamma Goats were sure to please
each time we asked
Do the Soviets have any of these?

It all ended with Camp Illumination
Time to return for reorganization
Another beer at Barth Hall would surely end my state of sober
But now I was ready o find out just how much  plebes were getting over

CCQ,  plebe chaser, corporal of the messhall
Yeraling duties are such a ball

Econ, Poly Sci, Drugs and problem stats
Looks like I’m probably headed for STAP

Spring was spent on pebble beach
filling out those crazy dream sheets

Our third summer was spent a far
finding our what it was to wear the bar.
Returning to our rock bound highland homes
came our welcome to the Profession of Arms

Mil Art,  Cow English and Leadersleep
Will I make it to the end of the week
Mechanics, fluids and solids, what could be worse?
How about a full semester of juice?

Many of us thought we had the course licked
but soon found ourselves turning to the Curve Dick
On the weekends those not in our cots
could be found dashing to Pellies parking lot

The academic year was filled with WPR’s and design projects
Designed to advance our knowledge with some foreign logic
Firstie year was in sight
with the arrival of 500th night

Ring weekend, coffee call, grant hall
We thought we had it all
We focused on counting the days
while attempting to save our GPA’s

Five and fly, 2.0 and go
Sorry, that push-up is a no

Graduation was in sight
once we reached 100th night
Straw polls, branch selection all dependent on class rank
Looks like you’ll be going in the tank

Our motto became delegate and graduate,
while others looked to find a mate.

A thrill was equipment turn in
anticipation of what we were to begin

Buying uniforms, we spent a lot of dough
but it was necessary for that hat to throw.
We bid farewell to Kaydet Gray
About to start on our new way

We would have all been remissed
If we had heard class dismissed!

And now it is time to turn it over to the supe
I think I have recalled most of that cadet poop!

If any cadets read this request, please forward it to others who might be interested in the issue of where the Patton statue should be installed this spring.  We’d like to include cadet opinions in our survey results.  So far, 70+ grads have expressed the opinion that Patton’s statue should be as close as possible to it’s original location near the library, where it can be seen by all cadets on a daily basis.  Opinions differ on whether the figure should face the library or the Plain. Please visit http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=5RRC36UCsc6RSiiELijbxg_3d_3d or http://tinyurl.com/c2ol2r to complete an unofficial survey of Cadets and graduates by an old grad to provide unsolicited input to the Museum Historical and Memorialization Committee re the new location for the Patton statue.

Thanks,

Fred Bothwell ‘62

G-1

Armor