"Lieutenants have two ears and one mouth for a reason"

As the school year draws to a close, more and more instructors are taking the time to impart upon us their words of wisdom before finals, and before we enter into the real army. Here's what I remember from what they said:

War and it's Theorists Instructor:
"Lieutenants have two ears and one mouth for a reason." Basically, I think he's saying for new lieutenants to absorb as much as they can and learn to do their job as best they can. I also talked to this instructor about writing a recommendation for me in order to come back to West Point to teach. Here's what he had to say:

"Citizen JEZ

I would be happy to do so.  You are exactly the type of cadet that we look

for to come back as a CPT/MAJ.  I'm excited that you are interested.

Respectfully,

Your Warfare and it's Theorists Instructor"

Pretty good praise from a lieutenant colonel right? I remember we were also talking in class about how being an instructor at West Point affects your army career and we came to the conclusion that for the most part, if you want to command a battalion one day, it may not be the best move for you. Keep in mind, however, that there have been some great general officers who have taught at West Point (notably General Petraeus and General Abizaid), but for the most part, it could kill your career as a commander and relegate you to staff jobs (for example, my Warfare and it's Theorists Instructor will be an officer on someone's Corps Staff after this semester is over). I don't know how I feel about that, but I know as a cadet, I've done much better as a staff person than as a commander. I guess we'll see how being an infantry platoon leader treats me-- I definitely do not have the knowledge yet to know if I want to be a staff officer forever, but I do want to keep my options open.

Law Instructor:

We really didn't talk too much about being an officer in my last Law class. I suppose it may be because our instructor is so young (30) and is a direct commissioned JAG officer, who has limited officer experience.

International Relations Instructor:

Funny thing, my International Relations Instructor really only told us to spend the time and write a good note to put inside of our hats, so when the little kids grab our hats after the hat toss on graduation day, the kids will be happy. He also said to put in $20 in there, since that'll be chump change to us pretty soon, but it'll really brighten the kid's day. I plan on putting in one $20 bill, a dime, and a penny, totaling $20.11, my class year. Maybe I'll buy my tossing hat (I want to keep the hat I've used as a cadet) later today and work on my note this afternoon...

Officership Instructor:

As you probably already know, I didn't have the best MX400 experience. I didn't see very much of my MX teacher, and frankly, would not trust his advice on how to become an officer. I wrote him as scathing of a review as I could while still being professional-- future classes should not have an instructor like him teaching them how to become officers. It is a disservice to everyone.

History of Civil War America Instructor:

"Your brain is not a vessel to be filled, but a flame to be kindled." On the last day of my Civil War class, while talking about Reconstruction, we started to talk about the education system. Somehow, we started discussing how to promote education within a community, especially for under-performing students. Such is a problem in my hometown, resulting in it being seen as not a nice place to live, especially with all the violence going on nowadays. It was brought up that smoking used to be popular, but through concentrated efforts over time, it became more difficult to smoke and thus smoking isn't as prevalent. Likewise, such a strategy can be used to promote education, but how to execute it is another story. I'll keep that discussion in mind, as I do want to return home someday and maybe help out in city government to clean up my hometown. There are good people that live there, but it seems like it's fallen apart in the past couple of years.

Oh, on an unrelated note, if you didn't know, I was the swim coach for the company's intramural swim team. From the begining of the season, I really didn't care if we went to Brigade championships-- I just wanted people to have fun and get a decent work out out of it all, as intramurals have an awful reputation of being a waste of time. Well, as it turns out, our company DID get to go to Brigade championships. Our Cinderella story did not end on the best of notes however (we came in fourth out of four in the championships), but what really got me was a note a swimmer sent me later that evening:

"Thanks, Coach.  Solid work.

Very Respectfully,

Sarcastic Cadet on Swim Team"

I always thought that this guy didn't like me because he was pretty sarcastic during the entire season. However, I really like how he referred to me as Coach. I didn't refer to myself as Coach during the season (I was always just ______, my real name), so I guess that was kind of cool. Would've been kind of cool if we had won Brigades, but it happens sometimes. Perhaps next year we will-- we've laid a solid foundation this year, so hopefully swimmers in the Class of 2012 will step up and win Brigades next year.

Lastly, I defended my thesis today and got a B+ on the thesis paper itself and an A- on my defense. I couldn't have done it without the morale support of the five people who sat behind me. You all know who you are, and thanks for being there!

And that's it-- that's the last of my undergraduate classes. All I have left are finals, a week of prades and moving out and then life truly begins.

The Future

Today we had a briefing from IBOLC (Infantry Basic Officer Leadership Course), RTB (Ranger Training Battalion) and Office of the Chief of Infantry representatives and they laid out what was in store for us in the coming months. Basically, I need to get in the best shape of my life this summer if I truly wish to succeed in Ranger School. I'm pretty excited about it all, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. However, I already know some of my weaknesses (land navigation in particular), so I'm going to spend as much time as I can this summer practicing it. My roommate here at West Point is also pretty good at land navigation and did a great job teaching it to Yearlings when he was a Buckner Squad Leader, and we've planned to spend some free time here practicing. Hopefully, I'll do well in The Future.

Also, I submitted my thesis yesterday with little problems. I actually ran into my thesis adviser in the hallway, so I was able to submit my thesis in person to him. He looked it over and seemed pretty cool with it all, but we'll see how the defense goes-- my thesis defense is scheduled for May 6, 2011 at 2:00pm. The end is near.

Osama Bin Laden is Dead

Perhaps the death of Osama Bin Laden will give this nation that peace it so longs for-- only time will tell.

It's May 2011

Today is May 1, 2011. I say again, 2011. That means graduation is 20 days away. Who would've thought that this time would finally come? I can still remember back in July 2007 thinking that May 2011 was light years away-- and now it's finally here.

Tomorrow I start my last week of undergraduate education. There's not much left in this school year in terms of actual learning though. Some highlights of this week include submitting my senior thesis and this Model UN thing we're doing in my International Relations class. We're basically pretending we're the UN Security Council discussing Libya. I get to play South Africa, so you can imagine that I'll be bringing in a soccer ball and a vuvuzela to our little mock UN cession tomorrow. Overall, it should be fun.

I also defend my thesis on Friday May 6, 2011. I still don't have any idea on what to call it, so if you have any suggestions for me, feel free to post: my senior thesis topic is the American Airborne on Sicily during WWII.

Wow-- it's already May 2011. Just wow.

Special Olympics

Today, I volunteered for the Special Olympics. While West Point hosts the Hudson Valley Regional Special Olympics every year, this is only my second time volunteering for it. I must say, it was a blast: the weather was gorgeous, the people were friendly, and I feel the entire event was generally well executed.

The athlete I was escorting is diagnosed with autism, but it didn't change who he is as a person. Like every teenage guy, he was still chasing girls and hoping to beat others in sports. His family was also very supportive of him. I can't say for sure, but I think they were Dominican-- they spoke Spanish amongst each other alot and even thought I knew Spanish! I seem to get that alot-- every country I've visited, I've been confused for a native. Little do they know I only fluently know English and can barely speak Portuguese or Tagalog.

All in all a good day. My thesis is due on Monday, so I'll probably be working on that later tonight. Almost there! It's May starting tomorrow.

On Leadership

So I'm pretty upset right now. I don't normally like to complain about West Point. For the most part, I can say confidently that I've enjoyed my time here. Even through all the tough times here, I can say I've made the best of it all.

Well, fast forward to second semester of firstie year, a time when one would think would be the best time for a cadet. To be fair, firstie year has been a blast-- I've gotten to go out a whole lot more, got to truly meet people, and learned a whole lot. I'd like to take this time now to blog about leadership.

I'm no army officer or anything and I'm just a cadet (for now), but I was always under the impression that officers had to take care of their subordinates. Well, recently it seems as if I've been marked as a bad cadet all because of MX. Don't get me wrong: I really wanted to like MX after reading up on it in the Redbook (see previous post). I'm a little anxious about taking command of a platoon, so I was really looking forward to all the officer development stuff that MX was supposed to teach.

Anyway, good news is that I passed MX with a C. Not exactly where I wanted to be, but passing nonetheless. That should have removed me from Academic Flag status, as MX was the only reason I was on Flag status to begin with. Knowing that, I put in for pass for this weekend and was initially approved with the caveat that I still had to submit an Exception to Policy Memo, which is just like it sounds: a request to bend the rules for a specific reason. I didn't think I had to submit one because I felt I wasn't flagged anymore. Here's what the officer in charge of me replied back with:

"CitizenJEZ,

Commanders flag and lift flags as per USCC Card 501 para 1 and USCC 351-2 para 104, sub-para K, 6, f and g.

LTC X, or myself or SFC Y as her agents can lift your flag.  Our stated requirement for lifting the flag was to be passing at 15 wk grades; since it isn't 15 wk grades, I'm not inclined to lift your flag yet.  I'm not about to waste my time placing and lifting flags on cadets based on their whims about whether or not to submit their MX400 assignments or perform their other duties.  See below for my original e-mail traffic on this topic.  Please do not inform me as to your current status; I decide it, therefore, I am well aware:  See you file in TIS (HTML); you are indeed flagged.  Guess I'll have to deny that pass.

-Officer That Approves CitizenJEZ's Passes"

I suppose he got the wrong impression of me telling him that I didn't think I had to submit an Exception to Policy Memo. Nonetheless, my pass has been denied. The worst part of it all? 15 week grades are due sometime next week I believe, so he totally denied my pass out of spite. Where is the whole "quick to praise, but slow to reprimand" aspect I hear so often preached? When I sought this officer's advice on how to go about dealing with my MX issues, he flat out ignored my request. However, when I try to stand up for what I believed was correct, the officer plays the rank game with me and I inevitably lose.

Where's the leadership in all of this? I'm trying to keep an open mind about this all and see his point of view, but I'm just not seeing it right now. Hopefully ten years from now I'll be able to think back to this point and be like "Wow, he was right the entire time!" but for now, I just don't see it.

Oh well-- I'm helping out with the Special Olympics tomorrow anyway, so I wouldn't have the time to go on pass. Also, my thesis is almost done, so even though I got punked by an officer, I still think overall I'm doing well. I'm for sure going to graduate, and at this point, May 21, 2011 couldn't get here any sooner.

Cadets Always Win.

PS
Ok, seriously this time-- I will try my best to blog every day. I've just been busy over the past few weeks.

Deficient

From the USMA "RedBook" (i.e. course catalog)

"MX 400 is a capstone course that challenges cadets to reflect upon, integrate, and synthesize their experiences in the six Cadet Leader Development System domains as they commence the transformation to commissioned officership. Cadets will achieve a thorough intellectual understanding of the four clusters of expert knowledge of the military professional--military-technical, moral-ethical, political-cultural, and human development. Successful completion of this course will enable each cadet to achieve competence and confidence in a new self-identity in the four facets of the role of a commissioned officer--a Soldier, a leader of character, a servant of the Nation, and a member of the profession of arms. Each graduate will be capable of executing the fundamental practices of the military professional--the repetitive exercise of discretionary judgment in decision making and taking actions that fulfill the moral and legal responsibilities of commissioned officers. Upon graduation, each new 2LT will be fully prepared for the immediate challenges of junior officership and capable of a lifetime of professional growth as an officer in the United States Army."

One would think this would be a great course, but unfortunately, it's not uniformly executed. I've heard of some people having great instructors and others not. I fall into the latter category. The biggest pet peeve I have with my instructor is the fact that he emails us that we don't have class during first hour class and for folks that have first hour class, it's hard to check our email during class. Thus, half the class shows up to MX thinking there is class only to be "pleasantly surprised" when there isn't class. I'm all for class drops, for sure, but not for having my time wasted waiting for a class to never start.

Most of the time, my instructor emails us telling us of a great video clip he found online and wants us to watch. That's cool too, but these video clips could definitely be shown in class just for the sake of the instructor having a class presence. Us watching it in our room is not very effective and doesn't build any rapport with the rest of the class.

Around here, MX is known to be a pretty easy class: you show up, you put your thoughts on officership down on paper, and you walk out with a decent grade. Well, silly me currently has an F in the class. I forgot to turn in a pretty big paper (20% worth of points) that was due before Spring Break started and thus, I'm pretty deep in the hole. I totally had the assignment  being due written down too, but I guess with Spring Break being around the corner and with my previous experience with my instructor telling us to not worry about another assignment that was due because he'd just make it due later, I decided to not do it. I still had to turn the assignment in however, but I didn't get any points for it (well maybe 100 sympathy points out of 200 possible).

Where does that put me? Well, right now I'm listed as deficient, meaning I have lost all privileges. That really blows, not really because of the fact that I can't go out but because of the fact that I lost the ability to, if I so chose. I hate it when I lose, and if you know me well enough, I always say "cadets always win," but it looks like I lost this one. I was supposed to go to Washington D.C. too, with a visit to the White House involved, but because of my grade in MX, I wasn't allowed to go. I tried to appeal too, and here's the verdict:

"

CitizenJEZ- Your Tac Team has DISAPPROVED your participation on the following trip:

APAC Asian-Pacific Club to Washington DC, 01 Apr 11 - 03 Apr 11

The Tac Team provides the following remarks with this action:

F in MX400. Turned in Essay #12 ridiculously late. Has ability to improve but has not received another grade since.

This disapproval supersedes any previous decisions concerning this trip."

I agree with the first statement-- I do have an F. However, the third statement is totally false: I submitted three other assignments before the grading window closed, but they weren't accounted for. I offered that as evidence as to why I should be good grade wise, but my appeal for an exception to policy was still denied. 

I'm going to talk to my instructor, face to face, next time I see him. I already missed out on fist bumping Obama, but it's not about that anymore. I want him to explain to me why I'm deficient, because I still don't see how I could be.