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Vanity - Latest in Commie Cadet Saga at West Point
USMA | 2017-10-12 | Robert Caslen

Posted on 10/12/2017 2:38:50 PM PDT by lacrew

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This is a very long letter. Buried in the middle is, I think, the crux of the disagreement. West Point has abandoned the 'attritional model' and embraced a 'developmental model'. I have never heard those terms, but I think what it means is that West Point has changed to be more in line with many other military training programs: Failure results in re-training and re-testing, and not dismissal altogether.

On its face, this makes sense. Why throw away 2 or 3 years training invested in a cadet, just because he screws up once. But it can also encourage mediocrity. An example was cited in LTC Heffington's letter - if a cadet was doing poorly in class, he may just choose to fail it altogether. This allowed him to re-take the class (with little risk of getting kicked out of the academy). And to top it off, the summer academic term now counts as a summer training period - this means going to summer school no longer consumes all of your precious summer leave; and, a cadet may actually get more leave if he goes to summer school instead of Airborne School. In the 'old days', if you were lucky enough to not get kicked out after failing a class, your leave was mostly forfeited in lieu of summer term academics.

IMHO, the superintendent's letter merely gives a one liner to this major philosophical change. Sometimes zero tolerance can be a great motivator, and should not be dismissed without discussion. Unless LTC Heffington just made things up out of thin air, there is a 'climate' problem...Heffington probably shouldn't have accused the Superintendent of being a liar, because now this could devolve into an unproductive finger pointing rally. But clearly something is wrong - in light of the recent commie cadet episode, perhaps an investigative commission is in order.

1 posted on 10/12/2017 2:38:50 PM PDT by lacrew
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To: lacrew

Thanks for the post. We can’t let this commie Rapone fall off the radar.


2 posted on 10/12/2017 2:40:36 PM PDT by Godebert (CRUZ: Born in a foreign land to a foreign father.)
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To: lacrew
Go West Point!


3 posted on 10/12/2017 2:42:29 PM PDT by Drew68
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To: lacrew

So, General Caslen, all those you separated before were worse than this latest commie creep, right? Right?

I fart in your general direction!


4 posted on 10/12/2017 2:43:54 PM PDT by EasySt (Their issue is NEVER the issue. Their real issue is ALWAYS revolution.)
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To: lacrew
But clearly something is wrong - in light of the recent commie cadet episode, perhaps an investigative commission is in order.

Agreed. Something is clearly wrong or (1) Rapone wold never have been admitted and (2) would never have graduated.

5 posted on 10/12/2017 2:45:41 PM PDT by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel.)
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To: lacrew

A friend of mine taught at West Point for many years. He had been career military and after retirement, left teaching to get his PhD.

Clinton changed the rules that you no longer had to be former military to be on WP faculty. What that meant was they no longer hired former military for WP faculty.

He couldn’t get his old job back.


6 posted on 10/12/2017 2:45:47 PM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings)
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To: EasySt
So, General Caslen, all those you separated before were worse than this latest commie creep, right? Right?

Good question.

7 posted on 10/12/2017 2:46:28 PM PDT by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel.)
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To: lacrew
continues to evolve to meet the needs of today’s ArmyToday's Army needs its Commies and Mohammeds to prepare it for the desired future, I'm sure.
8 posted on 10/12/2017 2:46:30 PM PDT by arthurus
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To: lacrew
It would also be illuminating to hear more about the professor who mentored Rapone and is now on administrative leave.
9 posted on 10/12/2017 2:48:42 PM PDT by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel.)
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To: lacrew

Written by a darn well talented public affairs officer on the General’s staff. Now just because the man wears makeup, and has never seen combat should lead to no conclusions or judgments.
This is the result of the Obama commissars infiltrating the military and the political officers who reached senior rank over the last eight years. Policies that have been implemented in the military if publicly known would disgust the average American.


10 posted on 10/12/2017 2:51:11 PM PDT by allendale (.)
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To: Drew68
As I read Heffington's letter earlier today, I couldn't help but think of these 'black power' cadets.

And the photo supports Heffington.

The one in the front, to the reader's right, has extra chevrons - signifying she is in a leadership position...yer she still participated. And while we're at it, look at he pants...you can hardly even see her shoes, either because they fit so bad, or more likely because she is wearing them wrong.

The two holding sabers have pants that are hopelessly wrinkled - not just in the waist, but the knees...like they were balled up and stuffed in a bag.

The 'meme' they are going for is a relaxed position, so I can't really judge their military bearing, but it doesn't look like they have much of that either.

11 posted on 10/12/2017 2:51:14 PM PDT by lacrew
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To: Drew68

This is ludicrous.


12 posted on 10/12/2017 2:52:10 PM PDT by arthurus
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To: lacrew

I didn’t see anything addressing why they’re now teaching a Communist and SJW oriented curriculum at a military academy. Its mostly looks just like asscovering without refuting most of the points.


13 posted on 10/12/2017 2:53:23 PM PDT by jarwulf
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To: tired&retired

I was at West Point immediately prior to Clinton’s election. The vast majority of faculty were active duty Army. Of the few that were civilians, I don’t think they were all former military even back then.


14 posted on 10/12/2017 2:53:41 PM PDT by lacrew
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To: allendale

Trust me, this was starting when I was there 25 years ago. Its not just Obama. We’ve had around 40 years of ‘politically correctness’ in this country (practically my entire life), and it has taken a toll. Blaming it all on Obama leads to the false hope that his absence alone will fix the problem.


15 posted on 10/12/2017 2:55:49 PM PDT by lacrew
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To: lacrew
The two holding sabers have pants that are hopelessly wrinkled - not just in the waist, but the knees...like they were balled up and stuffed in a bag.

This! Making the "black power" salute is one thing. Making it while looking like a bag of ass is another!

I've seen high school marching band members who take more pride in their uniforms than these future West Point officers, supposedly the best of the best.

16 posted on 10/12/2017 2:57:52 PM PDT by Drew68
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To: lacrew
West Point has abandoned the 'attritional model' and embraced a 'developmental model'.

Sounds like new age leadership models I have seen... Attritional Model: Set clear standards on fitness, discipline, honor, academic and leadership, etc. If you fail to meet standards at any point you are dropped. "Developmental"-- Set goal oriented standards for each individual; they may progress at different speeds, but are supposed to meet common standards at the end of the day. Hence, if they fail on occasion, they may not be dropped, but if they fail to correct over time they will be. The problem with this model is you have to have leaders of character with a hard edge, or they will get too attached/vested in the people they are developing and not drop them. Also, if you are skating by academically and having to retake classes you need to be dropped. You could make this model work, but you still need SOME black and white standards. I would recommend zero tolerance on honor (there can be no margin of error here if you want real integrity), physical training(if you can't meet min standards you seriously shouldn't be here, that is easy), and academic (you fail a class you are out)

17 posted on 10/12/2017 2:58:37 PM PDT by LambSlave
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To: arthurus

This is why Lincoln is buried in a steel cage under three tons of concrete.


18 posted on 10/12/2017 2:59:23 PM PDT by Rome2000 (SMASH THE CPUSA-SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS-CLOSE ALL MOSQUES)
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To: lacrew

Our fatigues had to look better than that in boot camp. The one in the platoon with the worst looking uniform was usually referred to as Private Dufflebag.


19 posted on 10/12/2017 3:01:29 PM PDT by beelzepug (H,MN! WIAM? DMS!)
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To: Drew68

If I were a white soldier I would be afraid of getting fragged by one of those black militants.


20 posted on 10/12/2017 3:03:12 PM PDT by forgotten man
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