Posted on 04/12/2006 11:10:40 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
Prince Harry, once dubbed a royal wild child for underage drink and drug antics, graduated as an army officer in England before joining a regiment that could be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan.
The third in the line to the throne passed out at the elite Sandhurst military academy before his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, at a colourful ceremony rich in military tradition.
Prince Harry marched with sword in hand across the parade ground to start his military career and stood to attention as his grandmother inspected the cadets.
Officer Cadet Wales now becomes a Second Lieutenant in the Household Cavalry and will train to become a troop commander in charge of 11 men and four light tanks in an armed reconnaissance unit. That could mean his serving in conflict zones.
Prince Harry, whose mother Princess Diana died in a Paris car crash when he was 12 years old, has said he wants a frontline role in the British Army.
"There is no way I am going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country," he said in an interview to mark his 21st birthday last September.
"That may sound very patriotic but it's true," added the prince whose elder brother Prince William is also training at Sandhurst to become an army officer.
This kid could be alright.
<< [Second Leiutenant Harry Wales graduates from army >>
Why not, his sperm donor was a soldier.
44 weeks.
I graduated from the Army. It took me over 21 years, but I graduated.
Not even a year, then? Hmm.... Well, if it works for them.
Good for him. Everyone here should be lauding Prince Harry, not making jokes about him. I admire him for graduating and taking the stand that he has.
It does "work for them." At US service academies, you get a bachelor's degree and a commission. In the UK, you get your degree somewhere else and your commission at Sandhurst (or other such.)
At Sandhurst they study military issues only. Our service academies are principally engineering schools so most of the four years are devoted to studying the same kinds of things they'd study at MIT or some other fine university.
I wonder if someone here who has actually graduated from one of our service academies could remark upon the ratio of time he or she spent studying military topics vs. the amount of time he or she spent studying history and science.
I personally hope Second "lef-tennent" Windsor does his country proud. The Royals should get off their arses and do something productive.
Agreed. With luck, he might turn out to be an extraordinary warrior -if he indeed ever gets sent into combat.
I forget who it was who said, "There's something about military combat. If you're good at it, you only get better."
There might be some hope for the Monarchy yet.
Randy Andy was an RN chopper pilot during the Falklands
dustup.
In related news, war-time law-school graduate George "P" Bush has found time to make speeches encouraging illegal aliens and denouncing U.S. Border Patrol officers.
Well at least he called Chavez a dictator which gives him at least some scintilla of hope.
Becoming a hard azz and deporting 12 million illegals is only going to all but guarantee this beast becomes our next POTUS. Think about it, it`s only two years away and so far Repubs haven`t presented, publicized, or even talked about one single potential candidate that might prevent this political holocaust from happening.
As for Bush, sorry, but I believe he needs the bashing. It eventually worked with Miers/Alito and stopping Bush's weird dream of a USA-Mexico merger is far more important than the Alito improvement over Miers.
An amnesty lay-down now will effectively mark the permanent end of immigration control in this country, i.e. the de facto end of the country. I believe it is that big, a genuinely existential decision point for our country.
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