Tuesday, August 28, 2012

"I just wanted to serve my country" -- and you still can, bucko

Seems there's a kid who wants to be an ossifer, who was caught on video helping tip over a news van during the Penn State riots over the firing of JoPa the coverup artist. He didn't contest his school suspension -- he says "I had my hand on the van, I didn't push" -- because anything he said during a hearing could have been used against him in a criminal court, and as a result he lost his Army ROTC scholarship. "But it's not fair! I didn't DO anything! I don't deserve this! All I ever wanted to do was to serve my country!"

Cry me a river, snowflake. Ever heard of "conduct unbecoming an officer"? If I'd done something like that while I was under Uncle Sam, I'd have lost a stripe or two. Somebody with judgement that poor, I really don't want leading my comrades in combat; I'm with the Army on this one.

Methinks the family tradition of being in the officer corps has something to do with this: he's entitled to a commission, dammit! Why should his actions have consequences?

Besides, "I had my hand on the van, I didn't push" -- really? That's all you got?

Here's a reality check, you immature shithead: you don't even have a misdemeanor conviction, just a school suspension and a loss of your ROTC ride. You can still enlist after paying for your own damn degree. If you keep your nose clean for a year or two, maybe they'll pass you for OCS. But I'd keep quiet to the recruiter about "I had my hand on the van, but I didn't push." S/he might laugh you out of hir office.

Here's the article.

22 comments:

  1. There's like three levels of sex offender, right? I'm not saying that being dismissive of sexual abuse is the same as being a rapist, but anyone who riots because a child-rape enabler gets fired should have to register as whatever level you are if you pick up a 16 year old with a fake ID. I think being drunk, willingly ignorant and horny with a willing 16 year old is probably less dangerous than prioritizing trophies over the welfare of a bunch of younger UNwilling children.

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  2. Hm. This is timely.

    Introvert, what would you do if you caught one of your returned-from-Iraq vets doing something VERY unbecoming in public -- something along the lines of making fun of disabled veterans and impersonating an officer?

    Not in class, just in public. Would you try to contact someone in command about what you saw? Or let it go?

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    Replies
    1. Part of command is understanding what to see and what not to see. As Frod points out below, ROTC may not have had a choice since the boy was suspended. Nevertheless, if said combat vet was arrested for, say, public indecency while drunk, and didn't make excuses, s/he'd probably get administrative punishment.

      The career consequences would differ for enlisted personnel and officers. For an officer, anything negative in your personnel file can be severely promotion-limiting. If an officer doesn't get promoted to at least major/lieutenant commander, it means that they're not going to be allowed to retire because they'll probably be forced out before they get to 20 years. (The same usually goes for enlisted personnel who don't rise to the rank of E-6 -- staff sergeant in the Army or Marines.)

      But more is expected from those to whom more is given.

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    2. Incidentally, "administrative punishment" is exactly what this particular young "man" got from Penn State. The idea is that you don't involve the criminal courts; you keep it local, limited and in-house so as to have minimum impact on the offender's future.

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    3. So, nothing for me to do then, I suppose. Shame, this was terribly disrespectful and just shocking.

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    4. A real situation, then? I would use my judgement. Some things can be written off to "blowing off steam." Others cannot. Without knowing more specifics (or being an A.M.) I can't help you decide which is which.

      Generally the Chain of Command likes to know about such things, but depending on the thing, the rank of the offender and whether the thing actually publicly reflects discredit on the Service, the Chain of Command is at least as likely to rip the offender a new asshole as to actually refer them to the tender mercies of the UCMJ.

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  3. A mistake is when you lock your keys in your car. A "mistake" is not deliberately driving to the riot and participating in vandalism.

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    Replies
    1. Generally, true. Yet, we all have been 19, and all of us where a) imbeciles b) with a lot of energy, so we performed many public stupid actions.
      Age gives a different flavour of imbecillity, one which mostly stays private.

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  4. Introvert, I'm not sure you got the apology I wrote you on that other post, so I am alerting you to it here.

    Meanwhile, I think the unfortunate truth is that when you are a seminarian or priest, a soldier-in-the-making or soldier, a grad student or professor, an athlete or a coach, what you do reflects upon the profession you represent and the trust you have been granted as a member of that profession. If you preach, defend your country, teach, or coach, you're held to higher standards. Period.

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    Replies
    1. I did see it; thank you. I apologize for not acknowledging it before now. The blog thing: the past is gone.

      As I posted above, I fully agree with you, though "conduct unbecoming an officer" will usually have more severe consequences than "conduct reflecting poorly on the United States Army" would have for an enlisted person.

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. Read the news article -- if you want to get a disgusting, stomach-turning dose of "everything but the obvious." The obvious being that this guy is GUILTY and really does have a questionable character. He's simply too reckless to be a proper candidate for something as serious as military service. Even this clown's father, a veteran who ought to know better, gets in on the skin-crawlingly sordid pass-the-buck act. In this case, the father is LITERALLY a helicopter parent!

    Simply unreal. And, of course, if even military people who ought to have better than normal standards react this way, why should we be surprised when our students think and act thus?

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  7. The last comment in the article Strine was said to have made is instructive: “’ All I wanted to do was serve my country, and now I can't because of one little mistake that was caught on tape.’”

    What a whiner! In addition to conduct unbecoming an officer one could add quibbling.

    “I'm losing everything I worked my entire life for.” Really? He’s all of 21. Jeez.

    I wouldn’t want this kid leading troops either. Additionally, imagine if he was a unit commander and had to deal with a sexual assault victim or alleged perpetrator in his unit. I have no confidence in this kid whatsoever.

    Perhaps he could apply to the enlisted ranks in a few years and ask for a morals waiver, but then he would have to show he accepts responsibility for his actions. Oh, never mind.

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  8. The question is:
    Is the PSU ROTC program failing to educate its cadet corps on the fundamental meaning of the 'special trust and confidence" that comes with commissioned service...or was this yahoo not in class that day??

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    1. I accept that there will always be a few bag eggs in any organization. I would to think that ROTC did the right thing here. However, given that the Cadet was suspended ROTC may have had no choice.

      The article gives the impression that he was doing well.

      The first weekend I was at Officer Candidate School we were told to fill both our cateens with water. One Cadet (our Commander, no less) lied to an instructor when her canteens were found to be empty. She was gone the next day.

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  9. Something particularly poignant in this case is that November 9 is the anniversary of the Kristallnacht. I'm afraid that this kid's military career is wounded irreparably, destined for mediocrity at the very best, no matter what happens. Can you imagine anyone ever granting him a security clearance, particularly after the statements evading responsibility for his actions that he's so freely made to the press, in this article?

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    Replies
    1. My birthday is just not meant to have good things happen on it.

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    2. It was also the day the Berlin Wall fell, in 1989. Joyous pronouncements were made about how November 9 would go down in German history forever, until it was realized that it already had, for a very different reason.

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    3. Happy Schicksalstag. I should just avoid going to Germany. Something's bound to go down should I do so.

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  10. Grumpy_Seargeant sends this comment in:
    The last comment in the article Strine was said to have made is
    instructive: “’ All I wanted to do was serve my country, and now I
    can't because of one little mistake that was caught on tape.’”

    What a whiner! In addition to conduct unbecoming an officer one could
    add quibbling.

    “I'm losing everything I worked my entire life for.” Really? He’s
    all of 21. Jeez.

    I wouldn’t want this kid leading troops either. Additionally, imagine
    if he was a unit commander and had to deal with a sexual assault
    victim or alleged perpetrator in his unit. I have no confidence in
    this kid whatsoever.

    Perhaps he could apply to the enlisted ranks in a few years and ask
    for a morals waiver, but then he would have to show he accepts
    responsibility for his actions. Oh, never mind.

    ReplyDelete

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