scoutpilot
10-Year Member
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2010
- Messages
- 4,479
After a long discussion on another thread about a young man who quit Beast after only one week because he "didn't want to dedicate four years to the military," it seems to me that this subject (which is near and dear to me) bears further mentioning.
This is my friend Paul. Today, 8 July, would have been his 28th birthday.
Paul was a model American and a model of a man. He was all the things that parents hope for their sons to be: strong, forthright, intelligent, and kind-hearted. He was an Eagle Scout, a JROTC standout, and a West Point graduate. He was a Ranger and a Paratrooper, which places him among the finest our nation has to offer. Paul died while in command, doing what he loved: leading his paratroopers through the Arghandhab Valley, day after day, doing whatever he could to make his small part of a very complex place a little bit safer, a little bit better.
I want you all to think about these things before commit to attending West Point:
-Military life is hard. Even when it's easy, it's hard. In 6 years, I have lived in 5 homes, not counting tents and shacks and safehouses overseas. I have been with my wife for 50 months. We've spent 5 months in the same state.
-West Point will ask much of you. It will, in large measure, not be fun most days. But for everything they ask of you, they will give you something in return. Be sure you understand that, though it won't turn out that way in the end, it will often seem as though they take more than they give. Years later you'll see that wasn't the case, but foresight often fails on hard days and long nights.
-Though the current conflicts will likely pass, you may face grave danger in your career. My good friend Paul is just one of the 78 USMA graduates who have died in combat since 2001. Seventy-eight. Think about that. That is more than the other academies combined. It's not a contest, but you must understand that ground combat is a risky business, and it is primarily West Point's business.
Why do I say this? Is it because I want to scare you? Is it because I want to scare your parents? No. That is never the goal. What I want is for you to have some idea of the realities of what military service means. It means sacrifice. It means hardship. It means that you're not going to get to do all the fun, pleasurable things in life at the exact moment you want to do them.
But the rewards are immense. They outweigh the sacrifice. You will do the most amazing things in the Army. You will see places and meet people and experience adrenaline rushes that you can only find in the military. Civilians pay hundreds of dollars to jump out of airplanes. The Army pays me more to do it. Civilians pay tens of thousands of dollars to learn to fly. The Army paid me extra to do it. In so many ways, most of which defy quick accounting, the Army has made my life and the lives of so many others whole. If you ask those who have served over the years, you will find that their years in the Army were some of the most meaningful and formative years of their young lives. It takes a special organization to do that much for so many people.
In the end, you must understand that an appointment to West Point is not an offer intended to allow you to get a great education and go off to make your fortune, as those who attend other greats schools will do. Nor is it a "right" that you are owed because of your high school achievements, as someone said of the circumstances surrounding a new cadet's resignation. Far from it.
An appointment to West Point is a sacred investment by our nation in you, the candidate. Simply put, our nation places the honor of securing our way of life in your hands, with the good faith that you will not fail. An appointment comes with great responsibility to yourself, your Army, and the nation. It should be neither accepted nor tossed aside lightly, especially because of a lack of understanding on your part.
As always, good luck. Grip hands.
-SP
This is my friend Paul. Today, 8 July, would have been his 28th birthday.
Paul was a model American and a model of a man. He was all the things that parents hope for their sons to be: strong, forthright, intelligent, and kind-hearted. He was an Eagle Scout, a JROTC standout, and a West Point graduate. He was a Ranger and a Paratrooper, which places him among the finest our nation has to offer. Paul died while in command, doing what he loved: leading his paratroopers through the Arghandhab Valley, day after day, doing whatever he could to make his small part of a very complex place a little bit safer, a little bit better.
I want you all to think about these things before commit to attending West Point:
-Military life is hard. Even when it's easy, it's hard. In 6 years, I have lived in 5 homes, not counting tents and shacks and safehouses overseas. I have been with my wife for 50 months. We've spent 5 months in the same state.
-West Point will ask much of you. It will, in large measure, not be fun most days. But for everything they ask of you, they will give you something in return. Be sure you understand that, though it won't turn out that way in the end, it will often seem as though they take more than they give. Years later you'll see that wasn't the case, but foresight often fails on hard days and long nights.
-Though the current conflicts will likely pass, you may face grave danger in your career. My good friend Paul is just one of the 78 USMA graduates who have died in combat since 2001. Seventy-eight. Think about that. That is more than the other academies combined. It's not a contest, but you must understand that ground combat is a risky business, and it is primarily West Point's business.
Why do I say this? Is it because I want to scare you? Is it because I want to scare your parents? No. That is never the goal. What I want is for you to have some idea of the realities of what military service means. It means sacrifice. It means hardship. It means that you're not going to get to do all the fun, pleasurable things in life at the exact moment you want to do them.
But the rewards are immense. They outweigh the sacrifice. You will do the most amazing things in the Army. You will see places and meet people and experience adrenaline rushes that you can only find in the military. Civilians pay hundreds of dollars to jump out of airplanes. The Army pays me more to do it. Civilians pay tens of thousands of dollars to learn to fly. The Army paid me extra to do it. In so many ways, most of which defy quick accounting, the Army has made my life and the lives of so many others whole. If you ask those who have served over the years, you will find that their years in the Army were some of the most meaningful and formative years of their young lives. It takes a special organization to do that much for so many people.
In the end, you must understand that an appointment to West Point is not an offer intended to allow you to get a great education and go off to make your fortune, as those who attend other greats schools will do. Nor is it a "right" that you are owed because of your high school achievements, as someone said of the circumstances surrounding a new cadet's resignation. Far from it.
An appointment to West Point is a sacred investment by our nation in you, the candidate. Simply put, our nation places the honor of securing our way of life in your hands, with the good faith that you will not fail. An appointment comes with great responsibility to yourself, your Army, and the nation. It should be neither accepted nor tossed aside lightly, especially because of a lack of understanding on your part.
As always, good luck. Grip hands.
-SP