Maybe I am naive, but what is the big deal? As long as they can perform their duties in a highly efficient manner and not let it interefere with them, so what. Good for them.
A decent question. Why is it a big deal for them to have other streams of revenue while they're active duty members of the military? That's fairly obvious, right? And it isn't confined to the military. I can't find other employment while I work where I do, now.
What we have here is two active duty officers, presenting themselves as experts. They do so, in uniform too. If we extend this beyond the internet, and I meet with one of them, are they consulting as an Air Force officer or as an independent business owner (and yes, it does matter).
I'm not sure where we're inferring that they are highly efficient either. Maybe the Air Force gives its officers plenty of time to screw around. I would hope the Coast Guard ensign involved, doesn't have time, as a deck watch officer, to "consult" (much less, help two guys that don't even list his alma mater as a service academy).
If you meet with one of the Air Force officers, it would be on the course during his mandatory golf time... so he clearly wouldn't be in uniform!
I also was curious about the one USNA guy's tag of "Marine Aviator," since it usually takes much longer for Marines than 2 years out past graduation to get wings. As awkward as it is to explain all the time that I'm in training and not a pilot yet to people who don't really get it, it would be dishonest to describe myself in that way, so I wanted to see how far along he was in the pipeline.
...Zero results for his last name on MOL. I triple checked spelling on the website to make sure I wasn't wrong, and then did a couple test runs with my own name in or friends' to make sure personnel locator is working.
Unless it's a pseudonym...that's kinda weird. Even our class president frittering away his 2ndLt-dom at Oxford is in MOL.
Now the follow-on question is, are the "consultants" real?
Maybe I am naive, but what is the big deal? As long as they can perform their duties in a highly efficient manner and not let it interefere with them, so what. Good for them.
I received an email from one of the founders who said that they were still working through everything and were offering their services for free. He also said that the Coastie listed was an exchange cadet and had expressed interest, but was no longer connected with them.
But where they, and others, could run into problems, is their status as active duty officers in the military. I won't pretend to know the ins and outs of what they would need to do to get permission or approval either.
Quit a leap from unethical to heroThen you come from an area that uses "unethical" fairly liberally. Maybe it's like "hero" these days... as in communities calling underperforming children "heroic" when they get their scores up. News flash... that aint heroism.
Quit a leap from unethical to hero
Unethical can not be honorable. Seems pretty clear to me.
Quit a leap from unethical to hero
Unethical can not be honorable. Seems pretty clear to me.
Maybe honor standards have been relaxed but their response to the inquiry of the members here says that they are doing it for free but their web site still references fees for the initial consultation. In my book, that's dishonorable and an outright lie. Nowhere close to being heroes.
So, maybe this is an example of ethics v. honor.
Poor Applicant Annie calls the website.
"Please sir, can I have some admissions help?"
"You have to pay $350, because it says so on the website. If we don't make you pay, it means we're lying."
"But both of my parents died when I was just a little girl and I live in a girls home. My only dream in life is to have a chance to attend an academy."
"Rules are rules."
There is nothing on the website that says the consultants CAN'T work pro bono... but it's dishonorable that they do give free services, while there are prices up?
Not sure I follow that logic. Many would say it's ethical to help those is need. Not mandatory, but wouldn't it be right to help a poor little girl with something you've offered free in the past?
Their fees aren't imposed by the inept U.S. federal government. It's up to them. They still have the freedom to give discounts. The opposite, charging for something you said would be free would seem to be both dishonorable (lying) and unethical (it's wrong), but is THIS dishonorable? Is this unethical?
I don't think so.
Many of us are more qualified than these kids to provide consulting service for fee to SA applicants. I think some us can even justify that we can separate consulting service from our FFR, BGO, and ALO duties. So why don't we do it? For me, it feels wrong.
The $ don't have much if anything to do with honor.There is nothing on the website that says the consultants CAN'T work pro bono... but it's dishonorable that they do give free services, while there are prices up?
Not sure I follow that logic. Many would say it's ethical to help those is need. Not mandatory, but wouldn't it be right to help a poor little girl with something you've offered free in the past?
Their fees aren't imposed by the inept U.S. federal government. It's up to them. They still have the freedom to give discounts. The opposite, charging for something you said would be free would seem to be both dishonorable (lying) and unethical (it's wrong), but is THIS dishonorable? Is this unethical?
I don't think so.