davejean90
5-Year Member
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2015
- Messages
- 213
A couple of things:
1) There is some dishonesty going on in the competition for these golden tickets. This has been statistically proven by West Point when it comes to pull-ups on the CFA. Candidates are reporting a number and then showing up to R-day without the ability to do one. It has gotten so bad that West Point will require videos for next year. I also know of a candidate who will be attending a service academy this summer who lied about sports team participation. Candidate claimed to have been on the track and cross country teams, claimed captain too. Candidate was on neither team - I know this because my child was on both teams and never saw the person participate in any event. Sad part is that the school signed off on the lie. Schools want to be able to say they sent a student to West Point, so there is an incentive to bend the truth.
2) There is a difference in the level of expectation of honesty and truth before you swear-in and after you swear-in. Cadets are expected not to lie and face serious consequences when they do. There was a time at West Point when a cadet, after returning from leave, would have to sign a statement that they did not get married or become responsible for a dependent. In a way this is a violation of the cadet's 5th Amendment rights. If the academy administration had no probable cause to whether a cadet violated the rules by getting married, then they really have no right to use honor against them to ask the question. Honor should not be used by the administration as an investigative tool to find violations. West Point realized this and no longer does something like this. As a cadet we were taught the following: if you come across a junior cadet with a bad haircut, you don't ask "Did you cut your own hair?". (In my time cadets could not cut their own hair) You inform the cadet that the hair is not to standard, why it is not to standard, and then remediation may be necessary. There is a lesson for the leader here, do not put subordinates in the position to fail. If a soldier was in trouble, it was not my job to make more for him, be instead deal with the issue at hand.
In conclusion, ROTC does not have the right to ask a blanket statement of whether you have committed a violation without any probable cause. If your DD is dis-enrolled she may have legal remedies.
1) There is some dishonesty going on in the competition for these golden tickets. This has been statistically proven by West Point when it comes to pull-ups on the CFA. Candidates are reporting a number and then showing up to R-day without the ability to do one. It has gotten so bad that West Point will require videos for next year. I also know of a candidate who will be attending a service academy this summer who lied about sports team participation. Candidate claimed to have been on the track and cross country teams, claimed captain too. Candidate was on neither team - I know this because my child was on both teams and never saw the person participate in any event. Sad part is that the school signed off on the lie. Schools want to be able to say they sent a student to West Point, so there is an incentive to bend the truth.
2) There is a difference in the level of expectation of honesty and truth before you swear-in and after you swear-in. Cadets are expected not to lie and face serious consequences when they do. There was a time at West Point when a cadet, after returning from leave, would have to sign a statement that they did not get married or become responsible for a dependent. In a way this is a violation of the cadet's 5th Amendment rights. If the academy administration had no probable cause to whether a cadet violated the rules by getting married, then they really have no right to use honor against them to ask the question. Honor should not be used by the administration as an investigative tool to find violations. West Point realized this and no longer does something like this. As a cadet we were taught the following: if you come across a junior cadet with a bad haircut, you don't ask "Did you cut your own hair?". (In my time cadets could not cut their own hair) You inform the cadet that the hair is not to standard, why it is not to standard, and then remediation may be necessary. There is a lesson for the leader here, do not put subordinates in the position to fail. If a soldier was in trouble, it was not my job to make more for him, be instead deal with the issue at hand.
In conclusion, ROTC does not have the right to ask a blanket statement of whether you have committed a violation without any probable cause. If your DD is dis-enrolled she may have legal remedies.