On the issue of whether it is a bad thing for a cadet candidate, or plebe, to voluntarily leave West Point:
Would you rather have a commissioned Jr. Officer who:
-learned early on that the Army lifestyle turned out to be something completely different from what he expected it to be,
-decided to drop, but before doing so --,
-consulted with his parents, and being unable to bear the thought of letting them down, did stay at the USMA
-hated every minute at the Academy
-hated being an O1, then O2, then O3 before his 5 years commitment is satisfied. Performed poorly in his duties because his heart was most certainly not in it.
-Rentered civilian life resenting his parents, the Army, and his own poor choices
-OR-
-decided that as painful as it is to learn that what you thought was a set path for the next twenty years isn't, and as painful as it is to disappoint parents and others who supported the journey to officership:
- to cut the losses early and leave West Point.
Why would anyone want a cadet at West Point, or a Junior Officer, who hates his situation and is ill fitted to it, but stays in, endures it, just to please others? Do you want the lives of soldiers in the hands of an officer who doesn't have his heart in it?
I tend to agree with you when it comes to someone that leaves WP because they decided they didn't like "Army life"
I think the OP was more interested in those that leave WP and pursue ROTC as a commissioning path, there's a big difference.
Granted, a new cadet should know what to expect when starting WP, but sometimes expectations don't always meet reality. Not everyone wants what WP offers, they may think they do until they actually show up.
Going along the same lines as your post, I do think it's better for a cadet to leave early if they find they really don't like what they see. Spending 4 years in a place you truely hate will not make you a better officer and could easily make a new LT start counting the days until his obligation is over.
WP vs ROTC like comparing night and day, while they both have the same end result the journey is quite different. Some will thrive at WP and some thrive at ROTC, it really depends on the person. I think most people will tell you that neither is a true representation of the actual Army.
To me at least, there is nothing wrong with someone leaving WP and joining ROTC. Over the last 5 plus years my son's battalion has had a few cadets that left WP and joined the program. A couple did not stay with it but a few did, they completed the program and commissioned, on in the top 1%. These new LT's joined all the other new LT's from other ROTC programs, WP, and OCS, they just got there by a different journey.
If this LTC would not give a recommendation for a cadet based only on the fact that he did not like that the cadet left early, then I find his decision to be very short sighted at the least. Now if there were other reasons that have not been mentioned then that's a different story. It's ahrd to really speculate without knowing the whole story.
My point is not everyone wants WP, some don't find that out until they start, it certainly does not mean they can't commission by other sources and go on to be fine officers.
