Impressed with LtGen Silveria
- Thread starter McGNJ
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Maybe I'm the only one, but I am having a problem with this article since I cannot find 1st Sgt Parish or Col Stephens listed anywhere in the USAFA leadership chain. So, who are these two gentlemen?
http://www.usafa.af.mil/Leadership/
http://www.usafa.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/
c17hopeful
5-Year Member
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They work for the Comm in the Cadet Wing Training department. Shirt is responsible for discipline/upholding standards. Col, as the Vice Comm of Climate and Culture, is responsible for fostering an environment of dignity and respect.
I am an African American male who comes from a single parent home who was denied last year. Trust me, you still have to meet the standard.
falconchic88
10-Year Member
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- Aug 28, 2009
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I was just reading this on my USAFA class fb page. What in the world is going on there? Even if the the NCO was out of line (which I don't believe he was), for a Col to call him out over an email to the cadet wing is beyond comprehension. I am astounded by this article, since when is imploring the cadets to dress and act professionally any form of micro-aggression? Just Wow!
Agreed. I would ho
Just because you were not accepted does not mean others have not been on the basis of their race or gender. It’s a known fact that the service academies have a quota to meet in these different categories. Frankly, race should be a masked item on applications for the academies. After all, a man should be judged not on the color of his skin but on the content of his character.
A set quota would be illegal for one. How do you know that the minorities that you’ve mentioned had a subpar package? How do you know that they didn’t meet the standard?
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My take.
Hate crimes are political. A political response is therefore needed to address them. The General’s speech could have been made either internally, externally, or both. He chose external. This was political theater, a staged event orchestrated by the 3 star who I presume did not achieve that position without being somewhat successful at politics. The speech was in front of the Cadets but was made for the media, the real targeted audience. It was well-received by the public so political mission accomplished. We can debate on whether his way was best, but in the end, it all worked out due largely to the perp’s ethnicity which effectively made it all go away.
From the administration’s standpoint, from all the probable endings, which is the best-case out of these worst-case scenarios:
· Perp is a white cadet (bad)
· Perps are a group of white cadets (really, really bad)
· Perp is a civilian with authorized access (white/minority, see above)
· Trespasser/visitor (highly unlikely)
· Perp is a minority cadet
USAFA lucked out, they got the last one (those of us who have conducted/supervised these types of investigations were not surprised) & dodged a bullet. Why was it the best (of the worst)? Judge the end result; the story went away.
So, who won & who lost? The disenrolled young man responsible & his family lost. This is written sincerely he was worthy of an appointment, a life-changing opportunity for him & all who love him, who ran into some academic trouble, & made an extremely bad decision, which young men have been known to do. I read somewhere that some behavior controlling neuron connections in males don’t occur until age 21 y/o & later. This comes as no surprise to the older readers here. I felt no joy in his discovery. I did feel relived, then sad for him & his family, esp. the family. The Prep cadets lost; some who were the targets of the slurs, all due to the angst, the wild swing of emotions they all must have experienced as events played out. The parents of the Prep cadets who deserved to be, but weren’t notified prior to the media event lost. In case they wondered if they’re even a consideration in the notification process when unfortunate events which impact directly on their children occur, now they have their answer. It’s NO. The cadets up on the hill lost by being considered guilty by association of a Prep school-involved only hate crime & by being used as props. Who won? Those who realized that they harbor implicit biases & have decided from now on to acknowledge their existence & take them into account before rushing to judgement/making decisions. The CO specifically, USAFA & by extension the AF, won.
Most on this forum are currently in or have been in supervisory roles. How would you have addressed this? FWIW, I would’ve emailed the parents first, then followed with an internal speech, ending up with a press conference without the cadets in camera view. Essentially the kind of PC’s given by LE we’ve all seen on TV many times.
To those who posted that this was a fraudulent or a fraud-type of crime, I disagree. A crime occurred, a real one that defines as a hate crime. That being said, the decision not to arrest/prosecute was the correct one as it was in the best interests of all involved. Politically, would the AFA really want to be in the papers again & again from the arraignment, to a trial/plea bargain, etc. over this? The answer is no; they would want it to end. The great thing about a crime occurring in an educational institution setting is that you have options available to you that aren’t on the outside/street. You could arrest or let the institution handle it administratively (minor crimes, not violent ones/felonies) or both. Here USAFA can & did apply disenrollment only as the punishment. I’ve locked up a lot of people for a lot of things, I would vote no for arrest here; disenrollment is enough. Guess I’m getting soft in my old age.
A poster made a diversity comment. I would like to remind them that AFA’s definition is broader than just race & gender. They look for outstanding applicants who are from many backgrounds. For ex. home-schooled, 1st generation, live in single parent households, live on a farm, urban setting, care for siblings while parents work, etc., in addition to race & gender.
I had asked for cadets on this forum to inform us if the current climate on campus reflects the CO’s statements. Hopefully we will hear from some of them soon.
Hate crimes are political. A political response is therefore needed to address them. The General’s speech could have been made either internally, externally, or both. He chose external. This was political theater, a staged event orchestrated by the 3 star who I presume did not achieve that position without being somewhat successful at politics. The speech was in front of the Cadets but was made for the media, the real targeted audience. It was well-received by the public so political mission accomplished. We can debate on whether his way was best, but in the end, it all worked out due largely to the perp’s ethnicity which effectively made it all go away.
From the administration’s standpoint, from all the probable endings, which is the best-case out of these worst-case scenarios:
· Perp is a white cadet (bad)
· Perps are a group of white cadets (really, really bad)
· Perp is a civilian with authorized access (white/minority, see above)
· Trespasser/visitor (highly unlikely)
· Perp is a minority cadet
USAFA lucked out, they got the last one (those of us who have conducted/supervised these types of investigations were not surprised) & dodged a bullet. Why was it the best (of the worst)? Judge the end result; the story went away.
So, who won & who lost? The disenrolled young man responsible & his family lost. This is written sincerely he was worthy of an appointment, a life-changing opportunity for him & all who love him, who ran into some academic trouble, & made an extremely bad decision, which young men have been known to do. I read somewhere that some behavior controlling neuron connections in males don’t occur until age 21 y/o & later. This comes as no surprise to the older readers here. I felt no joy in his discovery. I did feel relived, then sad for him & his family, esp. the family. The Prep cadets lost; some who were the targets of the slurs, all due to the angst, the wild swing of emotions they all must have experienced as events played out. The parents of the Prep cadets who deserved to be, but weren’t notified prior to the media event lost. In case they wondered if they’re even a consideration in the notification process when unfortunate events which impact directly on their children occur, now they have their answer. It’s NO. The cadets up on the hill lost by being considered guilty by association of a Prep school-involved only hate crime & by being used as props. Who won? Those who realized that they harbor implicit biases & have decided from now on to acknowledge their existence & take them into account before rushing to judgement/making decisions. The CO specifically, USAFA & by extension the AF, won.
Most on this forum are currently in or have been in supervisory roles. How would you have addressed this? FWIW, I would’ve emailed the parents first, then followed with an internal speech, ending up with a press conference without the cadets in camera view. Essentially the kind of PC’s given by LE we’ve all seen on TV many times.
To those who posted that this was a fraudulent or a fraud-type of crime, I disagree. A crime occurred, a real one that defines as a hate crime. That being said, the decision not to arrest/prosecute was the correct one as it was in the best interests of all involved. Politically, would the AFA really want to be in the papers again & again from the arraignment, to a trial/plea bargain, etc. over this? The answer is no; they would want it to end. The great thing about a crime occurring in an educational institution setting is that you have options available to you that aren’t on the outside/street. You could arrest or let the institution handle it administratively (minor crimes, not violent ones/felonies) or both. Here USAFA can & did apply disenrollment only as the punishment. I’ve locked up a lot of people for a lot of things, I would vote no for arrest here; disenrollment is enough. Guess I’m getting soft in my old age.
A poster made a diversity comment. I would like to remind them that AFA’s definition is broader than just race & gender. They look for outstanding applicants who are from many backgrounds. For ex. home-schooled, 1st generation, live in single parent households, live on a farm, urban setting, care for siblings while parents work, etc., in addition to race & gender.
I had asked for cadets on this forum to inform us if the current climate on campus reflects the CO’s statements. Hopefully we will hear from some of them soon.
Quotas, targets, goals, you can call them whatever you want but they still mean the same thing: that certain students are given an “edge” over others. So yes, I’m aware of the fact that the board doesn’t sit down every year and put out some number of people of every race that they wish to admit, but there are recruitment targets. And no, affirmative action is not illegal, military academies and civilian universities alike have been using race as an admissions factor for many years now.
Please refer to my previous post. I never said “affirmative action” was illegal nor did you answer any of the questions that I posed.
@Raptor22 ,
Looks like this is your second try. Keep up the fight. The forbearance you are showing will give you a leg up in all your future endeavors.
Tommy Lasorda said that in life maybe 15% of humanity wants to see you do well, 70% don't care and 15% want to see you fail miserably. That applies to EVERYONE. I've been hanging around here a long time and I can tell you that at least 98% of the posters on this forum fall into that 15% that wants to see you succeed, at whatever you do.
Best of Luck!
Looks like this is your second try. Keep up the fight. The forbearance you are showing will give you a leg up in all your future endeavors.
Tommy Lasorda said that in life maybe 15% of humanity wants to see you do well, 70% don't care and 15% want to see you fail miserably. That applies to EVERYONE. I've been hanging around here a long time and I can tell you that at least 98% of the posters on this forum fall into that 15% that wants to see you succeed, at whatever you do.
Best of Luck!