King Hall Cranking!

Kierkegaard

Kierkegaard

5-Year Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2017
Messages
989
Mids on the Yard are still in limbo until we get the go-ahead to start moving into AcYear spaces pending the final wave of test results for the ROM mids, so while I still have all this free time, I can offer an update on mid life you may find interesting:

Dant and Suppo just announced that because of the new King Hall feeding plan, which will consist of “grab ‘n go” boxed meals provided at 6 separate stations within KH with each company getting its own 15 minute window to pick up food, the staff is spread thin. They are working on hiring additional staff but to relieve the pressure, a rotation of midshipmen will be tasked with assisting in King Hall. Depending on the meal there’ll be 20-50 mids stocking the lines, enforcing social distancing, passing out food, and sanitizing surfaces. All four classes will be standing these watches with the 1/C and 2/C in the supervisory roles and 3/C and 4/C doing much of the running around. The Dant has even pledged to be down there helping out. Two companies will stand this watch per week, so that roughly covers the whole semester with most companies only needing to do it for one week.

As you might expect, there are a lot of people complaining (Would it truly be the Brigade if they weren’t?), but I think this is an interesting approach to solving a problem that arose. CAPT Buchanan has been emphasizing the necessity of “All hands on deck” solutions, i.e. everyone who is able must co-operate and pitch in so the Academy can get through this. And considering working in the galley is ubiquitous rite of passage for junior enlisted sailors in much of the Fleet, I think it’s more than fair to subject mids to a bit of work assisting the KH staff who have always been hard at work supporting our needs. As the saying goes, Semper gumby!
 
Thanks for the update, @Kierkegaard. In my career I’ve regularly run into folks who complained about some solution that a higher-up implemented. When I asked them what they would’ve done had they been in charge, I usually was met with the sound of crickets.

A tough situation for sure on the Yard, but a great time to practice real leadership. It’s what I try to counsel DD. Command has its privileges. Consistently being right in the eyes of your underlings isn’t one of them. But a commander’s job isn’t to be liked. The good ones gladly settle for respect — respect for having made the correct if much harder or less popular decision.
 
Innovative solution taking advantage of available resources. Love it.

Complaining is a tradition in the military. Moaning and pi$$ing mids have truly become a part of the military.

I used to give people a choice. Do you want to be seen as part of the problem or as part of the solution?

I am sure the Dant and his staff will be in the thick of it. Hard to complain when people so far above mids in rank and experience are willing to turn out for an all hands evolution. If I were still a BattO, I would rotate through with each company and assign myself the crappiest job, and slap on my best “embrace the suck” smile.

@Kierkegaard thanks as always for a wise-beyond-your-years update!
 
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It also occurred to me that mids are justifiably proud of USNA alum and fallen hero Travis Manion, his leadership philosophy, and how his words live on through the Foundation his family set up.
“If not me, then who?” can also apply to mundane situations like this.
#whatwouldTravisdo
 
It’s a week. And sounds kind of fun!
 
Meanwhile you have 400+ mids you haven’t brought back or communicated a plan to bring them back. Whatever happened to “leave no man behind”?
 
Goarmy85 said:
Meanwhile you have 400+ mids you haven’t brought back or communicated a plan to bring them back. Whatever happened to “leave no man behind”?
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I thought they had announced a plan for bringing back all, which is why they rented the neighboring college dorms.
 
Be prepared to lose a lot of Mids from the class of 2023. Failure with responding to the destroyer collisions (McCain and Fitzgerald). Failure with the COVID response on the Teddy Roosevelt, Failure with the AAV San Clemente accident, and now failure to manage the Brigade reform. Why should I be confident in entrusting the Navy with my DD’s future when their track record sucks with no improvement in sight? Put some marines in charge please who know how to adapt, improvise, and overcome!
 
justme said:
I thought they had announced a plan for bringing back all, which is why they rented the neighboring college dorms.
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They may have made some public announcements on concept but crickets to a large group of Mids. They feel abandoned
 
Goarmy85 said:
Be prepared to lose a lot of Mids from the class of 2023. Failure with responding to the destroyer collisions (McCain and Fitzgerald). Failure with the COVID response on the Teddy Roosevelt, Failure with the AAV San Clemente accident, and now failure to manage the Brigade reform. Why should I be confident in entrusting the Navy with my DD’s future when their track record sucks with no improvement in sight? Put some marines in charge please who know how to adapt, improvise, and overcome!
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That would be disappointing but ultimately I believe it’s OK. This is a test of each mid’s personal conviction and commitment. The Navy isn’t perfect. There were plenty of issues long before the ones you mentioned, and they were there when ‘23 came aboard. These are unprecedented times with no clear or consistent playbook for what to do. And really no way of knowing whether decisions are the right ones until we all have the vaunted 20/20 hindsight.

As @Capt MJ said, you can choose to be part of the problem or part of the solution, You can work with your chain of command to make things right, or you can choose not to. You can stick around and help find a better way, or you can choose another college and career path. The military needs officers who are willing to embrace the suck because, sadly, quite a bit of the military does suck (find me a meaningful profession that doesn’t have some level of suck). And yet, it remains a noble profession.

As many here have said, SAs and AD ain’t for everyone. At some point, hopefully sooner rather than later, USNA will do a debrief of all that’s transpired and they’ll learn from it. And they’ll discuss whether they needlessly lost more of ‘23 than they should have. But in the end, I trust that USNA leadership is doing their best in a fluid and unpredictable context, and that mids will find their proper place, whether it’s by staying or leaving.
 
MidCakePa said:
In my career I’ve regularly run into folks who complained about some solution that a higher-up implemented. When I asked them what they would’ve done had they been in charge, I usually was met with the sound of crickets
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> A complaint without a solution is mere whining ! (I can make that statement saltier if you don't get the point !)
 
MidCakePa said:
That would be disappointing but ultimately I believe it’s OK. This is a test of each mid’s personal conviction and commitment. The Navy isn’t perfect. There were plenty of issues long before the ones you mentioned, and they were there when ‘23 came aboard. These are unprecedented times with no clear or consistent playbook for what to do. And really no way of knowing whether decisions are the right ones until we all have the vaunted 20/20 hindsight.

As @Capt MJ said, you can choose to be part of the problem or part of the solution, You can work with your chain of command to make things right, or you can choose not to. You can stick around and help find a better way, or you can choose another college and career path. The military needs officers who are willing to embrace the suck because, sadly, quite a bit of the military does suck (find me a meaningful profession that doesn’t have some level of suck). And yet, it remains a noble profession.

As many here have said, SAs and AD ain’t for everyone. At some point, hopefully sooner rather than later, USNA will do a debrief of all that’s transpired and they’ll learn from it. And they’ll discuss whether they needlessly lost more of ‘23 than they should have. But in the end, I trust that USNA leadership is doing their best in a fluid and unpredictable context, and that mids will find their proper place, whether it’s by staying or leaving.
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And I will add...that EVERY class has loss. EVERYONE has sacrificed. EVERYONE has suffered. While I feel ‘23’s pain....there is pain in every class. It’s a slippery slope to start comparing loss, but there has been significant loss for everyone. Every class feels loss.
#CovidSux
 
In my view the Academy has abandoned nobody. They would love to bring back all the 3/C but it’s complicated by the requirements of ROM and Isolation, as was discussed in their recent press release. There’s definitely a lot of frustration within the Brigade, and much of it is understandable (Not having liberty sucks, there have been issues with food but it’s since improved, and mids have often been the last people to hear important updates). We never signed up for predictability though, and if this is a dealbreaker for a few folks, then it’s best that they learn they can’t tolerate it now and pack it in versus a few years down the line when the disappointment takes on other forms, like not getting the service selection they wanted or not getting the duty station they wanted, or not getting promoted or not getting approved for that lateral transfer, the list goes on and on.

I do have sympathy for the handful of mids whose home living situations aren’t good, and for mids in that situation the Academy has been co-operative in allowing them to return.

It’s important to keep in mind that people all over the world are experiencing a great deal of disappointments and stress as a result of covid. USNA is doing its best to manage, but it isn’t immune, and is trying to balance its government mandate, optics, and safety of all personnel which is not easy.
 
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I think this is a superb idea. What better way to learn to be a leader than to also have to serve others? Clean up after each other, direct one another, wipe some tables down, greet fellow mids with a mask and smiling eyes. Just another thing these 4 classes will have experienced along their journey that will forge them into incredible leaders. I am sure the only thing my plebe wants to be assured of is whether or not they have access to the soft serve ice cream. He would do double King duty for that!
 
As one of those 3/C mids still ROM'ing at home for the TBD future, let me second Kierkegaard's comments on all fronts - from cranking in King Hall (I genuinely wish I could be on the yard helping serve) to remaining stoic about the challenges USNA leadership is facing as it navigates the pandemic -- including dealing with Bancroft density issues and identifying safe berthing resources for the entire Brigade.

As Kierkegaard says far more eloquently than I could, while it sucks to be at home when my roommates, best friends, company mates and shipmates are all back on the yard, I know I'm incredibly fortunate and blessed right now compared to so many who are truly suffering all over the world.

And as always, CAPT MJ (invoking hero Travis Manion) shares wisdom: "while it sucks to be among the few" (for me, it does suck being one of the 3/N's still at home,) but I didn't come to USNA for me -- I came to serve "us."

We'll get through this together -- and like so many of my fellow mids -- including the ones who like to complain :) -- we'll all get through this remaining positive, resilient and because we are fortunate to have leaders of character and integrity like the SUPE, DANT and the USNA leadership team looking out and genuinely caring about us.
 
Goarmy85 said:
Be prepared to lose a lot of Mids from the class of 2023. Failure with responding to the destroyer collisions (McCain and Fitzgerald). Failure with the COVID response on the Teddy Roosevelt, Failure with the AAV San Clemente accident, and now failure to manage the Brigade reform. Why should I be confident in entrusting the Navy with my DD’s future when their track record sucks with no improvement in sight? Put some marines in charge please who know how to adapt, improvise, and overcome!
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I’d be willing to bet that ’23 doesn’t lose as many as you may think. As for Mids making the best of a somewhat inconvenient situation under COVID:

Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be. Abraham Lincoln
 
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