Kings Point: Strategic Plan

ReconPing

Future Military Officer
5-Year Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
16
Hey,

Could we talk about the changes happening at Kings Point? If you're an alumni member, or present midshipmen, could you share your thoughts on how Kings Point has changed over the past decade. How do you feel leaders at Kings Point and at the Department of Transportation have address the various issues at KP? Do you think Kings Point has a bright future?


If you're not a KP alumni or midshipmen, feel free to ask any questions or insights you may have on this topic.


Also, if you're a member or alumni of any of the other service academies, or a member of the military or any other government agency and you have insight on this matter please share, it'll be interesting to hear y'alls opinion.


thanks,
 
Its lost its way a bit with the constant parade of non-alum, retired FOGO.

Top to bottom the Academy has no sense of itself. The administration shares allegiance with Washington while its alumni war with each other.
 
This very well may be a genuine question. But when people post this stuff to me it just screams "I'm with newsday"
 
Don’t get too caught up in some of the negativity that you hear about Kings Point as far as changeover in leadership, facilities needing repair, etc. -- if you dig deep enough you can find all sorts of negatives for every U.S. service academy.

They may all have their share of warts, but to my eye they all do an incredible job of training leaders and officers for our country.
As the parent of a 2013 grad and a candidate for the class of 2018, to me the bottom line really is if KP continues to fulfill its mission statement: "To educate and graduate licensed merchant mariners and leaders of exemplary character who will serve America's marine transportation and defense needs in peace and war."

To me, the answer is an emphatic “Yes.” I often think about the midshipmen whom I got to know from the class of 2013 who walked across that stage at KP graduation last June, and how they are all now serving the maritime industry and in all branches of service. To me there is no better testament to what Kings Point is really all about. They are the bottom line, the end product that’s produced at this wonderful though sometimes perplexing institution.

Did those graduates enjoy every minute they spent at KP. Nope. Many of them probably had knots in their stomach most of the time they were there because of the pressure of the workload. Was the food always edible? Debatable. But the mids learned to kill the taste with insane amounts of hot sauce and other condiment-concoctions. Was some paint peeling on campus? You bet. But from what I can see during my visits, today the facilities are light years ahead of where they were when we dropped our son off for Indoc in 2009. As parents of graduates, did we hear all sorts of complaints about the food, the unfairness of some professors, the rules, etc., etc.? Most of us did I bet. If we were smart we let them blow off the steam and stress and quietly but firmly advised them to keep their eye on the prize.

To me, the midshipmen who made it through four tough years and graduated in the class of 2013 are living proof that the system works. They joined a rock-solid alumni network from previous graduating classes that was incredibly helpful to my son in getting his post-KP career started.
 
To put it simply ... If you are interested in a Maritime career, there is no better place to be from.
 
Hey,

Could we talk about the changes happening at Kings Point? If you're an alumni member, or present midshipmen, could you share your thoughts on how Kings Point has changed over the past decade. How do you feel leaders at Kings Point and at the Department of Transportation have address the various issues at KP? Do you think Kings Point has a bright future?


If you're not a KP alumni or midshipmen, feel free to ask any questions or insights you may have on this topic.


Also, if you're a member or alumni of any of the other service academies, or a member of the military or any other government agency and you have insight on this matter please share, it'll be interesting to hear y'alls opinion.


thanks,

Sure I'll share my opinion as an active Alumni of over 30 years and parent of a recent graduate as soon as you tell me why I should and why of the 12 posts you've made to date 5 seem to be trolling for negative comments about the Alma Mater I am grateful to have had the opportunity to attend and which gave me a great foundation for success in life to date.

In the meantime I'll simply leave you with three thoughts:
1) As noted by KPEngineer:

"To put it simply ... If you are interested in a Maritime career, there is no better place to be from. "

2) If you want to be a SEAL or an active duty Military Officer and that is indeed what you are sure you want to do then the best place to get that foundation is that particular Service's Academy (USNA, USAFA, USCGA, or USMA).

3) If you persistently poll people leading with negative questions or questions that "plant negative seeds" - you will certainly hear some negative responses, but as I've said in the past, the value of those responses - really any of them, to poorly constructive, leading polling questions are really not valuable. And as was said earlier:

"when people post this stuff to me it just screams "I'm with newsday"

Of course before you have to worry about all these sorts of things first you have to gain admission and then you have get through the curricula and graduate. I guess you feel you are just trying to make sure all the effort you feel you need to make to do those things will be worth it. But why the "broken record" searching for something negative to sway your decision to the negative as opposed to looking for reasons as to why it is worth it and sway your preference to the affirmative? Is it because you are really just trying to reconcile yourself to USMMA as a plan B or plan C? If it is you probably should try to identify alternative Plan B or C's - it's not an easy row to hoe to get through and there are easier ways to get a commission as a military officer than KP if you are looking for a Plan B in case you don't get into USNA so you can go become a SEAL.
 
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Sure I'll share my opinion as an active Alumni of over 30 years and parent of a recent graduate as soon as you tell me why I should and why of the 12 posts you've made to date 5 seem to be trolling for negative comments about the Alma Mater I am grateful to have had the opportunity to attend and which gave me a great foundation for success in life to date.

In the meantime I'll simply leave you with three thoughts:
1) As noted by KPEngineer:



2) If you want to be a SEAL or an active duty Military Officer and that is indeed what you are sure you want to do then the best place to get that foundation is that particular Service's Academy (USNA, USAFA, USCGA, or USMA).

3) If you persistently poll people leading with negative questions or questions that "plant negative seeds" - you will certainly hear some negative responses, but as I've said in the past, the value of those responses - really any of them, to poorly constructive, leading polling questions are really not valuable. And as was said earlier:



Of course before you have to worry about all these sorts of things first you have to gain admission and then you have get through the curricula and graduate. I guess you feel you are just trying to make sure all the effort you feel you need to make to do those things will be worth it. But why the "broken record" searching for something negative to sway your decision to the negative as opposed to looking for reasons as to why it is worth it and sway your preference to the affirmative? Is it because you are really just trying to reconcile yourself to USMMA as a plan B or plan C? If it is you probably should try to identify alternative Plan B or C's - it's not an easy row to hoe to get through and there are easier ways to get a commission as a military officer than KP if you are looking for a Plan B in case you don't get into USNA so you can go become a SEAL.

Jasperdog,

Firstly, I'd like to thank you for the inslight you put into your reply to this thread, and thank you for your service.

Let me be clear, I am attending Kings Point as a member of the class of 2018. I've already committed. I'm not looking for negative slander regarding Kings Point. I mean no disrespect to KP or her graduates by asking the questions that I do. I may be new to the service academy forums as an active member, but I've been utilizing this useful website ever since I started the service academy application processes.

Also, Kings Point was not my plan b. Although I originally pursued a nomination to and appointment from Annapolis, I had never even heard about Kings Point until the nomination review board recommended that I applied based off of the information I presented to them regarding myself and my goals.

I spent a couple months trudging through the unclarity regarding information and credible opinions about KP just to understand what the school was all about. I called KP personnel, I spoke and met with Field Reps, I spoke to graduates from KP and the other academies, I spoke with parents of service academy graduates and specifically Kings Point graduates, I spoke with elected officials and those who worked for them. I did a butt load of research online. You could say that I've grown weary of ignorant opinions from people who comment on KP but have little credibility or unconfirmable credibility. I've read through the slander and the negativity. Thus, I am now most earnest when I ask about Kings Point because I am not interested in debates about whether or not KP is "Worth it" because KP has proven that it is. The thing is, I'm sure I wasn't the only candidate who was confused out of his mind by all the different opinions about KP that exist out there.

Ultimately, I decided I want to attend KP not as a fall back for Annapolis, but because I realized the absolutely unique experience KP has to offer vs. the other academies, one that I felt I could most definitely enjoy. The biggest cherry on top is that I have the option to pursue an active duty commission if I choose that path. The thing is, I went through information hell to make that decision.

Why should you share your opinion? Because Kings Point deserves it. Because such a unique school should not receive blank stares when it's name is mentioned in the general population. Because when you choose not to I can guarantee there is someone out there sharing their non credible opinion about your Alma Mater, and I can betcha if it's not credible it probably isn't helping that poor candidate who's trying to understand what Kings Point is all about.

I will search with utter tenacity for the truth because I believe Kings Point lives up to it's motto "Acta Non Verba", I trust that the truth about Kings Point will be positive, reaffirming KP's credibility as a first class education and a unique and valuable experience that keeps Kings Pointer in demand.
 
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ReconPing: Thanks for the information and the PM. So I'll try and share my opinion as an Alumnus and the parent of a recent Alumnus...

Hey,

Could we talk about the changes happening at Kings Point? If you're an alumni member, or present midshipmen, could you share your thoughts on how Kings Point has changed over the past decade. How do you feel leaders at Kings Point and at the Department of Transportation have address the various issues at KP? Do you think Kings Point has a bright future?,

Which changes? The ones to the curricula to respond to changes in IMO and SCTW requirements - necessary and essential, though I wish a way to continue the Ship Operations and technology Major could have been figured out - I think it was the best of the six majors that were available up through the Class of 2013... That said it is hard to get all the required sea days for deck officers and will get harder with the changes to SCTW and the US Flag Fleet. The ones with the regiment and that sort of stuff? For thirty + years that level and sort of change has been almost constant - I just regard it as normal evolution and no big deal. Certainly as an alumni I was saddened when one of our own could not be found and given the chance to manage the Academy for a longer period of time than he was afforded. That said, that too is water under the bridge and we've hopefully long since moved on. To me USMMA has marched forward and continues to do so, will things get better yet? Does/will USMMA have a great future - I hope so and work to make that happen but since I'm not a fortune teller and everything seems in flux with the federal budget and the Global Economy - two things that will most influence the answer to those questions - I won't try and answer them. I'll only say, if you or anyone else is thinking about going - if you do you will be well prepared to succeed when you graduate and you will be highly sought after either way.

Good Luck in your efforts to graduate as a member of the Class of 2018
 
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