New USMA Supe

IMHO I think maybe anyone might be an improvement. there have been horror stories posted here and in the press of Williams' Policies regarding athletes vs plain old Cadets, graduation (Golden Handshakes) if not Commissioning, and Discipline irregularities. Hopefully the "new" administration will be more consistent.
 
Happy to be corrected, but I thought the USMA Supe position was understood to be the last stop in a distinguished career.

And yet- “The outgoing Superintendent Lieutenant Gen. Darryl A. Williams will be promoted to General at the U.S. Military Academy and will assume command of U.S. Army Europe and Africa during a ceremony Tuesday in Wiesbaden Germany.”

Is my recollection off, or did this recently change? Or was it always “usually, but not always”?
 
2020HD said:
Happy to be corrected, but I thought the USMA Supe position was understood to be the last stop in a distinguished career.

And yet- “The outgoing Superintendent Lieutenant Gen. Darryl A. Williams will be promoted to General at the U.S. Military Academy and will assume command of U.S. Army Europe and Africa during a ceremony Tuesday in Wiesbaden Germany.”

Is my recollection off, or did this recently change? Or was it always “usually, but not always”?
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Yeah... This is indeed a new wrinkle. First time.
 
From the article:

The outgoing Superintendent Lieutenant Gen. Darryl A. Williams will be promoted to General at the U.S. Military Academy and will assume command of U.S. Army Europe and Africa during a ceremony Tuesday in Wiesbaden Germany.

Prior to his time as superintendent, Williams was the commander of NATO Allied Land Command in Izmir, Turkey. He also served as the commander of U.S. Army Africa in Vincenza, Italy, which has now merged with U.S. Army Europe.

I know nothing of the man or his reputation as a commander.

Given that we are facing a crisis of sorts, requiring reorganization of the geostrategic architecture of Europe, his resume suggests he has the network and experience to do the job...especially that part about Turkey. I like the fact that he took on the job instead of heading off to his choice of corporate boardrooms. His new job will have plenty of downsides.
 
Impulsive said:
IMHO I think maybe anyone might be an improvement. there have been horror stories posted here and in the press of Williams' Policies regarding athletes vs plain old Cadets, graduation (Golden Handshakes) if not Commissioning, and Discipline irregularities. Hopefully the "new" administration will be more consistent.
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I would be very interested to see the source of these "horror stories." My understanding is the Corps largely has "loved" General Williams as the Supe. If he had problems during his tenure, I wouldn't think he would be getting promoted to such an important next job, especially since historically as mentioned the Supe tends to be the last stop on that general officers career path.
 
2020HD said:
Happy to be corrected, but I thought the USMA Supe position was understood to be the last stop in a distinguished career.

And yet- “The outgoing Superintendent Lieutenant Gen. Darryl A. Williams will be promoted to General at the U.S. Military Academy and will assume command of U.S. Army Europe and Africa during a ceremony Tuesday in Wiesbaden Germany.”

Is my recollection off, or did this recently change? Or was it always “usually, but not always”?
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Not necessarily, though it has been several years. Four USMA Supe’s went on to be Chief of Staff of the Army, for example.
 
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OldRetSWO said:
You might want to review this thread.

https://www.serviceacademyforums.co...holarship-one-additional-consideration.84521/
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So that I am clear, is the OP in that thread General Williams? If it is, I am impressed that he even takes the time to post on this forum (in 2022 no less) given everything else he has to deal with. And is the idea that the concerns raised in that post are problematic or controversial? As a grad myself, I don't have a great deal of heartburn with the issues he raised. In fact, I have a classmate who was permitted to graduate despite not passing the pre-commissioning physical our Firstie year. That decision didn't bother me then. I would have much stronger opinions on the emphasis on football players going pro over fulfilling their service commitments.
 
USMAZoo98 said:
So that I am clear, is the OP in that thread General Williams? If it is, I am impressed that he even takes the time to post on this forum (in 2022 no less) given everything else he has to deal with. And is the idea that the concerns raised in that post are problematic or controversial? As a grad myself, I don't have a great deal of heartburn with the issues he raised. In fact, I have a classmate who was permitted to graduate despite not passing the pre-commissioning physical our Firstie year. That decision didn't bother me then. I would have much stronger opinions on the emphasis on football players going pro over fulfilling their service commitments.
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If believe if you scan other posts by Class of 83 you might well form the impression they are not one and the same as General Williams.
 
USMAZoo98 said:
So that I am clear, is the OP in that thread General Williams? If it is, I am impressed that he even takes the time to post on this forum (in 2022 no less) given everything else he has to deal with. And is the idea that the concerns raised in that post are problematic or controversial? As a grad myself, I don't have a great deal of heartburn with the issues he raised. In fact, I have a classmate who was permitted to graduate despite not passing the pre-commissioning physical our Firstie year. That decision didn't bother me then. I would have much stronger opinions on the emphasis on football players going pro over fulfilling their service commitments.
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The issue in that thread is that at least some cadets who were near graduation were NOT allowed to graduate and in fact were "dumped" with little assistance just before they should have graduated.
 
The inconsistency of separation policies is something that has surprised me in recent years, but I would not attribute it to LTG Williams. It goes further back than his tenure. On the contrary during Williams' tenure I personally knew two cadets with medical issues. One was allowed to finish Firstie year and then did not commission. The other was borderline and was given the option of separating after graduation or commissioning with the class. However, a contributing factor in both cases may have been that the medical decisions took some time and they were well into Firstie year by the time decisions were made. I have also heard of other cases that did not go so well over the past ten years, but I have no first hand knowledge of those cases.

When I was a cadet (quite awhile ago) and during my time of active service I had never known any separating cadet not to be treated fairly if they were in good standing. Those separating medically or academically were not treated callously. And those that were separated by USMA were never hounded to pay back tuition or go into the enlisted ranks, as long as the reason was not conduct related. USMA and the Army have grown harder over time, with more decisions made through a financial rather than a leadership lens.

As far as Superintendent career paths, LTG Goodpaster was one of my Supe's and was brought out of retirement to lead USMA after the 1976 cheating scandal. He retired as a 4 star General in 1974 and returned to duty as Superintendent in 1977 as a 3 star, later receiving his fourth star back when he retired again after his tour.
 
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