Introverts abandon ship Plebes: As 87 midshipmen drop out this summer, the Naval Academy is considering ways to help the introverts.
August 16, 1998|By Neal Thompson | Neal Thompson,SUN STAFF
Far from his South Carolina home, Gary Moody sat glassy-eyed and tremble-lipped amid the din of the Naval Academy dining hall as upperclassmen pummeled him for answers eluding him: You got a 1500 on your SAT but can't remember our names or what's for dinner?
"It's all about how hard you try, and I don't think you're giving it your all right now. Do you have a little bit more left in there?" asked Kerry George, a senior-ranking upperclassman.
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," Moody said, making it sound more like a question. He left a half-eaten sandwich on his plate, knocked a fork to the floor and walked off, forgetting his towel. "I thought he was going to cry," George said. "It amazes me how many guys will cry here."
It's not easy being a plebe. And that, sir or ma'am, is the whole point.
The first step in molding officers is weeding out the weaklings. But that is a delicate and imperfect process, and academy officials are increasingly concerned that their traditional initial testing of midshipmen's physical and emotional limits, plebe summer, may be burning off the most-promising freshmen.
Officials are considering using personality tests to identify potential dropouts they want to keep and then offering them some relief from the stressful regimentation of life in the academy and military.
When Moody and 1,250 classmates signed on as the Class of 2002, people spoke to them of honor, courage and commitment. Nobody mentioned such plebe summer realities as "plebe hack" and the ominous "Tango company." When those realities hit, 87 of them walked out the door.
Moody was among them. He and his near-perfect SAT score are back in South Carolina. Academy officials worry that they might have scared off a future admiral. Again.
........The Facts
.. .. .. .. .. Plebe summer .. .. .. ..Plebe year
Year .. .. .. .. .dropouts .. .. .. .. .dropouts
1994 .. .. .. .. .. 8.4% .. .. .. .. .. .. 11.0%
1995 .. .. .. .. .. 7.4% .. .. .. .. .. .. 11.4%
1996 .. .. .. .. .. 6.8% .. .. .. .. .. .. 11.8%
1997 .. .. .. .. .. 7.4% .. .. .. .. .. .. 11.0%
1998 .. .. .. .. .. 7.1% .. .. .. .. .. .. ..n/a
......Four years ago, the academy tried to include more personal time during plebe summer to help the "individuals" unwind. But there were
a record 102 dropouts "because the other extrovert types had more time to think, 'Why am I here?' " Gottschalk said........
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