So I was receiving honor training today and as I have been told many times, alcohol toleration is a serious offense within the corp of cadets at my school. But that got me thinking, is there any repercussion for toleration within ROTC detachments? Because from what I've heard most of the kids that get into trouble with alcohol are the ones that do the drinking themselves, not the people that tolerate it. Just a curious thought. Am I mistaken? Thanks!
Toleration Question?
- Thread starter tibreaker
- Start date
unfortunately there is no honor code in the military so consequently ROTC cadets are not bound by one. However, violating a school honor code can have serious repercussions for those in ROTC; offenses like plagiarism and theft along with serious civil offenses like a DUI or assault charge can result in the loss of a scholarship or contract and removal from the program. I know of more than a few folks who have lost commissioning opportunities due to poor judgement and lack of integrity.
Agree with the others. Alcohol or other conduct toleration does not make it an honor offense either. There is a difference between conduct and honor at a SA or SMC. Can't speak for the others, but conduct toleration is not an honor offense at USNA. Lying when questioned about it would be.
tiki is correct, many colleges have honor codes but very few actually enforce it; VMI, The Citadel and the service academies do take theirs seriously and rigorously enforce them. Alcohol offenses are not an honor violation but underage drinking has gotten quite a few cadets kicked out of the service academies recently and also resulted in many revoked ROTC scholarships.
@tibreaker You seem to be confusing the honor code with other rules or regulations in terms of tolerance. The honor code says a cadet will not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do.
There are also rules, regulations and laws that we all must follow. Failure to follow these rules can have the same consequences as an honor violation. While officers should hold themselves to the highest standard, no one is perfect and things happen.
The two lines start to cross when you lie about breaking one of those rules. Here is a simplistic example but should help make the point.
Your alarm clock does not go off and you miss a formation for some event and for whatever reason no one notices. There is no part of the honor code that says you have to turn yourself in for missing the formation. Learn from your mistakes and do not let it happen again.
Now lets say that you sleep through the same formation and you tell your roommate that "yep, I just slept right through my alarm". Later in the day your squad leader wants to know why did you miss formation. You answer that you had a Doctor's appointment that ran over and couldn't make it back in time while your roommate is sitting next to you. You have just committed an honor violation and also placed your roommate in a very uncomfortable situation as they know you are lying and cannot tolerate it.
The toleration portion is what makes the code unique and what ties the future officers together. You cannot put your brother/sister in arms in that type of situation.
So do your best to live honorably and also set the example for your soldiers by following the rules that everyone must follow and you will do fine.
There are also rules, regulations and laws that we all must follow. Failure to follow these rules can have the same consequences as an honor violation. While officers should hold themselves to the highest standard, no one is perfect and things happen.
The two lines start to cross when you lie about breaking one of those rules. Here is a simplistic example but should help make the point.
Your alarm clock does not go off and you miss a formation for some event and for whatever reason no one notices. There is no part of the honor code that says you have to turn yourself in for missing the formation. Learn from your mistakes and do not let it happen again.
Now lets say that you sleep through the same formation and you tell your roommate that "yep, I just slept right through my alarm". Later in the day your squad leader wants to know why did you miss formation. You answer that you had a Doctor's appointment that ran over and couldn't make it back in time while your roommate is sitting next to you. You have just committed an honor violation and also placed your roommate in a very uncomfortable situation as they know you are lying and cannot tolerate it.
The toleration portion is what makes the code unique and what ties the future officers together. You cannot put your brother/sister in arms in that type of situation.
So do your best to live honorably and also set the example for your soldiers by following the rules that everyone must follow and you will do fine.
And just one note to add... can't speak to the other SA and SMCs (but guessing they are similar), there is no toleration clause for conduct. If I see someone underage drinking I do not have to turn them in. If I know they lied to me about their age if I confronted them, I would get in trouble for not turning them in for the lie.
Wow, thanks for all the great responses everybody! Also thanks for the great example USMA 1994! I'll keep this in mind as I go into next year. I'm currently a freshmen so I'm going to be a sophomore next year. Historically, some sophomores have gone out drinking and have come back to the dorms drunk. I just wanted to know if there were any repercussions from an ROTC perspective for toleration in a situation where if my roommate where to come back drunk, Thanks again!
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