Journalism/Poli Sci(?) student shocked to discover that enrolling in the Naval Academy means service in the US Navy

[Queasy]

Laughable

I know why I chose Columbia: the campus is magnificent, the education is top-tier, and my peers are intelligent. I could look at a stranger, tell him or her that I went to Columbia, and hear the predictable, ?Wow, you must be smart.?

When my brother was getting ready to go to the Naval Academy, everyone ooohed and awed about how brave he was. Aunts and uncles would say, ?John, you must be one of thousands of kids who wanted to go?you must be so smart!? When he appeared unsure about whether he wanted to choose Navy or University of California, Berkeley, one uncle who works on Wall Street said, ?John, businessmen love hiring people from the academies. You will be set for life.? With that kind of promised prestige, my brother found it tough to give up a spot at Navy. So in June, my family dropped him off in Annapolis.

Before he left, my family had countless talks about what it might mean to be at an academy. While we knew that someday he would be required to serve, we also were drawn to the top-tier education he was promised to receive. We were told that the Naval Academy was first and foremost an elite college. He would be able to learn history, economics, political science, and even engineering. He would play lacrosse on a nationally ranked team and play the bugle in the marching band. He would have seminars about leadership and selflessness. He would even go to school for free.?

When I talked to my brother about why he wanted to go, he admitted that it was because he was drawn to the structure of the place?as a kid who did not want to sit around and drink beer during college, he liked the fact that he would be busy and have a purpose. I soon became comfortable with the idea of the academy, as if it would be a haven for my brother?s undergraduate career. And when people would congratulate me on my brother?s decision, it made me feel reassured.

Soon that pride turned to anger and fear: after my mom dropped him off at Annapolis, she came home with an acute sense of grief. The only thing she could talk about was how to get him out. In addition to missing his presence at home, she was scared by the extent to which her son had suddenly become the property of the U.S. Navy.?

She begged me to call a naval lieutenant Monday morning to start the out-processing forms for my brother. After leaving countless messages for the lieutenant, he finally called me back, at which point he informed me that my brother would have to go through 13 exit-interviews to be dismissed, including an interview with the head of the Navy. When I asked him whether this might intimidate him out of leaving, the lieutenant reminded me that my brother had signed an oath legally binding him to the Navy. When I reminded the lieutenant that he had signed that oath after he had been yelled at all day and that his hair had just been shaven off during his first day there, he comforted me that John was not at all forced to sign the oath.

When I looked at the course catalogue, which boasted seminars about leadership and selflessness, they were in fact seminars about weaponry and leading troops into combat. The reality of sending my brother to the Naval Academy began to set in: this was not a school; this was the military. While they boast a first class education, the main goal of this institution was to get my brother ?combat ready.? During the first two ?induction days,? the head of the Navy openly admitted that their goal was to transform these boys into men who would willingly die defending our country. They said to my parents, ?We will manage to do in 18 minutes what you could not do in 18 years?we will discipline your boys and have them calling you Sir and Ma?am.? When they talked of courage and bravery, they showed a video of a Navy marine rounding off an unlimited supply of ammunition. During my brother?s plebe summer (his first summer), he could not talk to us for more than a few minutes once a week for fear that we might unduly influence him.

My brother ended up liking Annapolis and he has decided to stay. While it has been difficult for me to accept that I have a brother in the military, I must allow him to pursue whatever path he is drawn toward, and he has admitted to me that he feels called to being there. However, for anyone else out there considering a career in the academy, let it be known: the U.S. Naval Academy is not an elite college; it is first and foremost a branch of the U.S. military and the prestige comes at a big price?it taxes parents, siblings, and participants if they do not understand what they were signing up for.

This is the first of a four-part series. Do you really need a four-part series declaring yourself to be a maroon?

 

[gwai lo]

maroon? moron?

 

[FoBoT]

shens

what do they think the Academy is for?

that is just a ploy to make an anti-war rant/article more interesting

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: gwai lo
maroon? moron?

Play on words a la Bugs Bunny.

 

[waggy]

it has to be shens.

 

[ElFenix]

the head of the Navy openly admitted that their goal was to transform these boys into men who would willingly die defending our country

i like how she tries to make that sound like an admission of guilt.

 

[preCRT]

Guess this proves that idiots can get into Columbia :laugh:

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

the head of the Navy openly admitted that their goal was to transform these boys into men who would willingly die defending our country

i like how she tries to make that sound like an admission of guilt.

or like it is a bad idea

i mean , what do they think the mission statement of the Navy/military should be? something about helping baby rabbits or planting roses throughout the world?

 

[murban135]

Originally posted by: Queasy
Laughable

I know why I chose Columbia: the campus is magnificent, the education is top-tier, and my peers are intelligent. I could look at a stranger, tell him or her that I went to Columbia, and hear the predictable, ?Wow, you must be smart.?

Guess that won't happen any more.

 

[George P Burdell]

Originally posted by: gwai lo
maroon? moron?

 

[Jschmuck2]

I like to consider myself a wacky liberal - but this may be the most stupid fucking thing I've ever read.

"Not only did we not know our son was going into the navy at the Naval Academy but they're going to turn him into a soldier"

Yuck.

 

[GenHoth]

Haha, priceless.

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
I like to consider myself a wacky liberal - but this may be the most stupid fucking thing I've ever read.

"Not only did we not know our son was going into the navy at the Naval Academy but they're going to turn him into a soldier"

Yuck.

QFT

 

[dainthomas]

How could someone with the elite qualities required to enter a military academy be related to idiots like that? Thank god for that no contact policy during plebe summer, it was probably the only way the Navy was able to wash the stupid out.

 

[CPA]

In the comments section is probably one of the best ownages I have ever read:

Well, I am not going to engage in ad hominem attacks against you, Ms. Leppla. Tempting as it may be, and as angry as I am, I won't indulge myself.

But I do think that what you wrote is blatantly untrue - and that you deliberately put in details so that the Naval Academy would be shown in a very poor light. Here are three very specific examples of what you implied about USNA in your essay:

(1) deliberately deceptive

[example: your implication about the USNA course catalogue containing false or misleading information]

I have a copy of the 2007-2008 course catalogue right here on my desk. The courses your brother will be taking have titles like "Naval Leadership" and "Military Applications." It is hard to misinterpret these titles unless you are either developmentally challenged or living in a non-reality-based community.

(2) hyperviolent

[example: your description of Induction Day, with a "Navy marine shooting off an endless supply of rounds" on a video screen...]

No that didn't happen, the video didn't exist ... I was there in Tecumseh Court on I-Day, front and center, and saw nothing of the sort. Fabricating a salacious little detail like that is designed to show the Academy in the worst, most bloodthirsty kind of light. Oh, and there is no such thing as a "Navy marine" - if you are going to invent a new branch of the U.S. Military, you should do your research first and do it well.

(3) mind-controlling and brainwashing

[example: her depiction of how hard it would be for her brother to quit... it made USNA sound like the Moonies]

Plebes can - and do - leave the Naval Academy. At this point, three months post-induction, approximately 50 of your brother's 1,200 classmates have left, or "tangoed out". Again, you misrepresented the entire process of outprocessing in order to show the Academy in a poor light.

Ms. Leppla, no doubt you feel like our current administration has engaged in lies and deception - and we are now engaged in a war in Iraq as a result. You, however, have done precisely the same thing - your falsehoods about the Academy were done to "sell" your incorrect and deceptive essay to the Columbia (?) and Barnard community. You truly should be ashamed of this essay.

Posted by: anonymous (not verified) | September 14th, 2007 @ 1:30pm

 

[nick1985]

"While it has been difficult for me to accept that I have a brother in the military..."


Wow, what a dumbass selfish (and probably ugly) bitch.

 

[waggy]

you know. i feel sorry for the brother. you know this story is going ot get around the school.

 

[K1052]

If we could fight wars with shoddy writing, logical fallacies, and extreme naivety we could just wheel his sister out when they pop up...

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Originally posted by: CPA
In the comments section is probably one of the best ownages I have ever read:

Well, I am not going to engage in ad hominem attacks against you, Ms. Leppla. Tempting as it may be, and as angry as I am, I won't indulge myself.

But I do think that what you wrote is blatantly untrue - and that you deliberately put in details so that the Naval Academy would be shown in a very poor light. Here are three very specific examples of what you implied about USNA in your essay:

(1) deliberately deceptive

[example: your implication about the USNA course catalogue containing false or misleading information]

I have a copy of the 2007-2008 course catalogue right here on my desk. The courses your brother will be taking have titles like "Naval Leadership" and "Military Applications." It is hard to misinterpret these titles unless you are either developmentally challenged or living in a non-reality-based community.

(2) hyperviolent

[example: your description of Induction Day, with a "Navy marine shooting off an endless supply of rounds" on a video screen...]

No that didn't happen, the video didn't exist ... I was there in Tecumseh Court on I-Day, front and center, and saw nothing of the sort. Fabricating a salacious little detail like that is designed to show the Academy in the worst, most bloodthirsty kind of light. Oh, and there is no such thing as a "Navy marine" - if you are going to invent a new branch of the U.S. Military, you should do your research first and do it well.

(3) mind-controlling and brainwashing

[example: her depiction of how hard it would be for her brother to quit... it made USNA sound like the Moonies]

Plebes can - and do - leave the Naval Academy. At this point, three months post-induction, approximately 50 of your brother's 1,200 classmates have left, or "tangoed out". Again, you misrepresented the entire process of outprocessing in order to show the Academy in a poor light.

Ms. Leppla, no doubt you feel like our current administration has engaged in lies and deception - and we are now engaged in a war in Iraq as a result. You, however, have done precisely the same thing - your falsehoods about the Academy were done to "sell" your incorrect and deceptive essay to the Columbia (?) and Barnard community. You truly should be ashamed of this essay.

Posted by: anonymous (not verified) | September 14th, 2007 @ 1:30pm

POOOOHOOOHOOONED!

 

[imported_Imp]

And here I was thinking that the applicant himself was a retard. Nope, good for him liking it. The blogger... meh.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Imp
And here I was thinking that the applicant himself was a retard. Nope, good for him liking it. The blogger... meh.

This isn't a blogger. This a for real op-ed article in the Columbia Spectator (Columbia being one of the more 'prestigious' journalism schools) that was approved by editors and everything.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Imp
And here I was thinking that the applicant himself was a retard. Nope, good for him liking it. The blogger... meh.

yeap.

as i said i really feel sorry for the girls brother. This is going to get back to him. he is going to be the laughing stock of the Acadamy.

 

[Lalakai]

have to agree, that family doesn't want to face reality, and is trying to find some very poor excuses to justify their reaction.

It is the soldier, not the reporter,
who has given us Freedom of Press.

It is the soldier, not the poet,
who has given us Freedom of Speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
who has given us the Freedom to Demonstrate.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag,
who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag
that allows the protester to burn the flag.

By Father Dennis O'Brien
Chaplain, United States Marine Corps
God Bless Our Troops

there are times the people need to be reminded of the cost that was paid, to allow them to freely speak, and even act like idiots. I hope they learn something from their son.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: Lalakai
have to agree, that family doesn't want to face reality, and is trying to find some very poor excuses to justify their reaction.

It is the soldier, not the reporter,
who has given us Freedom of Press.

It is the soldier, not the poet,
who has given us Freedom of Speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
who has given us the Freedom to Demonstrate.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag,
who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag
that allows the protester to burn the flag.

By Father Dennis O'Brien
Chaplain, United States Marine Corps
God Bless Our Troops

there are times the people need to be reminded of the cost that was paid, to allow them to freely speak, and even act like idiots. I hope they learn something from their son.

Sorry, but soldiers didn't give me any of those.

 

[xdreadpiratedoug]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: Lalakai
have to agree, that family doesn't want to face reality, and is trying to find some very poor excuses to justify their reaction.

It is the soldier, not the reporter,
who has given us Freedom of Press.

It is the soldier, not the poet,
who has given us Freedom of Speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
who has given us the Freedom to Demonstrate.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag,
who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag
that allows the protester to burn the flag.

By Father Dennis O'Brien
Chaplain, United States Marine Corps
God Bless Our Troops

there are times the people need to be reminded of the cost that was paid, to allow them to freely speak, and even act like idiots. I hope they learn something from their son.

Sorry, but soldiers didn't give me any of those.

So who was it then that fought in the Revolutionary War? Journalists? lol ...