Sweet Enlow

If you subscribe to the Economist, please check out the fascinating, yet sad article on rape in war.  If not, here is a link.

http://www.economist.com/node/17900482

I particularly thought this quote was of interest in, among other things, a evolutionary psychology sort-of-away, “The Anarchy and impunity of war goes some way to explaining the violence (of rape). The conditions of war are often conducive to rape. Young, ill-trained men, fighting far from home, are freed by social and religious constraints. The cost of rape are lower, the potential rewards higher. And for ill-fed, underpaid combatants, rape can be a kind of a payment.” (remembering that rape was once a payment to the victorious side in battle)

There is a lot of interesting points of discussion revolving around that simple quote – military discipline, simple economics, rewards of serving to name just a few. Just wanted to put it out there.

As most know, we as America had another fatal, unprovoked shooting in Arizona only a few days ago. As I recall, 6 dead – including one Federal judge, 13 wounded, and one congresswoman in critical condition. What a shame.

This situation undoubtedly brings up the question of America and its gun policy. Of course, this topic has been brought to forefront many times – namely, Michael Moore’s film, “Bowling for Columbine.” But coming from a profession where I literally carry around an Assault Rifle as the foundation of my job, I feel I can provide some unexpected, unique feed back. Most gun haters I think tend to be extremely left-leaning, if not unrealistic. Thus, my following commentary.

To begin, I think the whole modern American culture surrounding guns is more than ridiculous. Yes, people have a rite to bear arms under the second amendment. This I am fully aware of. However, is that really necessary today? Notice I how inserted the word “modern” in front the “American culture” above. Yes, as westward expansion took place, life was probably somewhat Hobbesian – as in, short, nasty, and brutish. People needed to often hunt for food, as well as protect themselves from others. But, NEWSFLASH, those environmental settings no longer exist. We live in the safest era in human history. The only thing that keeps America from being extremely safe is, well, guns themselves. Understand that many things have been legal/illegal in this country that are now considered more than absurd. No one goes around stating that we should still maintain slave labor or that women shouldn’t be allowed to vote.

Now, think about most of the shootings that have occurred over the years. Many have been from some punk teenage kid(s). This latest shooting came from an deranged young man in his early twenties. If I recall correctly, the Nebraska mall shooing only a few years ago was a teenager. And surely no one can forget the atrocities of Columbine (as a prior jock and lover of my high school, few things make me as mad as watching those lunatic trench coat mafia kids killing other people, particular the popular kids). Among everything that is wrong with these situations, it seems odd that many forget to mention one of the most important aspects – that is, how in the hell did these people even have the right to attain semi-automatic weapons? Clearly, a stricter gun policy should be invoked, but is that really enough?

Surely no one can argue that guns do not do more harm than good. Murders in this country are almost always completed with gun, as are robberies and many rapes. Gun proponents always like to argue that “guns stopped (insert number) robberies last year.” Maybe so, but that only stems from the fact that guns are so readily available. Ironically, gun usage only propagates more gun usage. This is in direct contrast to their supposed purpose – security. Unlike something like drugs – which only affect the individual (which some know I am favor of complete legalization), guns sole design is to hurt other people – that is the very nature of the weapon (excluding hunting obviously which I think is ridiculous also). I am usually never in favor of massive government involvement, but when it comes to regulating something whose sole design is the injury or murder of another human, then I really don’ have a problem with bureaucratic oversight. What is wrong with making someone wait an extra six months, or even a year, to attain an assault rifle? But then again, why would someone even need an assault rifle?

In addition, the whole gun culture I think represents a powerful example of what is wrong with much of American politics – that is, lobby power. Any type of gun regulation is immensely difficult because the NRA organization yields the influence it does. The video is a little off topic in that it doesn’t flow that well with my post, but Michael Mooore, as much I don’t like him, asks some poignant questions; questions well worth answering in full. It’s a shame the leader of the NRA is so pathetic in his response.

In a further side-note, Moore would have been much more powerful, in my opinion, if he didn’t have that cheesy ending with asking Heston to look at the picture of the murdered girl.

To conclude, I mentioned earlier that the nature of my profession – a soldier – is simply the management of violence (fortunately I haven’t had to actually experience that yet). Ironically, once I leave the military, I would prefer to never have to see a gun again. Not because I don’t like guns. On the contrary, many are fascinating pieces of machinery and history. But because I know that if I am looking at one, it will likely be at the helm of law enforcement agent – meaning I fucked up royally, or at the hands of a bad person. Both of which I prefer not to happen.

The saddest thing is that, though I am not in favor of personal gun possession, I will have a weapon in my house. How could you not in this country?

After recently graduating from West Point, I felt it appropriate to provide some insight into a unique undergraduate experience.  I will be as honest and heartfelt as possible.  However, just by the very nature of the lifestyle at West Point, my thoughts will consist of both the good and the bad.  I only hope that the following post will provide some clarity into the “47 month experience.”

Graduating at the top of ones class at West Point is entirely different than a traditional university.  The valedictorian at West Point is usually not the top graduate.  The reason is that West Point distributes their class ranking system based on “3 pillars:” Military, Physical, and Academics.  For the remainder of the post, I will attempt to best summarize West Point and my experience based loosely around these 3 concepts, along with the addition of “Lifestyle,” because these three areas dictate almost 100% of ones time at USMA.

This post is long because it attempts to cover four years.  So, sorry for the length if you become uninterested.

Academics

A little over a year ago, a writer from the Washington Post, Thomas Ricks, wrote a highly controversial editorial concerning the Nation’s Military Academies.  In short, Ricks basically argued that the academies, because of a myriad of reasons, should be shut down allowing for ROTC and OCS to become the only source of commissioning for Military officers.  Ricks statements were grounded in little fact (some were just wrong) while West Point’s “Old Grads,” particularly among the faculty, were as objective and intelligent as they can be.  Interestingly enough, not even 6 months after Ricks’ article, Forbes named West Point  the number one school in the nation – a tremendous honor.  My academic experience was, in my opinion, much more in accordance with Forbes than with Ricks.

I hope never to become a person who can only remember the fond memories of an experience – especially one like West Point – and thus give a skewed opinion.  I do feel my overall education was unrivaled.  Yet, within that education came a lot of shitty, unnecessary experiences. Because of West Points never-ending grip on tradition (which is appropriate for many things), Cadets are mandated to take some classes most would never dream of taking.  My nightmares consisted only of Chemistry and Information Technology.  Luckily though, because I tended to enjoy the academic setting, I excelled (relatively speaking) in the other mandated classes that many struggled with – if not academically, just with a pure lack of interest: a year of Physics, 3 semesters of Calculus, Philosophy, Economics, Literature, Law etc…  The list is long and the classes arduous.

Most of ones mandatory classes are within the first 2 years of your education.  So, for the last 2 years – especially your Firstie year – you are given some flexibility within your major.  After much deliberating, I chose to be an Economics major in the famous “Sosh department.” The department is famous because, among other things, many of the most important leaders in today’s Army have been taught or taught themselves in the department, including but not excluding General(s) Petraeus, Casey, and Chiarelli.  (Read “the Fourth Star” for more information)  My personal experience only confirmed the hype that surrounds the department.  For example, in order to be an Economics graduate from West Point, one must complete 8 classes within the Economics degree.  For six classes out of the eight, I was taught in a class of 15 or less by all Ph.Ds – 2 from MIT and 1 from Princeton.  My other two classes were held by recent combat veterans with Masters from Princeton and Texas.  In almost every college in the country, this ratio combined with the educational experience of the instructor is unheard of.  Moreover, I was able to go in for 1 on 1 instruction any time of the week to discuss just about anything I wanted.  Often, for my Macro class, I was receiving an 1 and 1/2 hour personal lecture from my instructor – Ph.D from MIT.  Honestly, it felt like 19th century aristocrats paying intellectuals to instruct their kids privately.  This type of possibility was opened to all in every major.  The only thing standing in the way of cadets receiving this type of instruction was and is laziness.  But to the defense of Cadets, they are tired ALL THE TIME – some because of poor time management, but others simply because of the busy schedule.

Now, one critique I remember Ricks placed upon West Point particularly was that we, as an institution, lacked in Ph.Ds.  I was lucky in that this clearly did not apply to me.  However, for the academy as a whole, that statement holds some validity.  Moreover, no one can argue that West Point’s rival universities, who have people dedicate their whole lives to a particular field – like a Harvard or Princeton, are going to have a higher quantity of skilled members within their respective discipline.  It is like a division of labor within Academia.  However, no other university (aside from other Academies) has their students work with instructors that are in the exact same career as their students.  Yale economic students are not personally instructed by Hedge Fund managers or Investment Bankers, nor are Literature majors instructed daily by Cormac McCarthy or Ian Mcewan.  So, while my history department may only consist of 25% Ph.Ds compared to Harvard’s 90%; 90% of my department has had combat experience and invaluable career advice.  For all I know, I could be lectured by the next Chief of Staff of the Army.

Physical

Before I arrived at West Point, I was physically active.  I was active, though, only because I was an athlete.  Once I stopped playing football, I only boxed as my form as exercise for about a year before I realized that one must “work out” to be competitive in anything.

The best thing about West Point physically is that, for most, one can not escape the very “physical culture” of the school.  Almost everyone constantly exercises (there are a few who inhabit World of Warcraft, but they are decreasing by what I can tell).  Moreover, we are forced to be involved in some sort of sport a couple times of week.  The latest craze at West Point is the rise of CrossFit and “The Military Athlete.”  I respect both these systems.  Moreover, they’re damn sure better than the typical endurance runs promoted by ol’ school military people. Either way, West Point is nice because it helps motivate you to not be lazy as an individual.

Now, I do think West Point does us cadets a disservice with a lot of the food.  While some meals have the potential to be beneficial, desserts at every meal, along with a constant choice of processed carbs, does not bode well for overall health.  Oddly enough, there are people overweight at West Point, even with the physical nature of the school.  In addition, the type of food served is a large portion of the reason why a lot of cadets will sleep for hours after lunch… everyday.  I know feeding 4000 people at one time is an astronomical task – especially making it edible.  For that, I commend the current system. However, there are some very simple things that can be done that would benefit the entire corps.

Overall though, West Point is a physical environment where everyone not only desires but actually does something to get in shape… especially compared to other universities.

Military

Out of all three pillars, the Military pillar has the best ideology, but the worst in application.  Essentially, one is rated by their “superiors” – meaning other cadets – based on ambiguous standards.  During the academic year, one can receive a “C” as the grade based on reasons like, “did not respond to emails in haste,” or “did not greet superiors with enough enthusiasm.” While these may sound ridiculous – and it is – they are entirely factual. I know this because they happened to me!  This same rating system is also applied during your more intense military training during the summer.  If you have tension with your senior/subordinate, you can usually kiss your grade goodbye and ultimately do some damage to your class rank.

As I stated, the military pillar is good in theory, but it just does not work like it is desired.  My personal reasons for it not working are as follows: 1.) cadets are not going to act towards each other as they would towards an officer. 2.) rigorous academic lifestyle does not bode well for mindless military tasks. 3.) Cadets begin to become known as “squared away” or “jacked up” and they can never break their image… ever. An interesting a study a fellow economics graduate conducted his firstie year was the following, “To what effect does ones Beast Cadre (your first chance of being graded military) have an effect on the rest of your military grade for the entire 4 years?”  The study found that ones Beast grade accurately reflects, on average, the cadets overall military performance for the rest of his career!  Trust me, people can and do change dramatically from the first week at Beast Barracks to their Firstie year.  Like I said, people become labeled as deserving an “A” or being lucky to get a “C-.”

The military pillar is issue that needs to be addressed by the academy because its potential damage towards ones overall class rank affects issues that are much bigger than just ones class rank.  Because of the power of class rank, it can serve as the difference between a Combat Arms Branch and Service Service support or between living in Colorado or Ft. Polk Louisiana.  Such ambiguous standards affecting such tangible outcomes is a shame.

Lifestyle

While this pillar does not exist in the realm of West Point class rankings, it is arguably the most important thing about, well, any university.

I am going to attempt to make only positive statements in the following, but it can be hard at times.  West Point lifestyle is unique in that a lot of it just plain sucks, while other times it is great.  It really is an “emotional roller coaster.”  As a plebe, you can only leave campus once a semester (aside from holidays).  As a second year, its twice; your 3rd year, 4 times.  West Point gives an unlimited ability to “take  Pass” ones Firstie year which is great.  This is very smart of the academy because people only tend to only remember vividly their most recent times at the academy causing for ones experience be of fond memories with friends, often times outside the academy.  Moreover, it helps make recent graduates forget a lot of the mindless weekends spent sitting in your tiny room, watching the DVDs on your laptop.  At least for my wild friends, leaving every weekend as a Firstie also allowed for us to scour the local “environments” as well.  This allowed us to release some necessary emotions once a week.

There is a lot of pent up aggression at West Point.  Why? Well, for the first three years, we are basically never allowed to leave.  Thus, we are forced to be an environment where there is 80% male,  20% female.  Moreover, I would argue that among each grade, there are about 40 girls that every other West Pointer is pining for.  Using economic jargon, this ratio represents a highly distorted market of supply and demand which causes for highly distorted behavior – among both males and females.  Sweet girls can turn into cruel ones (because absurd market power), while confident guys can become wimps (because of virtually no market power).  Making matters worse, West Point does it best to quell all sense of a sexual environment in every aspect of ones lifestyle.  I could never argue against school for this because I understand that they are trying to maintain a complete professional environment.  However, I do question whether this is a realistic goal.  If you cram young men and women on top of each, not allowing them to leave, sexual (mis)conduct is going to happen… as it does every year.  Even worse, fighting is a major offense at West Point.  I don’t personally understand this considering we are going to literal War in a matter of months.  A minor fist fight shouldn’t be a big deal…especially given the circumstances.

To combat a lot of these problems, many cadets will join a clique.  Almost every time, these cliques revolve around an athletic belonging, but they can also come from other things… like the “Mean Girls” clique.  Regardless, these cliques begin to become how one is identified for the entirety of ones career at West Point. A usual dialogue is as follows: “Who is that guy/girl??” “O, he/she is a stud Rugby/Lacrosse/Tennis/Volleyball etc…player!” “O, really?? I like him/her heheheh… go set me up.” Of course, if you are not part of one these cliques, then the social scene becomes slightly more difficult.  I took somewhat pride in not belonging to any group – especial just to belong.  However, I will admit that it would have made life probably more enjoyable over the course of my four years.

Nevertheless, these cliques often are the catalyst for the greatest thing about West Point, the camaraderie. A long, difficult experience usually creates undying bonds between friends and West Point might be the pinnacle of that concept.  I repeatedly tell everyone who will listen that “many things suck about West Point, but all of them combined are superseded by the friends one maintain at school.”  The people who go to West Point usually have a much greater idea of who they are and who they want to become.  They understand more mature concepts, are willing to make sacrifices, are loyal to a fault etc… I could write a whole post just about the characteristics of my West Point friends.  Regardless, these things bode well for creating and establishing life-long friends.  I truly believe that the “top” at West Point, and the academies in general, are this Nations elite.  Due to the nature of Academy life and expectations, expect this to never change.

So, now that I have completed my four years, or my “47 month experience,” I am estatic over my journey.  Yet, it is still to early to decide whether or not I would do it again.  West Point might be a place that only needs to be gone through once…but it was worth it.

Recently, the Institution won the prestigious award of being selected the number one school in the United States.  To be a part of that is both humbling and exciting, particularly since I am graduating this year under that mantra. 

Members of the Institution I feel are definitely elite – the sacrifices made and constant tests we are forced to go through definitely causes an unrivaled maturity to arise.  In addition, the education is great … I could on go on and on about the benefitsof this place…

However, the institution’s  members have one serious, serious problem – social skills.  It is no secret that members of my school lack some certain required social abilities – mainly just not being awkward – but none more so than the Institutions aggregate lack of ability to dress.

A close friend of mine, Prussia, who takes a wide interests in many topics outside the military and who, like me, is very observant dressed up as a member of the Institution this past Halloween and literally nailed the lack of ability to dress right on the head.  Here is a picture of the Prussian in full attire:

To some less-observant type people, this garb may look rather normal, but let me break it down so as to explain what we are dealing with here…

First, Prussia is spot-on with the jeans/running shoe combination.  As you can see, these are not AirMax’s, but rather the same shoe worn for his latest diagnostic APFT – I believe these may be Sauconys??  Of course, white running shoes can only be accompanied by white ankle socks.

Prussia jeans are fine in my opinion.  However, he reverts back to the classic look of the Institution with the tightly tucked, off-brand polo shirt with the white T-shirt underneath.  Now, I personally do not have a real problem with this, but it does look classic cadet-like. 

Next, he is sporting the obligatory dark brown (camo, real tree, or khaki are just as applicable) baseball cap worn as far down on his face as he possibly can.  Since he is a member of the Institution, the only legitimate place he can actually traverse in Manhattan is Times Square (as shown by the sign) accompanied by the usually guaranteed stern-face – that is unless one has just dropped 50 bucks on draft Yuengling at the closest TGI Fridays

Lastly, there are two details one may not initially notice, but are essential for understanding the entire wardrobe.  First, under Prussia’s right arm lies the classic Artic company winter thermal jacket – odds are it a NorthFace, but they could be an outkast and be wearing the once popular brands of Patagonia or Columbia.  Secondly, though it is covered up, he is sporting the always important digital watch circa 1993.  It may or may not have a mini calculator on it, but you can be damn sure it has logged some serious time on the 2-mile course

Now, I love my school and I am very proud to be a member, but sometimes they way we present ourselves to people that have nothing to do with the military can make us look less than the best.  Prussia spent a month with the British Military Academy last summer and he explained that they spend one whole week at Sandhurst just on how to wear a suit.  Impressive… at least for someone like me. 

America