I’m coaching youth (4/5 grades) basketball for Parks and Rec. I only have one hour per week to practice but I was interested in how to instill charaacter and dedication to team in the kids. I purchased Coaching Team Basketball by Tom Crean of Marquette and Ralph Pim of the Military Academy at West Point. Now normally I wouldn’t put this in a QandO post but it seems to follow with your reference to LTG Buster Hagenbeck. Here are some of the people they acknowledge in the acknowledgments. Maj Artie Coughlin, Maj Derrick Stanton, Brig Gen Maureen LeBoeuf, Col Gregory Daniels, Lt. Col Jesse Germain, and Lt Col Joe Doty.
When you look at some of the very successful programs such as Bob Knight’s and Coach K’s at Duke, both of whom coached at the Academy, and the values they pass on to their assistant coaches as they move on to their own head coaching positions. The influence spreads far beyond the military and that is good.
Lance, thanks for sharing that email. |
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Written By:
tom scott
URL:
http://
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Many people outside the military do not understand the military. Those 23 words you cite is the best way I could ever come up with to explain the essence of what it means to serve in the military.
I am an avid proponent of the all volunteer military. But I recognize that we have lost something in the process of moving away from the citizen army of the draft. Back in the 50s and 60s, the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company could walk into a washroom being cleaned by a janitor and there would be common ground between those two men - military service. You do not see that today. And the gulf that exists between those who serve and the civilian world gets wider and wider with every passing day.
Just look at the membership of the House and Senate. I believe the percentage of those who have served is well below 50%. Now, I do not propose that this is reason to move the military away from civilian control. But it does highlight what i believe is a major reason why there is such mistrust for DoD from many of our Representatives. |
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Written By:
SShiell
URL:
http://
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SShiell writes:I am an avid proponent of the all volunteer military. But I recognize that we have lost something in the process of moving away from the citizen army of the draft. Back in the 50s and 60s, the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company could walk into a washroom being cleaned by a janitor and there would be common ground between those two men - military service. You do not see that today. And the gulf that exists between those who serve and the civilian world gets wider and wider with every passing day. Indeed. It’s getting more and more noticeable. The school systems are becoming increasingly dominated by the Left, especially through their teacher’s unions and in the prevailing multiculturalist "diversity" doctrine, and young people are being taught through cultural osmosis that the military is bad and for stupid people. That throws military culture back to families with strong military traditions and onto recruitment efforts that need to strain to get results.
There’s also the fact that schoolkids are no longer being taught American history, but rather a "we’re guilty for everything" dogma that specifically excludes heroism and sacrifice for country.
I don’t know where the counterforce is going to come from, but it wouldn’t hurt to start with teaching American history with a full military history component in schools. As things stand now, our public schools are killing us.
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Written By:
Martin McPhillips
URL:
http://mcphillips.blogspot.com/
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What happens when "I will never leave a fallen comrade" conflicts with "I will always place the mission first" ?
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Written By:
Grimshaw
URL:
http://
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The human brain (if not public school administrators) can deal with ambiguity, conflict, and how to resolve them. It’s a design feature. |
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Written By:
Synova
URL:
http://synova.blogspot.com
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I second Grimshaw’s question.
Is that a list in priority or general commitment, etc.?
Also, I was just reading about the early months of the Korean War, and we had trouble with a US warrior ethos that came up with the term "bugging out." I am surely glad that this has been fixed.
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Written By:
Harun
URL:
http://
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Is that a list in priority or general commitment, etc.? The mission always comes first, but you strive to do all 4. Obviously there are situations where any and all may become all but impossible. But that’s covered by number 3.Also, I was just reading about the early months of the Korean War, and we had trouble with a US warrior ethos that came up with the term "bugging out." I am surely glad that this has been fixed. Yup - that was a real debacle and interestingly, when we were first forming the volunteer army, I was at Ft. Benning and the new commander of the Infantry School and Ft. Benning was MG Latham. Latham had been an LT with the 7th Cav when it was overrun in Korea - much of it due to poor physical conditioning. He had vowed then that if he was ever in a position of authority he’d institute a program so that would never again happen. He did. Very stringent PT with 5 mile runs and a 25 mile forced march with equipment every quarter. It worked. |
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Written By:
McQ
URL:
http://www.qando.net/blog
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"Back in the 50s and 60s, the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company could walk into a washroom being cleaned by a janitor and there would be common ground between those two men"
Amen. That is one thing that males of a certain age had in common. Either they served, or at least had a friend or relative who had, and were always aware of the possibility of being drafted. The draft was, oddly enough, a unifying force even for the Vietnam generation. That is one of the things I thought was beneficial about the draft. I know I certainly grew to know, respect, and sometimes even sleep ’cheek to cheek’ with individuals from groups I would never have associated with in civilian life. It was sometimes shocking, sometimes unpleasant, but always educational.
Some time ago I read about some school(s) requiring school uniforms in order to eliminate contentious differences and promote harmony and judging people by their character and not their clothing. It works.
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Written By:
timactual
URL:
http://
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Given that the military has fallen so far out of the experience of most Americans and that love of country and warrior values are not socialized as they once were, how do young men and women today choose the military? |
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Written By:
huxley
URL:
http://
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Given that the military has fallen so far out of the experience of most Americans and that love of country and warrior values are not socialized as they once were, how do young men and women today choose the military?
Family tradition and economic necessity...Dude, being a soldier is a LEARNED skill. You might join for the job or the educational benefits, but along the way the military WILL inculcate you...It’s a "Corporate culture" and one that can be learned.
Bottom-line: People don’t join to be Warriors, that just happens along the way, if it happens.
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Written By:
Joe
URL:
http://
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I can see family tradition playing a part, and economic necessity in some cases, but that can’t be the whole story given the high quality of our current soldiers. Surely many or most of them could manage economically without joining.
Clearly a few of them like Mark Daily who was killed a year ago joined out of conscience to fight in Iraq.
I suspect too that some people are warriors by tempermeant and will be naturally attracted to the military. Granted, the military will inculcate its culture but not with equal success to all who join.
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Written By:
huxley
URL:
http://
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I will be conquered; I will not capitulate. - Samuel Johnson |
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Written By:
nico
URL:
http://
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Yo, Nico:
I will NOT be conquered; I will not capitulate. - Samuel Johnson |
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Written By:
SShiell
URL:
http://
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"how do young men and women today choose the military?"
"Join the Navy, see the world."
"We do more before 9:00 AM than most peopld do all day"
"Fun, Travel, Adventure."
Some old recruiting slogans. The last, abbreviated FTA, was modified by some disgruntled, vulgar individuals who evidently did not have all the Fun or Travel they desired and probably had more adventure than they anticipated. |
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Written By:
timactual
URL:
http://
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