Army Safety Caleb Campbell - NFL Bound?

[Hacksaw]

Eden,
I appreciate your thoughtful response and could nod my head through much of the logic...

- Losing 2-3 2LTs per year will not make a big dent in that year groups population.
- Yes this will raise awareness of the academy.
- Back in the day some grads went straight into civilian life, but its role has changed.

Concur on all... but

- Service to nation as a cornerstone ethic has not changed, and this is, if not a nation, an Military at War.
- Not sure that the awareness this type of attention gains is the image the Academy needs. Unlike pop culture icons, not all publicity is good publicity.
- The Academy has changed, despite its most nostalgic yearnings, it is no longer a hard science institution (sorry AOG). USMA provides a liberal arts education to its graduates - and that is dead on what its graduates require to lead in the contemporary environment.

I am not a wax nostalgic about the good ole traditions of Hudson High, but the last core ethic that the Academy should bend away from is its mission to graduate leaders committed to life of service to the Nation. Some things should remain non-negotiable - this is one.

This policy is a BAD decision.

There is an aporpo saying that you can't blame a dog for being dog... Well you can't blame a 21 yr old for being a 21 yr old, I think Caleb Campbell will regret this decision. The USMA education does not end on Miche Field on a Spring Day, it continues as they struggle to apply the lessons they learned.

Funny, I usually become less riled about a topic as time passes... This one just makes me more disappointed by the hour.

That's really all I have to say about that.

Live well and row

[wm]

There is an aporpo saying that you can't blame a dog for being dog... Well you can't blame a 21 yr old for being a 21 yr old, I think Caleb Campbell will regret this decision. The USMA education does not end on Miche Field on a Spring Day, it continues as they struggle to apply the lessons they learned.

I remember walking by a stone as I walked out of Army home football games on Saturdays (usually after witnessing another drubbing at the hands of some major college power like Cincinnati or Worcester Tech). That stone had a bronze plaque on it with the following quotation from MacArthur:

On the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on other days and other fields will bear the fruits of victory.

With all of the big time sports infrastructure improvements at USMA around what used to be the greensward called Howze Field (not to mention places like Shea Stadium, Doubleday Field and Target Hill Field (aka North Athletic Field), I wonder if that stone is still there. If it is, I wonder whether the Army Athletic Association (AAA) staff makes use of it to remind its young student atheletes that they are officer candidates first and foremost.
Cadets draw a paycheck and get an education for free because the nation expects them to "provide for the common defense" as the Preamble to the Constitution says.

[Hacksaw]

Agree WM

Just can't figure out why USMA would decide to build a way out for grads... If for no other reason, just the wrong message to send to the Corps

[Cavguy]

In today's New York Times:

"An Officer and a Linebacker for the N.F.L."

“I’ve heard stories about what’s gone on in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Campbell said. “In another sense, the N.F.L. is just as much pressure. You’re out there to take somebody’s job. In terms of coaches can’t cut me? We’re talking about the N.F.L. here. This is a cutthroat business.”

He obviously didn't pay attention at USMA between football practice. Ok, place him in BOLIC and on the next bird to Iraq or Afghanistan.

NFL as tough as combat? Plueeze. If this is the type of statement he will utter for Army recruiting, ship him to the front.

[Tom Odom]

In today's New York Times:

"An Officer and a Linebacker for the N.F.L."



He obviously didn't pay attention at USMA between football practice. Ok, place him in BOLIC and on the next bird to Iraq or Afghanistan.

NFL as tough as combat? Plueeze. If this is the type of statement he will utter for Army recruiting, ship him to the front.

He is just another self-centered ego looking to get paid but with the difference he used a service academy to get set for it.

Withdraw his commission and then send him to Iraq...

Tom

[Steve Blair]

He is just another self-centered ego looking to get paid but with the difference he used a service academy to get set for it.

Withdraw his commission and then send him to Iraq...

Tom

Sounds good to me. That or pack him off for alternative service in a VA hospital or something similar. Maybe then he might get a clue as to the difference between combat and the NFL....

[selil]

I'm sorry because I know my opinion is going to upset some people. I simply feel that any military service academy and any cadet and any service that thinks the NFL is more important than service to the country deserves nothing less than ridicule for the dishonor they have engaged in. Pandering "recruitment" as an excuse for failure to serve as an officer leading troops is an abysmal lie. If you are more worried about your personal ambition of an NFL career then don't burn a seat for a person who wants to be a preeminent military officer and academy graduate. This is an absolute abomination and desecration of people like Roger Staubach who served their country then played a game. Every ring-knocker should be ashamed. I thought the academies were becoming more about service and commitment to an ideal of patriotism and self sacrifice. Every time I meet an academy graduate I now get to ask them, "Couldn't make it in the NFL huh?" I don't care if some Pentagon rat changed the rule, I expected more from the participants, and have been horribly disappointed.

I guess Semper Fidelis only counts if you're enlisted or ROTC graduate. Oh, wait wrong service.

[MattC86]

If you are more worried about your personal ambition of an NFL career then don't burn a seat for a person who wants to be a preeminent military officer and academy graduate. This is an absolute abomination and desecration of people like Roger Staubach who served their country then played a game.

I agree with this especially. There were plenty of applicants for Caleb Campbell's spot at the USMA. All of them, presumably, would have been capable, faithful officers in the United States Army. Campbell will not, at least certainly not in the sense that his classmates are, and as has been mentioned (I think on the SWJ Blog) any gain in recruiting from the "free advertising" will be more than canceled out by the cheapening of a pillar on which the military services - no, service and honor and selflessness in general - are based.

And yes, my head too almost exploded when the ESPN reporter said, "if you don't have to be one, I would suggest you not be one."

Regards,

Matt

[Ken White]

"Since November, the Navy has suspended its program governing early release after two years of active duty. “The nation is at war,” said Laura Stegherr, a Navy spokeswoman. “The Navy doesn’t intend to change the policy.”"

Good for the Navy. Sad commentary on the Army. Nuke HRC to save the Army.

[Claymores]

"if you don't have to be one, I would suggest you not be one."

All,

The reporter who said this statement is named Lisa Salters. I have a line on her email. I will post it up when I get it. I have a few questions to ask her.

S/F

Claymores

[RTK]

In today's New York Times:

"An Officer and a Linebacker for the N.F.L."



He obviously didn't pay attention at USMA between football practice. Ok, place him in BOLIC and on the next bird to Iraq or Afghanistan.

NFL as tough as combat? Plueeze. If this is the type of statement he will utter for Army recruiting, ship him to the front.

He branched ADA (I looked it up). I would have LOVED to see him come through The Armor School with that attitude.

[Umar Al-Mokhtār]

not to the NFL but to IZ or AF first. He should not be allowed to dodge the bullet of his service commitment to the Army and the American taxpayer who footed the bill for his education.

My daughter applied five freakin times to WooPoo on the Hudson and was denied each time. Even after she enlisted they denied her request to go to MAPS. She will be headed for Mosul with her MP company in October.

Seems she has more balls than Campbell, but then again that's not a requirement to attend.

[wm]

from the local community newspaper that serves the area around West Point

Campbell and three Army teammates — fullback Mike Viti, punter/kicker Owen Tolson and wide receiver Jeremy Trimble — are the first football players to take advantage of the policy.

"This is a way of serving your country," said Viti, one of four regiment commanders among Army's 4,000 cadets.

"I think a lot of people had the misconception that if you're not getting bullets slung by your head, you're not serving your nation in a time of war."