Army Officer Commercial

[CR6]

I get the economics behind ROTC. But that also assumes that all ROTC candidates are equal. That 200 cadets from Podunk State are equivalent to 200 cadets from NYU (who come from across the country in reality). In our current operational environment, where COIN and cultural sensitivity are key, that's a false assumption I think.

My "stereotype" was specifically of company grades...there's a reason for that. And I stand by it. And when we still have CPTs discussing "haji" and "man-dresses"....I'd suggest that young officers from more diverse backgrounds might turn out to be force multipliers over that (very low) bar.

The issue isn't geographic origin or commissioning source. It's training, and more specifically post-commissioning training. Assuming that 200 cadets from NYU, or any east-coast urban university, are somehow "shovel-ready" for operations requiring cultural sensitivity doesn't make that much sense to me.

[Massengale]

The issue isn't geographic origin or commissioning source. It's training, and more specifically post-commissioning training. Assuming that 200 cadets from NYU, or any east-coast urban university, are somehow "shovel-ready" for operations requiring cultural sensitivity doesn't make that much sense to me.

Why wouldn't cadets who grew up speaking Arabic or Mandarin or Russian be more ready? Why wouldn't cadets who spent two years in Israel in high school be more ready? Why wouldn't cadets who spent the summer of their jr. year traveling in the ME or Africa be more ready?

There are millions of Americans who fit that description. The Army ignores them at its own (and the nation's) peril. How many lives were lost because of some retarded prison guards?

Power-point slides and a few actors at an NTC are no substitute for prolonged, formative exposure to other cultures.

[CR6]

Why wouldn't cadets who grew up speaking Arabic or Mandarin or Russian be more ready?

From my limited experience, the Mandarin and Russian wouldn't have helped that much in Iraq, but the Arabic is useful. That said, my friends who attended NYU didn't speak any of those languages. Russian is probably helpful in Afghanistan. That said, a multi-lingual background doesn’t automatically free an individual from the prejudices of their culture and family, nor does it mean they are more receptive to other cultures.

Why wouldn't cadets who spent two years in Israel in high school be more ready? Why wouldn't cadets who spent the summer of their jr. year traveling in the ME or Africa be more ready?

Certainly, but I am not convinced that students at East coast universities commonly have such experiences. Again, in my experience, study abroad programs focused on Europe and Latin America. Three months of cultural tourism may be broadening, but I wouldn't say it prepares someone for anything like troop leading in stability operations.

For the record, I am a graduate of east coast prep schools and an East Coast University. I don’t feel that helped me corner any markets in cultural awareness or immersion. I married a fellow student who was a first generation American from a Korean family, who grew up speaking Hangul and practicing her family’s cultural traditions, and traveling back to Asia periodically. As far as I can tell after 18 years together, these experiences didn’t make her (or her family) any more or less open minded than anyone else I know. We are all subject to biases and human frailty.

There are millions of Americans who fit that description. The Army ignores them at its own (and the nation's) peril.

But I don’t see the correlation that officer recruiting in Northeastern schools really gets after this demographic.

How many lives were lost because of some retarded prison guards?

How was that not a leadership and training failure? An East Coast degree doesn't change that. For that matter, BG Karpinski is a graduate of Kean College of NJ, and COL Pappas graduated from Rutgers. East coast educational backgrounds among leaders did not prevent this problem. Of course, they weren’t Tier One graduates, so maybe that accounts for the less than stellar outcome.

Power-point slides and a few actors at an NTC are no substitute for prolonged, formative exposure to other cultures.

Amen brother. The crappy job we make of cultural immersion training is something we can discuss at length.

[Cavguy]

All -

Also a new Army Strong/Warrior Ethos commercial.



And for those who are lazy, an embed of the original video being discussed.



I dunno, I like them, especially the officer one. Best the Army's done in awhile.

[selil]

I dunno, I like them, especially the officer one. Best the Army's done in awhile.

I have to agree I like them. Where can a 43 year old expert on cyber warfare sign up? Oh, thats right I'm to old now. Take that USNR I slipped out of your fingers again! The vids are great though. Even my pinko commie spousal accessory unit likes them.

[patmc]

I think Courtney has some valid points, but is diving too much into elite vs rest. The following is my Yankee odyssey from high school to the Army. I'm not a martyr or special, and I think many have the same or similar story.

I am from northern NJ, and went to a Catholic liberal arts school in Massachusetts. Not exactly bastions of conservatism, but not as extremely liberal as one would think. Mostly working/middle class practical. Only one or two guys from my high school went straight into the military. My best friend from home did Navy ROTC out of high school (his brother was 10+ years in Navy), and I almost did AF ROTC, but ended up just going to college. My parents both worked in mid-town NYC, and were in the city that morning in September. A month or two later, I joined Army ROTC, which was across town on a different campus. In the winter (most of the school year), the town had snow, so getting up for PT and ROTC included snow shoveling. Navy/Marine ROTC were on campus, and were rather popular, but AF and AR were across town.

Only 2 or 3 students per class out of 600+ were Army cadets. The college did not recognize ROTC for credit. The college only offered housing assistance if you did ROTC for all 4 years. The college cost well above the ROTC scholarship I received, which was priced more for state or technical schools, not Northeastern private schools. The admin were Jesuits, and mostly liberal and anti-war (despite the fact that a Jesuit from the school won Medal of Honor in WWII) though the student body was largely conservative. My buddies partied, stayed up, and slept late. I did my best to join them, but was up at o dark thirty every weekday. When I started wearing BDUs once a week, people would look and wonder. A friend asked me if I was in the AF or NAVY, despite my ARMY nametape. A couple people sought opportunities to debate war, Iraq, President Bush, etc... but I tried to avoid those discussions. My answer was usually "Unfortunately I'm not in charge yet." Most smiled or said thanks.

Senior year, my friends worried about jobs, I worried about branch and duty station. After graduation, everybody packed up and planned summer vacations or grad school, a couple went right into work. I packed up, went home to NJ for 3 days, saw friends and family, then packed out and left for Fort Knox and Fort Sill. I didn't make it back to NJ until Thanksgiving. Then again for Christmas. Then I went to Airborne and Bragg, and did not go home until summer exodus. Then the next time was pre-deployment leave. I was engaged when I left, not when I came home a year later. All 3 of my senior roommates are married to their college girlfriends (1 has a child). I now have an amazing girlfriend 2000 miles away, waiting for me to find out where I am heading next. I still can't tell my parents when I will be home to visit again. I've been back to NJ twice this year.

I think my experience in ROTC was pretty common, though the NE and West probably experience more of the extremes. The location of posts in the south is due to history, available land, and politics. There is plenty of not in my backyard up north, and land in most NE states is too "valuable" to use as an impact zone or training area. Fort Drum is Canada, not NE. That's like telling someone from Texas, "Hey, Fort Polk is close." People from the northeast are generally disconnected from the military bc of social, political, and geographic reasons. If Fort Dix was an active post, or Fort Devens reopened, you would get more volunteers from the area. It would not solve the problem, but it would help retention and exposure.

Being in the Army has forced me to see the rest of the country, which I am grafteful for, but has also forced me across the country from my family and friends. The Army is cut off from a large portion of the country bc of geography. I don't think the good vs better colleges is a winning debate, but growing up in the NE was a different experience than KY, OK, or NC. Not better, different. I grew up in a town with mixed Black, White, Spanish, and Asian populations, and nobody realized that "mattered" until high school when we "grew up." I initially couldn't do much good walking through the woods, and I itch if I smell Poison Ivy, but I could talk to different people and get along. Spending time in KY, OK, NC (and now AZ) showed me that my opinions and stereotypes of the rest of the country were also incorrect, but that there were/are differences. Family and religion are more public and prominent outside the NE, but I don't remember any David Allan Coe sing alongs back home.

The shortage of NE or Western Officers will take more than posts in those areas to help recruit. Colleges in general, and the cultural elite need to change. Society as a whole needs more exposure. Short of a draft, I honestly don't know how you would do it though. The current call to service is focused more on community work or Peace Corps than on military service. It falls on us to let people know what we actually do, and that we are regular people despite our awesome clothes and occasional involuntary overseas work. I do my best to give Yankees a good name (and Jeter and company are finally helping out), and I think its better for the Army to have a mix of the whole country. I never missed an opportunity to remind my Georgia born and raised Battery Commander that I was finally exposing him to "civilization." He never missed an opportunity to remind me that he was exposing me to "real Americans." We were joking, but too many people believe that to be true. My adventures and travels in the Army have made me a better person and better American, but still come at high price. I think the price has been worth it, but is getting tougher, and getting more people to pay that price is harder than new commercials (and yes, this new commercial is pretty good).