Academy to stress war readiness

rjrzoom57
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:39:58 +0000

USNA69, your post #123 was one of your better ones, I would have gone a little easier on the “I’m smart and you’re stupid and uninformed theme” in addressing the parents and alum that post here, but all and all I was glad to see you at least temporarily relented on the in your face “the brigade is awful” tone of many of your past posts. I don’t think there is a parent or alum here that hasn’t figured out the pendulum has swung the other way or that in some ways it was both necessary and perhaps overdue.

The fact remains the current plebe class was no where near Annapolis last year when headlines were made of the sort we’d just as soon not see. I think it is also safe to say the overwhelming majority of upper-classmen has conducted themselves in a manner that reflects positively on both them and the Academy; they are guilty of no crime, and they along with the current plebe class should be treated with respect.

I hope you will recognize by choosing to be the “Superintendent’s voice” on this site your comments, observations and assessments, particularly about the Brigade are linked by default to him. In other words since we don’t have the Supt posting here and you have chosen to fill in, how you act is going to inevitably impact the interpretation of many when it comes to the changes under way at the Academy. In that regard by assailing the Brigade to the extent that you have, particularly to the parents of those men and women you have undermined much of the support that might have been available to you had you taken a different tack.

Much of the past 9 pages of this thread were taken up not in a discussion about the Superintendent and his goals and objectives for the Academy and Midshipmen, but more about you and your observations and criticisms of the Brigade. Through your linkage to the Superintendent as well as the changes underway you’ve gone a long way to poisoning the well. There is absolutely nothing wrong with your advocacy for change as well as the reasons in support of that change; the manner in which you have chosen to articulate on behalf of those changes leaves much to be desired.

In the end it matters, how you or for that matter the Superintendent conducts himself matters as much as being right about the policy and changes you are pursuing. If you are perceived as an angry old man with a nasty agenda or a stealth Superintendent that can’t be bothered to engage Mids at any time, you just made your job of implementing what you may believe to be important changes a whole lot harder; unnecessarily. The observations that people make about you may or may not be accurate or even fair, but perceptions go a long way towards creating the reality we all wish to see. If you or the Superintendent fails to consider the impact of your actions you will greatly diminish the chances for your success.