Naval official rejects Mid's appeal

USNA1985
Fri, 16 Feb 2007 15:22:48 +0000

Sorry for the two replies – should have put them together.



The point is not whether he was working hard or not; the point is that he did not pass the standard. He failed, thus he owes the money.



Of interest, however, is that mids who fail academically after their first 2 years are not forced to repay the money (at least I’ve never heard of this occurring – someone correct me if I’m wrong). IMO, failure is failure. The implicit message in this case is that physical failure is somehow your “fault” but academic failure happens despite your best efforts. That’s not necessarily the case. (I’ll grant you that obesity contributing to PT failure is the fault of the mid; however, my understanding is that this particular mid did not have a weight problem.)



The Navy could have [and probably sh ould have] failed him immediately after failing the PRT.



IMO, they should take the same approach with PT failures as they do with academic failures – have a board that decides whether, on whole, the mid should be retained or kicked out. And, just as with academics, if the mid is retained, he/she should be put on a remedial program intended to help (not punish) the mid to be better prepared for the next go-round. Just as with academics, if there is not measurable improvement over the next 1-2 semesters, separation may be the only option. But, if someone is separated after 2 yrs for any reason of their own doing, there should one approach to repayment – i.e., either require it in every case or don’t require it at all.