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<p>Which portion of this statement concerns you? Since I was on the very beginning edge of majors and, to the best of my knowledge, tenured professors, I never felt that academically I was not encouraged to think critically. My only self doubt is that perhaps my feelings that the necessity of a scientific degree is not for the technical knowledge gained but for the gained ability to think in a logical manner and to extrapolate the pertinent from the extraneous.</p>
<p>Except for a few prejudicial adjectives, I also find nothing wrong with “steadfast principle, stubborn conviction and a cocky, fighting spirit.” It’s not necessarily cocky if one can back it up. Do we not want principled officers with conviction who know their limits and are willing to push them to the edge?</p>
<p>I think hazing has been given a bad rap because no one can define it. My Plebe summer and year was VERY physical. It was personal. One HAD to accept the fact that they were subservient. Beyond that, We were all male. It was a macho thing to succeed, a competition, a burning goal not to let the ba$tards get you down. Arm wrestling in class til ones arms fall off is a perfectly acceptable macho thing for an 18 year old to do. Why is holding a rifle until ones arms fall off so different? Is it because they are being told to do it? If so, what is wrong with a plebe being told to do something?</p>
<p>Hazing did happen. We were not the homogenized society then that we are today. Schools were not as standardized. The Admissions Office was not so sophisticated. I can honestly say that I had no clue what it was all about. I had never talked to anyone who had attended a SA. I didn’t even know anyone who knew anyone who went to a SA. I survived. But not to digress. Midshipmen did show up who were in no way, shape, or form cut out to be Naval officers. They were run out. The few who managed to survive won the begrudging respect of their tormentors. Upper class had a lot more authority then. Was it correct in allowing upperclass to determine the lifetime fate of an individual? It was the only system we had and it worked. And the Company Officers were aware and did endorse it. I was actually told by my Company Officer that, for a certain individual, my comearounds were not sufficiently intense.</p>
<p>I see nothing wrong with the results of the Academy of the mid 20th century and would certainly hope that refined procedures are in place to ensure the same results.</p>