<p>Alright, back from the airfield, time for more thoughts.</p>
<p>First issue, the moving of the F-35. Yes, CS-18’s four degrees violated a direct order - there’s no question about that. This is a discipline issue and they should be punished. My problem is with the completely disproportionate response from Wing. You know, if you think people have gone too far and you want to temporarily suspend all spirit missions, fine. I can live with that. But you just don’t threaten UCMJ action for something as harmless as wearing a squid’s sweatshirt around. First of all, this threat of punishment is not anywhere near appropriate for the severity of the crime. 99.9% of regulations violations here will get you either tours, confinements, probation, etc. but this punishment stays here at the Academy. You are reprimanded for your action, you (hopefully) learn your lesson, and you move on. The only things that would get you a more serious punishment, one that would stay with you for the rest of your career or life, are rape, murder, DUI, and now spirit missions. Honestly, do they really even fit into the same category? CWV’s threat was to charge the disobeyal of a direct order, which carries a maximum sentence of dismissal and several years confinement, also known as jail. You’re going to send people to jail for having a little spirit during Navy Week? Now at this point, you’re probably saying “Well yes, Petko, this is a serious disciplinary infraction that needs to be corrected.” I agree and disagree to a certain extent. Let’s look at this from a legal standpoint. Aggravation: The four digs violated a direct order. Mitigation: No damage was done. No one was injured or put in an unsafe situation. It was back in place within an hour. It’s just a model, expensive as it may be. In the good old days, real aircraft were moved much further away on a seemingly weekly basis. It’s Navy Week, and some mischievousness should be expected. I guess my point is that I don’t believe it’s as big a deal as Wing is making it out to be. Punish 18’s four digs, sure, but leave it at that. Don’t threaten to ruin careers and lives in the name of spirit (which, by the way, can and should not happen. Disobeying an order from a cadet is not a UCMJ-able offense. No cadet has that authority, and I don’t believe that the order came from General Desjardins.). There are rumors floating around that all of 2nd Group may be restricted until Thanksgiving Break. This makes no sense to me at all. Why are you even contemplating restricting myself, my classmates, and my squadmates when we had no connection whatsoever with the guilty party or the crime itself? It’s irresponsible leadership, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Next point: The destruction of certain murals in 1st Group by some four degrees from 2nd Group. Believe it or not, this was an approved spirit mission. Glad to see that approval brings some sanity to this institution.</p>
<p>Third point: Respect for the current regime. C3C X, who we mentioned on the last page, was disrespectful to cadet leadership and should be punished, even though the e-mail was never sent to the Vice. (Rumor has it that he’ll be receiving an LOR from General Desjardins. Not sure how I feel about that yet.) His e-mail was over the top to a farcical extent, but was still inappropriate and should never have been written. Nonetheless, the sentiment among my class is almost universal now. Let me share the opinions and perspectives of an average three degree. There are only two possible types of Wing Commanders. There are those who genuinely want to help their fellows cadets, and there are those who are interested in wielding power. The first type earns our respect, while the second type demands it. My classmates and I were lucky enough to have two great Wing Commanders last year. Some of the restrictions they imposed may have been tough, but they were always fair and necessary. You see, the Wing Commander really only has one important function. He or she is our link between cadets and senior permanent party. A good Wing King, like the ones from '08 last year, is one who will go to General Desjardins and say “Ma’am, here is what the Cadet Wing wants and why we think we deserve it.” They were our representatives. They worked for us, and they earned our respect. We feel that we’ve essentially been told by the current administration that “you will respect us, or else.” Every time they impose new rules, which often seem unneeded and senseless, they earn less and less respect from the average cadet, and so they have to flex their muscles and make up more rules to remind us how powerful they are. The whole thing cycles downward and everything gets worse. I can honestly not think of a single positive thing that our current Wing Commander has done for us this year. My classmates and I feel as though senior cadet leadership cares solely about how permanent party feels rather than about our wellbeing. They keep us on a short leash, and permanent party gives them a pat on the back, which they eat right up. It feels like senior cadet leadership is asking General D, “ma’am, what would you like me to do to them next?” rather than fighting for the very few, generally reasonable things which we desire. Problems which have never been problems before are suddenly heinous violations of good order and discipline. We’ve now got stan/eval checking names at the gates, trying to catch people who aren’t signed out properly, others turning people away from Mitchell Hall for not having their proxy cards, and officers sniping cadets on the terrazzo from the 6th floor of Fairchild for things like unauthorized backpacks. You can’t go anywhere anymore without being under the microscope of '09. I feel safe in saying that morale would be greatly improved if they cared less about their MPAs and more about the effects of their actions on the Wing. The new SSS from the Wing Director of Stan/Eval isn’t helping their case. In the past, every position in the Wing has changed every semester. The only person who held a job for the entire year was the Wing Honor Chairman, which was needed for continuity in honor cases. Now, those currently in power are asking permanent party for permission to retain their positions and power for the entire year. They want to change the way that things have worked from the beginning just to retain control. Personally, this seems reminiscent of a dictator/president/head of state rewriting the Constitution so that they can retain their power for life. It’s unbelievable and unnerving, especially considering the current unhappiness with their performance.</p>
<p>Fourth point: General Olds is not an excuse. This is not a case of “Hey, he was a bad***, so let’s go break all the rules.” Instead, it was a cadet voicing his discontent, inappropriate as it may have been, and someone else realizing that this was something that Olds himself would have done. It’s not like 2011 is guilty of everything wrong that goes on here. We’ve got one guy who was disrespectful. That’s it. Don’t lump everyone together and spread the blame for all this onto my classmates and I.</p>
<p>And fifth point: Raimius is absolutely right, they banned everything.</p>
<p>I think I’m done. I just never thought I would see such a low level of morale and such a high level of cynicism here. The worst part is that it’s completely preventable. Put the blame on whoever you want, but at the end of the day, leadership must be held accountable for the issues that occur under their command. From my perspective, Wing Staff’s leadership style this semester has not been at all effective. I’d give them failing marks.</p>
<p>V/R,</p>
<p>Petko</p>