<p>Eagle, ask the folks if they were there for Scootergate? You must have been there with Hummer, Cowboy, Klute and DDAY. We came there in 95</p>
<p>we left end of 93, so he wasn't there. he knows some of the ppl, but they had different positions when we were there</p>
<p>Possibly an odd question for a first post but if you qualify for the gold prop and wings can you choose to wear the silver instead?</p>
<p>Probably not a problem, but why? Potter (daughter) would probably try something like that to not stick out. She likes to be a stealth cadet. Most are proud to wear the gold.</p>
<p>honestly, its hard to tell unless your hat is lying on a table and you stare at it. and as far as being stealth, there's nothing to hide from since you're recognized</p>
<p>Trust me Eagle recognized or not she will still go for stealth. Always has, don't expect her to change now. They did a round robin in a training session the other day, asked a classmate where she was from...repsonse "Southern Ca I think". 4 of the six girls are from Nevada...just went down hill from there. She tried to bail him out, but it was to late.</p>
<p>i was just saying gold or silver doesn't really draw or repulse attention. no one really pays attention, so it doesn't really affect your "stealthness"</p>
<p>I agree that the color of the wings probably will make no difference.</p>
<p>That being said, I also believe that for a 4th dig you really would be best to try to go stealth! We have discussed this with DS, maybe it is b/c of the you tube video of what happened last year. I will not lie, Bullet and I laughed hysterically at the video, we felt for the kid, but even if you watch the military channel, you can easily see that 4th digs get nailed. Why on earth would you want to put a spotlight on yourself to say "look at me, here I am"? </p>
<p>In the end, every cadet is there for 2 reasons:
a. Best education for a potential officer
b. Best chance for a UPT slot</p>
<p>I will say, that Bullet is an ROTC grad, he has been DG out of LIFT and FTU, DG at SOS, ALO of the yr., went to CGSC, not ACSC, (for all ROTC people, only 1 was an acad grad out of 60 students). Always had a DP for every promotion board. </p>
<p>The acad allows you unlimited possibilities, it is what you actually accomplish afterwards that keeps the doors open.</p>
<p>I disagree, you can be a stellar 4 degree which means you aren't stealth, but it won't give you bad attention. This place is about challenging yourself and becoming a better person. I don't think being stealth comes close to meeting that.</p>
<p>Stealth cadets end the year with someone saying "C4C Who?" You don't get very much out of "just surviving." The good an the bad come with being visible. You will take more heat occasionally, but you will also be rewarded for success.</p>
<p>The ones who do the best are the ones who go 110% nearly all the time. Effort and persistance are things upperclassmen appreciate in 4 digs. </p>
<p>Last year, I was one of the outstanding 4 digs for Recognition in my squad. I was on recondo and had not passed a PFT at that time. I know that I broke a lot faster than some others, but I decided to keep going anyway. Apparently, some people noticed.</p>
<p>Potter is just naturally a quiet shy young lady. Tends to mean she is easily looked past in groups (her size doesn't always help either). Much more about the team then herself. Never one to bend rules much either. Being stealth doesn't always mean hiding sometimes it is your personality.</p>
<p>I guess it seems like an odd question but I think gold and silver as colours have meaning beyond just being colours, in almost any sport or cultural event or olympiad the guy or group of people who do best get gold and the people who do second best get silver, which is not a problem at all if those outcomes are entirely a result of thier own effort, the guy who gets silver can be just as proud if that is the result of the best effort he had to give.</p>
<p>But I guess I dont understand why that differentiation between gold (culturally understood to be best) and silver (culturally understood to be second) is made based on what your parents did. I would happily and proudly wear any badge or award if it was something I had earned but I dont think my fathers service should earn me something my classmates dont have. Maybe its silly and I take the point that you cant really tell the differnce but it just seems wrong to me.</p>
<p>Your P&W color is probably the only thing at the Academy that isn't based on your own efforts and merit. I believe the original intent was to allow Army Air Corps members the opportunity to pass their wings (which were gold) on to their sons, and later daughters too, of course. I think it's just a tradition/heritage thing; I don't really see anything wrong with it.</p>
<p>Emsa, I couldn't help but noting while reading your post that while gold may be "culturally superior" to silver, an officer with silver bars is senior to one with a gold bar. I find that and the reasons for it interesting.</p>
<p>^^^Hm yea I have to admit you have a point there :o) though if I was being very entrenched I could make the point that even if the significance of the colours was reversed the differentiation would be the same but I dont want to belabor the point I just found the concept a bit jarring and was curious that no one else seemed to. I also know I am projecting something about my relationship with my father.</p>
<p>For me, I am glad that I can be proud and show the pride of my grandfather's service in WWII. It's not that I'm better, but I can show the immense feelings of pride in him and that I am willing to follow that. I think if you were here it would make better sense, no one here feels superior to another based on the color of their P&W.</p>
<p>As a unrecognized 4-dig, whenever I look at an upperclassman's gold P&W, I think, "Cool, they've got some neat military history in their family." As a cadet wanting to receive a military history academic major, that's pretty interesting to me. :)</p>
<p>Although there are many other examples, it's kind of like how you might put one of those gold ribbon bumper stickers on your car to show that you have family serving in the military (although non-military families can have those stickers too). It's a symbol of heritage, which is not a bad thing to show. No one here (that I'm aware of) treats gold P&W as a symbol of superiority.</p>
<p>except for me. i am clearly superior to you all!!!</p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>(that's just a joke, as anyone here could tell you)</p>