Connaughton to be Commissioner of Federal Maritime Commission

Colleges and Universities A-Z Merchant Marine Academy - Kings Point
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<p>From the press release:</p>

<p>The President intends to nominate Sean T. Connaughton, of Virginia, to be Commissioner of the Federal Maritime Commission and upon appointment designate Chairman, for the remainder of a five-year term expiring 06/30/12. Mr. Connaughton currently serves as Administrator of the Maritime Administration at the Department of Transportation. Prior to this, he served as Counsel at Troutman Sanders LLP and Chairman of the Prince William (VA) Board of County Supervisors. Earlier in his career, he served in the United States Coast Guard. Mr. Connaughton received his bachelor's degree from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, his master's degree from Georgetown University and his JD from George Mason University. </p>

<p>Read full article here:</p>

<p>Personnel</a> Announcement</p>

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<p>How does this appointment impact KP?</p>

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<p>A KP grad in the top spot !! Maybe AC for O'hara hall .</p>

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<p>What has he done for KP in his earlier position - nothing.</p>

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<p>Actually he f'ed a lot of peoples plans up by making it a requirement that when you graduate you either A sail or B go active duty...in other words...there goes all of our choices...way to go</p>

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<p>I thought you either A) sailed or B) go active duty. Only if no sailing jobs you go shoreside. If you can sail,then sail. Isn't that what the obligation states? How can that ruin your plans?</p>

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<p>Because now waivers are now slim to none. Basically no one is going shore side.</p>

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<p>I thought the sailing was the goal . Isn't that the mission of the academy. The more sailing jobs there are is good for KP. The ashore jobs are only meant for a fall back position right.</p>

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<p>Page 25 of the 2005-2006 course catalog clearly states " If a determination has been made that no afloat positions are available for you , you may serve ashore in a U.S. maritime related industry." From that I would infer that is sea positions are available, you are expected to sail. The catalog goes on to say that all shore assignments must be approved by the Administrator.</p>

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<p>Yes, the catalog states what is stated above; however, one must consider what words were actually used to recruit students to the Academy as well as the employment opportunities prior to Connaughton becoming the Administrator.</p>

<p>The usual line used by the recruiting office and most recruiters for the school is that you could work by sailing or in a maritime position ashore. There was usually no mention of the need for waivers or the recent changes that practically no waivers are given. Now this pitch may have changed from the home office, but I have not heard the recent pitch so I don't know.</p>

<p>The other problem is that up until only a couple of years ago there was no "waiver application" submitted to take a shoreside job. If you didn't want to sail you simply took a shoreside job. It was as simple as that. Now that has drastically changed. Whether this is for the longtime good of the Academy or not remains to be seen; however, it has caused much consternation amongst midshipmen and many alumni.</p>

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<p>Usually, this sort of revelation is first announced to the tender ears and the bewildered looks of fresh-faced recruits, having just gotten off the bus, and standing in yellow footprints...by a Drill Instructor , who admonishes those newly-awakened about his opinion fo teh lineage of the recruiting officer(s), and ALL pre-sales personnel.</p>

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<p>As the parent of a plebe I don't remember the word "waiver" ever coming up in the sales pitches (we attended several), only that there was an obligation to work in the industry. We did learn of waivers or lack thereof from reading these pages. But has anyone heard of an idea of turning KP into a more military academy i.e. with it's own branch of service after graduation similar to WP and CG, more attuned to homeland security? If so, had this idea been floated before but shot down or just mothballed?</p>

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<p>I remember when i was a plebe we were told we could work in the maritime industry and they went on a list of places that past graduates went on to work. A lot of them in fact to me it seemed like most of them were shore side. Then as years went on about the time 07 graduated we were shocked to hear there were practically no waivers being granted then 08 got even less. In my mind it wasn't a sail only deal, or atleast thats what i believed...i might have been ignorant being as i was a plebe.</p>

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<p>Waivers are noise in the grand scheme of things. A very fine and honorable leader, Admiral Stewart has been forced out, the budget is in disarray and the direction of the institution is in doubt. Connaughton was directly responsible for guiding KP from Washington. He has truly failed the Academy -his alma matter. </p>

<p>To paraphrase the CIC, "way to go Connie"</p>

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<p>Personally, to me, KP should steer more AWAY from the military identity and focus more on its maritime mission. I don't want to see this place become a quasi, "multi-service" academy where anything goes. Yes, I understand the options that we have to go into other services and I completely respect the fact that we can do that (and, yes, I think it's good for promotion purposes) but I swear I can go all week without seeing one sense of maritime heritage being displayed on campus or expressed by the leadership, but at the same time feel that every day I am being overshadowed by the Marine Corps or Army. It's nuts - certainly not exactly what I expected. I came here to sail and have learned so much about the technical aspect of running a ship and have had classes with some great professors, but the regimental system has failed me (as a first classman, I've given up on it - there's too much hypocracy). I pray to god that our next superintendant is a graduate, or at least someone that actually sailed on a license on a commercial vessel.</p>

<p>I understand the need for the regimental system, but there was also one in place here long ago when the school was first starting out and establishing its place in the world. I (and I suspect all of the mids) want us to have our own identity - one that is not overshadowed by any other service (since they have their own academies, anyways). KP is the MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY, not the U.S. Merchant Army Navy's Marine Corps Air Force Wing Guardian of the Coast Academy. (sidenote: the majority of the regiment feels this way too - it's always a huge joke we make, yet it has so much truth behind it)</p>

<p>Mariners ARE in huge demand right now. We tout ourselves as being the leaders of the industry. We should continue that as best we can, but KP needs to be careful about how it markets itself and controls its identity. In my opinion, it's a maritime school first, and a military academy second.</p>

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<p>The next superintedent is not a graduate. It's some woman who was a 3 star admiral in charge of some transportation command or something like that. </p>

<p>I definitely agree with what you have to say about being a school and not another officer source. i could care less for the regiment; i put my effort into academics. its ironic to see that so many setbacks are regcocks. call me a ****bag or whatever, but when it comes down to it, id rather have the kid with the good grades navigating the ship rather than some tool with an always perfect uniform who barely passes and/or repeats class on the bridge.</p>

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<p>The problem with the regimental system is that it's broken. The most qualified people are shot down for the positions and those who have screwed up are given more authority and responsibility. The RC, my CC and my CX are all setbacks. None are part of that original group that first stepped foot in O'Hara Hall on July 7, 2005. I don't know them, they don't know me and up until a few weeks ago, the CC and CX didn't know our company (and yes, depsite what anyone says, each company does have a different "feel" to it). One of those people (I won't say who) was setback for a very bad disciplinary problem, yet he is rewarded with power?? </p>

<p>Regardless of whether or not all of that is fair, the image that is projected down on the rest of us who have worked hard and stayed out of trouble is one of hypocracy and inconsistancy. During the officer interviews last year, we were stressed to "freely speak our minds", yet I know personally of at least three mids who were kicked out of the office mid-interview and scorned by the CO (one in particular, who I shouldn't have to clarify on) because they stuck to their principles and didn't want to become a tool for the CO's vision of how the company is to be run (which is proper, since we're told that WE run the regiment, to a certain extent). I myself got a 72 out of 100. Besides, CO's have very specific duties - it does not include "running" the company. They are simply the first commissioned officer in your chain of command and obviously have to uphold some standards, but not to the extent that some of them do. No wonder that so many mids despise the regimental system - it's not respectable right now. </p>

<p>That being said, I, like USMMA2009, have decided to hang low, do my thing, make my rack in the morning and show up for musters, but that is about it. I can't get anything more out of the regimental system here. I am focusing purely on academics, building up as many credentials as I can, taking electives and spending good time with my friends before graduation. I really recommend that to all classes too. Don't get into trouble regimentally, but don't get so caught up that you fall behind academically. Remember what the ultimate goal is here. The taxpayers want a skilled mariner and a leader, not someone who is an expert at rifle movements, shoe-shining and knows all 11 general orders. </p>

<p>Years from now, nobody will care if you were the RC or a PC or the ROPS or whatever. I have met some grads from KP who were super smart and nice, but spent a considerable amount of time at KP on restriction (minor stuff) and were zombos the whole way through senior year. They turned out pretty well. At this point, I'm not really conerned about the lessons that will stick with me from the regiment when I graduate (other than the numerous ways of NOT being a leader).</p>

<p>How long it has been like this here, I don't know. I still think the best M/N officers I ever had was the first rotation of 2006, my plebe year. Maybe it's because they were the first ones I saw, or maybe it's because they really did set the bar high. I don't know if it truly has gone downhill here, or if is just typical of a first-class year realization. Hopefully, the classes behind mine can pick things up.</p>

<p>Sorry for the off-topic rant. . . .</p>

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<p>Kudo's KPMid09---very well said. Thank you for sharing.</p>

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<p>Seems to me that you failed to read your contract when signing up for KP. It clearly states the requirements to 1.) Sail or Active Duty, 2.) Maintain USCG license and 3.) Serve in the Reserves.</p>

<p>The reason there has been a crackdown is because Congress found out they were paying almost $200,000 per graduate to have a significant amount (by no means a majority) not fulfill one or multiple parts of their obligation.</p>

<p>Say all you want about recruiters or what you "heard", but its an adult decision to attend USMMA and sign the enlistment contract. If you failed to understand the implications of that choice that is your fault.</p>

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<p>The problem is not that people failed to read the contract, the problem is that the contract allows for people to work shoreside with a waiver.</p>

<p>What people are complaining about is that prior to 2007, waivers were almost guaranteed, now they are difficult to get.</p>

<p>As for maritime jobs being needed, it must be noted that by this it is brown-water maritime jobs in the US that are in such high demand (which most people do not want to do, blue-water is preferred). All of the blue-water jobs that are "opening up" are overseas, and, according to our contract, we can't work for an overseas company for the next 6 years.</p>

<p>Although, after saying all of that, I do find it somewhat ironic that everyone is complaining about how the Academy is becoming too military and how we are getting a maritime education in navigation or engineering so we can work in the merchant marine, but at the same time complaining about how they cannot work shoreside and have to sail and use those navigation and engineering skills practically.</p>