Does the Academy Make Good Leaders?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Naval Academy - Annapolis
1

<p>I came upon this document this morning, which had been stowed away in a shoebox since my youngster year (shows you how much I actually looked at this). I think it is good for all classes to see this. I cannot remember how I got this document or how it was distributed, but I retyped it. This is a good gut check.</p>

<p>==============================================</p>

<p>“Does the Academy Make Good Leaders?”</p>

<p>USNA provides excellent tools, opportunities, examples (good and bad), classroom training, real-life experiences, and an environment in which to experiment, practice, and develop your leadership style and skills. BUT…the responsibility rests on the individual. We can’t build a factory that churns out good leaders; we can only build a greenhouse and try to make the conditions right for leadership to develop. That being said…</p>

<p>• Will you skate through plebe year, trying to “get by” while doing the least amount possible, seeking constantly to exploit the loopholes in the system and see how much you can get away with? Will you complain about how ridiculous the requirements are and constantly bemoan the fact that you had “more responsibility and freedom as a freshman in high school?” OR…will you put forth your best effort (even in the silly “Mickey Mouse” games), knowing that you are building habits of discipline and perseverance and a character that can bear up under long and grinding strain? Will you take the time to think about and reflect on the important followership lessons you are learning, and will you capture the good and bad examples of leadership that you observe on a daily basis?</p>

<p>• Will you return for Youngster year with no greater purpose than “I’m glad I’m done with that plebe stuff and now can do whatever I want?” Will you sink into apathy and low standards that will shock and jade the incoming plebe class? Will you perpetuate the cycle? OR…will you tackle the job of mentoring, making the most of what will probably be the only time in your career that you’ll be responsible for only one other person? Will you counsel and motivate and inspect and use your one year of experience to help one plebe start out on the right foot?</p>

<p>• Will 2/C year find you cynical and entrenched in the attitude that “I’ve seen it all, and no one can teach me anything?” Will you condemn anyone who takes an active role in plebe training, labeling them a “tool” or “joe,” and will you sink into the vicious cycle of just trying to “game” the system? OR…will you fully grasp the sense of awesome responsibility as you set out on your first experience in training subordinates? Will you use the full range of leadership styles and tools, knowing that this is both an excellent opportunity to develop your own leadership while modeling and setting an example for your Youngster and plebe?</p>

<p>• And will you “drop the pack” early Firstie year, developing a bad case of “September Senioritis,” wanting nothing more than to head out on liberty every chance possible? Will you distance yourself from the “Academy stuff,” leaving the training and development of your squad, platoon, or company up to the 2/C? OR…will you seize upon this last chance to hone your leadership skills before commissioning, knowing that there are forty plebes in your company who look up to you as some kind of seasoned professional, the epitome of what a midshipman should be, an “almost-officer” who’s every move should be imitated?</p>

<p>What’s you call?</p>

2

<p>jadler,</p>

<p>Thank you for taking the time to retype and post this thought-provoking article.</p>

<p>My son is a "plebe no more," and is getting ready to go out on his second block training cruise. </p>

<p>I have to admit: I was (very pleasantly) surprised at how well his plebe year went. I always had the idea that successful mids had to be, well, 99.99% perfect. A 4.0 high school GPA, many school leadership positions, Eagle Scout, varsity captain of sports. Valedictorian. </p>

<p>My son, while a decent student, was about "89% perfect" - a 3.7 GPA, long-term involvement in school activities, many sports and a few letters - kind of a B+/A- guy. I must admit, I was a little worried about him getting "blown out of the water" by the 99.99%-ers.</p>

<p>I think that this first year at USNA has surprised everyone, including him, and he's really learned to work hard and has exceeded his expectations. </p>

<p>He has some pretty serious goals for the next three years at USNA, and it's been incredibly gratifying to watch how much the Academy has given him the tools to achieve the goals he's set for himself.</p>

<p>Each year, on his birthday, he conducts a self-inventory and writes down his 1-year, 5-year, 10-year and lifetime goals for himself. It's something that our family does as a tradition, and I think that USNA has helped him clarify his thinking when he does this kind of self-examination.</p>

<p>Next year, he'll be a training corporal for the plebes. I know that this is some sort of leadership/liaison position for the 3/C, but can you tell me more about it?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance,</p>

<p>2011Mom</p>

3

<p>I must say, this is very powerful. I am definitely going to have to print this off so that my parents can mail it to me during the summer, to remind myself of why I chose Navy.</p>

4

<p>I agree, thank you very much for sharing that!</p>

<p>I'll also make sure to have this on my little board during my plebe year for motivation.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

5

<p>2011USNAMom, I was a training corporal this year and I'll give you some insight about it. </p>

<p>Sounds like your son is just the kind of guy I was in approaching how I am while at the Academy.</p>

<p>In high school I was about a 90% guy in academics and the SAT's weren't outstanding and my confidence wasn't truely there, but a plebe year full of hardship and lessons taught me the significance of our profession.</p>

<p>One thing I've always had was grit and determination. After plebe year, I had B's and C's in peformance and my QPR was around a 2.3. I had the image of one of those carefree plebes who just wanted to slide by, but inside, I knew that I could be a really good officer, I just had to show that I was committed. Taking on a leadership role as a 3/c was the first thing that I knew I had to do to prove to everyone, including myself that I belonged here.</p>

<p>First semester I was adjutant corporal in charge of managing watches. It was a job no one volunteers for, but someone's got to do it. Two of the "A in aptitude" plebes from the previous year took on the training corporal position. I knew that during the 2nd semester, that is what I wanted to do. I was selected for the position 2nd semester and I really got something out of it.</p>

<p>The training corporal has a very tough job in my opinion, and I'm not just saying that because I did it. The 3/c training corporal is often given tasks and responsibilities by the 2/c and 1/c members of the training staff in terms of memos, paperwork, etc. that might have to to come in conflict with studying. Many 3/c training corporals have the responsibility of preparing the plebes for their pro-knowledge quizzes (not just your assigned plebe, but all of them) and making sure that they do well. The training corporal should be that youngster who is nearly at every SMT and adds credibility to the training system set out by the rest of the company. The training corporal should offer insights about the performance of his/her own classmates as well as the plebes. The training corporal should be the example midshipman in the company in terms of professionalism and responsibility and to show the plebes that yes, even the youngsters are onboard with what the company is trying to accomplish. It is really what your son wants to take on. The more responsibility you ask for, the more that is given, and the more you get out of it. It really helped me mold my outlook on training and development of officers for the Academy and the future. It has been the most rewarding thing I've done so far here at the Academy.</p>

<p>What I was so suprised about were my rankings after I had the job. Your son should do well militarily in aptitude if he has this job unless he completely undermines the system. His main job will be to set the example of what a 3/c should be and to get the plebes to buy into the system that is going on with the training and to be there for them whenever problems arise.</p>

<p>In the end it's really not about continuing the hardship of the plebes during the Ac-Year through "hardcore training" it is about developing everyone you come in contact with to help them become better officers.</p>

6

<p>Training cpl depends on the training officer and the training sgts. I ensured that my training officer for my Battalion used the training cpls a lot in the planning and execution of training evolutions. My approach was that these 3/c were the future, and they would need to know how to properly plan, organize and execute the training, especially on saturday morning. Once again it depends on the training staff that your midshipman is working for. As for my training staff I can honestly say that the cpls did as much if not more work than my training officer and sgt. We were able to execute battalion wide training evolutions and this could not have been done without their help.</p>

7

<p>great insight on that position! i had not idea that job even existed, but then again i haven't been indoctrinated yet either. thanks for all the advice about such tasks.</p>

8

<p>GoNavyXC and Navy07,</p>

<p>Thank you both for explaining what, exactly, a training corporal is/does.</p>

<p>My son did OK acadmically this year (a 2.7 GPA first semester of plebe year, squeaked onto the Dant's List with a 3.0 second semester) in an engineering major. His military perfomance evaluations were always much higher than his academics.</p>

<p>He is really, really serious about the mission and core principles of the USNA. Not in a "Joe Mid", overzealous, loud kind of way - more of a quiet determination. He wants to have a career in Naval or Marine aviation, and to stay in 20+ years. </p>

<p>I really have seen a tremendous change in my son the last 12 months. I think that he has taken the lessons of the Naval Academy to heart, and the leadership options available to him are limitless. </p>

<p>One more set of quick questions: how many training corporals are there in a company, and how are they selected? And, finally, do they serve in this capacity for the whole 3/C year? (sorry to ask so many questions, but my son is out at sea now on his training cruise - and so you guys are the recipient of "Mom's 1,000 Questions" :) )</p>

9

<p>I'm wondering how each plebe has 1 youngster and these youngster each have 1 plebe, but not all youngsters are training corporals? The math doesn't really add up, it seems there wouldn't be enough youngsters.</p>

10

<p>I'm going to try and take that first post to heart. Going with the title of the post, at least the way I understand it, is that USNA will not make a good leader, its the amount of effort towards leadership that each midshipman puts in that makes the difference.</p>

11

<p>Well 2011USNAMom and Jaybee9590,</p>

<p>The training corporal is not just your regular youngster. In response to Jaybee's concern, the training corporal is selected by the training staff to aid in training of the entire company. They know the insides of the daily plans and evolutions pertaining to training in the company. Not all youngsters have this responsibility. In most companies, there are one or two training corporals. Yes, mentorship is the responsibility of ALL youngsters, but the training corporals have more say in the actual TRAINING not only for the plebes, but for the entire company.</p>

<p>The selection process for training positions in the company is often tough, depending on the company. You'll typically see 8-10 youngsters go out for training corporal while only 1 or 2 are selected by the training staff. It's a pretty sought after position if you're a 3/c because of the limited opportunities you'll get as a 3/c to actually lead and because it looks good on your record. You have the job for one semester and then they are changed out with other 3/c to give them a chance at it.</p>

12

<p>I have saw many people at the academy "skate" through. Am I confident that in the fleet they will be good officers? Some of them. Yes you can skate through and make a good officer but I would not recommend it. If you have an environment where you can test your leadership skills and no catastrophic consequences then it is a golden opportunity. It is much better to get the trial at the academy because within a month of graduation you could be deploying. Many of my classmates that went SWO are deployed and have been for a couple months. Those of us that went Marine ground will likely all deploy before the end of the year. That is not the place you want to test out your leadership theories, and without trial theories are all they are.</p>

13

<p>Thanks XC. One more question, what are the responsibilities of the regular youngsters in regard to plebes.</p>

14

<p>It is important to realize that you can learn the basics of leadership at the Academy. The key to success in the Fleet is understanding what you have learned. For example, as a Plebe you learned what it is like to be at the bottom of the Chain of Command. Remembering your experiences, likes and dislikes, will help you start to establish a basis for how you treat the personnel assigned to you, who like a Plebe are near the bottom of the chain. As a Plebe you learned to work as a team with the rest of your classmates and you took asdvantage of your team membes various strengths and experience. Many look toward the "priors" for advice. Remembering this will help you when you hit the Fleet. The Chifes and senior enlisted have much more knowledge and experience than the new grad, so remember to utilize them, and most important: LISTEN TO THEM. Yes, USNA does help to make good leaders. But, success as a leader at USNA will not ensure success as a leader in the fleet. There are many officers that did not "shine" or have the opportunities to be in a leadership position at USNA that have been major successes in the Fleet.</p>

15

<p>Hmmm I'm keeping a copy of that. It's a good reminder for each year. =)</p>