How to deal with left wing sister undermining military carreer?

Question

This article is not about me . The author is not my sister. I realy do not understand why this person would write an article like this .

Why would a family member under mind her brother this way?
A student at Columbia is taking pot shots at her brothers decision to enroll at the Naval Academy.

http://www.columbiaspectator.com/node/26...

The Truth About the Academies
By Idris Leppla
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 7, 2007

The following is the first part of a four-part series. The author wishes to express that this article in no way reflects the feelings and thoughts of her brother. It is written from a family member’s perspective and is meant to be understood in that way.

know why I chose Columbia: the campus is magnificent, the education is top-tier, and my peers are intelligent. I could look at a stranger, tell him or her that I went to Columbia, and hear the predictable, “Wow, you must be smart.”

When my brother was getting ready to go to the Naval Academy, everyone ooohed and awed about how brave he was. Aunts and uncles would say, “John, you must be one of thousands of kids who wanted to go—you must be so smart!” When he appeared unsure about whether he wanted

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!” When he appeared unsure about whether he wanted to choose Navy or University of California, Berkeley, one uncle who works on Wall Street said, “John, businessmen love hiring people from the academies. You will be set for life.” With that kind of promised prestige, my brother found it tough to give up a spot at Navy. So in June, my family dropped him off in Annapolis.

Before he left, my family had countless talks about what it might mean to be at an academy. While we knew that someday he would be required to serve, we also were drawn to the top-tier education he was promised to receive. We were told that the Naval Academy was first and foremost an elite college. He would be able to learn history, economics, political science, and even engineering. He would play lacrosse on a nationally ranked team and play the bugle in the marching band. He would have seminars about leadership and selflessness. He would even go to school for free.


When I talked to my brother about why he wanted to go, he admitted that it was because he was drawn to the structure of the place—as a kid who did not want to sit around and drink beer during college, he liked the fact that he would be busy and have a purpose. I soon became comfortable with the idea of the academy, as if it would be a haven for my brother’s undergraduate career. And when people would congratulate me on my brother’s decision, it made me feel reassured.

Soon that pride turned to anger and fear: after my mom dropped him off at Annapolis, she came home with an acute sense of grief. The only thing she could talk about was how to get him out. In addition to missing his presence at home, she was scared by the extent to which her son had suddenly become the property of the U.S. Navy

She begged me to call a naval lieutenant Monday morning to start the out-processing forms for my brother. After leaving countless messages for the lieutenant, he finally called me back, at which point he informed me that my brother would have to go through 13 exit-interviews to be dismissed, including an interview with the head of the Navy. When I asked him whether this might intimidate him out of leaving, the lieutenant reminded me that my brother had signed an oath legally binding him to the Navy. When I reminded the lieutenant that he had signed that oath after he had been yelled at all day and that his hair had just been shaven off during his first day there, he comforted me that John was not at all forced to sign the oath.

When I looked at the course catalogue, which boasted seminars about leadership and selflessness, they were in fact seminars about weaponry and leading troops into combat. The reality of sending my brother to the Naval Academy began to set in: this was not a school; this was the military. While they boast a first class education, the main goal of this institution was to get my brother “combat ready.” During the first two “induction days,” the head of the Navy openly admitted that their goal was to transform these boys into men who would willingly die defending our country. They said to my parents, “We will manage to do in 18 minutes what you could not do in 18 years—we will discipline your boys and have them calling you Sir and Ma’am.” When they talked of courage and bravery, they showed a video of a Navy marine rounding off an unlimited supply of ammunition. During my brother’s plebe summer (his first summer), he could not talk to us for more than a few minutes

During my brother’s plebe summer (his first summer), he could not talk to us for more than a few minutes once a week for fear that we might unduly influence him.

My brother ended up liking Annapolis and he has decided to stay. While it has been difficult for me to accept that I have a brother in the military, I must allow him to pursue whatever path he is drawn toward, and he has admitted to me that he feels called to being there. However, for anyone else out there considering a career in the academy, let it be known: the U.S. Naval Academy is not an elite college; it is first and foremost a branch of the U.S. military and the prestige comes at a big price—it taxes parents, siblings, and participants if they do not understand what they were signing up for.

The author a Barnard College senior majoring in political science

Im all for freedom of speach but even Maria Schriver err Swartzenegger supported her husbands carreer.

Me i am in Colorado nowhere near the Academy .

Cantcu we all know that a seasoned NCO is the back bone of the military .

Cantcu we have the best NCO's in the world .NCO's demonstrate that every day .

The brother in this article is going for commisioned officer status and is ready and willing to give a committment .

When he graduates he will learn on the job from NCO's . That is the best academy -real life. However the sister seems to show contempt and even jealousy for her brother. That is the real discussion .

Lets say you had a sister who's car broke down at her vegitarian club . You show up to pick her up wearing your NRA cap and eating an Arbies roast beef sandwich . Thats the equivalent of what she did to her brother .

gugilmoo

its not my sister

i am not in the academy

I agree with everything else you said just make sure you know it is not me as the brother to the author

i am in colorado and much older than college age

Answer 1

Yep, it seems some answerers are missing your point. You're right - she did a greater injustice by him than any misconceptions the academy may or may not have fostered.
She sounds spoiled, needy, and ignorant in an all-knowing way (the worst kind of ignorance!). I immediately assumed she was lying as soon as I read the part about her mother begging her to get the brother out. What mother wouldn't take care of that herself, or enlist the help of one of the adult male family members who supposedly congratulated the brother's decision to join? And who calls ANYONE 13 times in one day over anything that isn't a life or death matter? Sounds like she should be majoring in fiction.

Answer 2

Your sister has no idea what the academies are about.

She has no idea of the quality of education you're going to receive..

And the management training you will receive over the next few years will so far above what is available at Columbia... or Harvard... or Stanford, she can't imagine.

But, what she's really missing is that while at best, she's doomed to only read books about history.... during your military, you're going to be writing that history.

Look at it this way. School only offers education. It offers neither intelligence nor wisdom. Berkeley is chock full of education. But hardly any of them are very bright. You're not "smart" because you get into some school or other. What makes you "smart" is what you do with the education.

Daniel Gallery was the CO of a base in Iceland during WWII. He said during the sports part of a newsreel, it showed the New York Yankees hitting a home run. The audience roared it's approval... except for one guy who apparently booed. The camp just about ripped him a new one. The next morning, the base paper came out with the headline... "WE'RE FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT TO BOO THE YANKEES."

The very right she abuses has been earned and paid for by guys like you. People like your sister... with all their education... really don't know a whole lot.

There will always be detractors. Many of them are such because they lack the courage, sense of duty and responsibility to do what you have chosen to do. By bashing you, it justifies their not doing it.

If you make a career of the military... one day, when you retire... at 45... she'll still be working 50-60 hours a week... it might be in one of those offices way up in one of those tall office buildings... And she'll be dreaming about doing the kinds of things you did in the Marines... if she ever has the time and the money.

You don't have to spend your entire life with anybody but yourself. You do what you think is right so you can live with you. The people who love you, will support you. Probably sometimes they'll not understand some of your decisions, but they'll support you anyway because they love you. The rest of them? Well, in a few million years it isn't going to make any difference anyway.

Welcome aboard...

Answer 3

What is the problem?

She shows concern for her brothers safety.

While those who go to the academies, they are not the only ones it affects!

She has a right to her opinion, just like she said her brother had a right to his!

She isn't the only person who thinks that way about the Academies. We know what the product is they turn out every year!

All I can say, I am sure many would like a sister like she is, though I do not think she should have tried to get him discharged from the Academy, I think she did it more for their mother!

I have no problem with what she is saying, nor do I find any of it non-factual!

I used to work part-time at an Acute Psychiatric facility and I met a West Point Graduate and a Psychiatrist as patients.

I have met many officers from West Point and I didn't particularly care for them in Vietnam! I would trust a 1st Sgt over any officer, though I was under a few good ones.

There are those who want to make a name for themselves and advance in their career! When they put others lives in danger that is a no-no, like a 1st Lt named Peter Dawkins, who graduated from the USMA, and was an all American football player at the point.

Well Lt Dawkins platoon got themselves in a mess with the NVA and was being over-ran. He called in artillery fire on his own troops position. Well, he was awarded a Silver Star and was going to be nominated for the Medal of Honor, that is until they found out Dawkins wasn't even there! He had the potential to be a 4 star general, but retired as a 1 star (Brigadaire) General!

So I was always wary of officers, and would not do anything a 2nd Lt told me while in Vietnam. That is how the Fraggings began after Tet!

She sounds like a good sister to me!

Answer 4

Have a star! Fascinating question. Not sure what the answer is but I reckon, since so few people are interested in politics paying attention to trivia instead, governments have been playing the "we're against mass immigration into this country" card to the people who don't want their country flooded with foreign labour whilst at the same time quietly playing the "we'll let in all the cheap labour you need" card to the multi-nationals they are trying to attract then allowing publicity on the "failures" of border agency staff to keep out illegal migrants. The whole "European model" is looking a bit dodgy. The far right are doing well electorially all over Europe yet the people voting far right are often people who have unrealistic ambitions regarding being paid a fortune to clean toilets in their own country instead of foreigners being paid a pittance to do the same. We are all supposed to believe the economic mess the EU and it's member countries have landed in is a mess no-one could foresee. I'm not sure if it's the major EU nations making smaller ones are dependent upon them. No different to a loan shark on a council estate making sure the little people depend on them for credit. Empire building by means other than war. On the other hand, with so many countries in a mess, it's an easy time for the opposition to demonise whoever was in power when the proverbial hit the fan and gain power. Let's see how many new governments make any difference.

Answer 5

The sister did NOT undermine her brother's career. Nobody cares what some midshipman's sister has to say, no matter what college newspaper she says it in. She has every right to express any and all opinions she has, that is what her brother has sworn, in part, to defend by swearng to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.

She is not the one who needs to be convinced of the mission of the Naval Academy, nor do her parents. The only person in that family who needs to be convinced already is and is a midshipman at the school.

My Mom cried when I left for Basic Training, and she still does not like the military, but has accepted my choice in life. This girl and her Mother will also come to accept their loved-one's choice to serve in the Navy in exchange for his education...which is top-notch and elite!

In the meantime, she is always free in America to express her opinion, no matter what it is.

Amen.

Answer 6

I don't believe she undermined her brother's career, but she certainly undermined her relationship with him.

It sounds like their mom just panicked when she dropped him off - like she had led herself to believe something entirely different than what she'd been told all along. I bet the brother had absolutely *nothing* to do with his mother's actions and was probably extremely embarassed that his sister was calling to get him out - if not harassed by everyone else.

What did they think it was? It's a military academy, its mission is to train men and women to serve as officers in the Navy. They don't spend thousands of dollars schooling, training, feeding, and clothing them to release them into the private sector after graduation - that's not what my tax dollars pay for!

They both have a right to be worried about him, but his rewards will be endless. It sounds like her brother knew exactly what he was getting into, but chose not to tell certain details to his family - probably because he was afraid they'd react just as they did.

I'm proud of him, even if they're not.

Answer 7

I UNDERSTAND AN CAN HAVE EMPATHY WITH YOU BUT AS YOU SAY IT IS YOUR BROTHERS CHOICE--FOR NOW IT SEEMS HARSH BUT WHAT IF HE IS OUT ON MANEUVERS FOR A MONTH AND CANNOT CALL HOME-I WAS AT RECONDO SCHOOL OUT IN THE BOON DOCKS WHEN MY DAD DIED AND WAS NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE. IF IN WAR HE WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO COME HOME IN MOST INSTANCES. I AM PROUD THAT HE WANTS TO DO THIS AND AS ALL HAVE SAID IF YOUR A RING KNOCKER SOCIETY MEMBER YOU WILL NOTCH YOUR CAREER FOR LIFE AND AFTER RETIREMENT AT 38 YOU WILL HAVE MORE LEADERSHIP SKILLS AND EDUCATION THEN MOST PEOPLE COULD EVER AFFORD TO HAVE--BIG SISTER-CUT THE STRINGS TO LITTLE BROTHER AND LET HIM GROW UP AS HE WANTS TO. (OH I ADMIRE YOUR COURAGE TO SPEAK OUT--BUT THE MILITARY TRAINS BY STRIPPING ALL YOU HAD AS A CIVILIAN TO NOTHING AND BUILDING YOU AS A THINKER AND A LEADER FOR THE MILITARY AS WELL AS A LEADER WHEN RETIRED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR IN SITE AS A CONCERNED SISTER I AM SURE YOUR BROTHER AND THE ACADEMY ADMIRE YOU AS I DO FOR YOUR UNBIASED AND OPEN PRESENTATION OF CANDOR.

Answer 8

What part of Naval Academy didn't her family understand? Clearly, her brother got the brains. I hope she shows more support for her brother when she's not dissing him behind his back. I bet she'd be all for it if he decided he wanted to be a woman.

Answer 9

All she's saying is that the military is not always quite as it is advertised. No surprise there, but not a bad thing always either. Did they mention if the brother wanted to leave even?

Answer 10

i think he did it to get away from her and the family it sounds like they suck more than the navy