I'm sure all of you (cadets, anyway) have seen the email floating around where the Maj from a fighter squadron slams a cadet for requesting an incentive ride.
Any thoughts on this? Was the Maj. in the right for responding as he did? Was the cadet in the wrong? Were both in the wrong? We both right?
What do you think?
Here's another way to approach the question: if you were the Maj what would you have said/done differently (if anything). Same question for the cadet. And if you were General Regni (say), what you do now (if anything)?
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12 comments:
I haven't seen the email myself but based on what I have heard and read, I think the Major was completley in the wrong. We as officers should be respectful in every thing we do, despite the rank difference, the Major could have easily responded nicely. It is hard as cadets (because our rank means so little to some) to get things done when dealing outside of the Academy. And the Major should have set an example to the cadet and the rest of his squadron by doing the right thing and responding courteously. The cadet should have used some form of chain of command better, maybe contacting some one lower then the Major if possible. If I was Gen Regni, I would have a talk with the Major and the cadet to discuss the situation, not reprimanding either side. Emails have the tendency to circulate outside the services especially when someone thinks they are funny, how will civilians see that, how are we suppose to be treated when we can't even show respect to our own kind. Despite rank, we are all putting down our lives for the sake of service, and more then anyone we should respect each other because of it.
While I think the email response was pretty funny, it was completely uncalled for. He certainly could have explained his position without being so condesending. As a cadet, I'll admit that I have little idea of how an operational flying squadron works. I doubt the three dig realized how rarely rides are given out, even to deserving maintaince personnel. Unfortunately, such a response only makes the situation worse. Cadets are going to be a lot less willing in the future to learn about the careers they're going into for fear of receiving an email like the major sent.
Before I start my rant, I should first clarify that I am in the squadron with this particular three degree, have talked to him about the situation, and have a little more information than has been circulated. Also, because of how I know the cadet, my opinion will probably be slightly biased.
First, the arguement that the cadet may have been bugging the scheduling office is completely inaccurate. The cadet had been working with a Lieutenant there who instructed the cadet to send him an e-mail with all the information in it that might be helpful in getting a flight. It was the Captain supervisor who was upset with the situation that forwarded the e-mail along from the Lt.'s e-mail account. On the grounds on inappropriate use of the chain of command, I remember being told as a four degree that the best way to get a flight was to coordinate with a base near our homes during a leave period to see if a flight was possible. This was to be done on our own. If it was possible, we would then follow specific instructions from the squadron, which normally included an approval letter from the AOC. That was not supposed to happen until after coordination with the flying squadron had occured. This cadet did nothing outside what many cadets here have also been instructed to do if they would like a ride, and took the incentive to ask for on in a professional way.
The only legitimate grievance the Major had about the nature of the e-mail was the misidentification of the Squadron Number. I can understand this can be slightly insulting if you have a lot of pride in your squadron. However, in his own reply, the Major cannot even get the cadets rank correct, referring to him as a third class and fourth class cadet several times. the rank was sitting right on the e-mail (unlike the squadron number) and the Major himself could not be professional enough to get that right.
As for the issue with wanting to give rides to maintenance personnel, the cadet never asked to be put on top of a priority list or anything of the sort. He simply asked about the possibility of a ride. Knowing the cadet, I'm 100% confident if he had been given a simple no because there were other people already waiting for rides that had priority, he would have understand and left it at that.
Finally, the derogatory and personal nature of the e-mail is absolutely wrong under any circumstances for many reasons. To insult the cadet's name the way the major does (insulting his use of IV, placing an "H" in front of the IV) is just plain wrong, regardless of who you are. There is absolutely no excuse for personal slander, especially in the military where we try to build esprit de corps. Also, vulgar language has no purpose in making the point, especially if this Major claims he was simply trying to counsel the cadet where he thought he was wrong.
However, my largest complaint is the way the Major shared the message with the rest of the squadron. This completely eliminates, in my opinion, any arguement he has that he was simply trying to correct the cadet for his mistake. He shared the e-mail as an attempt to show off to other members of his squadron. This type of activity does nothing but deepen cynicism here at USAFA, especially when discussing active duty members and flying communities of the "real" Air Force.
Based on the mission here at USAFA to not only educate and train, but to prepare cadtes to become officers, Gen. Regni should take action for this incident. One thing that is taught at the Academy is to take care of each other, our brothers and sisters in arms. This does not mean flying squadrons should bend over backwards to give cadets incentive rides, but should treat subordinates with a decent amount of respect. I can say for sure that our AOC is pursuing the issue, and my understanding is that Gen. Regni is as well.
By belittling the cadet, the major only made himself out to look like the one in the wrong. His attack seemed to be on the wrong maturity level that one would hope to see in someone of his rank. I don’t know the entire story, but its obvious the cadet shouldn’t have jumped his chain of command to ask for a ride, but then again, he is a cadet and thus in a training environment. He has only been in the military for a short amount of time in comparison to the major, so has some obvious leeway in making mistakes (such as jumping his chain of a command). That is the entire purpose of being an officer candidate, its training to be an officer. The major on the other hand should have things such as social tact and understanding down by now. That is below the minimum standard for what we expect out of even junior grade officers. All in all, I think that most people (and especially the cadet wing) stand behind the cadet on this email tirade, and that the major may have met a fault in his career that he won’t easily escape.
The major is in no way justified in his response to the cadet. sure, it may have been a little annoying for that 2nd lt so if anything they should have written a response (a much more professional one). However, i do believe that the cadet could have used a more appropriate way of asking for an incitive ride. there are all kinds of channels the cadet could have used to very easily have a ride approved. BUT this type of situation only makes the entire air force, from cadet to senior officer, look unprofessional. i hope the major and cadet have both learned a valuable lesson from this experience.
I think everyone has covered this really well (especially the cadet from the same squadron), however I'm going to have to disagree with pap.
I agree in that on face-value it does seem like the cadet is in the wrong, but his squadron-mate made it clear that he hadn't done much (if anything) wrong because the LT asked him for more info before moving forward.
My question is what's the Major's commissioning source? It would seem unlikely that he's from USAFA, but if he is then how could he not remember what it was like here? Regardless of his commissioning source, he seems to have an unreasonable expectation as to what cadets know about the real Air Force.
Cadets (except most priors and some brats and maybe a handful of others) are naive about how everything works out there (me included), but we are NOT idiots so none of us deserve to be treated that way. Heck, no one deserves to be treated like that. The Major was responding to an intelligent person, so he should have responded intelligently. If, for whatever reason, the Major was responding to someone who wasn't intelligent (not the cadet of course), then he should respond in a respectful manner in a way that person would understand it.
Now, is there a situation where that kind of response is warranted? Thinking about it more, I still stand by my statement that no one deserves that. 'What if' the cadet really was bugging the scheduling shop a whole lot in an unreasonable manner? So what? That doesn't matter. Take, for example, (then) C4C Walsh e-mailing General Jumper. Go to http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/airforce.asp for the details if you don't already know about it. General Jumper, the highest ranking Air Force commander, responded to a very outlandish e-mail from one of the lowest ranks in the Air Force in a very respectful manner. Our Major should have taken General Jumper's example.
Now who am I to say a lot of this? Do I have the right to tell a Major, someone who significantly outranks me, how to respond? I think I do. This doesn't have to do with chain of command or the military. This has to do with basic human respect. I'm a member of the human race, so is the Major, therefore I have the right to tell him he was out of line. That's my take on it. Does anyone have a comment on that last part?
I don't want to comment on the rumors flying around about the response from Lt Gen Regni and the Major's wing commander because I just don't know the facts. I will say, though, that I'm glad Lt Gen Regni did something about it and I'm satisfied with knowing just that and no more.
The major was in the wrong. He acted like the typical cocky, stupid fighter pilot that give them a bad name. He has been living in an environment that allows him to have a terrible attitude and to treat others with disrespect. The cadet followed the appropriate actions and was not at fault. I feel that the major acted without having enough information and didn't even bother to try and figure out the information before chewing out a cadet... because as everyone knows, cadets aren't quite real people yet. If it would have been someone of a higher rank then obviously the major would not have replied the way he did. It comes down to an issue of respect. The major is living in his own little world, thinking that fighter pilots are the only important people in the world and that he can do whatever he wants. The major was definitely in the wrong.
The major was wrong. Theres just two things id like to reiterate on this. The major mentioned that he wanted to "mentor" the cadet. I dont know about anyone else's definition of mentor, but belittling him seems to be the worng way to do it. That was obviously not his intention. In this way he was acting like a gradeschool bully trying to look good in front of his friends by cc-ing the entire airforce.
Though im not a general, i would think that he should show his distaste to the wing commander and let him deal with it.
Honestly i don't think that what the major was trying to get across to the cadet was necessarily wrong, but i do feel that how he went about conveying his message was completely over the top and unprofessional. I really doubt that the cadet (who happens to be in my squad) was aware of the list of people up for incentive rides and probably thought that there was no harm in trying. It is much like the way that some people at the Academy, especially the TIs that roam the Tzo, go about making corrections. Last year, one TI stopped me outside of the C-Store and grilled me, at attention no less, for wearing a running suit and skipping formation when all he had to do was politely ask me why. Little did he know that i had just had surgery a few days earlier and even had my form 18 in my pocket. But rather then ask me a few questions, he jumped to his own conclusion that i was a slacker skipping lunch. As for the major's email, all he had to do was ask if the cadet was aware of such information in a respectful manner and there would be no situation to talk about. Instead, like the TI, he made his own assumptions based off of very limited information and made himself look like an a**. But that all boils down to poor leadership development which is more of a BS 310 topic.
The major was in the wrong. I like to look at it as if the situation was a slightly different. If the kid requesting the ride's dad was a four star would the major have acted the same way? He would not have. If the kid's dad was a four star and the major knew about it, he would not have responded to the requests in that fashion.
i agree with what has been said already for the most part, but my initial reaction after reading the email was shock not only at the response, but the number of cadets who jumped on board with the major! that just gave me a sick feeling - that everyone jumps on the bandwagon without giving the issue some critical thought.
I believe that both were in the wrong in this situation. First of all, the Major clearly should have responded in a more courteous way and not lashed out at the cadet as he did. However, I also believe that the cadet should have used the proper chain of command and methods in his attempt to get a ride. I am not jumping on board with the major's response, but he was correct when he said that incentive rides are a privilege. I feel that it was a little forward of the cadet to send e-mails to request an incentive ride. He was very respectful and did not deserve the response that he was given, but he should have considered the fact that sending an e-mail like that to request a ride is not the way it works.
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