Posted on 08/11/2006 5:00:38 AM PDT by colrpfournier
(AgapePress) - A conservative military watchdog says she intends to question West Point Military Academy officials about why a former cadet was given an award for a thesis objecting to the U.S. military's ban on homosexuals serving in the armed forces.
Second Lieutenant Alexander Raggio describes himself as the straightest guy imaginable; but in his senior thesis at West Point Academy, he argued that the military's policy banning homosexuals from service is not only wrong but harmful to America's armed services. For his controversial paper, the then-senior cadet received an award from the Academy's English Department.
This incident has led Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, to wonder what officials at the Academy were thinking. "I do intend to bring this to the attention of some of the people in the leadership roles at West Point," she says. "I think it ought to be questioned."
Donnelly says this is the first she has heard of Raggio's commendation from the English department, but news of the faculty's conferral of honor on a graduating cadet for his pro-homosexual thesis has given rise to some grave concerns. "Certainly," she asserts, "it does call into question the judgment of those who gave this award.”
Despite Raggio's personal beliefs, the Center's spokeswoman points out, the young officer is obligated to enforce U.S. military policy. "Congress says homosexuality is incompatible with military service -- that is the law," she notes. "So if, as an officer in the Army, this particular person was aware of homosexuality that was occurring within the unit that he commanded, he would be obligated to dismiss that person.”
Apparently, Donnelly says, when Raggio wrote his thesis, he was saying the ban on homosexuals serving in the military should be lifted. "That is a very unusual view," she asserts, "and he is certainly entitled to his opinion." However, the military readiness expert observes, studies have clearly shown that homosexuality and military service are not a good mix.
Raggio is entitled to his First Amendment rights of free speech and expression, Donnelly says. "However," she adds, "I question the judgment of the leadership at West Point, who would recognize such an essay and give it an award that can be used for a purpose contrary to military policy.”
Second-Lieutenant Raggio has said he plans to pursue a 20-year career in the military and believes there is no reason why homosexuals should not be allowed to serve. Although the West Point graduate is not the first in the armed services to voice opposition to the ban, his is believed to be the first instance in which military officials have acknowledged an objection to its long-established policy on homosexuals with an award.
Harmful?
Hardly.
Girly men don't belong in the trenches. Come to think of it, neither do girly girls.
That about sums up why it is being questioned. I would look into the one making the questionings personal life.
In previous eras, when debate on ANYTHING was stifled, we paid for it: Billy Mitchell arguing for land-based air; William Sims in the Navy trying to introduce new methods of aiming guns. What the services found was that debate and critical thinking were more important to producing officers than censoring any particular subject, so in the 1980s, "Proceedings" had a wide-open debate over the shooting of the Iranian airliner, and, later, about both women in the military and "gays" in the military.
It is our ability to create officers who THINK which gives us the advantage over all of our enemies, anytime, anywhere.
A "Twenty-year career"!? Most ambitious graduates of our military academies look forward to a career of 30+ years. The graduate is, to be charitable, a phoney.
Ignorant rant.
"...to create officers who THINK..."
It does not look like a case of thinking. It looks like a case of trendy political correctness by West Point faculty who wish they were at Columbia or Yale.
They might as well give an award to some snot-nosed cadet who writes about how America is the greatest threat to world peace.
He received an award from the English Department.
That means it was for a well-written, well-argued paper. I imagine someone else has gotten an award in the past for a paper on some novel or other. That's what English Departments do.
That said, homosexuality should continue to be banned among our troops because of morale, team unity, and the walking blood supply.
if this lt stays in look for problems in the future.A liberal? you betcha.
(Original publication: April 21, 2006) WEST POINT — The U.S. Military Academy at West Point was host last night to one of the world's foremost critics of American foreign policy. Noam Chomsky, the Institute Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spoke at the academy as part of its Distinguished Lecture Series.
It sounds like West Point is becoming to the U. S. Military Establishment as Notre Dame is to the Roman Catholic Church.
I find absolutely nothing with which I disagree in your last, well written sentence.
I'm glad you raised that point. I found it very ironic that the author, who is female, pointed out studies that show problems with homosexuals.
Women don't make very good soldiers. I've served with them for years, and they make excellent technicians, analysts, linguists, medics, etc. Anything skill based, they're as good as any man. But as far as soldiering goes, they're not as strong, fast, or aggressive as men. In fact, they're outright detrimental to have in a combat environment.
I personally don't care if the guy in the foxhole next to me is gay, so long as he's a good soldier. The only issues with integrating gay soldiers are psychological, not physical. For instance (and I've had this specific problem) if you've got 400lbs of gear to distribute among 4 soldiers, you can basically do a 100lb split between 4 males. You can't with 3 males and 1 female, or 2 males and 2 females. Once my load starts inching past the 130 mark, I start to lose appreciation for the women who, in many ways are nice to have around, are the cause of my increasingly sore back.
So, the author can look down on gay soldiers all she wants. As soldiers go, I'd pick them over her in a heartbeat.
Homosexuality is a progressive and welcomed disease of the mind and is contrary to anything that makes sense in our society.
By continuing homosexual behavior the mind becomes undependable and certainly unhinged.
If one thinks for a short while about what homosexuals have forced themselves to believe and about how they achieve orgasm in their love methods, it should make one stop and consider whether they should be in the military.
They are as opposite of heterosexual men as is possible.
Perhaps they could serve in a pansy division.
The female issue is a real problem with some maintenance units.
They permit females in those specialties, but when it gets down to it they can't do the lifting. One mechanic I know complains that when it's time to change a tire, they have to call on the guys to do the lifting. In short, a 5 man shop just became a four man shop.
When it's time to hold an alternator up with one hand and emplace it with another, the girl has to take the shop's jack to do it, while the guy holds with one hand and tightens with another.
What difference does it make?
Think.....what about when in the field without all the equipment?
Although gays in the military are harmful to morale etc. I would want to know what the requirements were for the essay. First, if the award was given for the English grammer etc than the award would be appropriate. If it was a philosophy class, I would not agree to this award. It would depend on the parameters that were given to the students. We give awards for fiction all the time so I don't see why this would not be considered a fictional piece of one's opinion. Plus it is a little late to be questioning something that will not be taken back at this point. The Soldier is now probably in Iraq fighting for the country and maybe his perspective has changed. I don't find it that bad for a person to believe something and after getting a dose of reality finding he was mistaken in his opinion. If fact, that could be a good thing.
I generally agree, but it misses the whole issue. The issue is not whether such groups "belong," but whether DEBATING it has a stimulative and creative-thought impact on officers. It does.
I've read this paragraph like three times and I'm still not sure where you're going with this.
If one thinks for a short while about what homosexuals have forced themselves to believe and about how they achieve orgasm in their love methods, it should make one stop and consider whether they should be in the military.
I've got two words for you: Thailand.
You follow a group of heterosexual sailors around that place for a while, and then come talk to me about deviant behavior. Fact of the matter is, many people in the U.S. military do things behind closed doors that would send church ladies into a tizzy. They're still great troops.
They are as opposite of heterosexual men as is possible.
I guess so. I can't really fathom why anyone would prefer men to women. Women included. Girls are soft and pretty, whereas guys are hairy, lumpy, and the source of a variety of unpleasant odors.
Perhaps they could serve in a pansy division.
They sure could. My point is, a pansy division would beat the pants off of an all girl division. (Not that they'd have any interest in doing so...)
You're right, X. This is true in pretty much any physical line of work. I've known some tough-as-nails girls in the military, but ultimately they're only going to be so strong. You can whip even a relatively, ahem, limp wristed guy into shape into a few months, to the point where he can lift more than pretty much any female.
That's really the point of this whole issue. Gays might be bad for military jobs that are physically oriented, but women are. Raising the point that gays should be used shouldn't be taboo on the grounds that it hurts the military, since clearly we're open to the idea.
Think.....what about when in the field without all the equipment?
When things come off in the field, that leads to an entirely different set of problems. ;-)
kerchief was crew chief until I hit the mouse wheel... I don't even have the excuse of having one too many beers.
"Pro-Homosexual Dissent".
Is it just me or is that an oxymoron?
Probably just me. I've never claimed to be the brightest light in the harbor. But, I am smarter than the brightest Democrat in Washington.
"But, I am smarter than the brightest Democrat in Washington."
Not difficult, all you need is at least two functioning neurons. ;)
Exceptions do not make the rule.
It is interesting to note that at most distances and most races, that a high school's #1 male runner in each event is as good as the world champion girls.
It's true that the world champions exist. At the same time, they exist in very low numbers.
The Law is that homosexual behavior is NOT compatible with
military service. Never met a velvetdoug who didn't allow
his/her/it's personal life interfere with its military
service--or the rights of normal people to be left untouched.
I think I understand what you mean by critical thinking, but Raggio's stance on homosexuals in the military is very questionable. For starters, there isn't a ban on homosexuals in the military. Don't ask, don't tell, isn't a ban. Secondly, no one should be allowed to become an officer when advocating that homosexuals be allowed to practice their homosexuality while serving in the military as the advocation is breaking the law.
I'm delighted that Elaine Donnelly is bringing this outrageous award to the attention of the leaders at West Point. As far as Lt. Raggio is concerned, if he were in my unit I'd avoid dropping the soap in the shower if he were anywhere around.
"Exceptions do not make the rule."
No, but they are exceptions. Anyone who can meet the standards should be allowed to do so. Anyone who cannot meet the standards should not be allowed OR required to do something they cannot do. Rules that are overly restrictive are useless. Reasonably restrictive is another thing.
The two ladies I mentioned that were able to do the work were VERY good at it. My ex was not. I also worked with some guys who could not do the work. I don't mean would not, although there were some of those, too, but COULD NOT do the work. It makes no sense to forbid those who can, and require those who can't.
The problem is when a recruiter has prospect X in the seat and wants to sell a contract to keep his/her numbers up.
They need at that point an ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY REAL TEST that WITHOUT FAIL tells them that this prospect can do this job.
Without that, and there is no such test, recruiting is correct to discriminate against individuals in favor of group statistics.
I hope you realize that the stereotype of "girly men" is false. Same thing goes for "girly girls." I find it disgusting that people like this are in the United States, the land of the free. What happened to equality?
And honestly, the military will suffer, seeing the rising numbers of people coming out of the closet.
There may be a backhanded logic here. Military personnel are frequently called before civilian boards and are essentially under order to prevaricate, that is, lie. Call it forced deception, because the civilian board does not question them in good faith, but in the effort to condemn or humiliate the military.
Why tell the truth to those that despise you, who ask you loaded questions and later distort what you said for their political gain? This is why military people testifying often sound like Gen Alexander Haig, renowned for giving hours-long testimony and not saying *anything*.
Well, the Pentagon, and West Point, know that there is a sizeable pro-homosexual lobby on Capitol Hill, who would love nothing better than to force the military to say that homosexuals are just peachy-keen. And someday, god forbid, they might get into power again.
So, when that time comes, the Pentagon can present this paper to show how not everybody in the military is a "homophobe", and so you don't have to fire our entire Command and General Staff and replace them with political appointees, Madam President Clinton.
Ok, I might agree on the level/location of the debate.
Regardless of the specifics of this case, the bottom line is that it is our FREEDOM, including (to a certain degree in the military) freedom of expression that constantly refines and improves us. It is the CENTRAL reason our military is better than others, and certainly far better than our fascist enemies, who brook no discussion of anything.
Most interesting comments.
I believe you mean that it's disgusting that homosexuals are in the United States.
Eventually he'll resign his commision and join the ranks of the lawyers who have made such a difference in America.
I honestly believe that this "cadet" had a mission.
My sincere appologies- I did misread your handle.
We must disagree concerning the "she" I am familliar with
Elain Donnelly -Center For Military Readiness. She may not
be a vet.. but her organization has done much good. She opposed Barney Frank's meddling with our military. And she
opposed 'women in combat" and the lowering of standards to
accomodate them in combat situations.
The award was for the essay, not what it argued. While I don't agree with the thesis of the paper, we are talking about academic freedom and freedom of speech here. BTW, I am a grad of USMA, and I remember being a bit rebellious my firstie year. Cut the kid some slack for being young and free-thinking.
Cadets are exposed to the outside world. Hell, when I was a senior at the Academy in 1972, we had newly minted Congressman Ron Dellums speak to our Political Science class. That Bolshevik called for ARMED REVOLT AGAINST THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT! Its good to understand your enemies.
Of course.
He's on the wrong campus and it's not his fault. Probably thought he was trodding the halls of old Harvard, or the University of Michigan perhaps.
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