The affiliation program has been a very
rewarding experience for me, from R-Day to A-Day to the four sessions
facilitating PME2. With the first and second sessions in September and October,
the plebes were somewhat withdrawn, reticent, and intimidated. By the March
session, they had grown enormously in maturity and confidence, which was further
demonstrated in the May session. In addition, the cow facilitators had also
shown growth in the same areas.
For an old grad's look at the Corps, I find myself
pleased with some things, displeased with others, and ambivalent on even more.
I think we participants were all a little disappointed with the "legal
protections" built into the Honor Code. The book on the honor process is
voluminous, as opposed to the simple 'a cadet does not lie, cheat……….'
etc. Additionally, the cadets acrossx the three underclasses demonstrated an
uncertainty between honor and regulation, ie what they could and/or should not
"tolerate", ie, heading to Highland Falls for a few beers at midnight does not
require you to rat out your classmate unless he marks his card as "authorized
absence".
The other thing which I think would strike you is
that meals are not the thrice-daily tension convention that we experienced.
Although I'm told it's not uniform across all companies, certainly the area in
which I sat was very relaxed at lunchtime, even back in September. Uniforms are
very varied — you'll see many variations in the areas as you stand and watch
the cadets walk by.
I recently (June 27th) spent a few hours and lunch
with a member of 2013 who I have known for four years; he was consistent in
response to other comments from cadets similar to "it wasn't as hard as I
thought it would be". It may be a very subjective judgement, but that disturbs
me.
All in all, I look forward to continuing
participation in these sessions next academic year, and in other activities
related to our affiliation program.
