Boo hoo. Cry all you want. Plenty of other soldiers and their families have a lot more to cry about.
I hope the Army screws every last day of active duty out of him, and that he misses any chance he ever has to play pro ball. You took the money, young man, and you took a space that someone else, say someone else truly dedicated to the cause, could have taken.
PERMITS. A nation-wide drain on the military.
Permit (“PER-mitt”), noun: In VMI lingo, a cadet on an athletic team, for which a “permit” has been issued allowing him (her, too, I suppose) to escape the rigors of military duty such as parades, inspections, daily formations, sweat parties, guard duties, etc., for a specified period of time. Usually uttered as a pejorative. Notable exceptions do exist. And I see they have them at the service academies too.
wow, sir, and West Point produced THIS? Sad. The same academy that gave us Lee, Sherman, Patton, Eisenhower, and Schwartzkopf…
Sir,
As a Detroiter and unfortunately, a long suffering Lions fan, I’ve been following this since day one. The kid has said all along that if things didn’t work out, he would proudly serve out his commitment. He certainly didn’t choose West Point to get a shot at the NFL. The Army got him into this, telling everyone what a great statement it would make on the recruiting front. The Army made promises they couldn’t keep, not only to Campbell, but the Lions. Now, despite the fact that he was lied to, he is going to live up to his end of the contract. I have no doubt that he has the character to do that, or he wouldn’t have graduated from West Point in the first place. Now, if he fails to serve out his time and live up to the Army’s expectations of him, then fine, rip away. Until then, he’s just a young man trying to understand why they yanked the rug out from under him the day before training camp.
I agree with JV. It doesn’t sound like he’s bitching about staying in. He’s bitching about having his sweet orders pulled and getting stabbed with something less desirable (though assistant coach at West Point is hardly a bone job).
You show me someone who’s never complained about losing a hook-up and I’ll show you a damned liar.
JV – I have lived in SE Michigan for a little over 8 years now, and I still can’t believe all the support the Lions get. When I first got here, I was hopeful because I figured a VMI graduate like Bobby Ross (’59) could get them right. Well we all know how that ended. Then there’s Matt Millen…
As long as folks keep selling out Ford Field, there is no reason for the Lions to win.
This is one time I’ll have to disagree with you, LtCol P: I’m with DirtyBlueshirt. It sounds like the Army tried to use this kid as a recruiting tool, scoring publicity on his drafting, and then changed its mind and pulled the rug out from under him.
My brother in law in the Navy just had his promised posting yanked, and you should have heard him and my sister complaining – and I can’t blame them. Everyone in the military understands the needs of the forces trump then needs of the individual. But promises shouldn’t be made by the military that can’t be kept.
The time I spent off “permit” while at VMI was by far the easiest and cushiest of the whole 4 years. A whole semester of not having to do jack shit. It was incredible. After 4 years of spending every afternoon getting my brain bashed in (or bashing in someone else’s) a leisurely practice parade and 45 minute long “real” parade on a Friday afternoon before a weekend of no responsibility was like heaven. Spending a few hours a day during cadre week away from cadre (and again, bashing in brains twice or three times a day) was the only real benefit, and then it was certainly not because of the physical, but only the brief mental respite. 5 days of (miniscule) benefit, 4 years of busting our asses while the rest of the corps took afternoon naps. What a joke. How old are you?
Check out what 2LT Campbell said in this article:
When I got drafted, I told people that I was going to have the best of both worlds,” Campbell said. “I was going to be in the United States Army and I was going to have a chance to play professional football. Now, I have the best of one world and I’m very positive about that. It’s all going to work out.
“I’m in great shape and I’m going to stay in great shape. I’m going to fulfil my duty to the United States Army and do what I’ve got to do. One day, hopefully I’ll get another opportunty to play in the NFL.”
Sounds pretty gripped to me.
I have to agree with many of the other posters. The kid just got yanked around by the Army, but instead of being bitter or refusing duty like other cowards have, he nuts up and does his duty. As stated earlier, if he fails to do his duty, he should be held accountable. But, it sounds like he is living up to his obligation.
I’ve been following this story pretty closely. I don’t feel particularly badly for him, mostly because I think that allowing him in the draft in the first place was a terrible move by the Army and USMA, but at the same time, he hasn’t conducted himself in anything but an honorable manner (caveat: publicly, as far as we know)during the whole thing. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that he should be a coach at USMA, nor do I think that USMA should even exist (perhaps that is an issue for another day, but suffice to say that the burden on the taxpayer, IMO, FAR outweighs the benefit, particularly with the far lower cost of producing officers through VMI, The Citadel, and ROTC programs), but the venom showed toward him in this post is just plain mis-guided and misplaced.
I’ve got to agree with the majority of the commenters. Unless Lt Col P has some undisclosed knowledge regarding this issue he is way off base.
I think he was crying because he thought he was going to live out one of his dreams – to play professional football – and that dream was ripped from him by some army beaurocrat who didn’t have the balls to tell him no in the first place. I wager that the army told him he could play football in order to keep him motivated and playing hard for West Point. The pressure from West Point alumni who want a good team and the borrowed pride of having one of their own in the NFL probably also weighed in (I know the West Point culture from my work, it’s insidious and overlooks incompetence). If the army is stretched thin from duty in AF and IZ, why not send him straight to infantry school and the war? Why coach at WP? Why, because he will lend his skills to the next football season, that’s why. Yes, the army screwed him (the services screw people like this everyday with last minute orders changes, he just happens to have some press coverage) but LtCol P is not being too harsh. If he were a true professional, he would have not have said anything to the press, just silently served his duty and let the army tell the story. He is whining to the national press when others in his situation can only scream at the walls. He does need to suck it up.
He almost sounded thankful the Army saved him from the Li-downs…..
long suffering Lions fan
I thought you had to have military and mostly combat experiance to play in Detroit. Those ain’t pads thats body armor! Chicago is the same way, there are more firefights on the south side than in Fallujah!
Permits…man I never knew the sacrifice they gave until this thread! Permits are the victim at VMI. Just ask some permits about their dedication to VMI, the Honor code, and the normal tasks at VMI. I am so sorry permits! Please forgive me. I know you all are the biggest alumni ever! Where is this LtColP coming from? Wow…this LtColP must be a big wuss compared to these permits! Can you tell us some stories of Athletic lore from VMI? Please tell us!
It’s not the fault of the so-called permits that 30 years later someone is holding a needless grudge anonymously behind a computer screen. It hardly even had anything to do with the subject.
BR – you know, we had three BR’s who played NCAA sports (one football, one soccer, and one swimming), who received commissions, and who are now in command of a NMCB, LAR battalion, and an HSL squadron respectively. They all graduated on time. They all received a BS in Mechanical Engineering, which was not easy even for those of us who did not participate in athletics. I am sure there are others in our class who did much the same.
I am not going to call them “permit riders.”
Those who choose to participate in NCAA athletics I think had a much harder road than those of us who did not. Especially to graduate on time. I am certain that my football playing experience from grade school all the way through high school taught me a great many lessons about leadership and teamwork. I would have liked to continue playing football, but I did not have the size or skill, and my focus was on the knowledge that I was going to gain through my degree program. Those who were able to participate in athletics I am sure had a very rich experience and are better men for it.
Amazing! Let me tell you about permits. While we of course wanted all of our athletes to excel in their sports and win for the I, the majority had absolutely no respect for VMI. The behaviour of the majority of the athletes (there were some who did understand the school they were attending and deserve the respect) was of utter contempt and disrespect. The majority looked like a big fat piece of f’n crap in regards to military bearing and they were the biggest bunch of bitter a-holes who felt they were entitled to be above everyone else.
Amazingly enough, they now claim to be the greatest super alumni ever after the majority of them would violate every premise or rule that VMI was based on. While I was working my ass off, the majority were laughing and spitting on the place that I dearly love to this day.
In terms of basic math which might be hard for them to understand, what are the statistics on a NCAA athlete reaching the pros? You should count your lucky stars that you got an education at VMI and your hand wasn’t held like a little child like they do at Duke and other ‘prestigious’ academic institutions. Because if you don’t make the pros, you’ll have to pretend that you actually got an education there. Good Luck!
So, I have no sympathy for this west point guy. It’s called reading the contract that you signed and serving your nation. You could have easily gone to Syracuse or UVA right?
Well, Seg, here’s the thing. Based upon my experience (and obviously I have no way of knowing if ours were contemperaneous or if I were after or before you, though suffice to say, I graduated reasonably recently) what you are describing is hardly unique to “permits” amongst members of the Corps (though I’ll admit they are more often singled out and derided for it.) In fact, I’d say that in many ways what you are describing accounts for plenty of grub privates and plenty of rankers as well. Perhaps, rather than placing the blame on “permits” one might ought to recognize that unfortunately that attitude is more deeply rooted than that in the underlying culture up there. Drum-outs for grossly violating the honor code are hardly confined to “permits.” Suspensions for conduct are hardly confined to permits. Bad behaviour in the ratline is hardly confined to permits. Running the block is hardly confined to permits. Complaining BITTERLY about any and all aspects of the VMI is hardly confined to permits (maybe take a look at an issue of The Cadet sometime and read the op-ed page.) Poor grades are hardly confined to permits, either.
I understand your frustration. But I can’t agree with your opinion at all. Every class is made up of individuals and everyone’s motivations for attending, staying, or behaving in the manner they do are generally unique to themselves. There are plenty of things wrong with that school and with the way that people approach it, but those problems are not peculiar to or confined to those cadets who participate in intercollegiate athletics. It’s asinine to suggest that they do. There’s not really any point of running through the litany of “super-alumni” that were, in fact, NCAA athletes (Peay, Ross, Marshall, Bunting, Foster, the list goes on) nor the “super-alumni” that weren’t. If you have graduated, and I suspect that you have, perhaps you should evaluate why you are so bitter towards a group of people for whom you bear a strong prejudice as a group. If you haven’t, maybe you should get a life before it’s too late…
POFP. I have evaluated on why I’m so bitter to a group. Actually, not a group, but the majority of athletes at the time. Of course there were athletes that I had absolute respect for and they had an understanding of VMI. I don’t randomly lump people when the majority are a bunch of bad apples. But my four years at the I and my experience with the majority is my evaluation. Anyone with their head screwed on straight would agree who was there at the time. Once again, they want to pretend like they are super alumni when the majority violated every aspect of VMI.
You absolutely CANNOT compare and hide behind the athletes of old like Marshall, Patton, etc. to the athletes of today or college athletics to the college athletics of their day for that matter. The athletes today are NOTHING compared to Marshall, Patton, and the other athletes back in the day. They understood what the priorities in life were, and they were leaders outside of athletics. Unfortunately, people like you cannot understand this and that is why you are incorrigible.
Seg: You did your lumping thing again. How can you possibly know that the athletes of today don’t just as well understand their priorities to those back in the day? POFP is right; you have a strong prejudice, which is coming across as ignorance/arrogance.
Every person is an individual who should be judged by their actions, not by the company they keep. I personally know an NCAA football player who knows his dutiful priorities, relishes the opportunity to become a SEAL, yet still physically works his tail off as if he were competing for an NFL spot.
There are great individuals out there…even today. If you have a beef, name some names but just let go of the lump.