SJD15
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Please, describe what your alternative looks like.
If you really want to talk about debt, you could make an argument that a failure of strategic education and tactical myopia are what propelled us into this much debt. Asserting that the system is ineffective is an argument to improve it, not eliminate it. Might as well say our 8th graders can't pass Algebra - Let's toss it!
At the base of your argument is the value of education. I'd submit that an educated officer corps is critical to a healthy civil-military relationship and more valuable than any technology we can pay for.
So, yes. I'll agree that it is a choice, but it's a choice between apples and every other item in the grocery store.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I know it was a belated request and I appreciate the recommendations.
I clicked back to that post because I remembered the debate between RD et al. that took place in the comments section...Great stuff.
@Robert_K To make the case that the education of one population is being conducted at the expense of the other is silly. There's plenty of fraud, waste, and abuse you could target, but don't present a dichotomy that isn't there. The state of the primary educational system shouldn't be ignored, as you said, but it is not an either/or situation. I can't think of many sane citizens who could be convinced that it's not in our nation's best interest to educate our senior officers as much as possible.
FYI, there are plenty of us who finance the lion's share of our graduate education prior to ILE. $250 per credit hour of TA won't get you far outside of a diploma mill.
I was looking through the comments on the linked article (JUL11) and I was curious if your offer was still open to share the names of a few other titles in your initial book issue.
"...if you haven't read Fiasco yet, or some of the other books I picked up yesterday...well you probably shouldn't be allowed here."
My sentiments about the reading assignments in the captain's course as well.
"And that's what everyone with PTSD looks like. They're just whiny, or surly, or can't get their stuff together, or a bastard."
Amen. It's unfortunate that most prefer to start with ad hominem attacks and work from there.
Thanks for taking the time to post and the subsequent replies. The insight found on comment threads like this are are largely why I recommend this blog to my peers.
I agree with your first point wholeheartedly. Most college graduates should know how to produce a decent written product upon graduation. Unfortunately, we spend the next several years producing nothing written with the exception of awards and evals, both of which are heavily scripted processes. I'd guess I'd just like to see the writing process taken more seriously in the institutional learning environment. If we're going to do it, let's do it right. If I had a dollar for every time I've said that...
I'd submit that one reason our officers can't perform in the civilian education model is that we don't bother to teach them how. I'm currently attending a resident PME course for company-grade officers. It didn't take long for most of my classmates to realize that the papers we submit are barely read by anyone, much less scrutinized for content and style. It took even less time for the mean effort level to match the enthusiasm of our evaluators.
There is no reason to discount the civilian model simply on the basis that we suck at it. I agree that there are many great officers who probably can't write a paper. It doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to.