Lots to unpack here. He had a very rough and short tenure.

🔴Breaking: Brigadier General Patrick R. Michaelis is no longer the Commandant of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets. He is transitioning to a new role serving as special assistant to President Mark A. Welsh III.

Full statements shared below 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/N3xaJwghl1

— 🚨 Rusty Surette 🚨 (@KBTXRusty) August 12, 2024

Is he the db pushing all the woke bs into the corp of cadets?

Based on things I've seen on Texags, this is a positive

Someone must have stopped writing checks.

aggiepanic95 said:

---

Is he the db pushing all the woke bs into the corp of cadets?

---

Yep, though that's nothing really new.

lb3 said:

---

Someone must have stopped writing checks.

---

Or threatened to

I thought this was going to be about the USMC.

Great day for the Aggie Corps of Cadets. The damage that agenda driven individual did in less than 2 years will take a long time to correct. His arrogance was suffocating. I really hope those that blindly supported his antics take some time to reflect on the error of their ways. So happy for the current cadets to know the intentional destruction is over. It has been hanging over their heads all summer.

BQ78 said:

---

Based on things I've seen on Texags, this is a positive

---

Is it a positive if he's moving to a new role with a focus on broader initiatives that affect not just the corps but the entire university?

Good. He was a major db.

one safe place said:

---

lb3 said:

---

Someone must have stopped writing checks.

---

Or threatened to

---

Both.

I'm surprised that he's even staying at the school.

He's hated.

Gap said:

---

BQ78 said:

---

Based on things I've seen on Texags, this is a positive

---

Is it a positive if he's moving to a new role with a focus on broader initiatives that affect not just the corps but the entire university?

---

My thinking exactly. Not like he is just gone, will have a position with a larger reach/more influence university wide from what it sounds like.

Assistant to the regional manager

Good! Hope he takes his sycophants with him.

n1mr0d said:

---

Great day for the Aggie Corps of Cadets. The damage that agenda driven individual did in less than 2 years will take a long time to correct. His arrogance was suffocating. I really hope those that blindly supported his antics take some time to reflect on the error of their ways. So happy for the current cadets to know the intentional destruction is over. It has been hanging over their heads all summer.

---

Could you expand upon the damage?

DEI pick coming soon.

He is done and he knows it. I believe they gave him the courtesy of not out right firing him.

Whatever search process led to Michaelis needs to be thrown away.

Look, it's the Commandant, I know you can't get a former Redpot into the position, but a leader that at least understands human nature and isn't going to DEI and infantalize the Corps would be a great first step.

Remind me. What were his controversial moves within the corps?

Top two comments from the thread about his hiring.
https://texags.com/forums/63/topics/3302707


CanyonAg77 2:59p, 7/19/22
Prediction: Cadets Will be posting within the next 12 months that he's the worst Commandant in the history of ever.


Trinity Ag3:55p, 7/21/22S
I served with Patrick when we were field grades, and I am certain he is going to be an amazing Commandant.

He is not only a combat arms guy with 3+ deployments (2 x Iraq, 1 x Afghanistan in battalion-level command), he is probably the smartest, most innovative and strategic-thinking officer I know. He understands training and leadership at every tactical level, and has also served in the political levels of the Army -- so he is equipped to manage the political dynamics of the position.

He commanded at the O6-level in Recruiting, and commanded Fort Jackson as a 1-star -- the primary initial entry training base for the Army. So he has recent practical experience in attracting and retaining this generation of young people.

I feel like he is going to inherit a lot of goodness from the previous team, along with a lot of University investments to help with recruiting -- the Patriot Scholarships, the Murray Scholarship, etc. In addition, the Corps has the full backing of University leadership, and that has not always been the case.

IMO he was a home run hire.

Shoefly! said:

---

n1mr0d said:

---

Great day for the Aggie Corps of Cadets. The damage that agenda driven individual did in less than 2 years will take a long time to correct. His arrogance was suffocating. I really hope those that blindly supported his antics take some time to reflect on the error of their ways. So happy for the current cadets to know the intentional destruction is over. It has been hanging over their heads all summer.

---

Could you expand upon the damage?

---

He took freshmen out of the outfit structure to homogenize the outfit culture and the fish experience.

The rationale is that reputations earned as a freshman can be hard to shake and hinder growth. It also destroys the camaraderie that is developed with your buddies during your fish year.

The Corps of Cadets isn't an Academy, most cadets never go on to make a career of serving the big green or blue weenies so a lot of the value in the Corps of Cadets are those lifelong relationship with your fish buddies and the individual outfit cultures that align with your interests whether it's academics, athletics, service, or leadership…

lb3 said:

---

Someone must have stopped writing checks.

---

If only more would follow suit.....

This is great news..

Cadet morale is at an all time low.

Black belts transitioning to white Belts, which is normally something to be excited about, has them quitting instead.

Based on what I was told, the number of kids quitting the Corps after their 2nd year, has been at or near an all-time high.

Most of the kids going back to the Corps, that we know in our circle, were dreading it.

Not sure why it was not done in May. Timing is weird for sure.

GOOD!

If you want every fish to learn a core group of skills/concepts, the way to do that is train the FOW Cadre/upperclassmen to do this.

Taking the fish away from their outfit for some kind of 'basic training' exercise is counterproductive. Part of the benefit of being in the Corps is learning how to lead. Taking away the fish just deplatforms the entire leadership structure for the entire duration of his little mad scientist laboratory.

I have no doubt he's a good guy and a good/great leader, but this was a huge mistake. He had ample opportunity to back track the initiative, but chose to go his own way. Well, he can go his own way right out the back door.

Tramp96 said:

---

I thought this was going to be about the USMC.

---

Did you miss "Michaelis?"

I am torn here. I know that Michaelis did a lot of controversial and detrimental things...however as the above poster stated...this creates an opportunity to go even worse.

The chance of Welsh inserting himself into the selection and giving us a DEI dewsh that might even destroy the corps for the chance to rebuild it in a style that will develop adherents to the leftist mantra and will also be able to enforce it is very likly.....

oldord said:

---

I am torn here. I know that Michaelis did a lot of controversial and detrimental things...however as the above poster stated...this creates an opportunity to go even worse.

The chance of Welsh inserting himself into the selection and giving us a DEI dewsh that might even destroy the corps for the chance to rebuild it in a style that will develop adherents to the leftist mantra and will also be able to enforce it is very likly.....

---

I don't think that will be the case. I think after the fiasco this guy brought to the university, they will be much more likely to bring in someone who the advisory board and CCA like and will lean on them for guidance.

I could be completely wrong as well, but as long as they bring in a former CT, then they could NOT do much worse.

This guy was a staff d-bag who was only in an outfit 3 outta 8 semesters. I was a CT with the same type of guy and typically those guys don't even like the outfits, many times they didn't even get along with. They are pushed to staff cause their buddies are tired of their sh*t.

lb3 said:

---

Someone must have stopped writing checks.

---

Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!

rgvag11 said:

---

Top two comments from the thread about his hiring.
https://texags.com/forums/63/topics/3302707


CanyonAg77 2:59p, 7/19/22
Prediction: Cadets Will be posting within the next 12 months that he's the worst Commandant in the history of ever.

---

To be fair, I had zero idea at the time whether he would be great or a bust.

The sudden ousting, right as FOW begins, would tend to indicate the latter.

My point was only about how the cadets are front-loaded to dislike the Commandant, and assume everything was better back in "Old Army Days".



As a certified old fart, I will say that one of the things we did better, is letting the cadets sink or swim on their own. We rarely saw a Bull in the Quad area, and when one did show, we were like a bunch of sheep when a wolf wanders by, constantly on guard and hoping we weren't today's dinner

https://www.kbtx.com/2024/05/17/texas-am-quickly-shoots-down-inaccurate-report-about-new-restrooms/

I'm sure this didn't help

TAMU1990 said:

---

https://www.kbtx.com/2024/05/17/texas-am-quickly-shoots-down-inaccurate-report-about-new-restrooms/

I'm sure this didn't help

---

From the article

Quote:

---

"The Rudder Association is wrong: no one is spending $72M on restroom renovations. As part of our due diligence, we did develop an optional long-term plan that, if executed, would have cost $72M.

---

Sounds like the Rudder Association was correct. There was a plan in place to spend the money. Sounds like it got canned when the Rudder Association made it public

Maybe we're getting closer!

lb3 said:

---

Someone must have stopped writing checks.

---

Well, since he's still working as "assistant to the president", someone is still writing checks.

zephyr88 said:

---

lb3 said:

---

Someone must have stopped writing checks.

---

Well, since he's still working as "assistant to the president", someone is still writing checks.

---

How long is his contract? This may be a way to finish out his contract and get some good out of him. Sort of like a bad coach who becomes assistant AD