I was told Ramirez was (or was about to be) fired at the first march in, but the optics of having the commandant and student affairs VP fired at the same time wasn't what they wanted. Additionally, they wanted a soft landing for Ramirez as he has been here a long time.

The hit job on the high performing outfit was the another nail in the coffin for Michaelis and Ramirez office was the one that let the student affairs office get involved instead of kicking it back to the Corps for review which is what student affairs is supposed to do.

By the time the cadets were exonerated, Welsh was significantly pissed at the entire group.

Additionally, I am told the father of the (quitter) fish that brought most of the charges CONSTANTLY threatened the CO that he was going to make it his mission to get every pisshead kicked out of the outfit CORPS. This started last fall and when the CO went to the Trigon with the info, the Trigon did nothing.

Also, have it on good authority that one of the CTOs was actually coaching the quitter into what to say in his exit interview when he quit. But I am sure he just had the outfits 'best interest in mind' right?

Read that again, the CTO was helping craft the exit interview and charges, NOT helping to find out what the outfit could improve on. That sounded questionable, and did some follow up , I can confirm that this year that CTO has been removed from that outfit / dorm. Fishy?

So before someone tells me there is no agenda, don't bother, I know better.

Anonymous Source said:

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Tom Kazansky 2012 said:

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Quo Vadis? said:

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My Uncle was in the Trigon under General Van Alstyne and then Under General Ramirez; he quickly quit a few months under General Ramirez.

Said Ramirez was a total political animal and womanizer. Complete DEI hire before DEI was a thing. Ramirez wanted nothing more than to pack the quad with cadets from the inner city and the valley and make sure there were enough minorities and women as First Butt and CO.

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I was in the corps during the switch.

I think Ramirez is a pitiful leader and a total loser. I'll leave it at that. I am actively preparing my boys to join a frat instead of the corps. My saber and corps stuff are on display in my office. That guys sucks and doesn't belong on our campus in any leadership capacity.

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So because of "poor leadership", you're encouraging your kids to join a fraternity?
The irony is so ironic.

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Why? Leadership failure and cultural decay is a good reason to look for greener pastures.

I think the initial poster has bad information as General Ramirez is still VP for Student Affairs. The rumors were that he was ready to retire when Banks tagged him to move to VP of Student Affairs and the smoke has been that his urges to retire have surfaced again, but as of right now he is still VPSA and no "quiet firing" rumors at the campus

Gotta be honest, some of y'all have "Ramirez Derangement Syndrome". He hasn't been the Commandant for a couple years now. But, I assume his theme song must be Metallica's "Master of Puppets".

Full disclosure, I'm a B-Co Streetfighter and I've spent enough time visiting with him (In College Station, Sydney, Australia and Los Angeles) to call him a friend. If you were to spend some time with the man, you'd come to learn he loves Texas A&M. You could consider him a politician in the sense that he's one of the most savvy people I've ever met. He has an ability to see what's going on and figure out what's coming 3 moves ahead. I'd put it kind of like the sense that a good police officer develops regarding criminal activity in that they can see things that regular folks aren't seeing.

And don't kid yourselves, there is a good portion of the Academic Faculty that would be tickled to death to have the Corps of Cadets no longer in existence.

BG Michaelis on the other hand. He kind of marches to his own tune and is the opposite of Ramirez with respect to the politician skills. In fact, I'd say that he ignored what was coming 3 moves ahead.

If there was a permanent record of the hours of Bullring walked by every cadet that was ever in the Corps of Cadets, the hiring criteria for a Commandant should require that the number to be greater than zero. Bonus points for being apprehended in the steam tunnels. The last thing I would want in a Commandant is someone who never had a single adverse mark on his record for taking a chance.

I thought Malon Sutherland did an excellent job as acting Commandant in 1986 before MajGen Darling was hired.

A lot has to do with phase of life also. A few of my friends that were 0-6's faced the decision of family life or military life. The one that stayed and made 1-star, had to move into a command away from family (by choice). He didn't want to move his high school kids 2 more times in 3 years. You move more often as an O-6 and O-7 and up. A lot don't want to put their families through that when the kids are in high school. Easier when the kids are in elementary.

Ulysses90 said:

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I thought Malon Sutherland did an excellent job as acting Commandant in 1986 before MajGen Darling was hired.

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And he had a beautiful collection of dresses.

HollywoodBQ said:

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Gotta be honest, some of y'all have "Ramirez Derangement Syndrome". He hasn't been the Commandant for a couple years now. But, I assume his theme song must be Metallica's "Master of Puppets".

Full disclosure, I'm a B-Co Streetfighter and I've spent enough time visiting with him (In College Station, Sydney, Australia and Los Angeles) to call him a friend. If you were to spend some time with the man, you'd come to learn he loves Texas A&M. You could consider him a politician in the sense that he's one of the most savvy people I've ever met. He has an ability to see what's going on and figure out what's coming 3 moves ahead. I'd put it kind of like the sense that a good police officer develops regarding criminal activity in that they can see things that regular folks aren't seeing.

And don't kid yourselves, there is a good portion of the Academic Faculty that would be tickled to death to have the Corps of Cadets no longer in existence.

BG Michaelis on the other hand. He kind of marches to his own tune and is the opposite of Ramirez with respect to the politician skills. In fact, I'd say that he ignored what was coming 3 moves ahead.

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I think you might be having trouble seeing Ramirez's warts due to your friendship.

redcrayon said:

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I think you might be having trouble seeing Ramirez's warts due to your friendship.

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I didn't say he was perfect, I just wanted to qualify my position to say that I've spoken with him at length and would call him a friend.

Many on this Board have him made out to be some sort of behind the scenes shot caller like a 1% motorcycle gang leader in prison, or George Soros or whomever the bogeyman is.

aggie93 said:

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Quo Vadis? said:

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Ulysses90 said:

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Quo Vadis? said:

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Tom Kazansky 2012 said:

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Quo Vadis? said:

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My Uncle was in the Trigon under General Van Alstyne and then Under General Ramirez; he quickly quit a few months under General Ramirez.

Said Ramirez was a total political animal and womanizer. Complete DEI hire before DEI was a thing. Ramirez wanted nothing more than to pack the quad with cadets from the inner city and the valley and make sure there were enough minorities and women as First Butt and CO.

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I was in the corps during the switch.

I think Ramirez is a pitiful leader and a total loser. I'll leave it at that. I am actively preparing my boys to join a frat instead of the corps. My saber and corps stuff are on display in my office. That guys sucks and doesn't belong on our campus in any leadership capacity.

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I was in during the switch from General Hopgood to Van Alstyne. Van Alstyne made life much easier for fish but didn't change too much else, and was decently well liked by cadets.

I always thought Col Groves or Col Betty should have gotten a shot at the spot but it was always important for them to have a General at the top spot

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Jack Betty would have been an excellent choice. The is a bit of irony on insisting on a General officer to be commandant but selecting Brigadier Generals. Being a General is a second career in uniform unto itself.
More than two thirds of Brigadier Generals are promoted to Major General. That tells you something about the hiring criteria of Texas A&M when they went from a history of two and three star retired Generals to two successive Brigadier Generals.

It is no coincidence that in the culmination of Once an Eagle that Sam Damon never made it over the hurdle to be a General but was a selfless leader to the end and Courtney Massengale was the eternal Brigadier General. The university seems to be picking Massengales by design to do to the institution what Massengales do.

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From what I have heard, that was a big question mark behind the General Ramirez hiring. You go from a 3 star to a 1 star? But General Ramirez has a great story, a Hispanic kid from inner city Houston who got out and achieved great success in the military.

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No Ramirez fan but this is a bad argument. Just about any BG can get a 2nd Star, typically the reason you see someone stop there is because of retirement not because of lack of ability to get promoted. There is a larger jump from 2 to 3 and especially 3 to 4 stars. The jump from Colonel to BG is a huge one but it's also significantly about politics. Some incredible officers retire at O-6 because they simply don't care to play the political games required to get that Star. I'd be good with a badass O-6 Commandant any day over a lot of Generals.

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. Tom Parsons

When I entered the Corps as a fish in Fall 1989, former students were telling me how much easier the Corps now was, how integration ('DEI') was ruining outfits, etc. Also remember gripes about folks at the Trigon meddling.

And to be fair, by the time I was a senior just 3 years later, I remember thinking how my fish had it a lot easier than when I was a fish.

What is that saying? The more things change the more they stay the same?

Pumpkinhead said:

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When I entered the Corps as a fish in Fall 1989, former students were telling me how much easier the Corps now was, how integration ('DEI') was ruining outfits, etc. Also remember gripes about folks at the Trigon meddling.

What is that saying? The more things change the more they stay the same?

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Sounds like they were right.

HollywoodBQ said:

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AgNav93 said:

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I'm old enough to remember Maj Gen Darling as Commandant. Now those were the days. Unlimited PT and come-bys.

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43% fish retention in my outfit was also super awesome during that era.
Hit the wall in August with 30 buddies, March Final Review with 13. Oh Good Bull.

The best thing about the 40 push up "Corps Limit" was that it was 40 push ups per offense.

I know we can't do a lot of the fun stuff anymore because it's illegal or violates Federal Terrorism Laws, etc.

But there are also some activities that you can't do now due to the Corps Dorms being remodeled like - blocking the shower with a green Gumby mattress and stopping up the drain to create a swimming pool.

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You read my mail. I did that one night after a night out at the chicken. Went to bed for a nap while the shower filled
Up and when i woke up the next morning the entire first floor had flooded.

I had to pay for the Gumby of the fish that I stole.

Looking back it was pretty crappy of
Me to take his bed.

I know him as well. Nice guy but his body or work at A&M has much to be desired.

He also has a habit of trying to convert folks to disciples of his worldview.

Give him credit he believes in what he preaches even though in my opinion he is wrong.

"Rent a friend, join a fraternity!"

Everywhere I goooooooooo, there's a CTO therrrrrrrre!

AgNav93 said:

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I'm old enough to remember Maj Gen Darling as Commandant. Now those were the days. Unlimited PT and come-bys.

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Likewise

Pumpkinhead said:

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When I entered the Corps as a fish in Fall 1989, former students were telling me how much easier the Corps now was, how integration ('DEI') was ruining outfits, etc. Also remember gripes about folks at the Trigon meddling.

And to be fair, by the time I was a senior just 3 years later, I remember thinking how my fish had it a lot easier than when I was a fish.

What is that saying? The more things change the more they stay the same?

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To be fair, when you entered in '89 your Zips were the last class to go through their fish year without a State law against hazing and with old school Duncan where fish just didn't eat. We learned to be creative with stashing food with our extra uniform in girls dorms. I still lost 25 lbs fall of '86 and I played 3 sports in HS so I wasn't a fatbody.

BCO07 said:

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Col Betty is a BA

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I'm aware - he was two classes ahead of me so I got the "privilege" of observing him as a cadet and as a member of the Trigon. He was very good at both.

I want all of the Ags to win

Old army is dead.

I remember doing the last "legal" class set on Simpson Drill Field with the rest of '88 early in the fall semester of 1984. Then Bruce Goodrich died during an early morning "mandatory PT" session.

Following that, we were limited to 20 push-ups, which just meant that we did 20 push-ups, got up, and got back down to do 20 more over and over again every morning and every evening before marching to Duncan.

Many good times were had on the bulkhead.

fish year in the Corps + trying to make grades was harder than anything I ever did as an 0302 in the Marines.

oldord said:

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HollywoodBQ said:

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AgNav93 said:

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I'm old enough to remember Maj Gen Darling as Commandant. Now those were the days. Unlimited PT and come-bys.

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43% fish retention in my outfit was also super awesome during that era.
Hit the wall in August with 30 buddies, March Final Review with 13. Oh Good Bull.

The best thing about the 40 push up "Corps Limit" was that it was 40 push ups per offense.

I know we can't do a lot of the fun stuff anymore because it's illegal or violates Federal Terrorism Laws, etc.

But there are also some activities that you can't do now due to the Corps Dorms being remodeled like - blocking the shower with a green Gumby mattress and stopping up the drain to create a swimming pool.

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You read my mail. I did that one night after a night out at the chicken. Went to bed for a nap while the shower filled
Up and when i woke up the next morning the entire first floor had flooded.

I had to pay for the Gumby of the fish that I stole.

Looking back it was pretty crappy of
Me to take his bed.

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I saw a lot of weird stuff my fish year.
To put it in perspective, Jackie Sherrill was still the Football coach and COL Haney was still the Band Director.

And, I had only been living in the USA for 3 years from the deserts of Saudi Arabia so frankly, I was still getting adjusted to what "America" and of course Texas was about.

The single biggest issue my fish year was women in the Aggie Band. A battle that was lost - because it was never winnable. Regardless of how many old Ags gathered around the tunnel at the North End of Kyle Field after the game to yell "Get the *****es out of the Band".

But, the Gumby mattress deal was a trip.

We had a Zip from East Texas who was a WFSC major and he lived next to one of the biggest jokers in the Band. The joker guy was a PT stud and wound up as an Apache pilot (no need to state who I'm talking about for those who know).

Anyway, one day, I'm pulling boots on the south end of 3rd Stoop in Dorm 11 and I venture into the crapper and there was a Gumby mattress clogging up the shower and there is a wild duck swimming in about 3 feet of water. A MF'ing Mallard. In the dorm.

In my best Han Solo voice, I've flown from one side of this Galaxy to the other and ... I've never seen a duck in a college dorm before or since.

I don't know if it was the WFSC major or the Apache pilot who put it there but it was one of those situations I've been in where nobody is going to believe that really happened. But it did.

Yes, saw a kid crawl out the 4th story window of dorm 3 and climb down to the lounge roof one night. I looked out the 4th floor later and I have no idea how he went 10' at a time to each window and did not die.

Speaking of showers, we always cleaned our deer and our fish in the showers. It was so easy to clean up afterwards.....

I have a photo of us cleaning a mess of fish in there. Will have to look for it.

Only thing I have learned in the past 5 years is that all the current and former Corps members (and their parents) will NEVER be happy.

Rudder could rise from the dead and bring his Army Rangers to campus to help run the Corps and they would be run off in 6 months for letting women attend the school.

Ulysses90 said:

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If there was a permanent record of the hours of Bullring walked by every cadet that was ever in the Corps of Cadets, the hiring criteria for a Commandant should require that the number to be greater than zero. Bonus points for being apprehended in the steam tunnels. The last thing I would want in a Commandant is someone who never had a single adverse mark on his record for taking a chance.

I thought Malon Sutherland did an excellent job as acting Commandant in 1986 before MajGen Darling was hired.

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I had no idea Sutherland was acting commandant. I'm class of 86 so that must have been immediately after my time ended. In any case, my outfit was almost disbanded the year before I joined for excessive zeal with axe handles. We did a lot of stupid, reckless crap and could have used a little more military discipline and a little less animal house.

That is the most concise and accurate assessment of Aggies, current and past, of any I've read.

I'm not sure when helicopter parents came into vogue. One of the things about college and the Corp is personal growth, learning about making decisions,mistakes, etc.

Buck Turgidson said:

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Ulysses90 said:

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If there was a permanent record of the hours of Bullring walked by every cadet that was ever in the Corps of Cadets, the hiring criteria for a Commandant should require that the number to be greater than zero. Bonus points for being apprehended in the steam tunnels. The last thing I would want in a Commandant is someone who never had a single adverse mark on his record for taking a chance.

I thought Malon Sutherland did an excellent job as acting Commandant in 1986 before MajGen Darling was hired.

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I had no idea Sutherland was acting commandant. I'm class of 86 so that must have been immediately after my time ended. In any case, my outfit was almost disbanded the year before I joined for excessive zeal with axe handles. We did a lot of stupid, reckless crap and could have used a little more military discipline and a little less animal house.

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Col Burton left at Final Review 1986.