I wonder how long this search for the new commandant will take.

[This message has been edited by HBCanine08 (edited 1/25/2010 11:20a).]

actually, thats a good question...anyone know the specifics of the process?

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[This message has been edited by GI (edited 1/27/2010 4:56p).]

I agree GI

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[This message has been edited by GI (edited 1/27/2010 4:55p).]

I remember being a fish in fall of '04. All the zips C/O '05 complained so much about GVA micromanaging.

hopefully it won't take as long as the presidential search...then again I'd rather them make the best choice than having a time limit.

[This message has been edited by SpiDer2008 (edited 1/25/2010 11:32a).]

Interim President Loftin Announces Resignation Of Corps Commandant:

"It is with deep regret that I announce the resignation of a good friend and colleague, Lt. Gen. John Van Alstyne, U.S. Army (Ret.), as Commandant of the Corps of Cadets. Gen. Van Alstyne has served our university—his alma mater, Class of 1966—with great honor and unquestioned dedication after an Army career in which he distinguished himself as well as his country and his university. On behalf of the entire Aggie family— students, faculty and staff—I thank Gen. Van Alstyne for his decades of exemplary service. He has truly made a great and positive difference in the lives of many young men and women who have chosen to be in the Corps of Cadets during his period of leadership.

"The Corps deserves continued strong and inspired leadership. I have asked Col. Jake Betty, who has served in Corps leadership capacities for many years, including the past five as Chief of Staff, to serve as Interim Commandant and report directly to me. I am pleased that he has graciously agreed to provide such leadership. He is also a Texas A&M graduate, Class of 1973, and a proud product of the Corps. I am confident that the Corps is in great hands during this interim period, and I have pledged to him my full support as he takes on this challenging role.

"I will begin a dialogue with the Corps Board of Visitors and groups of students, faculty, staff and former students to initiate a process of identifying the next Commandant of the Corps of Cadets. Again, I thank the General for his tremendous service to Texas A&M and wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

(Signed)
Dr. R. Bowen Loftin, Interim President

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Most History, POLSCI, and liberal arts majors pulling a 3.0 or above would FAIL OUT of hard science majors.

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Good grief. What a load of crap.

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[This message has been edited by GI (edited 1/27/2010 4:56p).]

John Van Alstyne was a fish in my outfit, Battlin' B-1, when I was a P*sshead.

Gig 'em, FAST FRED '65.

Before the world wide web, village idiots usually stayed in their own village.

[This message has been edited by FAST FRED (edited 1/25/2010 12:23p).]

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The overall recruiting system needs to be overhauled. Yes, incoming cadets should be able to request units but recruiting by outfit will ultimately bankrupt us as we compete for replacements among ourselves. What ever happened to "per unitatem vis" anyway?

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Not a flame, just curious your thoughts...I like each outfit being able to recruit for their outfit only because it allows outfits develop more of an identity. This is one thing that Van Alstyne definitely tried to rectify during his time. Between dispersing entire senior classes to different outfits, forcing an outfit to take a CO from another outfit to personally talking to people during student conferences and FOW, he hasn't made it a secret that he doesn't like outfit cultures.

I guess legacies could carry that on to a degree. I just don't see a kid that came in with his JROTC group on spend the day with the corps that gets thrown into k-1, L-1 or D-1 fitting in or enjoying those outfits. Not that there is anything wrong with someone from JROTC, but different strokes for different folks.

I came from JROTC and fit into D-2 well back in '04

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[This message has been edited by GI (edited 1/27/2010 4:57p).]

Definitely didn't mean to knock JROTC. I wonder if you would have enjoyed D-1, K-1 or L-1 as much as you enjoyed D-2?

[This message has been edited by Barnes04 (edited 1/25/2010 12:39p).]

I'm pretty sure I would have. We were all in 2nd BDE and dorm 6 my fish year. It was fun. This just an opinion and POV

[This message has been edited by HBCanine08 (edited 1/25/2010 12:42p).]

Could have been a bad example I guess. I just think that outfits being able to pick out their own fish keeps outfit identities up and leads to some fun rivalries between outfits. I don't like the idea of just getting a bunch of fish that you have never talked to before.

I agree. It sounds bad, but you can read a potential fish and tell if he can handle a certain outfit.

Barnes, I see what you are getting at. There are certain types of people that would NOT enjoy L-1,D-1,K-1 (and other outfits as well). That's not a slight to those outfits, there are just different cultures in different outfits. Outfits should be allowed to breed their own culture and recruit people that would enjoy and thrive in their environment.

Yeah, that was basically my point. Deadzip could be right that it would be better for overall recruiting to just recruit into 1 big pool. In my opinion, it would just be taking away one more thing that is fun about the corps. I went into sq 17 because I had cousins in it and knew that I would get along with those guys. 5 years later, my brother joined the same outfit and it hasn't changed that much and has definitely worked out for him.

About GVA:
I really didn't agree with many of the major decisions he made as Commandant. The removal of Corps brass my zip year that was mentioned earlier still perplexes me. That decision was sent down from on-high with no regard for the chain of command. Even as a major unit commander, I felt like I was one of the last to know, including people calling me who had long since left the Corps. Pushing potential recruits toward some outfits and away from others has had a detrimental impact on some outfits, and they may never recover.

That being said, if you've ever had a conversation with him, you know that General Van Alstyne had the very best interest of the Corps in mind at all times. He is a good man and did his best for the university and the Corps of Cadets while he was at A&M.

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That being said, if you've ever had a conversation with him, you know that General Van Alstyne had the very best interest of the Corps in mind at all times. He is a good man and did his best for the university and the Corps of Cadets while he was at A&M.

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Interesting you would say that right after you gave examples of how it appears he was NOT working in the best interest.

And Fast Fred, I would love your insights.

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[This message has been edited by GI (edited 1/27/2010 4:57p).]

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That being said, if you've ever had a conversation with him, you know that General Van Alstyne had the very best interest of the Corps in mind at all times. He is a good man and did his best for the university and the Corps of Cadets while he was at A&M.

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Interesting you would say that right after you gave examples of how it appears he was NOT working in the best interest.

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The "best interest" of an organization as large, diverse, and storied as the Corps of Cadets is often very subjective. All I'm saying is that GVA was not trying to destroy the Corps, as some would have you believe. Maybe I should have said that he had his idea of the best interest of the Corps in mind at all times.

My fish year (73-74) was Devil D-1's first year in existence so none of he fish selected that unit, we were all assigned. We started out with 22 fish. During our four years, we lost a few and gained a few and marched 21 at our Final Review, more then any other unit in the Corps (B Co Inf Band had 20).

My point to this is that if you have good upperclassmen, they can take bunch of snotty nosed high school kids from all different walks of life and cultures, and mold them into a cohesive team. The Corps needs to recruit to the needs of the Corps, not the individual units. The Corps needs to establish a standard manning chart for it's units and recruit to meet those needs.

Having a unit of less then 50 cadets is ridiculous (with the exception of the former service members unit).

Now I agree with legacy assignments, and I don't see a problem with friends wanting to be in the same unit together, but other then that, new fish should be spread out to balance the unit numbers with due consideration given to ROTC choice and major.

[This message has been edited by DevilD77 (edited 1/25/2010 1:23p).]

I'm perplexed as to why GVA would take on being "lecturer and director" of the Mays Fellows program at the same time he is Commandant of Cadets...

I would think being Commandant is a full time job (or at least it should be)...

The Fellows (find the description at Mays Business School-Fellows) is a leadership development program for juniors at Mays... the description of the program makes is sound suspiciously like the Corps' Leadership Development Program, a program that is supposed to be unique on campus to the Corps. Was he using his Corps position to set up a competing program on campus?

Did he create the Fellows program? Was he requested to do so by Mays, or the University? Isn't this sort of a conflict of interest with his duties with the Corps?

I don't know enough about this situation to pass judgment yet, but I don't like the way it looks. Maybe I will once I know the details...

so will fish and pissheads go back to bunk beds instead of lofts? And will Class As come back?

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Maybe I should have said that he had his idea of the best interest of the Corps in mind at all times.

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As with the current Commander in Chief, his idea of the best interests of the Corps and the Country, respectively, do not comport with my idea of the best interests. Nor, in my opinion, do they comport with common sense nor sanity.

so will fish and pissheads go back to bunk beds instead of lofts? doubtful. they'd have to spend alot of money on that. Plus, I always thought that the lofts made the fish rooms look more empty and depressing than the bunk beds

And will Class As come back? This needs to happen

and pitchers in duncan

Canyon, I agree wholeheartedly. I was going to use the Obama example, I just didn't want to start a political debate on this thread.

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I wonder how long this search for the new commandant will take.

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To keep this football related....this guy's looking for a job



Quadding replaced with walking the plank. Water fights replaced with naval battles in the MSC fountain, March-in replaced by "Stand by to repel boarders"

Aaarrgghh.

Two of my zips that year that corps brass got taken away painted come n' take with a pic of the corps brass on a sheet and hung it outside dorm 6