I fundamentally disagree with your conclusion.

If utilized properly, this officer can do far more in professional football to mitigate the "junior officer crisis" the he could as an FA cum MP LT.

Bottomline, if the Army (key word: if) proactively used 2LT Campbell as an advocate for Army OCS enlistment options, it could be a huge strategic coup.

Get with it man ... this is priceless "earned media" for our officer corps.

If USAREC had a clue, Pat Tillman would have been presented with a solid rationale for enlisting for OCS and could have assisted as well.

I have never been to Iraq. I am an IRR CPT moderator at www.armyocs.com and have personally mentored dozens of civilians who enlisted to become Army officers over the past 6 years.

Is my "opinion"/merntoring invalid because I didn't spend 15 months lifting weights and stuffing my face with KBR chow as a REMF MSC officer in a FOB or LSA?

The question is, was Cadet Campbell brought to West Point to play football, or become an officer? If it was the latter, the Army's decision makes no sense. If the former, then it's clear that West Point is protecting its ability to recruit future players, by guaranteeing an "out" if they end up good enough to play in the pros.

"Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton." is a quote attributed to Wellington, but there is some doubt he ever said such a thing. And personally I doubt he ever would have: Wellington seems to have been most impressed with the quality of his infantry rankers.

IRR --

You're missing a critical distinction between you and Campbell. You have actually served on active duty and led soldiers, and you have served in other positions. That qualifies you to actually mentor people and serve in a recruiting role. Campbell has done none of these things.

Also not sure how much "earned media" this will generate for our officer corps, given that Campbell has a) never really been part of our officer corps, and b) has yet to prove himself in the NFL.

And even if he does become the next Ronnie Lott, his narrative will never read like that of Pete Dawkins or Roger Staubach, beacuse he never actually served. He's not a soldier-athlete -- just an athlete.

Phil,

He he not being commisioned as a USAR officer upon graduation from USMA? If he's not getting commissioned at all, then I agree with what you are saying.

However, if he will actually be a 2LT in the USAR - in any capacity - then I stand by my original points.

I think as OIF/OEF slog on and eats away away at much of our "corporate" sense of institutional well-being, we are losing sight of the forest for the trees. I can see you falling into the seductive narrative promulgated by people like GENS Schoomaker and Cody that only "real" soldiers have been to Iraq and only those that fancy themselves as "warriors" are worthy of speaking/appearing on behalf of the Army.

The problem is that this Iraq/Warrior/ACU image no longer resonates with MOST of America - and an OVERWHELMING MAJORITY is vast swaths of the Northeast and California.

Should we be afraid of showing that some soldiers indeed do other things besides endless deployments? That soldiers do things that don't require (or shouldn't) the wear of desert boots? We need to start asking these questions. I fear our Army is so stressed that we are now pointing fingers that some are "getting over" when they are simply doing things that would not have garnered any bad press a few years ago.

Slightly off topic, here's a link with a photo that may clue in where I'm "going" here ... A recruiter sporting a combat uniform at a Tracy, CA high school lamenting how "tough" his job is. 50% of his problem is self-inflicted. Here's a two-tour OIF veteran SSG who is so obtuse that he can't see how wearing the Purple Heart and other decorations he EARNED may cast a more professional image of the NCO Corps than a field uniform.

http://tracypress.com/content/view/14388/2242/

The 2LT Campbell story may be a good way to counteract this "new" image of the Army as a monolithic organization where everyone dresses and looks the same.

Just a thought ...

IRR -

We should show that soldiers do other things besides deploy, such as play in the NFL and never actually serve in the Army? If you're prepared to offer that option to everyone else who enlists, this guy is a great role model. If not, what message are you sending, exactly? Why not give Peyton Manning a set of ACU's and have him prance around and pretend to be a soldier? He has just as much chance of ever seeing combat, or doing anything to support soldiers in combat, as Cambell does. I'm sure that would be good for recruiting, although Manning would probably have too much integrity to do it.

If the write-ups that you linked to are not inflated:
"hard-nosed performer ... fiery competitor ... flies to football ... craves contact ... plays game with great deal of passion ... makes those around him better ... serves as additional coach on field"
then this guy would be a dynamite leader at any level in the Army if he serves in uniform. Sounds almost like a young Eisenhower - even down to the blown out knee???

I do agree with IRRsoldier that he can be a great PR tool. But on the other hand, he would even be a better one if he had a tour as a Platoon leader in combat under his belt. So I am straddling the fence on this issue.

But this is a done deal Phil, so why even bring it up. Let's have a blog on Silver Star winner, pfc Monica Brown and get some learned (or not) comments on women in combat.

Sorry, left off my sign-in on the 10:57 last.

And regarding pfc Monica, she could be a lot better PR for the Army than Campbell. Send her to Med School or Nursing School on the Army nickel and parade her out now and then for recruiting or special events.

In class A uniform of course, IRR.

If I might suggest a perspective from the junior enlisted ranks for a moment...

This sends a very bad message to those serving without a commission in OIF and OEF. All the diversionary programs out of USMA do, and morale is poorly served by highlighting that some Soldiers get to opt out of the risk of rotations (football, study at Oxford, et al) whereas others pick up the slack overseas.

It sets up a dual system for elites and "non-special" Soldiers, many of whom will die in combat.

While the officer in the IRR believes that we should look at this more pragmatically -- as a boon to OCS recruitment -- I submit that overall this sort of public debate harms outreach because it posits the notion that some Soldiers -- USMA grads, officers, athletes -- are more worthy than others doing real work on the battlefield.

While the young football player certainly has done nothing untoward by taking advantage of a regulation, I wonder how he truly feels about this. Did he go to USMA to showcase his gridiron skills, hopefully landing a spot on a professional team's roster? Or to become a commissioned officer in the US Army?

A message that says "both" isn't a very good message to the rest of the Army.

IRR, sorry but I've got to disagree with you. The Army is indeed much bigger than its missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the raison d'etre for the Army -- its very reason for existence -- is to fight and win America's wars. Consequently, I think that these missions ought to rightfully take primacy among the considerations for Army leaders, along with preparing, training, equipping and manning for future conflicts.

I agree with you that the Army sometimes has Hooah on the brain, and that the ACUs-and-boots uniform doesn't work in certain contexts. But I think you're wrong that this combat-focused mentality doesn't have utility, and doesn't have a place in today's Army.

IRR-

For the first time in our discussions, I must violently disagree with you. What Campbell will be communicating is not consistent with the honor of serving in our Army. Rather, he's showing that $$$ and personal preference trump service.

Hell, why not just have non-USMA football stars do some recruiting duty in their free time? At least there is no shadow of welching out on a service agreement, and they will know as much about "life in the trenches" as Campbell.

Al

IRR: Cadet Campbell took 4 years of high-quality education from the Army.

I could agree with you if the guy was ROTC, but the fact is he owes the Army a lot. I don't see how serving as a recruiter repays the considerable investment the government has made in him. Do you think it's a good payback?

And if you do, should the Army offer the same deal to an enlisted soldier who tries out for a free-agent spot on an NFL team and is accepted?

My school, USNA, in the time after Roger the Dodger (Roger did go Vietnam and did his full commitment.) has adopted the approach now being proposed by the USMA. Winning football teams do bring an increase to the selection base for the Academies. These professional athletes who use the facilities as a training camp do get a better education and project a good citizen image. That being said, the purpose of these schools is to deliver officers to the fleet or forces. Army-Navy may be a great game and it is a wonderful feeling to be free from the 43 Notre Dame captivity years; but, if we are so under mortal fear from Islamist, etc. why are we using national defense assets for the game little boys play, for the time used to sell beer and for the fill to pockets of the franchise holders? Do we really have a threat? Are the Academies out of touch? Or are they looking for a justification for continuance with the Athletic associations as lead development?

Mr. Carter,

I will take this opportunity to thank you for the insights that you share with the world that go a long way to show that the military mind-set is neither monolithic nor regressive in nature.

On this particular issue, however, I must disagree. If soon-to-be 2LT Campbell has the talent to be drafted, then it is in the Army's best interests to have him be drafted and serve as a spokesperson/ recruiter through the process. We are talking about 1 individual in approximately 1000 here. If 2LT Campbell can recruit 10 NFL "wannabees" to go to West Point and if even 2 or 3 have their own talent to be eventually be drafted themselves, the Army is still up by 7 - 8 quality soldier-athletes. By showing a path to potential, our gain outweighs the loss of the few that actually can attain it.

As for my standing, I am a graduate of West Point, I served 13 years on active duty, and I have served the past 8 years in the National Guard.

At the risk of opening up a different kettle of worms, I personally believe that USMA should offer reserve commissions into the USAR and the National Guard - not many, but a few, every year, to put that "leavening" into the reserve component as well. Up until shortly after 9/11, there was a steady trickle of USMA graduates who would leave active duty and become USAR and ARNG officers - with great benefit to their gaining units. Since then, the flow has dried up. Perhaps a program where every State National Guard HQs can put forth a fully qualified enlisted soldier - who then either returns to the State National Guard or a slot is made available for others should he/she decide to go RA with a similar arrangement for the USAR Regional Commands.

Keep up the good work, we can always agree to disagree.

Phil, Al and others,

I can certainly see your points and respect your opinions, but we really have to ask ourselves how far we want to go down this "slippery slope" asserting that only those serving in OIF and OEF are truly serving the Army.

What about the USMA Academy (Permanent) Professors; the 71A Microbiologists at WRAIR toiling on a novel malaria vaccine; the uniformed Pediatricians and OB/GYNs taking care of dependents; the Spanish Linguists; the South America FAOs; the over 700 HIV positive non-deployable soldiers on active duty; the thousands of 79R career recruiters who will NEVER deploy or even go to the field?

The logical limits of your argument are apparant.

I mean, we're beating CDT Campbell to death as being "unfair" to other 2LTs; while we have thousands of NCOs hiding out in USAREC for 10-15 years while their SSG, SFC and MSG brethren deploy again and again. How about the HIV+ Oxygen thieves that we legally can't MEB/MMRB?

I wonder what Bill Carpenter, West Point's "lonesome end," and Pete Dawkins, his teammate, would have to say about this.

Dawkins earned two Bronze Stars in Viet Nam. Carpenter earned a Silver Star and a DSC there (the latter for calling artillery in on his overrun position).

Cheers,

JP

@ USMA87Grad --

Re your suggestion that "USMA should offer reserve commissions into the USAR and the National Guard," I think you're absolutely on to something here.

The Marines do something similar when they leaven their force by spreading top-quality junior officers around all of the branches. They do this through a weird system that divides each TBS cohort into ninths and then allocates first pick of branch to the first, fourth and seventh 9th, and then the second, fifth and eigth, and so on. They also assign active-duty Marine officers to reserve battalions. I think these do a lot of good to bolster the readiness of units across the Marine Corps.

The Army has experimented with this and the results have been generally positive. Would like to see the Army move further in this direction. I'm not sure that a newly-minted 2LT out of USMA is necessarily the best person because he/she doesn't know how to be an officer yet. But maybe you take USMA grads coming off a first tour in Korea and divert them to reserve assignments, or something like that.

Good thinking.

Phil McConkey was a notable wide receiver for the Giants after serving four years active duty after graduating from the Naval Academy. He had no problem with any of that.

Difficulty with this entire question is that most promising high school athletes can get a free ride to a civilian college without all of the strings.

My daughter was pursued by West Point for an athletic admission. It was flattering to get the attention, but in the end she opted for a Div III program where she could be a bigger fish. Too many distractions at an academy program

Campbell's model should be Doc Blanchard, who after graduating from West Point in 1947 and being drafted in the first round of the NFL draft, continued his military service as a fighter pilot in Korea and Viet Nam.

Is this much different from when movie stars (Reagan) used to serve on Active Duty during WWII? Reagan enlisted before the war, and was brought on to active duty in 1942 as a 2LT (after already establishing himself as an actor). Instead of deploying, he instead served in 1944 pushing war bonds. Is this really that different of an idea?

BG, I would think the difference would be that physical disability barred Reagan from service outside the continental US. This restriction didn't affect other actors such as Jimmy Stewart and Clark Gable who received commissions, were free of disabilities and ended up on the unenviable rosters of bomber command, taking their chances above the skies of Germany.

I might make another case here for Pat Tillman, Henry Fonda, Malcom Forbes or Steelers great Rocky Bleier. These men not only didn't use their celebrity to avoid combat, they volunteered for it and did so in the lowest ranks.

That doesn't mean they were in any way better than those who didn't, but it shows a very different perspective about sacrifice than what is being conveyed by USMA and the pragmatics of participating in the NFL.

When I was a Marine NCO in a rifle platoon, the thought that I could have told my CO that I would like to try out for the Indiana Pacers and deserved to be excused from our collective sacrifice not only would have been unutterab;e, it would have been considered a mark of grave moral defiency on my part.

No one is disputing the reality that a great many officers, some of whom are USMA grads, will never deploy overseas. They go where the Army determines them to be most effective.

Rather, I think what is being discussed here is how this policy resonates in the larger public and within the ranks.

From my own perspective, it stinks because it solidifies the message that there are two distinct Armies, one for the special, the officer, the elite, the gifted; the other the unlucky, the sacrificial, the denigrated.

While I applaud the cadet on his obvious physical skills on the gridiron, I would admire him more if he took his chance with everyone else in his class and then pursued a football career.

Just like Bleier, Staubach, Ted Williams, Christy Mathewson or Chuck Bednarik.

During WWII in the NFC alone, 19 active players, a coach and a team executive died in combat.

Two players and an executive also received the Medal of Honor.

How far have we come in so short a span?

Baloney is baloney, no matter how you cut it. This cynical, dishonest practice has been going on for a long time. When there was a service draft, choice athletes were simply declared to be 4F upon graduation.

Why does this issue even have to be debated?

How do you think an officer or enlisted man would feel if he was held back in Iraq by the stop-loss program, and read this in the news paper?

While you could argue that he may have some value in a roll as a recruiter, the NEGATIVE message is much stronger. The positive message may be felt by a dozen or so young men over the next few years, but the NEGATIVE message would be felt immediately by men who are still waiting their tern to come home.

We have THOUSANDS of officers who now have PTSD, or physical issues, that make it unwise to return them directly to the field of combat, and who would be a far better choice to help enlist young men.

In the US there are religions that get undeserved genuflection, god and football.

I wonder if a first rate proficiency in math gets you released to be a banker, or proficiency in English gets you released to be a news paper man? No is the answer.

So whats the message to young Cadets? Football is more important to the modern warrior than math or communication.

What's the message to the stop-lossed who's contract reads "In the event of war, my enlistment in the Armed Forces continues until six (6) months after the war ends." ?

With a plan for a never ending war on terror or a 100 year war, that little legalese must be a bitter pill. Already the rich and famous do not have to serve, only the boots who need the job. Having a special exemption status for people who sign up and then get famous later is hypocrisy.

A foot ball player!
Not a physics genius, or a cadet who can design robotic surveillance planes, or a cadet who is a genius at cyphers, NO, the exemption goes to a man who wants out to make some money playing ball.

Isn't that a 4th Infantry Division patch on his football jersey? Looks like he had a change of heart, are they about to deploy again??

I'm a grad (26 years service)and I have a son who is a cadet at USMA. He knows what he signed up to do. I think that this football diversion policy is an atrocious violation of all that USMA should stand for. I'd rather keep losing to Navy with our heads held high than sacrifice our values of selfless service for a possible football recruiting edge.

Duty, Honor, Country. NFL does not appear on the list.

This has nothing to do with recruiting for the Army. It has everything to do with West Point grads wanting their sports programs to do better.

In a time of war such a policy is reprehensible.

And since he won't be serving them like he promised, is he going to pay the taxpayers back for his very expensive education?

The West Point Prep School (known as USMAPS) was created in order to ensure more enlisted soldiers had the opportunity to go to West Point. About half or more of the students there are not prior enlisted soldiers - they are recruited athletes who don't have test scores or grades high enough for admission. At taxpayer expense they are treated to a year of intensive preparation for the SAT, and then they get in to West Point to play sports. The original purpose of the school - to ensure more young enlisted soldiers have the opportunity to attend the US Military Academy - is secondary at best.

And now we learn football players can attend West Point and then not serve.

Remind me again what the F West Point is for again? I am pretty sure it was not to develop football players, or to satisfy its own alumi with successful sports programs. I foolish thought it is there to provide officers for the Army.

Anything that does not help it do that is wrong. Sending this guy to the NFL is another taxpayer ripoff and should not, EVER, be allowed.

USAFA '78

Allowing this young man to renege on a commitment HE made to the nation at the beginning of his junior year is the real pothole here.

This is opening Pandora's Box and this episode may end ok, but I can guarantee you future episodes won't. Lawyers will get involved when USMA tries to reinstate some controls. Smart cadets who get high dollar offers from hi-tech companies will use it as a precedent for using a valuable taxpayer financed education to jump ship for the big bucks.

This is a huge mistake. The other service academies ought to be weighing in also because the precedent is transferable to all of them. If going to pilot training and flying A-10s in SWA was good enough for Chad Hennings...who went on to a great career in the NFL after four years, it is good enough for Cadet Campbell. If winning a gold medal in the Olympics was good enough for 2Lt Alonzo Babers who then served out his commitment, it is good enough for Cadet Campbell. The USAF got plenty of great PR out of both.

Of course Cadet Cambell could just do the right thing, make an integrity check, take the hand-wringing out of USMA's cross-check, and state unequivocably that he will serve a reasonable commitment and pursue his professional football career at the appropriate time.

At the end of the day the Army's job is to fight and win America's wars. Campbell (I wont dignify him with rank) isn't doing that. We are an Army at war, not a nation, an Army. If he isn't fighting along with the rest of us, to hell with him. Get him out of my Army.

The appropriate solution is to allow Campbell to play for the NFL provided that all his earnings for the next X years beyond his normal military pay be remitted to the USMA for its recruiting efforts, where X equals the average number of years that a USMA graduate remains in the military.

This would enable Campbell to pay back his country while enjoying his passion for football.

The only thing this proves is that all America really gives a damn about is football.

USMA has been sending cadets to pro sports since 2005. Look up the names Milan Dinga and Nick Hill, who are playing pro baseball right now. Nobody said boo. But now it's football, and everybody's knickers are in a twist.

Enjoy your bread and circuses...

Drill Sergeant,

Give me a break with your "we're an army at war" nonsense. Spare me.

We have thousands of NCOs who voluntarily converted to become 79R Recruiters to never deploy and you don't have anything to say about that. Instead, you beat up on someone who will actually be earning a commission.

We also have 700+ HIV Positive "Oxygen Thieves" on active duty - occupying TDA positions that cannot be seperated and cannot deploy.

As an NCO, perhaps you should look around at your 79R and HIV+ peers and call them out first.

World A'Hoy Y'All;Now @3:14 PM Friday,here @Downtown West Side Jerusalem,where our Jewish Sabbath=שבת,begins in jusy over 3 hours.

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לחיים=To Life! PRIORITY 1 LIFE

If you ask the Navy what they would have preferred with David Robinson - a few years of 100% active duty or a Hall of Fame career being referred to as "The Admiral" I don't think there's any doubt what they would answer. Once a decade an academy athlete comes along who is good enough to go pro in one of the big 3 sports - let 'em. (Though IMO Navy allowing NapM a 5th year at USNA just to play ball was disgraceful).

USMA85, your analogy to David Robinson is inappropriate. Robinson outgrew the Navy (he literally exceed the maximum allowable height for serving afloat or in aircraft) while at the Academy. He could have taken the out at his junior year, but the Navy asked him to stay through graduation, which he did. Since he was ineligible for sea duty, he was excused for 3 of his 5 years commitment. He served the 2 years BEFORE he went into the NBA.

I say let the kid play football. As a former Army football player I know first hand how hard this young man has had worked to get where he is, and for him to be graduating on time and to be considered a good enough player to try be drafted by the NFL is really something special.

He may not even make the team, may never play a down, but he should be allowed to give it a try.

He can always reimburse the country for the costs of his education.

As they say, West Point is a hundred thousand dollar education, shoved down your throat one nickel at a time...

This is complete, utter BS. Army would never extend the same privilege to, say, a brilliant world-class scientist or historian at West Point. (Which is another problem: that he/she wouldn't _be_ at West Point....) And Mr. Carter's right, this guy just isn't a soldier in any meaningful way. Lots of folks work on the periphery of the military, support the military -- hell, you could get any number of NFL players with no West Point connection to stand up and say something great about their admiration for soldiers if you think it's a recruiting bonus.

But it's also something that gives me a pretty low opinion of Campbell. There are actually people in Army who turn their backs on lots of money or promising careers -- at least temporarily -- out of a real desire to do some good. Campbell was let into West Point presumably out of the belief that he was in that number. Apparently not.

Sanjay,

Please. As I've said to previous posters, how far down this slippery slope are you willing to take your argument ... will you criticize those USMA graduates that leave service at the first oppotunity as "less" committed because they won't persisist to retirement. Your argument is as untenable as the one that implies that Campbell is "burdening" his peers while ignoring the THOUSANDS of NCOs in MOS 79R who are permanently hiding out from deployment in Recruiting Command or the HIV+ oxygen thieves homesteading in coveted TDA positions.

This "what have you done for me lately" mindset gripping the Army is a direct result of an organization culturally adrift and wildly flailing as it tries to match manpower requirements to available personnel.

The "guilt trip" arguments that you use are becoming tiresome. I hear the same things as a member of the IRR by increasingly desperate Reserve retention NCOs and National Guard personnel officers desperate to fill slots. The argument is along the lines of "don't let the team down". I even had one USAR BG go so far as telling me that being in the IRR wasn't a satisfactory commitment to the Army. This came as quite a shock considering that I could have walked away free and clear in January of 2003.

Wait a minute! LT Campbell is executing a perfectly legal and valid personnel option offered by the Army and codified in regulation. Ditto for those of us that elect to be in the IRR and those IRR personnel who seek delay/exemption from mobilization orders. We are executing options allowed in Army policy ... not using extralegal maneuvering to have our own, selfish way.

As the Army flails and crumbles from within, strawmen are erected to pit soldiers against each other. This toxic atmosphere was accelerated by many of GEN Schoomaker's misguided (but well-intentioned) inititaives to foster "elan" and a "warrior ethos."

Lastly, using non-veteran spokespeople to "pitch" the Army is disingenuous and leves me cold ... kind of what we're doing with NASCAR and NHRA having service-age drivers "sell" the Army when they clearly opted out of that decision themselves.

IRR,

If you think "using non-veteran spokespeople to 'pitch' the Army is disingenuous," then how do you support Campbell's deployment as a recruiter pitching the Army?

What exactly is he a veteran of? West Point? What's he going to sell? How he imbibed so much of the Duty / Honor / Country ethos that he decided to join the NFL instead of the active-duty Army?

The best argument I've heard supporting West Point goes something like this: "Look, these coaches have to hold out some hope to these athletes that they might be able to go pro at the end of West Point. It's a long shot, but these kids have to keep the dream alive. So they come to West Point, and most end up committing during their junior year. But then, almost none go pro, so the Army nets a bunch of lieutenants."

This disturbs me on many levels.

Phil,

You never addressed my pervious question. Is CDT Campbell not being commisioned as a 2LT in the USAR upon graduation. If he's not getting commisioned at all, I will gladly concede your point. I've seen no indication however that he won't be commisioned.

He will get commisioned, he will attend OBC and he will be a "real, live Army Reserve officer."

Again, we're pliing on Caleb Cambell while ignoring the herd of elephants in the same room - the THOUSANDS of perfectly healthy 79R Recruiting NCOs (all with deploybale secondary MOS') who opted into USAREC as a means of avoiding the demands of the mainstream Army and the HUNDREDS of HIV+ oxygen thieves occupying increasingly rare TDA positions.

Look, I have many problems with USMA. My biggest issue is their ham-handed attempts to be some "Ivy League-lite" institution.

I would be a big USMA fan if the seats truly were allocated the way they should be: 10 per Congressional district. If the kids from Brooklyn's 10th District or the Bronx's 16th District were below average academically, oh well. Instead, we see these slots reallocated to athletes and white suburbanites who are OVERREPRESENTED at USMA.

In USMA's Class of 2007, only 5 NYC residents graduated despite that fact that NYC has all or part of 13 Congressional Districts and by raw poupulation % (of national population) should have had about 27 kids in the class of '07.

OK, IRR -

I can't get too angry at Campbell for taking the out the Army is giving him. My issue is with the Army for doing it.

Campbell may put on a set of bars, but it will be a meaningless act if he is immediately sent off to the NFL. He may be a "real, live officer" on paper but he will not have served or discharged his obligation in any meaningful sense. The Army has decided that it's more important to have him play in the NFL than serve as an officer, and putting bars on him and keeping him on the payroll as a 2LT isn't going to change that.

Note that the 79R's you disparage are all, unlike Campbell, veterans of previous service in another MOS - many in garrison, but many more in combat.

Also, lay off the soldiers with HIV, will you? Getting HIV is a tragedy, and there is no easy way for the Army to deal with these people. If you need to bring them up to support your argument, fine, but this is the second or third time you've called them "oxygen thieves" and I think it's nasty and mean-spirited.

Your points about the allocation of USMA spots are interesting but irrelevant to Campbell.

Fair comments. Points well taken with respect to HIV.

Regarding the 79Rs, I highlight them because if letting Campbell - one 2LT - play in the NFL is "unfair", what about having thousands of career NCOs remain on active duty and never deploy? As I said, they all have secondaries. Is it good public/personnel policy to have USAREC NCOs who haven't been in the "real" Army since 1992 or 1993? We have them. What tangible connection do they have to the state of today's Army or more importantly, the overstretched, over-deployed Army their new detailed recruiters are drawn from. Are they selling a "product" that no longer exists or has so materially changed from what they believe is their "first person testimonial"?

Bill Keller posted:

". . . but, if we are so under mortal fear from Islamist, etc. why are we using national defense assets for the game little boys play, for the time used to sell beer and for the fill to pockets of the franchise holders? Do we really have a threat? Are the Academies out of touch? Or are they looking for a justification for continuance with the Athletic associations as lead development?"

Nice. Knock on a whole lot of assumptions with that post, and don't even get into weapons procurement . . .

"He can always reimburse the country for the costs of his education."

You betcha. His $100,000 education was paid for by the American taxpayer, who did not cough up his taxes for this talented young athlete to play pro football. Thank you very much, but he could have played college football at any number of universities and had his education funded in numerous ways--none of which would have been underwritten by the American people as a whole. The last time I checked, the education afforded by our military academies was paid for by this country's citizens. As much as I usually agree with most of IRR Soldier's comments, he seems way off base on this one. way off.

I think this is profoundly corrupt, and weakens the military. It proves once again that if you can play football or basketball at a high level (and not get hurt, as most do) you are a special being, unaccountable and privileged; but if you are not, you're scum. Go off and die already, we don't need you.

Phil,

This is great advertising for the Army. No ifs, ands, or buts. To get this kind of good publicity would cost the Army millions.

Just having this guy in the recruiting station will draw potential recruits. What we need are more celebrities (not only football stars) in the reserves. Some might go into combat, which might be good. More importantly, they have the potential to be role models.

I saw Cadet Campbell featured on a news show - I want to say 60 Minutes. It bothered me a lot and I felt sorry for Cadet Campbell that he's been placed in this position by Academy leadership. I know it's hard for USMA to recruit football players, even compared to the other service academies, but is building a winning football program at West Point so important that they need to set this double-standard? I can't believe that the institution that calls its sports teams "Army" and considers itself the cradle of Army leadership would downplay service within the very Army it represents. When I was at USMAPS, there was a parable posted on a wall explaining why officers receive relative benefits over enlisted soldiers. The answer boiled down to one simple reason, captured in the opening Omaha Beach scene in Saving Private Ryan: when everyone around him is frozen and frightened, as is to be expected in war, it's the officer's duty to rise up and call out 'follow me'. That's not to say only Army officers at the tip of the spear qualify as leaders. It is to say that officers, among other things, are the moral compass, spirit, intent and will around which soldiers coalesce and orient. As a former enlisted soldier, I can say that the officers who are responsible for and to the best men and women this nation has to offer have a higher responsibility of leadership.

I'm not against officers moving onto other things, like the NFL, after they've fulfilled their service commitment, but I would rather West Point lose to Annapolis by 30 points every year in the Army-Navy game, if that means USMA produces a football team full of good officers, than beat Navy and see West Point graduates exempted from their sacred duty.

I said: "I saw Cadet Campbell featured on a news show - I want to say 60 Minutes."

As I was. The show was ESPN's E:60, not 60 Minutes.

Oh, boy. The best comments I've seen thus far include "reprehensible" and "corrupt." IRR, in a rare but violent disagreement from one of your biggest fans, I just have to ask, "What are you thinking?" ISTM that in your focus on the recruiting mission, you're maybe missing what the Army's all about. As Phil's pointed out, you're a real officer. This man will never be a real officer. Never. And he won't help your recruiting one bit. Reality is he's just getting a pass so he can make a lot of money playing a game. While his classmates and other Americans are out there bleeding and dying.

And, as to the West Point grads who think this is a great idea, all I can say is, "Gentleman, get your heads out." Is beating Navy more important than the USMA's stated mission? As a retired RA officer who never got the opportunity to attend the boys' school on the Hudson, I'd say there is at least one bright spot: West Point graduates no longer get automatic RA commissions. That would really take the cake.

I agree with the NCO upthread who said he didn't want this man in his Army. I agree. I don't want him in my Army either. I accordingly think he should be discharged and made to pay the full cost of the free ride back to the taxpayers. I also think there's a good case to be made for closing the service academy NCAA sports programs down. Granted, sports are important, but intramural sports do just fine in molding character. When this unhealthy national preoccupation with big-time sports starts interfering with the purpose of our military academies, I'd say it's time to reevaluate our basic premises. You USMA grads might be interested to learn that the vast majority of serving and retired soldiers don't really care all that much about Army-Navy. And with these kind of shenanigans going on, even fewer will care.

Recruiting, my eye. As has been noted, what kind of credibility will a jock who's not really an officer have when trying to entice the youth of America to participate in wars in which he's not willing to serve? Even though he's a "West Point graduate." And an "Army officer." This is just a transparent move to aid athletic recruiting at West Point. ISTM the West Point mafia's priorities are clearly out of synch with military realities.

This is really disgraceful. Shame on the Army.

Publius: "You USMA grads might be interested to learn that the vast majority of serving and retired soldiers don't really care all that much about Army-Navy."

I do care about the Army-Navy game inasmuch as I was a USMAPS CC and briefly a USMA CDT, and when I served, especially overseas, it was a national event that bore our 'family' name. However, I understand that the game is held between two NCAA programs that will never return to elite status no matter how many exemptions they dangle. The game *only* matters because it stands for deeds, values, and ideals found "beyond the fields of friendly strife". I've attended enough Army-Navy games to know that the football itself ain't that great.

As a former enlisted soldier, I'll say it again: CDT Campbell's exemption to play in the NFL? I'm against it and the reductive message it projects about the value of the Army and Army values to Soldiers and to civilians on the outside looking in. Way to sell out everything the West Point 'brand' stands for, sirs and ma'ams.

None of this for CDT Campbell anymore, I guess:

The Corps, The Corps, The Corps

The Corps bareheaded, salute it
With eyes up thanking our God
That we of the corps are treading
Where they of the corps have trod

They are here in ghostly assemblage
The men of the corps long dead
And our hearts are standing attention
While we wait for their passing tread

We sons of today, we salute you
You sons of an earlier day
We follow close order behind you
Where you have pointed the way

The long grey line of us stretches
Through the years of a century told
And the last man feels to his marrow
The grip of your far off hold

Grip hands with us now, though we see not
Grip hands with us strengthen our hearts
As the long line stiffens and straightens
With the thrill that your presence imparts

Grip hands, though it be from the shadows
While we swear as you did of yore
Or living or dying to honor
The Corps, and The Corps, and The Corps

I don't like the hostility toward CDT Campbell. He has the opportunity to make millions doing something he enjoys, and he will be allowed to do it. How many people think he deserves scorn? Pat Tillman volunteered to leave millions and risk his life (and he lost it) and that deserves respect, but CDT Campbell does not deserve scorn.

The problem is the policy, not the soldiers who benefit from it at the expense of the nation. Fix the policy, don't blame a mere cadet who chooses to do what a lot, perhaps most, would do given the same chance. I hold no ill will toward CDT Campbell for being allowed to avoid his obligation to serve. I do hold ill will toward those who decided to allow it.

jd: "I hold no ill will toward CDT Campbell for being allowed to avoid his obligation to serve. I do hold ill will toward those who decided to allow it."

I mostly agree with the 1st part and entirely agree with the 2nd part of your statement. I feel more sorry for Campbell than upset at him, but I still find it disappointing that a soon-to-be West Point graduate and commissioned officer would choose as he has. At the same time, I don't believe - if the same opportunity was offered to every West Point firstie - Campbell would be lonely in his choice.

West Point offers important values and ethical lessons reinforced by a setting steeped in deep heritage, but it doesn't do brainwashing. The best West Point can hope is that its graduates are equipped to make better decisions when thrust into critical leadership roles in a far more ambiguous real world.

My question is who did Campbell bump to get his spot at West Point? That kid could have been serving in the Army instead of wasting time with the NFL. IRR, personally I wouldn't want to serve under a 2LT that placed his NFL career before his commitment to his country and Army, PR be damned. He'd be one hell of a PL, that's for sure - sarcasm on.

As a taxpayer, I'm not at all happy about paying for a jock's education at West Point so he can get rich in the NFL. As a retired Army officer, I'm very unhappy to see the Army acknowledge that athletics is more important that service. Where does duty, honor, country fit into this thinking?

IRR -
I just want to be clear you're not using an insider technical term. When you refer to HIV+ individuals in the military as "oxygen thieves", does this mean what I think it does? That they do not deserve to live and are stealing oxygen from the rest of us?

Against. Morale killer, as all PR stunts performed by our organization. We build cred by "being" - He ain't "been" an officer under fire in a foreign land. He's only another millionaire. Here's a deal, he pays back the cost of his education with interest, takes a general discharge and has no contact with USMA or the Army.

Corner Stone,

When I use the term "oxygen thieves" I use it in the typical Army context - these folks are essentially useless, take up space and fill up a large number of the increasingly rare TDA positions needed to give our high optempo personnel a chance to "take a knee."

I would never suggest that an HIV+ person has no right to live life to the fullest. That said, I'm not sure that this status, which makes them nondeployable, should warrant them an opportunity to serve in uniform until retirement if they choose.

Nobody is going to join the ARMY because Campbell plays pro football. He hasn't even made the team, he may be gone after training camp. Maybe West Point should open up the pro draft to Cisco, IBM, GE and other fortune 500 companies. Wouldn't it be a great recruiting tool if they could point to West Point trained "corporate players" and say you can serve your country in corporate management. You don't have to fight or even risk your safety. Now THAT would fill West Point!
There is a war going on and Campbell has an obligation to lead soldiers that need him.
If his football career results in one officer's "stop-loss" or one LT going in harms way to fill his vacancy... that would be the worst of sins.

A little late but...
When he had a choice he placed his own interests first. Would I want to serve with him? Absolutely not. With his attitude he'd be elbowing (or ordering) Soldiers out of the way to get to the front of the chow line, showers, and phones. It's best that he not serve, when it came down to it, he showed his true colors and chose material wealth over sacrifice.
And by the way, IRR, at least the 79R's are filling a slot the Army deemed necessary. Your remarks regarding HIV+ Soldiers are a clear indication of your ignorance. Rather than focus on their contributions, you choose to focus on their drawbacks. At least they're serving...