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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1985)
sjbuiiu3§ auijW but both still make military officers By WENDY JOHNSON Staff Writer A fish here, a doolie there, some times a plebe. These are different names for the same thing ... a fresh man at a military academy. Although the names change from school to school, there are many similarities between the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M and the mili tary academies. But the most distin guishing difference is the spirit shown at A&M. "There's more pride in the uniform down in Texas," says Ensign James Cochrane, a recent graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, who attended a conference at A&M last spring. "It's not fashionable to enjoy (your self) at the Academy.'' Although the corps is smaller, the traditions are stronger, he says. Richard Kidd, senior at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N. Y., attended the same conference. "I was impressed with A&M," he says. "Everyone was really friendly, and proud of their traditions." A&M's Corps is the only other seven day military institution in the nation besides the military acade mies. But here the cadets' weekends are usually their own unless there is a special required event or they are kept in as a disciplinary measure. At the Naval Academy, freshmen are on duty all the time and get no weekends off during the semester. Out of 16 weekends, sophomores get five weekends off and juniors get eight. Seniors are off every week end. At West Point, freshmen get one free weekend per semester, sophomores two or three, juniors four to six and seniors get every weekend off. These academies also have regu lations concerning cars. At West Point everyone is allowed to have a car, but only seniors are allowed to operate and maintain one. The Naval Academy allows stu dents to have cars, but makes it diffi cult for some students to drive them. Freshmen are required to park seven miles away and are restricted to staying within seven miles of cam pus. Sophomores also have to keep cars seven miles out, but are al lowed a bigger radius. Juniors can keep cars two miles 1 from campus and enjoy a larger area of freedom. Seniors can keep a car on campus (if they're good) and drive anywhere. Hazing is very light at the Naval Academy, according to Cochrane. "They don't even like us scream ing at them," he says. Any hazing takes the form of men tal stress, rather than physical. They are not allowed to make under classmen do sit-ups and pushups. The situation is much the same at West Point. A few cadets die each year in ac cidents but none have died as a re sult of hazing or training. One notable difference between A&M and the others is the entrance requirements. The Naval Academy, Air Force Academy and West Point all require a congressional nomi nation. Then applicants must be ac cepted by one of the academies. It's a long, complicated process that must be started early in the junior year of high school. At A&M, it's easier to get in. We accept anyone. Jeff Brady, senior cadet at A&M, says this is an important difference. "If you can get in the University, you can get in the Corps of Cadets," Brady says. "The other institutions take a good thing and fine polish it; A&M takes raw material and devel ops it to the fullest." walled in. The biggest difference Sandlin sees is in the treatment of females at the Naval Academy. "The set up was lots different," Sandlin says. "There were no wom en's outfits; the women were all mixed in with everyone else." (The rooms each have their own private showers and bathrooms). "It was lots better — I didn't see any discrimination of women like here," Sandlin says. The Naval Academy has 95 women in each class of 1200. "They get negative and positive re sponses," Cochrane says. "It de pends on the company, the group, and the girl in question." Ten percent of the corps at West Texas A&M University Air Force Academy Naval Academy West Point Freshmen Fish Doolies Plebes Plebes Sophomores Pissheads 3rd Class Youngsters Yearlings Juniors Surgebutts 2nd Class 2nd Class or Secundos Cows Seniors Zips 1st Class or Firsties 1st Class or Firsties Firsties Brady says the Corps of Cadets at A&M has an advantage over the other academies because the cadets at A&M are less isolated and inter mingle with civilian students. This less exclusive atmosphere and the deeper traditions at A&M are a bo nus for cadets, Brady says. Scott Sandlin, also a senior cadet at A&M, attended a conference at the Naval Academy last spring. He says the Academy's traditions and treatment of underclassmen were almost identical to A&M; the fresh men had to know campusology, etc. The Naval Academy's uniqueness comes from the all military atmo sphere. Everyone takes naval sci ence and a set of required extra cur ricular studies. Cadets at A&M also have more liberties; at the Naval Academy the gates are closed at a certain hour and the campus is Point is women. They were first ac cepted in 1976. These women, too, are judged by their individual merit. A&M cadets get a pretty good deal on uniforms, too. At the Naval Academy, midshipmen pay for their uniforms and the upkeep of them. They can get uniform loans, but they must be paid back during the school year. At West Point, uniforms and other supplies are deducted from their monthly pay, which is half of a base second leiutenents pay, or $480 per month. The most cadets ever see of the paycheck is $270 when they are seniors, according to West Point se nior Richard Kidd. At A&M, uniforms are furnished free until the junior year when ca dets must decide whether or not to take a contract. If they are con tracted, the uniforms remains free, if not, they pay $100 per semester uni form fee. Cadets are responsible for cleaning costs. Cadets at West Point and A&M wear uniforms that are unique to the school and bear little resemblance to an active duty uniforms. The stu dents at the Naval Academy and Air Force Academy wear uniforms simi lar to active duty uniforms, but are customized to signify cadet rank. "But none has stuff to shine and put on like we do," Sandlin says. Aggies earn ROTC medals and ribbons they wear on their uniforms. Cadets at West Point can only wear actual Army ribbons and medals they earn during prior service or temporary summer active duty. Students at the military acade mies are considered members of the armed forces and enjoy active duty pnvileges according to their ranks, unlike A&M cadets, Kidd says. Dur ing the summers they serve tempo rary tours of duty with the regular armed services to gain exposure to and experience for future work. Na val cadets go on cruises and Army cadets go to basic training-type camps and specialized training pro grams. Aggies go to an ROTC sum mer camp in their junior year if they are under contract, with an option to attend camp the summer following their senior year. Upon graduation, cadets get a few weeks off and then go to work paying back the years they owe the military. None of the academies march or practice with live weapons unless during training in the summer. They use actual rifles in parades, but the triggers are soldered, the barrels plugged or the firing pins removed. Naval Academy graduate James Cochrane says a strength of the Na val Academy is that it puts out ded icated officers who are patriotic and have a keen sense of duty. A weak ness is arrogance and the belief they are better than other ROTC mem bers, he says. Another disadvan tage is their isolation from civilian students. Since the Naval Academy is an engineering school, it's also easy to escape the liberal arts, and written and spoken communication skills are frequently lacking. Sandlin, of A&M, cites the diver sity of education, curriculum and students at A&M as a definite strength. He also says there are more ways to get involved here. "The academies get more military education," Sandlin says. "Though A&M gets more than a totally civil ian college would.'' Colonel Donald Johnson, assistant commandant of the corps at A&M and retired military officer, says Ag gies do very well in the service. A&M provided the armed services with 220 officers last year, he says, and commissions officers three times a year, compared to once a year at the other academies. Johnson says the Army is the highest single em ployer of Aggie graduates. □