Posted on Dec 2, 2015
ROTC officers removed after Brockport students hospitalized. Is our Army becoming too soft?
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This is sad for the PMS & SMI. Pathetic kids don't deserve to be contracted if you can't do PT. I guess if they tried for Ranger Challenge they wouldn't end up in the hospital. They'd end up in a funeral home because of tiny heart syndrome.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/12/02/rotc-officers-removed-after-brockport-students-hospitalized/76660958/Opinions?
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/12/02/rotc-officers-removed-after-brockport-students-hospitalized/76660958/Opinions?
ROTC
ROTC Instructor
Hazing
Physical Training
Edited 9 y ago
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 52
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It sounds to me like a failure to train-up and supervise. You take a bunch of kids who are not used to intense physical exercise and throw them into something like "The Murph". Mix that with testosterone and peer pressure, then fail to ensure that they are staying hydrated and getting proper nutrition over the course of several days. It is entirely unsurprising that you end up with some injuries. This is not a case of our Army getting soft. This is a case of leaders not taking care of their responsibilities.
Plan and train-up to the event. Make sure the participants are properly prepared to take on the physical stress. Conduct ORM and mitigate as many potential risks as possible. Then SUPERVISE.
Plan and train-up to the event. Make sure the participants are properly prepared to take on the physical stress. Conduct ORM and mitigate as many potential risks as possible. Then SUPERVISE.
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CW2 Carl Swanson
WHO was actually supervising the training? Was it the active Army personnel or was it upper classmen who created a little hazing along the way?
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CW2 Ernest Krutzsch
I went to the Warrant Officer Candidate School in 1991, every 2 minutes, you were told to Hydrate!! And they made sure you did! A few classes earlier, they had Candidates that had hand burns because the TACS made them do pushups on the road, that didn't happen again, TACS were fired. However, there were people who were unable to keep up with the rigorous pace, they were hospitalized or treated. No one got fired. So, I am saying, if you are on active duty, different standard, I don't think you push ROTC cadets that far.
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LCDR (Join to see)
Well said SGT! Maybe it wasn't done out of maliciousness, but it sounds like going from 0 to 100. Your body needs to be conditioned before it can do some of that - like 100 pull-ups!!!
I had something similar at my first command (but not to that extreme). When you expect everyone to PT like those going through BUDS, people are bound to get injured. In my situation, several people ended going to medical.
Leading people in PT, you need to adjust the workouts so people don't get hurt or demoralized because they can't do 100 pull-ups. Learn to give modifications to respect the diversity of people's abilities.
I had something similar at my first command (but not to that extreme). When you expect everyone to PT like those going through BUDS, people are bound to get injured. In my situation, several people ended going to medical.
Leading people in PT, you need to adjust the workouts so people don't get hurt or demoralized because they can't do 100 pull-ups. Learn to give modifications to respect the diversity of people's abilities.
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1LT William Clardy
Exactly on point, CW2 Ernest Krutzsch -- unless things have changed since my final days as a cadidiot, one very significant difference is that a cadets who suffer disabling injuries during training get nothing more than a handshake and best wishes as their contract gets cancelled. I got in a little trouble at Advanced Camp when a young buck sergeant took exception to me pointing out that fact to him as a good reason to slow down the pace during a night-time "patrol" where we sounded like a herd of elephants tromping along, and a couple of folks had close calls (one where an idiot thought it was amusing to hold his cap off to one side and snatch it back so that the guy behind him smacked a tree).
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The problem does not lie with the cadets who went to the hospital. The problem lies with the planner, executer, and approving official. This was an event in line with very poor judgment.
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1LT (Join to see)
It would also be interesting to hear what the MFT has to say about what happened..
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MAJ Ken Landgren
The mere fact that the removal of LTC and MSG occurred indicates this event was not prudent and was an anomaly.
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