Both here and over at Midrats, I have often asked the question of those with an connection to leadership development at Annapolis and the Naval War College - where are the battlefield tours?
Especially in the Commonwealth nations, battlefield tours - hosted, led, and supported by senior officers - are considered a critical part of professional development and an important part of team building and perspective.
As such - especially with the War of 1812 bicentennial going on - why aren't we doing this? There are scores of battles in the Annapolis to DC corridor that are perfect for Navy-Marine Corps battlefield tours. Forget the senior officers - why not just give the job to a few 1/C MIDN? They'd probably do a better job anyway.
Heck ... just look at what you could do with Commodore Barney ... but no.
I've asked and asked ... but no battlefield tours organized by anyone from the history or leadership cadre at Annapolis or anywhere from what I have been told ... I've even asked around from people who would know. Someone show me something ... at least the USMC at Quantico must be doing something ... right?
I guess we have more important things to do.
I guess we have more important things to do.
Please join us for an evening of laughter and reflection as Gender Matters presents the 8th annual performance of Under Covers, a Midshipman-written and Midshipman-performed series of monologues that explores attitudes toward gender in the Brigade. Performances will run on 2 nights‚ Tuesday, April 24 and Thursday, April 26, at 1930 in Mahan Theatre. The free show lasts about one hour and is followed by a Q & A period. All in the Naval Academy community are invited to attend, although the performance is closed to the general public.
We hope to see you there!
Michelle [redacted]-[redacted]
Department of English
US Naval Academy
107 Maryland Ave.
Annapolis, MD 21402
[redacted]@usna.edu
410-293-[redacted]... and yes - I really want the video if anyone can steal it for me. I will offer you what taste of h311 is in store for those who do go. Here is, as it is reported, a bit from the 2009; performance.
Oh in the name that all is wholesome and good; that is bad poetry.
Almost as bad as, yes, I think we can benchmark in this case ... it is less painful in German.
For the record - no one will ever force you to do something like this, much less in uniform, if you take an NROTC scholarship.
To my knowledge, no one is forced to attend Under Covers, or forced to perform there either. I think I do remember a survey of responses being taken from an English class, but that seemed to be the extent of any 'mandatory' participation.
ReplyDeleteThough I only attended twice while I was a mid, Under Covers was typically a creative, humorous, and thought-provoking performance. In fact, I think it did a much better job sparking genuine discussion among MIDN than most of the death-by-Powerpoint SAVI training.
I agree that battlefield tours would be a welcome addition to USNA's curriculum, but I doubt this optional event significantly detracts from any resources required to execute those tours.