Po-Mo ROTC Tableau
This happy cadet's photo is not featured in the BGSU ROTC Hall of Fame
I'm sick to death of seeing things
From tight-lipped, condescending, mamas little chauvinists
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth now
--Just Gimme Some Truth, John Lennon
_______________
Ranger does not have chicken pox, but merely a case of a poor yearbook xerox.
Recently he visited his college ROTC Program at Bowling Green State U. Ranger graduated from BGSU in 1968, a Distinguished Military Graduate, Regular Army Infantry Officer. ROTC taught him leadership, integrity, honor -- all the Boy Scout virtues. (Whether they have taken, is another matter. Ranger notes in his second commission the word "gentleman" was notably dropped from the oath.)
One place these fine lessons did not take is the ROTC Hall of Fame, where 4-Star General John Abrams' (son of Gen. Creighton Abrams) picture is prominently displayed. You can imagine Ranger's shock at finding General Abrams, for you see, there is a problem: Abrams is not a BGSU ROTC graduate.
Abrams flunked out of BG his first year of ROTC, to be subsequently commissioned as a 2LT/OCS. Capt. Abrams later returned to BG in the early 70's to finish his degree in the U.S. Army Bootstrap Program. This may seem a small point, but it demonstrates that facts are not relevant, even at the ROTC level of Army leadership.
Continuing his ramblings, Ranger remembered his professor of military science (PMS) advising against the Military Intelligence branch, his first choice, saying "You'll never make General officer in the MI." And so dumbass Ranger chose Infantry.
What PMS didn't tell him was that he wouldn't make General in the Infantry, either. What he didn't say was, having a 4-Star General for a father would be a great career enhancement, even for a college wash out.
It is all so very Post-Modern, something I'm sure the class of '68 will have no problem claiming as a theory of their own. The referent is gone, and the center does not hold. It is all so ironic, and so pastiche. If Ranger were high at the moment I am sure he would be amused, but he is not, and he is not.
I wonder how Gen. Abrams would feel about being co-opted into this Po-Mo tableau?
Recently he visited his college ROTC Program at Bowling Green State U. Ranger graduated from BGSU in 1968, a Distinguished Military Graduate, Regular Army Infantry Officer. ROTC taught him leadership, integrity, honor -- all the Boy Scout virtues. (Whether they have taken, is another matter. Ranger notes in his second commission the word "gentleman" was notably dropped from the oath.)
One place these fine lessons did not take is the ROTC Hall of Fame, where 4-Star General John Abrams' (son of Gen. Creighton Abrams) picture is prominently displayed. You can imagine Ranger's shock at finding General Abrams, for you see, there is a problem: Abrams is not a BGSU ROTC graduate.
Abrams flunked out of BG his first year of ROTC, to be subsequently commissioned as a 2LT/OCS. Capt. Abrams later returned to BG in the early 70's to finish his degree in the U.S. Army Bootstrap Program. This may seem a small point, but it demonstrates that facts are not relevant, even at the ROTC level of Army leadership.
Continuing his ramblings, Ranger remembered his professor of military science (PMS) advising against the Military Intelligence branch, his first choice, saying "You'll never make General officer in the MI." And so dumbass Ranger chose Infantry.
What PMS didn't tell him was that he wouldn't make General in the Infantry, either. What he didn't say was, having a 4-Star General for a father would be a great career enhancement, even for a college wash out.
It is all so very Post-Modern, something I'm sure the class of '68 will have no problem claiming as a theory of their own. The referent is gone, and the center does not hold. It is all so ironic, and so pastiche. If Ranger were high at the moment I am sure he would be amused, but he is not, and he is not.
I wonder how Gen. Abrams would feel about being co-opted into this Po-Mo tableau?
posted by rangeragainstwar at 8:18 PM
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