The Naples incident/how to ruin your career before it's started/make others suffer

I don't think the outrage from the locals and ecologists is unwarranted. Legal hunting can be a good and honest activity and even contribute to the local ecosystem in population control. On the other hand, it takes a special kind of person to use animals for target practice, endangered or not. Medical professionals tend to call these people psychopaths, and they really have no place in our enlightened society, and certainly no place in the officer ranks. (We tend to use the words "gentlemen" and "ladies" when referring to officers, don't we?) Of course, I'm not saying these guys did what they're accused of and are deserving of such ridicule. We'll let the courts decide that.

Here's more: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/feb/19/avian-ecologist-says-seven-charged-killing-21-wadi/

Seems like there's some kind of crazy-off contest going on here. Must be something in the water down that way.

He looks like the guy at the party that's just waiting to slip a roofie in to someone's drink. And I really hope he gets raked over the coals. I've seen too many glib, smug little fucks like this slime their way through.

I really hope that the press does not get wind of the fact that 4 of these guys are in the Navy.

Make that five, the only ones that aren't are the girl and the guy in the white t-shirt, the rest are all my classmates.

I'm sure it's only a matter of time, unfortunately. One of the people that commented on that first story mentioned that several of them were recent Academy grads. Surprisingly, it seems no one else picked up on it...they were all too busy frothing at the mouth about how these people deserve to be shot.

I'm sure it will be on Fox and CNN by the middle of next week. These things take about a week to get going national...

Fixed it for you. After all, it tends to be one or two or ten who ruin it for 100. It's probably not the first time they've done something dumb either...

Godspeed,

Thanks for the warning and stories. Those examples just make my stomach turn. I can't comprehend how their CoC's couldn't save them.

I can't even believe what I'm reading right now, I just spoke to my friend who's still in A-pool and all I can say is WTF????

Are they teaching stupid at the Academy nowadays? I'm sick of them (not all of them just a vast majority it seems) screwing things up for the rest of us. Not only are they mostly the ones involved with the negative incidents that happen here, but looking at most of them they have the least professional appearance, trashy looking uniforms (have you heard of shirt-stays?), and overall poor demeanor and physical fitness. I hate to stereotype a group of my peers but when a senior 0-3, almost 0-4, sits you down as a group (referring to a month ago) to tell you to get your sh*t locked on and some Ensigns openly gaff him off and laugh it just says everything. I'm willing to bet some of these idiots were among those that did so. I hope this serves as a wake up call for A-pool as a whole and any of you Academy guys reading this that are coming down in May and beyond. I know P-cola is your first taste of freedom and independence for many of you, be responsible and don't F it up. /end rant

I'm so glad I'm in IFS right now and don't have to deal with this clusterf%ck for another month. And no more brown shoes? Jesus H......

Im not sure I agree with this. I would be willing to bet that the majority of Academy grads are good eggs. There are rock stars and douchbags from every source.

That being said, it seems that there are some environmental elements which may make USNA graduates slightly more likely to make a mistake like this. We think of incidents like this and the golf cart/Waffle House incident from a couple months ago and instantly want to group all boat school grads into one category, but lets also remember that it was an NROTC kid who drove his lexus into someones house a few years back. Im sure we can come up with a few other anecdotal examples for NROTC and some for OCS.

Maybe USNA does have a higher propensity for this sort of thing, but I would be willing to bet that if we looked at a statistical analysis it would only be slightly higher than the other commissioning sources.

I'm just venting my frustrations on what I've seen since I've been here (which pretty much correlates to what I heard before I got here). I said they're not all bad, and I'm not speaking just to drunk/stupid incidents, it goes to other things such as professional appearance, there are a few Canoe U. grads who seem to be living by a different set of grooming standards and dress codes. And like I said it's not just me when one of the senior LT's sits you down as a group for a discussion on your behavior (not sure if you were there for that). My cousin is graduating from Annapolis in May and heading down here, he's locked on and I'm going to impress upon him to try and set the example for his fellow classmates, just like I'll continue to try and set the example for everyone else around me that I can.

You bouys (sic) crack me up sometimes .... what w/ all your concerns, troubles, brown vs. black shoes and "what should I do's" ....

When I was in the "Great Pool" waiting to start VT-1 @ Saufley ... our days usually revolved around:

PT in the AM at the gym down by the LEX on the quay ...



Followed by an "all-in" game of Tactics II in the BOQ lobby; the outcome of which COULD have changed the world as we knew it ...



Followed by a 60-70 MPH drive home to arrive by 1500 hours and see if General Hospital's Dr. Steve Hardy was/was not the father of Nurse Jessie's baby ...



Ahhhh ... the simpler times.

A4s, it gives me great joy to know that you once watched a soap opera with such fervor. Anything can happen, now.

We're glad you're glad, sir. Just doing our jobs....

I think the major difference is that ROTC and OCS Ensigns had 4+ years of college to act like fools. Its out of their systems.

Pretty clearly, whether you agree with it or not, the upper management/leadership is taking a very firm stand against brushes with the law. So if you want to avoid similar actions being taken against you, avoid said brushes, even if that means altering your what you do in your off time. Common sense would tell you to stay away from things like 100MPH tickets, too, even if there is no alcohol involved. IMO, it's just not worth the chance.

exactly.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/02/navy_deadbirds_022009w/

It's only a matter of time now before the major news networks pick up on it.