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Heads should roll - Scandal??

swburke

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Sep 26, 2006
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http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2014/10/25/report-west-point-recruited-football-players-with-booze-women/17910497/[/URL]

I hope this attached properly, but this article from USA Today (and put out first by the Gazette from Colorado Springs) gives some info on recruiting violations involving alcohol, dates with female cadets and other items.

This is VERY disappointing. Even if we have sucked at football we could look at other academies and other schools and say we are not like them. Now it looks like we are and we still suck at football.

Players involved should be kicked off the team, coaches involved fired and any officers involved reassigned to Greenland.

This may be the last straw for me.


This post was edited on 10/25 11:25 PM by swburke

This post was edited on 10/25 11:27 PM by swburke
 
The only disappoining thing imo is that Army can't get better recruits even with "violations" lol. Truth is this seems like a mountain/molehill sort of thing. The military is so drenched in dysfunctional PC that having cheerleaders smile at a recruit is now a "scandal". No wonder kids don't want to play for Army. You could see these kinds of things coming when rugby was shut down for a year over not much.
This post was edited on 10/25 11:43 PM by ashokan
 
With any luck the NCAA will impose the "death penalty" like they did with SMU. That will put us out of our misery.
 
1) Mountain out of a mole hill; these
mistakes were minimal and they were dealt with by West Point in an expeditious
manner.

2) I find it hard to believe that it is just
coincidence that this story was released by Colorado Springs the week of the
Army/Air Force game.


3) The title of story was inflammatory and
misleading.

4) Not that anyone cares about official information
(including the author of the Gazette article), but the official response from
the Superintendent of West Point is attached below. __________________
Public Affairs Office
West Point, NY 10996
845-938-2006/3808
Fax: 845-938-6035
Statement from the 59th Superintendent, U.S. Military Academy -- October 26, 2014
Ladies and Gentlemen:
You may have heard about an incident that was reported in the media Saturday, October 25,
involving members of the U.S. Military Academy's football team.
On January 25, 2014, the Army Football Office organized a trip to the Palisades Mall for some
of their recruits and football players and other cadet hosts without officer supervision. This trip
resulted in incidents of misconduct, which included underage drinking at a bowling alley within
the Mall among members of the team and several recruits, and other questionable behavior.
The incident was reported by a cadet during a classroom discussion, which led to a preliminary
investigation. As more facts surfaced during the initial inquiry, leadership initiated an Army
Regulation 15-6 investigation.
The investigation found several violations of the cadet disciplinary code and NCAA rules.
Specifically, those violations were underage drinking, inappropriate use of a police escort,
misuse of NCAA recruiting host funds, cadet participation without class privileges and failure to
maintain proper cadet accountability.
The AR 15-6 investigation was completed on April 28, 2014 and identified 20 cadets that
participated in this event. Cadets on the team were found to have violated the Cadet Disciplinary
Code for Unsatisfactory Behavior, Error in Judgment, Failure to Perform a Duty and a violation
of the General Article for actions which reflect discredit on the Corps of Cadets and the United
States Army. All 20 cadets were punished. Maximum allowable punishment under the Cadet
Disciplinary Code was administered for the most severe cases. Ordinarily alcohol related
offenses are adjudicated at the Brigade Tactical Officer- level, who is a colonel. However, in
this instance all cases were elevated to the Commandant, a brigadier general. Cadets also lost
cadet rank and opportunities for leadership positions. In addition, coaches administered team
disciplinary measures. Significantly, in the course of the AR 15-6, all cadet athletes involved
took full responsibility for their actions.
-more-Superintendent Statement 2/2/2
Two officers received general officer reprimands, were admonished by me as Superintendent,
and were temporarily suspended from all football duties by the Athletic Director. Two coaches
were officially admonished by the Athletic Director. The investigation did not find any
infraction that warranted a court martial or grounds for separation.
The athletic department self-reported the infractions to the NCAA, which classified the
infractions as Level III violations, and the NCAA had no recommendations and added no
penalties as part of the reporting process. Violations are Level I, II, III, or IV. The exact
wording of the NCAA's description of a Level III violation is: "Violations that are isolated or
limited in nature; provide no more than a minimal recruiting, competitive or other advantage;
and do not include more than a minimal impermissible benefit." In an effort to clarify
inaccuracies in the recent media reports, I would like to address several points:
 Cadet host funds were distributed in accordance with NCAA regulations, which permit
cadet hosts to spend $40 per day per recruit. No "booster" monies were involved in the
event. However, the handling of the host funds by the cadet hosts resulted in NCAA
violations.
 The 54-passenger charter bus was escorted by a single New York State Police officer in
compliance with state law that requires a bus to have a police escort while traveling on
the Palisades Parkway. No military police escort was ever utilized. The investigation
determined the police escort violated NCAA rules. We have discontinued this practice.
 The media report implied that football staff arranged for female cadets to attend the bus
trip to the Palisades Mall. Preceding the bus trip to the Mall, athletes representing
multiple intercollegiate athletic teams, to include women's basketball, cheerleaders, and
women's volleyball, were invited to a recruiting dinner for parents and prospects on
Academy grounds. At the dinner, cadet hosts invited several female cadets to join the
trip to the Mall. At no time did West Point arrange "a dinner date with female cadets."
 The AR 15-6 report noted that all cadets were forthcoming with statements and
cooperated fully with the investigation and accepted full responsibility for their actions.
 There was no "cover up." West Point is prohibited from disclosing or discussing
personnel matters and ongoing investigations by the federal Privacy Act. We did a
deliberate investigation, held individuals accountable, and reported rules violations to the
NCAA.
 We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and investigate them accordingly.
-more-Superintendent Statement 3/3/3
As Superintendent, I take full responsibility for all actions that occur here at West Point to
include the incident on January 25, 2014. I am fully committed to the values of West Point in all
of our cadets and in all of our programs, and will ensure they are upheld to the highest of
standards. We have programs that assess the climate and culture of our teams and clubs, and
have taken action when assessments indicate the need to do so. We have also commissioned
outside consultants to review our workplace culture and policies for blind-spots and weaknesses.
When violations occur, I am committed to investigate them in accordance with all due process
and adjudicate accordingly.
I believe those involved in this incident have learned from their mistakes, corrected their
behavior accordingly, and will have the character to be the leaders our Nation expects of its West
Point graduates.
Robert L. Caslen, Jr.
Lieutenant General, U.S. Army
Superintendent

This post was edited on 10/26 6:32 PM by usmafootballfan
 
It was front page of the Gazette - hardly worth front page news.

Army plays Air Force next week... trying to stir up things prior to the game it seems.
 
You should go to the 12th Knight message board and get the real deal conversation.

Blown out of proportion story if you ask me.
 
If I could go to the 12th Knight Message Board to discuss this it would mean I am actually paying to talk about Army Football. I cannot in good conscience do that on any level until Army is not the worst college football program in America.
 
Originally posted by Big_DNY:

If I could go to the 12th Knight Message Board to discuss this it would mean I am actually paying to talk about Army Football. I cannot in good conscience do that on any level until Army is not the worst college football program in America.
He don't have to go to 12th Knight, just turn on the News it's all over it! West Point is really getting a bad rep, behind this and our New HC Monken name is all in it... still I'm going to say if this happen in January 2014, darn near close to a yr ago what the hell..... personally I was shocked when I read it last week. I don't believe it's as bad as the way I heard it on the news. And it's truly sad how the media takes things and blow it up! I guess it's our turn for the mud slinging party.... Like we need that right now!
This post was edited on 10/27 8:12 AM by Bulletproof09
 
All this is nonsense

1) the "booster money" they wrote about is the $40 NCAA approves to be given to hosts to entertain recruits (food, movies, etc). It's not supposed to be given to them and obviously not used for alcohol.

2) the "party bus" is a charter bus that takes the recruits and players to the mall on that last night of their visit. Palisades is about 25 mins from West Point and the players doing the recruiting do not have vehicles because of not being to bring a vehicle to campus until after Spring Break of their Junior year. So this means rising Firsties on the team do not have cars.

3) people continue to expect these COLLEGE aged kids to act like they are 25-30 y/o officers in the army already. They will get there but along the way they make mistakes. Those breaking rules ( players and coaches/ staff) were punished and the violations were SELF REPORTED by the administration along time ago. There is no cover up or scandal going on.

Now- on to more important things. BEAT AIR FORCE!!!
 
This does not look good...no matter how big or small, there shouldn't be any violations by Army players/cadets. They are supposed to be representing an institution that represents core values of duty, honor, country...

Maybe the judgment of the coaches to allow certain players to represent Army football and the USMA was the problem...maybe the athletic dept was trying too hard to show these recruits a good time and their judgment was clouded...maybe the new coaching staff needed to be more involved on a trip off campus...whatever the reason, we now have a black eye from these incidents (One in January and another in February was reported).

Now that the story is out in the open...it does look like there was a 'cover up' of sorts. They say they handled it internally, but I'm not sure the punishment fit the crime so to speak...damaging the reputation of West Point and all the cadets that are currently there as well as all the ones that have come before them...
 
Originally posted by ArmyFan27:
This does not look good...no matter how big or small, there shouldn't be any violations by Army players/cadets. They are supposed to be representing an institution that represents core values of duty, honor, country...

Maybe the judgment of the coaches to allow certain players to represent Army football and the USMA was the problem...maybe the athletic dept was trying too hard to show these recruits a good time and their judgment was clouded...maybe the new coaching staff needed to be more involved on a trip off campus...whatever the reason, we now have a black eye from these incidents (One in January and another in February was reported).

Now that the story is out in the open...it does look like there was a 'cover up' of sorts. They say they handled it internally, but I'm not sure the punishment fit the crime so to speak...damaging the reputation of West Point and all the cadets that are currently there as well as all the ones that have come before them...
I think you should read the front page commentary by GBK!
 
That's the craziest thing I've ever heard. There were no honor code violations. There were mistakes made and those involved were punished. To expect these cadets to not make mistakes and errors in judgement is completely ridiculous. Yes they attend West Point but that doesn't mean they are infallible. Just because a press conference wasn't held to announce to the world what happened does equate to a cover up. The violations were SELF REPORTED. Please lets stop with this nonsense of expecting cadets to be perfect. They will make mistakes. Always have always will. I know so many graduates that weren't "model cadets" and have turned out to be Extraordinary Leaders. West Point is over 200 years old. There have been far worse "scandals" in our history and it has not ruined the reputation. This is no scandal. West Point is stronger than that. BEAT AIR FORCE!!!!!
 
Originally posted by ArmyFan27:
I can't...what does the front page commentary say ??
Sure you can. Just subscribe like everyone else.
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This story is totally overblown. A bowling alley at a mall and a couple of beers? Come on. Some of the cadets involved are apparently still wearing out their shoe leather over an incident that happened in January. Punishments have already been handed out. No NCAA violation. Let's all move on.
 
Why subscribe there when you guys are here ??? The way Army has been playing (on and off the field), not sure it's worth the cost...
 
Originally posted by NotSoOldGrad:
This story is totally overblown. A bowling alley at a mall and a couple of beers? Come on. Some of the cadets involved are apparently still wearing out their shoe leather over an incident that happened in January. Punishments have already been handed out. No NCAA violation. Let's all move on.
Not completely true. There were Level 3 violations.
 
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