A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.
Do we want punch-drunk officers leading our military forces in battle? That seems like a stupid question — of course we don’t — but the answer, reports the New York Times, is: Yes! Boxing is a required course at our Army, Navy, and Air Force academies.
According to academy officials, it’s justified despite causing more concussions than football because it’s the best, perhaps the only, way to instill courage in battle in our future officers. Unless those officers are products of R.O.T.C. programs:
Boxing is not required training for students in R.O.T.C. at other colleges, or for those who enlist as infantry troops and will be the most likely to face hand-to-hand combat.
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In addition to boxing, West Point requires all cadets to take a hand-to-hand combat class that teaches takedowns and submission holds. General Caslen said the class was more effective than boxing in teaching cadets how to defeat an opponent, but less so in instilling courage.
How does boxing instill courage? By inflicting enough brain damage that the concussed cadet no longer has the brainpower to know when to be afraid?
How many West Pointers these days lead their soldiers into combat by raising their dukes and flicking left jabs at an enemy armed with AK-47s?
So of what practical use are the boxing classes other than teaching future officers how to be stylish in bar fights?
While responding to the NY Times’ inquires, the Army gave itself a black eye by trying to stall and spin the story:
During a Sept. 16 meeting at the Pentagon, the Army surgeon general, Lt. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho, recommended to the superintendent at West Point, Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr., that the Army delay responding to The Times’s request, according to the document. General Horoho then suggested trying to get The Wall Street Journal or USA Today to publish an article about a more favorable Army study on concussions.
Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates fired the head of the Walter Reed hospital upon learning that Walter Reed was providing substandard care. Let’s hope that current defense secretary Ashton Carter has the wisdom and courage to fire Lt. Gens. Caslen and Horoho for being fools, bumblers, and conspirators.