How I View the CSP

I remember during basic being told to do something (or not do something) and then accomplish a task which required that I break the rule. I couldn’t understand. Why did you just give that instruction when it clearly has to be ignored?!? I felt that they were making me sacrifice my integrity of following my leaders. It pissed me off. I even asked our AOC about it and he said we were being taught something and that no, I was not sacrificing my integrity by breaking the rule. BOOM, mind blown. I couldn’t understand.

Then I started learning about POWs (prisoners of war) and how they have to survive their time in the camp. I realized that the exact things they were teaching us to help us survive Basic would be used as a POW. Such as making fun of our captors, finding humor in what we could, disobeying to keep the big goal and morale in focus, and other things I can’t think of at the moment.

Well now we have the fresh man ROEs, SPINs, and some special rules in the CSP. For a large part, the CSP written for the Cadet Wing has the right intentions in mind, BUT, I personally feel the freshman rules are a continuation of the Basic Training that I think prepares us for POW camp. I we can learn how to keep morale high when everything sucks big time and there are obnoxious rules that are more or less enforced, then we can do well in these coping instincts we develop. As far as obedience to the CSP and other rules… I think that there is no integrity lost when we violate these rules. That the only time we really lose integrity is when we break the honor code or do something “wrong” morally speaking for the good of all.

This said, talking on the Tzo, walking when I am ‘supposed’ to run, and enjoying media, are little risks I take to improve my morale while learning to take measured risks. Is it possible that learning to take measured risks is a skill the Academy wishes to develop? General McClellan is an example of someone too afraid to take risks and thus lost so so many opportunities to take victories.

Also Vietnam, if our men in the service had been too afraid to look away from the rules then many pilots would have died from tankers leaving because the rules said to. More soldiers would have been taken prisoner, tortured and starved because some government official in the states thought this looked like a good rule on paper and would never personally be affected when obedience to this rule cost a soldier dearly. Our men in the military had to learn when to make the call to do what was needed and even right over what was written as the rules. Medal of Honor winners even fit this description. If my commander tells me to do something and I think it’s wrong, I hope I will have to courage to put my job on the line, even my life, to do what I think and feel needs to happen.