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LT Brad McInnis
4
4
0
I will say this again... I am sorry for their loss, but seriously... they can't handle a little social distancing?!??! They are weeks away from getting a commission where they could be in combat, and they can't handle living by themselves in a room and a little discomfort from the new regs? As an USNA grad, I find this unbelievable in soon to be commissioned officers.
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MCPO Roger Collins
MCPO Roger Collins
4 y
Can you imagine past war POWs giving up like this? As you state, sympathies to the families, it would probably kill me to lose one of my grandsons, but we have gone overboard protecting them from the hardships of life. Adversity toughens one up and prepares you for life in our world.
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LT Brad McInnis
LT Brad McInnis
4 y
MCPO Roger Collins - No, I can't ! It certainly isn't like they are in a foxhole somewhere, or 8 months into a 6 month deployment. They were in their dorm rooms.

When I was CHENG, I trained the crap out of my sailors. I ran drills all the damn time. I told them that while it is very unlikely for us to ever be in combat, I was going to be sure we were ready to fight. Had a lot of pushback, right up until we had a major engineering accident (not our faults, damn shipyards) and we handled it well with no injuries. Everyone was onboard with he training after that!
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LCDR Joshua Gillespie
3
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This one's hard to comprehend... I have many questions, and I doubt anyone has sufficient answers. My time at USNA was difficult; some of the most (but most certainly not THE most) challenging years of my life. There were days, if not weeks, where I struggled to just hold onto some concept of where it was all going, and what it would mean for the remainder of my life. There are things going on in the minds of altruistic and driven 17-22 year olds that we rarely address, let alone adequately factor in.

That being said... I never contemplated ending my life over those challenges as a Midshipman.

What isn't terribly clear from this incident is whether or not the current crisis was the catalyst, or merely one more knife to the tenuous thread these two young officer candidates were holding on to. General Silveria has asked people not to speculate... so I won't.
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SGT Steve McFarland
3
3
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I can't imagine being the Commander who had to write that email. It must have been heartbreaking to write it. Kudos Sir!
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