Roger's View of the World, Love and Seafood Gumbo!
Seize the Day! Put no trust in the morrow! — Horace
Highland Falls near West Point with tulips in bloom!
Staying at the Thayer Hotel at West Point is a comfortable and wonderful experience overlooking the Hudson River. One can easily understand its strategic position in the Revolutionary war.
If you are doing business in the New York area of on vacation you couldn’t do much better that spending some time here!
At the Thayer… Everyone feels special!
Our family enjoys doing many things and “teaching” is something we all do.
With this in mind, and with my daughter’s upcoming birthday , I wanted to see her classes. I will leave her formal evaluation to others… But I did enjoy seeing some almost hereditary mannerisms that seemingly came from times she sat in her mother’s or my classes.
At West Point, the students are very focused but I did see some unusually high motivation… If it were me, I would use the word “fear.” I know that look … I have experienced it myself as a younger man in a fast paced class.
Kristin reminds me much of her mother… Someone who can look into your soul and know you are unprepared. I am proud that Kristin is standing and delivering a great educational experience… But I am glad there is no test tomorrow… At least for me.
It is quite a setting at the University of Virginia for this years 2011 graduation and interestingly enough it is not without a few wrinkles. Interestingly enough, the graduate students in engineering do not wear hoods if they are masters graduates. Personally, I like mine… both of them! However, this was my first time at the university and Kristin was kind enough to give me the grand tour. I particularly took interest on the many and varied restaurants surrounding the university, all worth a look! As a fan of President Jefferson, I found the history and atmosphere captivating. I was surprised at how ‘square’ Jefferson’s jaw was in his statues, but then maybe the artist took some liberties? đ
Now we are waiting for family to arrive and it seems like this might be a busy weekend after all as I hear the airports are already stressed from the increased traffic! Many congratulations to all the graduates, everywhere!
The history of military ranks is a well researched subject and I will not repeat what so many have written more eloquently in the past, except to add a few points of interest.
The term âMajorâ appears in many armies around the world, sometimes referred to as âcommandant.â As in so many things, with the change in technology over time armies have had to realign themselves for better command and control. The nature of the entire hierarchy changed somewhere in the 16th or 17th century. Certain European regiments found it useful to split into battalions with a Lieutenant Colonel as the commanding officer and the newly identified rank of âMajorâ as the executive officer.
Historically, I think we can trace back the position of âMajorâ much farther and at least to the time of ancient Sparta. In Sparta, a Major was called a âTagmatachesâ which remains very close to the term for a Major in the modern Greek Army ( âTagmatarchisâ). In the army of SPQR, the Roman rank for the function of Major was called âLegatus.â Today, a Major remains more of a staff function than a line or operational position.
I am aware that my daughter Kristin has worked hard to be considered for this honor. So, I wonât go into all of the details of what I believe to be an exemplary career to date as it sounds too much like a fatherâs pride, and yet, I will say that her grandfathers would also have been very proud.  I still can hear my father state proudly that his alma mater ( the Citadel) had more battle ribbons than Kristinâs (West Point), but he would add that âwe are all on the same team, now.â It is sad that they will not be here to see Kristin get âpinnedâ this summer, but in spirit maybe, they will be smiling down on her.
On the practical side, although I have certainly seen enough Majors and Colonels make coffee runs for their commanding Generals, becoming a Major is certainly a significant achievement and a step in the learning process. As they say, one must learn to follow before one can lead.
Now, Kristin, work on your coffee skills! đ
Dad