“I have exercised my Second Amendment rights numerous times through hunting, going to the range, and I was in the army for two years."
- Colin Goddard
By this logic, I can say that I was a law enforcement officer for two years because I was a traffic cop in college!
If you do a bit of digging, Colin appears to have been in Army ROTC. For example, here's a quote from a Brady Press Release Blog: "We Goddard men had handled and fired guns at ranges, while hunting, and for Colin during Basic Rifleman Marksmanship training during his ROTC days." Another article reports, "There he enrolled in ROTC, training with M-16s, before deciding the military life wasn't for him."
Some cadets take the enlisted oath of enlistment (or already have, as they are prior enlisted troops) but that is generally restricted to cadets who are "contracted," or on scholarship. Heck, you can look at the Army ROTC site to see how the contracting process works. They usually don't let you walk away without writing a substantial check if you've been on scholarship after two years so there's a decent chance that Colin was just trying out the program as a noncontracted cadet, which is fairly common. And noncontracted cadets usually don't take the oath of enlistment. If you haven't taken an oath of enlistment, aren't subject to UCMJ, exercise no command authority or role in the chain of command, and don't have a DD214, then it is kind of a stretch to say that you're an Army veteran. I mean, I wore a uniform and had a radio while working as a late night security watchman and directing traffic, but that doesn't make me a cop.
I don't mean to insult Colin's service, if indeed he was enlisted for a few years. I just find it rather doubtful. Even if he was, I feel that it is stretching things a bit to claim status as a veteran. I also understand that he was a victim of a tragedy and fully expect that some people think I'm a terrible person for criticizing him or his views in any way; I absolutely agree with that view up to and until the point at which he leverages his victim status and military experience for political gain. He chose to go public with this particular fact, and that opens the door for legitimate scrutiny and criticism of the biographical information which he chose to bring into the public spotlight as well as his political agenda.
Some cadets take the enlisted oath of enlistment (or already have, as they are prior enlisted troops) but that is generally restricted to cadets who are "contracted," or on scholarship. Heck, you can look at the Army ROTC site to see how the contracting process works. They usually don't let you walk away without writing a substantial check if you've been on scholarship after two years so there's a decent chance that Colin was just trying out the program as a noncontracted cadet, which is fairly common. And noncontracted cadets usually don't take the oath of enlistment. If you haven't taken an oath of enlistment, aren't subject to UCMJ, exercise no command authority or role in the chain of command, and don't have a DD214, then it is kind of a stretch to say that you're an Army veteran. I mean, I wore a uniform and had a radio while working as a late night security watchman and directing traffic, but that doesn't make me a cop.
I don't mean to insult Colin's service, if indeed he was enlisted for a few years. I just find it rather doubtful. Even if he was, I feel that it is stretching things a bit to claim status as a veteran. I also understand that he was a victim of a tragedy and fully expect that some people think I'm a terrible person for criticizing him or his views in any way; I absolutely agree with that view up to and until the point at which he leverages his victim status and military experience for political gain. He chose to go public with this particular fact, and that opens the door for legitimate scrutiny and criticism of the biographical information which he chose to bring into the public spotlight as well as his political agenda.
I cannot speak to Army ROTC, but in Navy ROTC, we took no oath until the day before we graduated, and no one was under any contract until their Junior year of college - you could, quite literally, get the first two years for free, whether you were "contracted" or not, and I know more than a few students who did exactly that. Granted, the Unit did its best to try to keep you onboard (especially since Georgia Tech was so expensive for out-of-staters), but you were not hard-and-fast, you-will-pay-us-back locked in until your third year.
ReplyDeleteYou also were not active-duty, or even a reservist, until you took that final oath right before you graduated, which means (if AROTC works the same way as NROTC) Colin cannot be a veteran. He may have played at being a soldier (probably something akin to the NROTC CORTRAMID), but, as you say, that does not create a DD214 for him.
Some schools are a bit different on this (and Virginia Tech is one of them, with their "Corps of Cadets", so all of these distinctions may very well be moot), but I agree - it is a stretch.
Oh, goody, another "I support the Second Amendment's Butt," attempt by a known gun grabber. How sick do you have to be to have been trained to be a victim (just lie there and get shot, it's all you can do) and then spend the rest of your life forcing others to be victims.
ReplyDeleteThe VA Tech Corps of Cadets doesn't require you to be in ROTC even. I did 2 years of Army ROTC in California, but did not "contract." I eventually left college and enlisted voluntarily.
I suspect that we will see a quick statement from Colin to the effect of, "The quote in the newes about my service was innaccurate. I was in Army ROTC for 2 years while at Virgina Tech, and not a member of the Active Duty US Army. I have asked the news to print a correction to what I am sure was a simple mistake on their part."
In his defense, I know some (former) cadets from the VA Tech Corps and it is a much more serious program than many other ROTC programs. There is actually fairly substantial military discipline, especially on the firsties. But, as you point out, not everyone there has any intent to join the military. Based on what my buddy was saying, some folks join because they want to march with the Hightie Tighties (the regimental band) rather than the Marching Virginians (the campus band). But even if they haze the freshmen it still doesn't mean that you are "in the Army."
ReplyDelete\\
Linoge, I agree... That was my understanding as well. I'm just not super familiar with the way that the Army does things. It is plausible that they are more aggressive with putting an enlisted service commitment onto contracted cadets than the other services due to the whole recruiting surge due to GWOT.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI was in Law Enforcement too, I was Hall-Monitor for a week in Junior High School!
ReplyDelete