![\""I](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/inspection_t360_t670.png\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
“I can\u2019t stop loving my dad because he sent me here.”<\/p>\n
Societies have often tried to whip their young into adulthood with calculated brutality. Yet even this, intolerable as it is, probably causes less pain \u2014 and may even give rise to less brutality in the long run \u2014 than our practice of training young people to feel anxious and guilty if they allow themselves to be caught maintaining a rigid moral attitude.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0The Vanishing Adolescent, Edgar Z. Friedenberg<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/pay-phone_t360.png\")
“My first three weeks, I called home four times wanting to come home.”<\/p>\n
The beveled-domino shape of Hyatt on the Bay looms monolithic in the electric-lit dark of San Diego, as tourists\/conventioneers buzz about giddily as hummingbirds, whilst I sucks dry a Coors Light on the patio of Kansas City Barbeque and listen to chatter regarding part of a movie made here….<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/marching_t360.png\")
“I wish I didn\u2019t have to wake up and put a uniform on every morning or make formation.”<\/p>\n
\u201c…Tom Cruise plays the piano…\u201d<\/p>\n
“…sleazy bar scene…”<\/p>\n
\u201c…final scene…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c…don\u2019t remember any of it…\u201d<\/p>\n
I bleakly remember Top Gun (one of Hollywood\u2019s more iniquitous efforts at exploiting teenage narcissism\/ignorance\/amorality via outright filmic distortion of warfare\u2019s true heart); and I note, penetrating from far overhead, an invisible whump! whump! whump! smothering all city sounds, then fading toward Coronado. (Apparently nobody else notices.)<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/asian_t360.png\")
“We have a large population of foreign cadets\u2014 Latin America, Europe, but mostly Korea and Thailand.”<\/p>\n
Superstretch limousines whiz by emptily and return every five minutes full of pretension. Skaters strut in neo-postpunk uniforms of affected nihilists, searching for things to piss on, daring for eye contact (actually, skaters are easy to stare down), sucking on cigarettes in perceived perpetuity, aggrandizing their brittle egos watching things remindful of parents scurrying scared back to hotels. Clomping of horse-pulled carriages and sharp bells of trolleys partially foist an early-century facade, till a real train rumbles by, vibrating like the earth\u2019s core, sending thonged tourists flapping in hysterics.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/arm-wrestling_t670_t720.png\")
<\/p>\n
Kids wrestle, step on each other\u2019s shoes, crawl out windows.<\/p>\n
Cute waitress (more cutely named E-l-y-s-e for Alyssa), who\u2019s maybe old enough to legally serve beer (and\/or tickle tips out of old farts\u2019 fancies), patronizes shamelessly…<\/p>\n
\u201cIs everything okay, hun?\u201d<\/p>\n
(Hun? Why don\u2019t ya change y\u2019r tag to Stella, babe?) Just fine, thank you.<\/p>\n
\u201c \u2019Nother beer, hun?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sure.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight back, hun.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Oh, for God\u2019s sake.)<\/p>\n
^^^^^^^^^^^<\/p>\n
The Reader has started this series of its best stories from the past 52 years \u2014 2600 cover stories and some remarkable interior features \u2014 to help make up for the loss of its physical edition, which was once large enough to hold whole oceans of print. These stories will feature all the original illustrations and photos (plus easy-to-read typography).<\/p>\n
^^^^^^^^^^^<\/p>\n
Flipping through notes, I see an old pattern emerge: my heart lies far away, while devils lure larger pieces to remote and odd places. Five days ago I drove I-5 north 35 miles to Carlsbad (a day early) to sneak a peek at a dinosaur. I exited onto Carlsbad Village Drive, drove west seven lights, took a right, drove north on Carlsbad Boulevard to Cypress Avenue, hung a left, continued to Ocean Street, and parked. Short walk later (following a sign), I stopped beside a chapel (my backside to the Pacific) and nodded to a tall boy descending concrete stairs. His black sweats were emblazoned \u201cANA\u201d in gold block letters.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHey.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s the office?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018The office…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n
Conversation went something like that; anyway, I\u2019d found my destination. Here was not remote (houses and tourists abound), but it certainly seemed odd. ANA stands for Army and Navy Academy, an anachronism in reverse, a piece of the past pulled to present (or at least still alive). Here was a military boarding school \u2014 boys only.<\/p>\n
I had to laugh.<\/p>\n
Head heavy in preconceived notions, I couldn\u2019t help pondering the unique possibilities I imagined (in knee-jerk fashion) to be peculiar to these places. Having climbed the stairs and entered the grounds, I saw that the place was pretty much deserted (field trip, I\u2019d been foretold); there was a handful of boys roaming (all in identical ANA sweats), one of whom (\u2019bout 110 pounds\u2019 worth) was notably of European descent; and because of that (and his uncanny resemblance to Patrick Swayze, the actor) I nodded…<\/p>\n
\u201cHey.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHey.\u201d<\/p>\n
.. .and kept on walking.<\/p>\n
‘There\u2019s an unreal aura surrounding the place; I pivoted 360 degrees and presumed… marooned beside the sea within the half-antiquated confines of whitewashed compound, the hard eyes of Purple-Hearted Marines peering, the communal toilets and the company showers, 300 boys young as 12, the irreplaceable slices of their childhoods handed over.. .just say, G\u2019bye, Mom, So long. Dad, Where are the girls?<\/p>\n
\u201cYour Coors, hun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thanks.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake these?\u201d<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n
Elyse removes a plate of gnawed cobs and hickory\u2019d-chicken bones, \u2019nother silent limo glides by, window beams illumined; again, invisible whump! whump! whump! of monstrous blades resonating, then fading, northward this time toward Camp Pendleton over Carlsbad.<\/p>\n
\u201cHelp you, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n
A pip-squeak of a uniformed boy (80 pounds) standing under his shiny-billed cap (tagged SHIN M.) smartly had marched smack in my way.<\/p>\n
\u201cSay what?\u201d<\/p>\n
I pivoted again, surveyed the scene. Dorms, cottages, classrooms\u2014 all loosely connectingover a multiple-acre campus\u2014create a sort of fort, all windows\/doors facing in; from spacious lawn and old trees bordering Carlsbad Boulevard, a tall facade of Spanish-colonial arches devolves seaward and dominates; moreover, from there to Ocean Street, sidewalks and noticeably trod trails lead to the chapel, rec hall, and academy store\u2014wholly perched above its priceless stretch of private Pacific surf.<\/p>\n
\u201cSir?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHey.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSir…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019n hell\u2019s the office at?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael (I learned) is the pip-squeak\u2019s American name (a seventh grader from Korea). He escorted me to a white trailer trimmed in navy (color scheme of all older buildings) rooted dead center of campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommandant\u2019s office,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Strips of AstroTurf led separately to two doors (one closed) accessed by sideways-attached stairways. Entering left (open door), I removed my hat (a long-instilled habit) and faced (what I thought were) two adults. Introducing myself and my business (believing they already knew), I relaxed in the warm confidence bred of their unassuming smiles.<\/p>\n
\u201cUm, sir,\u201d one said, \u201cyou got to talk to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Him was neither of them (they were just big kids), but rather a man in a uniform pointed at through an open hatch, a man who\u2019d long ago grown up. He was leaned back in a chair behind a desk, one leg up, arms crossed \u2019cross his chest, his face turned frozen, those atavistic eyes locked and loaded on me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour check, hun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Take plastic?<\/p>\n
\u201cVisa, MasterCard, Discover.\u201d<\/p>\n
No American Express?<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry, hun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Swell.<\/p>\n
His tag read MUHS (pronounced myews), and he\u2019d popped out of his chair when I said I was a “retired\u201d Marine. Shook my hand. Turns out we\u2019d both been assigned (nearly the same time) to First Battalion, Fourth Marines \u2014 he in Alpha, me Bravo \u2014 though we never actually humped into each other. Fate left me wounded, physically disabled, and prematurely retired by the government; eventually I became a teacher. But I\u2019d always wondered what became of boys like me, boys who (unlike me) stayed in the Corps. Especially ones like Muhs, who (beyond all possible belief, back then) became \u201cone of those sadistic and demonic\u201d Marine Corps drill instructors. He and I talked a lot. We talked of tragedies in life; he said he\u2019d lost a daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cLost that morbid sense of humor too,\u201d he said, \u201clost all that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
And he admitted getting in trouble once as a DI for being too mean.<\/p>\n
\u201cCorps\u2019s been forced to change its ways,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf not its purpose,\u201d I suggested.<\/p>\n
“That\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n
After 20-plus years in the Corps, Muhs hired on at Army-Navy Academy as a TAC (Trainer, Advisor, Counselor), one of many \u201ctactical officers\u201d on campus (most of whom are retired Marines, most with Purple Hearts). Why he was hired was never discussed, but I wondered how a \u201ctoo mean\u201d Marine handled being a TAC to a bunch o\u2019 rambunctious boys.<\/p>\n
\u201cHard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI like to yell.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. I wanna grab \u2019em, shake \u2019em, yell at \u2019em, make \u2019em understand things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t do that here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dawn arrived gray and chilly next day. It was 6:20 a.m. Boys wore blue trousers, battle jackets, and \u201cpiss-cutter\u201d hats (like upside-down canoes).<\/p>\n
They stood at parade rest. Yawned, coughed, nodded. NCOs barked (\u201cStraighten up!” \u201cEyes forward!\u201d \u201cStop moving!”) in voices deep, some cracking, some high. Youngest cadets \u201csucked in” their childhood bellies. Roll was called (Companies snapped to attention. Squad leaders about-faced, \u201cSQUADALL PRESENT!” Company commanders about-faced, \u201cCOMPANY__ALL PRESENT!” Battalion executive officer (high on red steps beneath white columns) turned to the battalion commander (uttering inaudibly), returned and gave an order. Companies right-faced. Forward marched. Malcontents removed from formations, ordered to face walls, held their arms out, their James Dean sneers cracking their hairless faces. Squad by squad, single file, cadets descended (step, pause, step, pause) somnambulistically into the deep, steamy warmth of a mess hall.<\/p>\n
This I observed in pause.. .as I might the sight of unicorns, having suspected their existence.. .and a few crooked chuckles. How in hell had this place survived the hippie-dippy days? What is this place? Who are the adults? The boys? Birth of the oldest seems just two days ago to me, that\u2019s all. Time flies. And so does the bullshit. Particularly about schools. Model programs rewrap the same ideas, over and over, in different ribbons and prettier bows. Ah! something new: the children need to discover, not be taught. Yeah, right. In kindergarten, maybe. Before puberty, maybe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe administration of Army-Navy Academy \u2014 in other words, the adults \u2014 is not organized along military lines. You can look at it and see a chain of command, with the chairman of the board at the top, then the superintendent and the headmaster, and under us, we have our responsibilities. The cadet battalion [student body), however, is organized like an army battalion: a battalion commander, an XO, and a five-person staff in charge of five companies. The administration of the school isn\u2019t reflected in that at all. It operates, basically, as would any high school administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking is Colonel Steve Miller, superintendent of Army-Navy Academy, a retired Army lieutenant colonel. He says that the management structure at ANA has undergone recent change. \u201cWe now have two heads of the school, a superintendent and a headmaster, as opposed to a single president as in the past.\u201d The headmaster (Fred W. Heinle, Ph.D.) is responsible for academics and athletics; the superintendent is responsible for the military program, campus life, and campus plant (facilities and maintenance). As superintendent, \u201cI\u2019m deeply involved in the budget process, planning and pulling the reins to keep the expenditures within budget.\u201d As well, discipline is Miller\u2019s responsibility, which is handled directly by the commandant of cadets (a West Point graduate) and about a dozen TAC officers, who each \u201cserves as a sort of dorm father\u2019 for all of the kids in his company. The TACs are all retired Marine Corps or Army, except one, a retired police officer, who served in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller graduated from college in 1970, then went on active duty in the Army in the quartermaster corps, which is to say support. Over a 20-year period, however, he served in a quartermaster capacity only twice. He had more overseas assignments than domestic, his first in Ethiopia, where the Army Security Agency operated \u201cthis little stratospheric research station, quote-unquote. Actually, what we were doing, guess I can say this 25 years later, was peeking in on what the Russians were doing with their communications.\u201d Next came the obligatory tour in Vietnam (\u201cright at the tail end\u201d), then back to Europe. \u201cMy last three years I was in a NATO assignment in Heidelberg, Germany; there I did basically the same thing I had done in the Army, which was strategic planning for support of a war in Europe, should it come. I was on a team that was responsible for looking at the long-range aspects of the stability of logistics and support of the Soviet Army, and we were also making some prognostications about when the Berlin Wall would fill and Communism see its last days.\u201d<\/p>\n
You were predicting that? \u201cYes, we were, for up to a year before it actually happened. And we just missed; we were guessing December of 1989, when it actually happened in November. And the chaos that ensued, that was fairly easy to predict too. There was basically no infrastructure that the Soviets had not brought with them, so if they pulled out, then you were going to see total chaos for a couple years.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then human nature would rear its ugly head.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n
People jumping around singing \u201cGive Peace a Chance\u201d while scrambling for chunks of the wall to sell.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Absolutely no understanding of mankind\u2019s eternal dark heart.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s idyllic Eastern Europe look like today?<\/p>\n
\u201cAwful. I mean, if you can imagine for 30 years these people knew that Communism wouldn\u2019t last forever, so they did nothing to improve industry. The pollution in the Communist countries was just horrific, because protecting the land and environment meant nothing to them. All they wanted was to use the land, use the people, for their big totalitarian machine. And they did that. And now it will probably take them generations to clean the place up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ironically, the end of Miller\u2019s military career (and teas of thousands of others\u2019) coincided with the fall of Communism. Suddenly there was no war, no war threat, and no need for 500,000 U.S. soldiers in Germany or anywhere in Europe. “Almost overnight, I concluded that I was not going to make colonel and certainly not one star. So my wife (who was teaching for the Defense Department at the time) and I made the decision to leave. Of course, a retirement check is nice, but neither of us now had a job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alter returning to the States, the Millers settled in Southern California, near relatives, and began looking for employment. \u201cI tried my hand as a stockbroker and decided that really wasn\u2019t what I wanted to do with my life.” A couple of months later, he got word that Army-Navy Academy had an opening for a senior Army instructor (SAI), the person in charge of the ROTC program. Miller got the job and began work at ANA in August of \u201991.<\/p>\n
A retired lieutenant colonel (experienced at high-level military intelligence) functioning as SAI in a small school’s Junior-ROTC program, indeed, is a bit like a Ph.D. in physics teaching pre-algebra; thus. Miller\u2019s evolution to superintendent became inevitable. \u201cTechnically, as far as the government is concerned. I\u2019m still senior Army instructor, as well as superintendent, but we will be hiring another person shortly to fill the SAI position. Although I\u2019m not presently teaching any classes, per se, I do help TAC leaders get ready for the annual inspection, and I see the battalion commander and staff officers practically on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which raises the question: is preparing future soldiers the aim of an institution dubbing itself Army and Navy Academy?<\/p>\n
Miller, who bears a striking resemblance (in face and poise) to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General )ohn M. Shalikashvili allows himself a foretelling laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are two things we are not,\u201d he says, \u201cand first is a reform school. Some parents bring their kids here thinking that, but we don\u2019t take \u2019em; if we know that a boy has been told by a judge, \u2018Go to a military school or go to juvenile hall,\u2019 well, he\u2019ll have to find a different military school. And the other thing we are not is a recruiting arm for the armed services. Now, having said that, I\u2019ll tell you that, of the kids who stay in a JROTC program through graduation, almost 50 percent go on to the armed services in some fashion, whether it\u2019s college, an academy program, or they enlist. And I don\u2019t know what the breakdown is, but a very high number get scholarships. As well. 50 percent of the Army ROTC scholarships go to kids who have been in the JROTC program, which is saying something, because the ROTC college scholarships are as competitive as West Point, Annapolis, and the Air Force Academy. This year we have one boy going to Annapolis, one boy going to Air Force Academy, and three boys who are getting ROTC scholarships.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the wake of upheaval at Southern bastions of male-only military colleges, such as the Citadel and the Virginia Military Institute, under siege by females for admission, how does ANA handle similar inquiries?<\/p>\n
\u201cWith a lot of discouragement. We recently had a young lady inquire, and what it came down to was that the father was told by the chairman of the board, \u2018Look, if your daughter applies, we\u2019re going to accept her. But you have to know that we\u2019re not going to change our program. We have an all-male school, we have an all-male sports program, and we have all-male dormitories \u2014 all these all-male things.\u2019 At this point we\u2019re not positioned to set whole dorms off-limits to males, to put in bathtubs, that kind of stuff. As it happened, this young lady was a good athlete, and her father wanted a school with a good women\u2019s program, and we simply can\u2019t respond to something like that. We\u2019re a tiny little school. So she decided to enroll elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd since then, this school has become firm in believing that single-sex schools have a place in our society, especially for boys; that absent the distraction of the sexes mingling, youngsters can better focus on academics and growing up. There\u2019s plenty of time tor involvement with the opposite sex later on. We\u2019re firm about it, we see nothing wrong, and we\u2019re not going to change. We\u2019re going to stay a boys\u2019 school.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name is Tony Carter, and you probably wanted to know, Ray, where I came from, what I\u2019m doing here.\u201d<\/p>\n
As strongly as Superintendent Miller is remindful of General Shalikashvili, Mr. Carter brings to mind (minus acerbic tone) Andy Rooney of CBS\u2019s 60 Minutes. \u201cOne of the reasons that I\u2019m here is that I went to a boys\u2019 boarding school, all boys, as it turned out, a long time ago at the Hills School in Pennsylvania; and, of course, I went into the service for a while. I was in the Navy, but it was the tail end of the war. and I never actually got to fight. So I ended up going to Princeton and graduating from there and then went on into the international food business for many, many years. I worked up through the marketing end of the business, then became regional and then general manager, and lived in many parts of the world, Panama, Guatemala, Venezuela, Japan \u2014 a varied international career. I retired in Los Angeles, where I was offered a position in the school business. I was always interested in education, so I took the job as business manager for the Westlake School for Girls in Holmby Hills; it\u2019s in the Bel Air section, you know, the Bunny Club or whatever it is.. .what\u2019s his name?\u201d<\/p>\n
Hefner?<\/p>\n
\u201cHugh Hefner, that\u2019s it. And who\u2019s the guy who has all these television shows? Huge house?\u201d<\/p>\n
Phil Donahue?<\/p>\n
\u201cBigger.”<\/p>\n
Ted Turner?<\/p>\n
\u201cBigger house…anyway, the name escapes me, but it\u2019s a lovely area, old part of Beverly Hills, and that\u2019s where I was for about 10 or 12 years, at the Westlake School for Girls; and eventually it merged to become co-ed with our brother school, the Harvard School for Boys, which at one time had been a military school. It was on the other side, North Hollywood. Anyway, I stayed on there for 2 or 3 years during the merger. Then I decided I would try retirement. My wife had a boy who lives near Carlsbad, so we moved down here, and not wanting to just do nothing, I wondered if they needed any help at the Army-Navy Academy. So, we contacted Dr. Heinle, said if they ever needed some part-time help, you know, and that sort of volunteer effort turned into a more or less full-time position.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy main job here is to support our director of admissions, Margarite Daniel, and perhaps the fact that I have been through the process in a boys’ school helps to some extent. I\u2019m the one who usually gets the initial inquiries, counsels the parents, tells them about the school. Normally, they\u2019ve usually heard about us from somewhere. Often it\u2019s word of mouth, or from a magazine like Sunset. So we go through a basic-information sheet, find out the name and age of the boy, name of the inquirer, usually mother or father\u2014sometimes uncle, aunt, grandparent, things of that nature\u2014and make sure first of all this is the right kind of school for them. In other words, we start in grade 7 and go through grade 12. Occasionally we get an inquiry for a girl, but as you know, Ray, we don\u2019t have girls at the academy. Our feeling is that there are less distractions for the boy, and I think that as a result the boys are able to get a. little bit better education. That\u2019s been my own personal experience, even though it was a long time ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe ask, Why\u2019d you change from one school to another? Things of that nature. Is he your son or stepson? or.. .we get a lot of inquiries from broken families, if you will.. .sometimes both of the parents are out of the picture for one reason or another.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is a military school, I know, but \u2014 I want to be sure I have this right \u2014 ANA isn\u2019t a reform school?<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s one of the things we stress, because a lot of the boys have that feeling, that this is a reform school, that it\u2019s only for bad boys. And that\u2019s not our academy. As a result of that mis-assumption, we end up with boys sometimes who\u2019re a little afraid of coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margarite Daniel has entered the room and joins the conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt some level,\u201d she says, \u201ceach boy has to convey to us, you know, that they are willing to be here and try their best; but problems you encounter are (a) fear of being away from home, and (b) just fear of not having the comforts of home. Most of our kids come from various advantaged lifestyles; they\u2019ve sort of been given everything, never had to work for anything, and consequently they have no pride of self. They\u2019re lacking something. And they keep looking for it in the outer world, from other people. But no one can give them their sense of self. So here we use the military system, its structure, order, ranking \u2014 where boys earn more responsibility with more privilege\u2014to help develop pride and self-esteem. You know, once a boy has his sense of self, he\u2019s better able to contribute.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really have three main objectives, the first being academic; that is, we want all our graduates to meet the entrance requirements for the University of California system. Next most important, we want strong participation in our athletic program; we offer 13 sports, and with only 250 boys, chances are a boy can get on a team. It\u2019s not like at a high school with 2000 boys, where only the champions or superstars get on the varsity. And third most important is our JROTC program, which starts in grade nine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tony adds, \u201cIt\u2019s a leadership training course designed to build self-esteem, self-confidence, respect for authority, all those good things. And it\u2019s that combination of those sort of three objectives, as Margarite has explained, that turns out a good boy here.\u201d<\/p>\n
What does it take to get in?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look at every boy as a whole, as an individual,\u201d Margarite says (setting off an alarm in my head; bullshit! ding! ding! ding!), \u201cbut in general, we\u2019re looking for C grades or better. However, if they had a term of Ds or Fs due to a life change or a school change or just adolescence itself…you know, at 13 or 14, socialization becomes more important than academic performance. And that\u2019s when we get most of our calls. So we look to make sure the potential is there: IQ test, reading-comprehension test, personality assessment test, writing test, that sort of thing. And then we look at what teachers say about them.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the school they came from?<\/p>\n
\u201cRight. We look at recommendations from math and English teachers, a guidance counselor, a principal, and someone who knows them outside of the classroom. When they come in and do a tour, we try to get to knew them a little bit on a personal basis, kind of size them up, you know, chemistry-wise. They then have interviews with myself, with the commandant of cadets, and with the headmaster. And then we all put our heads together to make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
What do you mean by advantaged backgrounds?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not inexpensive,\u201d says Tony. \u201cTuition [\u201996 to \u201997 is] $15,430. Plus eight or nine uniforms, and that\u2019ll run about $1900 and hopefully last a couple years \u2014boys do grow. There is a one-time enrollment fee of $1000. Year one is about $20,000.\u201d \u201cBut I don\u2019t mean so much in terms of monetary privilege,” Margarite clarifies. \u201cWe have students here whose parents work two jobs, single moms working two or three jobs, kids getting help from the grandparents. Rather, privileged in the sense that they have no sense of appreciation or respect for what\u2019s been given to them. So they come into this environment, which is a little more stark, and they start at ground zero. They have to earn their respect, earn their place, and recognize there\u2019s somebody else on this planet besides themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
How many boys last all six years?<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom seventh grade through graduation?\u201d<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery few, maybe 10 to 15 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Really?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems that the mentality we see most is that parents call us \u2019cause there\u2019s a problem. Their son\u2019s in a school where there\u2019s too much distraction, both parents work, parents can’t be there, they can\u2019t handle it, and they don\u2019t want their child to waste his high school years. So they call us to take care of the problem. They bring their son in, he does very well, goes from a 1.5 GPA to a 3.8, and they figure, Well, the problem\u2019s solved! So they pull their boy out the following year, he again fails miserably at his old school, and then they call us again.\u201d<\/p>\n
And they can\u2019t figure out why.<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t claim to perform any miracles,\u201d Tony says. \u201cParents think they\u2019re going to send \u2019em here for a year, we\u2019re going to clean \u2019em up, shape \u2019em…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c… we don\u2019t profess to do that. I mean, we\u2019ve got the structure, we\u2019ve got the program, we\u2019ve got the environment, but it takes time for a lot of kids today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen there\u2019s the media…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c…um…we\u2019re always a little leery. It doesn\u2019t seem like the media look very kindly on us. We\u2019re this mysterious entity over here, this strange little community, this military boarding school, and the media try, you know, to make us into some Peyton Place. Drugs, for instance, is the big hot button now with the Drug-Free America campaign. And we have a zero-tolerance policy. Get caught, you\u2019re kicked out. Even if they admit, they\u2019re gone! Whereas in our fellow school, Carlsbad High, for example, they have a \u2018three strikes\u2019 policy. You have to get caught three times before you\u2019re even suspended. last year we had a pretty incredible time, losing about 17 kids, which is less than 10 percent of the population, but 17 kids is 17 kids. So the media picks up on that, starts to focus in on us, when the drug problem is at Carlsbad High, where there\u2019s dealing right on the playground, where you can be caught three times and then you\u2019re suspended. Here it\u2019s once and you\u2019re expelled.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019re sorry,\u201d Tony says, \u201cwe stick by our guns.\u201d<\/p>\n
WILLIAM TROUSDALE (Curator Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution) speaks in a voice mildly suggestive of Robin Williams; other\u2019n that, his large head and small body fit perfectly my presumption of a scholar spending an adulthood in esoteric seclusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I could no longer do archaeology in the Middle East,\u201d he explains, \u201cbecause of political and military conflicts, I began to study the early explorers of the Middle East, who ail turned out to be British military, and this led me to why they were doing the exploration, which was.. .uh, empire expansion.\u201d (Add to this voice a trace of sardonic William F. Buckley Jr.) \u201cThen I began to write books on the colonial wars. And then I became interested in military schools. I first started working on one in France, over 1200 years old, which closed forever in 1991. There I learned that the United States is the only Western country that still has private military schools at the secondary educational level. So I began visiting schools in the United States and came to the conclusion after a couple of years that there *ere not too many points of comparison between the one in France and the ones in the United States but that the ones in the United States were worthy of a book. There are too many for me to visit all of them, so I am concentrating on the ones that are still single sex, for boys only, because that was the nature of the one I\u2019d written about in France.\u201d<\/p>\n
You weren\u2019t in the military? \u201cNo, no! No connection whatsoever with the military.\u201d How did you pick this particular school?<\/p>\n
\u201cArmy-Navy Academy is one of no more than a dozen left in the United States\u2014single-sex, boys’ military boarding schools.\u201d<\/p>\n
(He laughs, after a pause, eyes on me, cautiously.)<\/p>\n
What accounts for the demise in single-sex boarding schools?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no one factor. There were over 500 of them in the \u201920s and \u201930s. I think a great deal of it began during the antiwar movement, beginning with the hippies…” (he drags the word out) \u201c.. .anti-authority, the Vietnam War. And this is also the period that many of them that did not completely fail became coeducational in an effort to keep alive. It worked for some, not for others.\u201d<\/p>\n
There must be quite a difference, one school to another?<\/p>\n
\u201cNot as much as you would think; it\u2019s as if they all read each others\u2019 rule books. I think they all have the same goals in mind, to build self-confidence, a sense of personal worth, creating an ability to accept direction, guidance, orders, and turn out good citizens. They\u2019ve never been designed to turn out soldiers, and a comparatively few go on to military careers from military schools \u2014 I would say certainly less than 10 percent, probably more like 5 percent. This is true of all of them. It\u2019s not their function. Many of the ones on the East Coast were founded before public education was available, founded as private schools, usually by either wealthy industrialists or people from the church who wished to instill a sense of Christian morals and integrity in the young. Some of them on the East Coast are still religious affiliated, and the farther south you go, the more emphasis there is on the religious side of the school. Catholic and Baptist.\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019m curious about your archetypal British boarding school, with its coat and crest. Does it parallel the boys-only military school?<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a closer parallel between the British schools and our private schools in New England, like Andover and Exeter and Choate; they all wear non-military-type uniforms, but they do not have the discipline programs that the military schools have. That\u2019s not their emphasis. Their major emphasis is to attract the children of the wealthy, an unruly student at Exeter is unlikely to be expelled if his father is a multimillionaire. But the\/re not my interest. I\u2019m more interested in the philosophy behind the military school, which emphasizes both the academic side and the necessity for discipline. And the military school is coming back, and it\u2019s coming hack for the same old reasons and some new reasons. I\u2019ve talked to parents on the days that they are touring the campus, and I remember one parent who said, every day when their son left for public school, it worried them he\u2019d get shot or knifed or beaten up or be given something with drugs in it. And they wanted to put him someplace where they didn\u2019t have to worry. And I\u2019ve questioned some of the students touring: Is this your decision? Would you like to come here? Are you being forced by your parents? They all said: No, I\u2019m just having too many problems in public school, too many things getting in the way of getting an education. There is a total lack of discipline, you know, in the public education system. It\u2019s virtually in a state of chaos.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve found that in military schools, the school tends more to back up the decisions of its staff who have disciplined a student for one reason or another; if he or his parents come and complain to the school, the school will stand by its own. That\u2019s because they don\u2019t have to worry about being fired because of the parents\u2019 opinion; whereas, in public schools they do. Also, I think students at a military school get more individual attention than they do in a public school. Increasingly so, public schoolteachers see their profession as just an eight-hour-a-day job. There\u2019s really very little else they can do. Whereas in a military school, both the military officers and the faculty have a greater sense of dedication to the job they\u2019re doing. Since their charges are here 24 hours a day, a lot of them fed they\u2019re on call 24 hours a day if they\u2019re needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs well, I read in a manuscript of this French school, where they started wearing uniforms at least in the 1500s, that the purpose of uniforms was so the rich and the poor would be indistinguishable, they would all be dressed the same. Now, I\u2019m sure the rich students still had ways of letting the poor ones know that their families had more money, because in those days the wealthy students arrived with their footmen \u2014 in their coaches, and their horses\u2014just as today they may arrive in their Ferraris; but kids are going to wear their own uniforms anyway. Kids wear gang clothes, which of course is uniform \u2014 declares him as socially superior, as tar as they\u2019re concerned\u2014and they can intimidate the kids who are not in gangs, and that sort of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Have you read Pat Conroy\u2019s novel Lords of Discipline, centered on intimidation and hazing in a military school?<\/p>\n
\u201cHighly fictionalized. Not very accurate. I spent a lot of time in Virginia Military Institute, and they do not have that kind of formation of kooks; that\u2019s all fiction. The rule books of all military high schools) specify that any hazing or disrespect of one cadet toward another is an offense, they might call part of orientation \u2018Hell Week\u2019 just because it\u2019s intense physical training. And there\u2019s really very, very little comparison between places like the Citadel, VMI, and your secondary-level military schools like ANA. In my experience, boys graduating from secondary military schools are more mature than men going to the Citadel and VMI. Those I regard as sick schools.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
\u201cSpend a week at one \u2014 see the kind of man who goes there. They have definite psychological problems; that\u2019s why they\u2019re there. They have difficulties in relating to other human beings, especially women, which is why they desperately do not want women in their schools. And you don\u2019t find very many graduates from military schools going to either VMI or the Citadel. If they do want to continue with the military, they want to go to one of the service academies \u2014 Annapolis, West Point\u2014not places like VMI. I\u2019ve spent a lot of time in the last ten years around VMI, long enough to figure out what\u2019s strange about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second day was long in the tooth. I’d spent most of it wandering and observing, trying to be unobtrusive in civilian clothes, checking my watch for appointments. I’d met Colonel Don Lewis, commandant of cadets, exactly at 4:30 and followed him into the west end of the dominant administration\/gymnasium complex, through an austere room enhanced by classical music (where two black cadets at enforced study, relaxing at lewis\u2019s candid salutation, reciprocated in street idiom about musical preferences) into Lewis\u2019s equally austere office. Colonel Lewis, an impressive man (tall, rugged, part African American, part American Indian), sat himself behind a desk, leaned back, put his feet up, laced his fingers behind his head, and began to speak in a literate, laconic manner almost browbeating in its nakedness.<\/p>\n
“Today is my birthday. I am 41 years old. I graduated from West Point in 1978 and spent 14 1\/2 years in the Army. I was a major when I decided to leave, had a knee injury, couple operations, wasn\u2019t getting any better, but that was another lifetime. Two years after I left the Army, I accepted this job.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mission of the commandant is to assist the cadet to become a responsible young man. Period. We are not academicians; we are not purely in charge of discipline; we are here to nurture the cadet in the lifelong process of self-discipline, ensuring that he understands the rules of society and can live within them. I report to the superintendent; he reports to the chairman of the board. I\u2019m in charge of campus life, the 16 hours each day cadets are not in class. And if for any reason a cadet is thrown out of class, he reports to me. He marches. For 16 hours every weekday, for every weekend hour, cadets fall under the responsibility of me and my people.\u201d<\/p>\n
You live on campus?<\/p>\n
\u201cI live on campus, yes…. Come in.\u201d<\/p>\n
An even more imposing black man, a TAC tagged HATCHETT, enters the open hatchway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s his status?\u201d says Lewis.<\/p>\n
\u201cStill UA,\u201d says Hatchett. The conversation is brief and cryptic, but I gather that some boy is AWOL and \u201cin a world of trouble.\u201d Hatchett leaves, while Lewis resettles himself and proceeds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey used to call this place the West Point of the West, because there is no other military high school west of the Rockies. So my competition is…\u201d (he leans his head toward the room where the cadets study) \u201c…THERE IS NO COMPETITION! So I can proudly say that I AM THE GREATEST! THE BEST! HIGH SCHOOL COMMANDANT OF CADETS WEST OF THE ROCKIES, because there is no other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Can you tell me about your job?<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I\u2019d first like to talk about what my people do.\u201d Okay.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause they\u2019re the ones\u2014 they work, okay? I don\u2019t.\u201d Okay.<\/p>\n
\u201cUh…that\u2019s not totally true…but they\u2019re the people who work directly with the cadets, the company TACs\u2014like Major Hatchett, who you just saw \u2014 and Major Graves. Major Graves just returned from a ski trip with the cadets; he gives everything to this school, uh, to his guys, down in seventh and eighth grades. And it takes a definitely unique person to deal with boys that age. He\u2019s not much bigger than they are, that helps; but the key is that he knows everything there is to know about his cadets. I, on the other hand, deal through my TACs, and I don\u2019t even try to know everything. We pick our TACs very carefully. We look for people who are accomplished, men who\u2019ve done well in their military careers; becoming a first sergeant, for example, is not an easy task. Not everybody I\u2019ve got made first sergeant, but I am saying they\u2019ve done something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Would you say 80 percent of discipline is handled at the TAC level? .<\/p>\n
(Long pause.)<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. I handle the more serious cases, when a cadet\u2019s done something he can be suspended or dismissed for. I\u2019m automatically available 24 hours a day, always have a beeper on, and if there\u2019s any significant problem, it automatically comes to me. This kid we were just talking about, for lack of a better word, let\u2019s just say he had a nervous breakdown; too much got built up inside, and he exploded in an all-out attack. Unacceptable. I could punish him for that. But we\u2019re trying to identify the root of his behavior, if we can do that, then we can assist him to.. .assist him to become better \u201d<\/p>\n
When do you kick a kid out?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou start with the Honor Code. The Honor Code says that the cadet does not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those who do. Same code they use at West Point. The code the cadets live by. The clincher is nor tolerate those who do. In other words, if a cadet knows someone who\u2019s stolen, lied, or cheated, it\u2019s his responsibility to address that problem. Addressing the problem can be confronting him and advising him to turn himself in; and if he doesn\u2019t turn himself in, you report him. Sometimes a cadet doesn\u2019t believe he\u2019s violated the code, even when he has. We have a cadet now who does not believe he stole another cadet\u2019s sweater. He claims he found it. And he did find it! It was left out in formation, and he picked it up \u2014 name was hard to read, washed out \u2014 but rather than coming forward and asking, Whose sweater is this? he kept it. He\u2019s been wearing it ever since. The moment when he should\u2019ve tried to find the rightful owner and didn\u2019t, he stole the sweater. So he was referred to an Honor Council. They will meet Wednesday and decide if he\u2019s guilty. If he is guilty, they will recommend a punishment to the superintendent; the superintendent will take it under advisement, make a decision, and then I will execute that decision. It\u2019s not cut-and-dried \u2014 honor involves intent, did he intend to steal? \u2014 but if he is found guilty, then he will be disciplined and conceivably dismissed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t routinely try for dismissal, simply because if we dismiss him we can\u2019t help him. At certain times, though, dismissal is the only thing. There are offenses for which a cadet will be dismissed: weapons, drugs, grievous bodily damage. Other times, you have to consider the interests of the organization. If a cadet does something so bad that the integrity of the institution is going to be harmed, then, even though I may really want to work with this boy, that cadet is going to be dismissed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I don\u2019t necessarily need the Honor Council to tell me someone has lied, cheated, or stolen. I can prove it for myself. Or they may admit it to me. We\u2019re not thoroughly modern here, but we do use the tools available. For example, we\u2019ve had theft problems. So we painted some $20 bills and left them out in a cadet\u2019s room, knowing that some cadets would steal them. And they did. And when we went through formation and checked, there were two parties with blue hands. I suspended both cadets.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m emphasizing the Honor Council more this year. I want to make sure that the cadets are dealing with honor, conceptualizing it, nuking honor part of their own standards. The guy who goes home on weekends, for example, and does marijuana: well, I care if he does it. I care no matter where he does it. We have a zero tolerance on drugs. lust year I definitely cleaned the house on drugs, which is why we had a lot less use this year. At least, perceived use. I can persuade a cadet from using drugs. How do I do that? By letting him think we might be looking at him, okay? If I just have a suspicion he\u2019s doing it, I\u2019m gonna call him in and tell him. Now, if I have a snitch come in and tell me \u2014 I don\u2019t call \u2019em snitches \u2014 if I have a cadet come in and say that Blah Blah is using drugs, well, maybe the cadet just has an ax to grind; but if I can corroborate that with somebody else saying it, then I\u2019ll test that guy.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually, cadets just tell me. Honestly, if I call \u2019em in, they tell. If I ask \u2019em, Are you using drugs? they will admit it. Even without me ordering a test. Because they think my information\u2019s better than it really is. They think I\u2019ve got cameras all over the place. Now, can I say beyond a shadow of a doubt we don\u2019t have anybody using drugs? Absolutely not. Can I say we have a good likelihood of catching somebody doing drugs? Yes, I can. Drugs is one area where cadets will tell on each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
How about cigarettes?<\/p>\n
\u201cCigarettes are a problem. They\u2019re easy to get. And we have cadets who are addicted \u2014 many cadets from Asia have smoked since childhood \u2014 and if a kid i s addicted to nicotine, it\u2019s pretty hard for him to quit. I tried to get some [ nicotine] patches for kids, but I can\u2019t find a doctor who will prescribe them for minors. It really comes down to the idea that there are two types of smoking: (a) there\u2019s smoking, and (b) there\u2019s smoking in a cadet billeting area, which I punish far harder than I punish smoking in an open area. If a cadet smokes in his room, he comes up and marches immediately one hour, gets restricted to campus for that weekend, and gets an \u2018unsatisfactory citizenship\u2019 grade for that grading period.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the first time. Second time, all that plus he loses a rank. Subsequent times? Well, we haven\u2019t dismissed a cadet yet for smoking, but we may have to.\u201d<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s the deal with the kid Major Hatchett came in about?<\/p>\n
\u201cHe took off without letting us know where he was going. First time, he was gone for ten days. I could\u2019ve dismissed him for that. But Major Hatchett interceded, because he knew what the problem was. Now he\u2019s gone again. The parents have no idea where he\u2019s at. Major Hatchett\u2019s gonna find out what\u2019s going on. This kid has got some personal problems. We have a large population of foreign cadets\u2014 Latin America, Europe, but mostly Korea and Thailand \u2014 who normally pose few problems. But when they do have a problem, it\u2019s significant. When you have a kid who just comes in from Korea, it\u2019s a big cultural shock. And I can excuse one time, but…<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I get in trouble, you know, one cadet gets treated one way, next cadet another…”<\/p>\n
Accused of not being consistent?<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. And I\u2019ll take that. Once we start dealing with consistent kids, then I\u2019ll start dealing with them as if they were blocks. The point is, we\u2019ll go the extra step with kids. Sometimes that\u2019s what\u2019s necessary. I\u2019ll just give you a little of my history and then I\u2019ll shut up. I had four companies when I was in the Army, two tours with the Rangers, four tours with airborne units. I\u2019m not saying all that just to pat myself on my back, but in all but two of my almost 15 years in the Army, I was in direct control of soldiers. That\u2019s a lot of leadership experience. I know better how to lead than to manage, all right? They\u2019re totally different skills. And that\u2019s good, because here you have to lead. You can\u2019t just tell kids what to do. You use all the good things they teach you in the Army to assist cadets \u2014 not just manipulate them \u2014 in becoming responsible young men.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe irony is that if you have a perfect system, you\u2019re not going to be respected. I mean, if I had a system that every single time catches a kid doing something wrong, then they will never do anything wrong. But that doesn\u2019t reflect life. We want the academy to reflect life. I tell cadets: Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you; maybe I punish you pretty hard, but that\u2019s because the first time you didn\u2019t get caught. And one thing I can honestly say, I have never, ever \u2014 not even in the Army\u2014punished anybody who didn\u2019t deserve it. Here, I think there really is a perception of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doesn\u2019t take long in war to learn more about life than others learn in a lifetime; but when a booby-trapped 82 mm mortar blew shrapnel into Henry Hatchett\u2019s gut and killed two men, he\u2019d already put in 16 months in Vietnam. And he hadn\u2019t been serving drinks to rear-echelon mothe’fucks either. He started with Third Battalion, Fifth Marines \u2014 you know. Dodge City, Booby Trap Heaven, and Liberty Bridge…<\/p>\n
\u201c…blow it up one day, rebuild it next…\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he went recon: A Shau Valley,Central Highlands, Trong Son Mountains, six-man teams, helicopter inserts, like in that recent Hollywood movie\u00a0Dead Presidents….<\/p>\n
\u201cDead what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Presidents, the movie; d\u2019you see it?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
It had scenes of a Marine recon team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I did the real thing, know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no show, no makeup, no phony stuff…lot o\u2019 stuff you see, you know.. .this was the real deal…knew what we were doing…running our butts off all the time…all over the place…be runnin\u2019 Ho Chi Minh Trail, trip and roll right out o\u2019 Vietnam into Cambodia.. .get right up and keep runnin\u2019 back into Vietnam…know what I mean? You told the average person that you actually ran when you were in a combat situation, they would think something was funny. But it\u2019s different out there gathering information, when your purpose is to observe the enemy, get the numbers…and escape, you know…not get caught. That\u2019s the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Retired Marine Corps Sergeant Major (military\u2019s highest enlisted rank) Henry Hatchett \u2014 Major Hatchett here \u2014 is the senior supervising TAC officer at Army-Navy Academy. He speaks in a surprisingly soft voice, his facial countenance devoid of malcontent; even before the interview. I\u2019d presumed great respect for this man\u2014call it a bias. He\u2019d entered the Corps in 1961.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a Hollywood Marine,\u201d he laughs (meaning boot camp MCRD, San Diego, instead of Parris Island). \u201cAnd of course, I was 0311 (infantry Marine], but at my first duty station, in Hawaii,I played football and wrestled. I was the 193-pound Interstate Champion. In 1964, I was escorted by then-Second Lieutenant Brantner (later Lieutenant General] to the Pan Am Games trials. I won my first two matches, and in my third one, my opponent did an arm drag; I resisted and dislocated my shoulder. Never got to go to the Pan Am Games.\u201d<\/p>\n
From there, Hatchett instructed rifle marksmanship at Quantico, before pulling embassy duty in Buenos Aires, then his 16 months in Vietnam. After two months\u2019 convalescence and promotion to staff sergeant, he came back to Camp Lejeune and the Special Warfare Training Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd to make a long story short, I was chosen to become an instructor. So I went to Ranger School, Fort Benning. Then to Extreme Cross-Country Cold-Weather School up in Alaska. We learned to cross all these silty streams \u2014stick in our rifle barrel, pull it out, there\u2019d be ice on it \u2014 that type o\u2019 thing. learned how to climb on glaciers with ice pitons, you know, livin\u2019 in glacier caves. Then, of course, crevasse-rescue techniques, rappelling into crevasses \u2014 that\u2019s an experience you\u2019ll never forget! Throw a rock in there, you don\u2019t even hear it hit the bottom. That’s frightening. Probably the most frightening thing I did up there: rappelling into a glacier. Then having to come back out. I mean, knowing that what\u2019s really supportin\u2019 you up there is a bunch o\u2019 guys with ice axes. My God. And the purpose of all this, see, was for me to be able to teach this stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which led….<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich led, well, believe this or not \u2014 understand, here I\u2019ve been to all these schools, you know, and here I\u2019m now teaching mountaineering, teaching cold-weather training, here I\u2019m this rough-and-tough instructor, and here I\u2019m standing on this 125-foot cliff teaching guys to rappel \u2014 my driver comes and yells up, \u2018Gunny! Come down! You got a message.\u2019 \u201d Tap!<\/p>\n
(Hatchett punctuates with his Marine Corps ring.)<\/p>\n
What was the message?<\/p>\n
\u201cReport to 8th & I.\u201d<\/p>\n
(I look at him blankly.) \u201cCourse, you know what 8th & I is?\u201d<\/p>\n
Uh…<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know Marine Barracks 8th &I in Washington, D.C.?”<\/p>\n
Um…<\/p>\n
\u201cCommandant of Marine Corps?\u201d<\/p>\n
Yeah! yeah! Commandant\u2019s house!<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, Silent Drill Team, color guard, Friday evening parades. And can you imagine the contrast between being a complete field Marine, I mean, extreme field Marine, like I was at the time, to being an 8th 8c I Marine?”<\/p>\n
You guys\u2019d go to the White House?<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes, yes. So you can imagine…”<\/p>\n
(I interrupt and relate a boast told by an acquaintance bragging he and his Marine bud-dies\u2019d gotten drunk and \u201cpissed on Bill Clinton\u2019s lawn.\u201d)<\/p>\n
\u201cSomebody told you that?\u201d Yeah.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnybody tells you that, they\u2019re lying! Anybody tells you they went to the White House and did anything like that is a liar…\u201d tap!”… flat out, straight up, they are a bald-faced liar. They\u2019d have been arrested in a heartbeat. I mean, there\u2019s so much security there, you wouldn\u2019t believe it. No Marine would have the gall to go down there and do something like that. I went to the White House \u2014 what they call Ceremonial Guard Company\u2014 and anybody tells you they did that is liar.\u201d<\/p>\n
What was your job?<\/p>\n
\u201cI had three jobs: I was company gunnery sergeant for Ceremonial Guard Companies, I was operations chief, and I was drillmaster for all the evening parades at the commandant\u2019s house, and also the Iwo Jima Memorial.\u201d<\/p>\n
You called cadence?<\/p>\n
Hatchett laughs, \u201cThere\u2019s no cadence at 8th & I. See, people don\u2019t realize, except for right face, right shoulder arms, port arms, and order arms, there are no commands given at Marine Barracks 8th & I. There are really two kinds of marching, right? You got the regular marching in the Marine Corps; then you have the kind of marching you do at Marine Barracks 8th & I, which is so superior. Regular marching in the Marine Corps, you know, as far as styles and drills, is not really a lot different than the way the Army marches….\u201d<\/p>\n
Wait! wait! wait! Doggies don\u2019t march worth crap!<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,.the discipline is much more rigid in the Marine Corps, way you hold your hands, way you look, even how you hold your mouth. Here\u2019s how to create the perfect parade face, the one that\u2019s blank and doesn\u2019t say anything but says everything. Close your mouth, take the tip of your tongue, put it behind your two front teeth. Keep your eyes open., .that… see? You have no idea what\u2019s on my mind. But if I have my mouth open, or if I grit my teeth, or if I smile, you can always determine what I\u2019m thinkin\u2019. With this.. .yeah, that\u2019s it… now put your tongue behind your top teeth, close your lips, see? Tongue\u2019s in there, so now you can\u2019t be closin\u2019 your mouth so hard it makes your veins pop out side o\u2019 v^ir head and all that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
So where\u2019d you go from 8th & I?<\/p>\n
\u201cWent to First Sergeant School, then right hack to recon,\u201d he laughs. \u201cBut I wasn\u2019t really going out with the teams and doing inserts and all that stuff. You don\u2019t do it at that point. You\u2019re still staying in shape, but no inserts. And now I got senior sergeant majors saying, \u2018Henry, you\u2019re gonna be a sergeant major, so you need to have some diversity in your experience,\u2019 know what I mean? \u2018You need to get some experience in the support arena.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I go to ELMACO \u2014 Electronics-Maintenance Company\u2014 they repair high-powered radios, radar, things like that. But that was too easy for me, see, so the battalion commander and the sergeant major, they decided I need a bigger challenge and transfer me to [ Headquarters and Service). And this is. my First encounter, my first experience ever, with WMs.\u201d<\/p>\n
BAMs!<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, well \u2014 woman Marines \u2014 BAMs is a bad word, know what I mean. I mean, I had heard horror stories about dealin\u2019 with WMs. And I just didn’t want to do it. But I had no choice. I got orders and was instructed to get on down there and get on with the job. Well, it turned out I had between 500 and 515 people in that company, a big company, but \u2014 73 WMs…\u201d<\/p>\n
Tap!<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I asked myself many rimes. What have I got myself into! But it turned out it was a real…a very…uh…rewarding experience. \u2019Cause just like men, a lot of them were good, proficient, very professional…and… some of \u2019em were a big problem. The thing is, one WM with an attitude is equal to five male Marines with an attitude. You just can\u2019t deal with ’em. I mean, you.. .you…you can\u2019t deal with \u2019em. You gotta watch every last thing you say or do. One WM can ruin your career in a heartbeat!\u201d<\/p>\n
Okay, so you survived the WMs.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I survived it for two years, until December of 1981, when I got promoted to boot sergeant major, and I got assigned to a small air squadron. And all of a sudden the commander and senior sergeant major decide, again. I wasn’t being challenged properly. See, every time I had an easy job, you know, that\u2019s the sign I\u2019m not being properly challenged. So they put me in HMH 464 \u2014a helicopter that was brand new at the time, a really big helicopter, bigger\u2019n the Chinook, bigger\u2019 n the Flying Crane, bigger\u2019n all them, faster\u2019n all them, more versatile, could fly by itself \u2014 tremendous lift power. You hover that helicopter over this trailer, it would blow this trailer down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere I had a pretty easy time, about 340 Marines, all top of the line, all handpicked guys, \u2019cause the squadron\u2019s new, helicopter\u2019s new. I had a really rewarding experience. Did a lot of flying. Flew across the United States and back in those helicopters. They can refuel in the air, you know. It\u2019s common, today, but back then, to look up and see a big huge helicopter flying behind a Cl30 \u2014 I mean, just that it could keep up with a C130! And places we went… from eastern United States to Central America and return in a night. Awesome helicopter!<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd after that, I went to Special Operations Capable Marine Amphibious Unit, commonly known as SOCMAU. Excuse me for laughin\u2019, but we start talkin\u2019 SOC, man, we\u2019re talkin\u2019 dive, we\u2019re talkin\u2019 fixed rope, we\u2019re talkin\u2019 hostage rescue, we\u2019re talkin\u2019 SWAT stuff! Stuff not normally done by walkin\u2019 Marines. It was all just startin\u2019 up. And me and this young colonel, Colonel Hopgood…’ course me, boot Sergeant Major Hatchett, you know…\u2018You two fools go out there, y\u2019all take over and let’s get this thing goin’.. .know what I\u2019m sayin\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n
D\u2019you make the Gulf War?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I didn\u2019t. By then I\u2019d been in almost 30 years. I was about to go\u2014everybody anticipated there was gonna be a lot of Marines get killed when the ground war started\u2014and I was part of the relief. But once they realized the war was going to be over so quickly, they dismantled us, and I just went to being division inspector until I retired. And that\u2019s when Mr. Williams contacted me to come down here and check out Army-Navy Academy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Williams?<\/p>\n
\u201cCommandant of the Army-Navy Academy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, who\u2019d I just talk to?<\/p>\n
\u201cLewis. Lewis came after Cargile. I came here, worked one year with Williams, then Cargile did it one year, then Lewis took it,\u201d he laughs, \u201cnow he\u2019s been here a year.\u201d<\/p>\n
This place\u2019s not much like the Marine Corps.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Think it should be?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I honestly don\u2019t think it should be. That is not the purpose of the \u2019military\u2019 here. The military here is used to subject the boys to a minor degree of regimentation: get up in the morning, brush your teeth, shave your face, comb your hair, go to formation, be on time, look good, keep your room orderly, be respectful, to be responsible. We\u2019re not trying to teach \u2019em how to go out and be the world\u2019s greatest soldier and get a Purple Heart. Goal of this academy is to help a boy learn how to be a really good citizen. When boys come here, all of a sudden they gotta go to a room, they don\u2019t have a TV, don\u2019t have a phone, don\u2019t have a refrigerator, can\u2019t be up after 10 o\u2019clock, have to study every night: that right there is a tremendous change in a young man\u2019s life. Then there\u2019s the leadership aspect. Nobody\u2019s ever gonna give you 100 percent if you just tell somebody to do something; so you\u2019re challenged with persuading these young boys that all this stuff is the right stuff, show them what benefits they\u2019re gonna get from it. And that\u2019s a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
How does your Marine Corps experience translate to here?<\/p>\n
\u201cMy experience has allowed me to deal with every kind of personality that I meet here. People here got a whole bunch of different personalities. The parents have different personalities. The kids have different personalities. My co-workers have different personalities. And my experience has taught me, I think, to be tolerant, patient, and look at things people say from different angles, different ways. Sometimes people talk, you know, and you\u2019re offended right away by what they say. But I\u2019ve found you can avoid being offended if you put yourself in their shoes, look at yourself through their eyes, and see what they\u2019re really trying to project. And I\u2019ll tell you, the main thing is patience and wisdom to hear the whole story, not just a little part of it, especially when you\u2019re talking to kids. If you talk to the average child here, they\u2019ll tell you that probably 90 percent of the adults they talk to don\u2019t listen to \u2019em, because they don\u2019t value that child\u2019s opinion. They don\u2019t think what he\u2019s saying means anything. Which is a very serious mistake. You have to listen to what kids are saying. And understand why they’re saying what they\u2019re saying, or you can\u2019t deal with^ny problems that they have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is that the role of a TAC?<\/p>\n
\u201cBig role. I mean, we got so many roles here. We got the role to maintain good order and discipline; we got the role to counsel and encourage kids when they\u2019re down; we have a role of protecting them; we have a role to try to mold them into good young men. We\u2019re their mentors in a lot of ways, you know, a big brother. Lot o\u2019 things boys ask me, they\u2019d never ask their friends. They ask you very personal questions sometimes \u2014 personal as far as they\u2019re concerned. Some o\u2019 these boys never been on a date before, you know. \u2018What do I do when I go on a date?\u2019 Like when they have one of their dances, and they gotta go pick up a girl. \u2018What am I supposed to do?\u2019 And the reason they ask me is, I believe, because I understand what it is to have integrity.<\/p>\n
\u201cSee, one of the major, major, major things here, in dealing with these young boys, is you must have integrity with them. In other words, if they don\u2019t believe what you\u2019re saying, if they ever catch you in a lie, you\u2019re gonna have problems. But if they believe that you have their best interests in hand, and what you say is true, then you can talk to them any way you want to. \u2019Cause they trust you. That\u2019s my experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tap!<\/p>\n
Tuesday morning, dull and again gray, a wiry seventh grader of olive complexion, dark eyes, quintessential voice, and precocious personality, spells for me his name.<\/p>\n
\u201cG-E-R-A-R-D-Y.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isn\u2019t that a disease you get from drinking bad water?<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Where\u2019d you go to school before here?<\/p>\n
\u201cI was home schooled.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tough here?<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people you talk to will say they don\u2019t like it here.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Bugle sounds for breakfast formation.)<\/p>\n
I need a guide for junior school tomorrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk for me!\u201d<\/p>\n
I will.<\/p>\n
\u201cSee ya.\u201d<\/p>\n
After breakfast (younger boys dashing for room inspections), I walk with my guide (a tall, calm senior) to his English class. He explains that the north lawn is for seniors only, that seniors can stay up later, that nobody hassles with seniors, that recently seniors (tacitly) have been allowed to keep \u201chuge stereos and speakers.\u201d I relate Commandant Lewis\u2019s rationale of \u201cmore things I give, more things I can take away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would be him. In the six years I\u2019ve been here, there\u2019s been a lot of commandants and a lot of new administration, and some things I don\u2019t agree with, but there\u2019s not much I can say about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was a West Point grad. \u201cYeah. Guess he\u2019s had a lot more military experience than I have. So maybe I\u2019m just an 18-year-old who knows it all.\u201d Senior English class (male teacher in tweed jacket, boys grouped in discussions on styles of essay) is remarkable for its small size (11 students). Second period is freshman JROTC class (my guide acts as teacher\u2019s aide) instructed by a stocky black in camouflage fatigues, Sergeant Magwood. Magwood (normally an active-duty Army MP) introduces a video, \u201c…if you really set your mind to something, if you\u2019re really determined to be somebody, to accomplish something in life, you can do it; like Colin Powell, who became chairman of the Joint Chiefs… Eisenhower started off and moved all the way up to be president.\u201d Called LET-1 (Leadership Education Training), the class is mandatory. One boy sucks on a lollipop, as famous voice narrates (\u201c.. .13-day, code name Operation Overlord…\u201d), as black-and-white footage flickers, as nobody appears riveted.<\/p>\n
Walking to art history class, I note seventh- and eighth-grade boys (unlike older cadets) carry all their books to every class. Why?<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re dumb.\u201d<\/p>\n
They ever get lippy? \u201cYeah, we make \u2019em march. But when I was in seventh grade, they made us do pushups. The board of directors banned that, though, because parents and cadets complained. Personally, I didn\u2019t think it was too hard.\u201d Does develop body tone. \u201cExactly, self-improvement.\u201d Another video (regarding Frank Lloyd Wright) puts one Asian boy to sleep; seven other seniors jot notes copiously; a woman\u2019s low, seductive voice articulates artsy-fartsy things. Then the voice becomes Wright\u2019s (\u201c…the older countries, if we could only get rid of them first, we could have a future…\u201d) as cameras pan bombed-out cities of Europe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn here, the shades are always pulled,\u201d says my guide. \u201cLots of guys fall asleep, but this is my favorite class.\u201d<\/p>\n
The teacher (in slight British accent) quickly summates, \u201cAs you see, the walls aren\u2019t really supporting a lot of weight, so a lot of light comes in, goes out, and makes a building function differently, you know, than if everything is closed in and dark.\u201d<\/p>\n
We walk to Crean Hall, the latest product of an ongoing, 15-year remodeling project. \u201cThe original halls were all created for Army hospitals. They used to call the old one \u2018Pain Hall\u2019 \u2014 crappiest hall on campus\u2014and every seventh and eighth grader got it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name\u2019s David Parmer, 18, and I\u2019m a lifer. There\u2019s only four of us who\u2019ve stayed on here all six years. One\u2019s from Oceanside, one Japan, and one other\u2019s from California. In college I plan to study history and specialize in foreign affairs and hopefully join the Foreign Service as a representative from the United States in Germany.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was originally raised in Heidelberg, Germany, where my father was in the Army Dental Corps. I moved here directly from Colorado, where my parents got divorced. My grandmother lived in Pasadena, and she researched schools for me. My first impression of Army and Navy Academy was I wanted to come here. Then my first three weeks, I called home four times wanting to come home. At first, you\u2019re the led, not the leader. You stand in formations, you go to all the messes, you do what you\u2019re told. If you screw up, somebody screams in your ear. But as a leader, you supervise all of the led. The higher up the food chain you go, the more responsibility you take. And sports is a big thing here. From 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 every day, cadets participate in sports. I\u2019ve been on the swim team, diving team, water polo team, and wrestling team.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs battalion executive officer, this year, I\u2019ve felt a lot of pressure \u2014 pressure to maintain a 4.0 GPA, pressure to accomplish my military duties, pressure to complete college applications \u2014 but there\u2019s no way I was gonna dropout And I haven\u2019t had anybody yell at me this year. The only people I\u2019d get yelled at by are the superintendent and the commandant, and that\u2019s only if anything goes wrong. I get along pretty good with the superintendent; I meet with him once a month, and I have catechism classes from his wife Thursday nights. The sergeant you saw today, I usually talk to him about my military training. Otherwise, I don\u2019t deal much with the adult staff.<\/p>\n
\u201c Things I miss about public schools.. .obviously the women. And sometimes I wish I didn\u2019t have to wake up and put a uniform on every morning or make formation; I wish I could sleep in a little longer and not have to eat in the mess hall every day, I wish I could hang out with my friends and have a car. But I get to do that stuff on weekends, anyway. My best friend goes to Grossmont High, and whenever I\u2019m home, I hang out with his friends. They think it\u2019s strange here, though. \u2018Wow, what\u2019s it like being away from girls?\u2019 But since sixth grade, I haven\u2019t dealt with girls on a day-to-day basis. In actuality, I think that\u2019s better. Here I\u2019m not distracted. I can focus on what I\u2019m doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we have dances here. We started a new relationship with a Catholic girls\u2019 school in El Cajon. My girlfriend was on the ASB there, so we hooked up the schools together.\u201d<\/p>\n
She still your girlfriend? \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
TV news arrived at noon to film the corps of cadets, shoot some clips of marching, interview two Russian cadets, etc.; administration, faculty, and a few proud parents beamed. The corps is divided into five companies, the largest company is composed of ANA\u2019s marching band. A \u201cshowcase\u201d event for media, boys were definitely not expected to be boys. Chants filled the air.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s the best company?\u201d \u201cDEL-TA COM-PANY, SIR!\u201d<\/p>\n
The percussion kicks in (TA-DAH dum-dum-dum-BOOM) and off they go. At tail end of the junior schookrs (Echo Company), I see the kid who looks like Patrick Swayze walking, not marching, trousers pulled half down his butt.<\/p>\n
The rebel!<\/p>\n
Afterward, cadets huddle below their barking battalion commander high on the red steps; nearby, the histrionic voice of Major Graves lashes ferociously at the fractious boy. \u201cIf this company LOSES… \u201d his veins popping \u201c… it\u2019s your FAULT! Out of the WHOLE camp corps, YOU were the WORST! The WORST\u201d Graves\u2019s hands cling to his own pant seams (attention style), torso bent at the waist (Japanese style), face smack in \u201cSwayze\u2019s\u201d face, spittle flying. \u201cDon\u2019t make any PLANS for the weekend! NO PLANS! I\u2019m keeping you ABOARD this weekend! YOU HEAR? NO PLANS!\u201d Graves turns, stops, turns… \u201cthe WORST!\u201d.. .marches off. The chastised boy shuffles after, mumbling, \u201c’this is bull….\u201d Later, kids wrestle, step on each other\u2019s shoes, crawl out windows, as Beaver Fever walks by.<\/p>\n
Hey, Gerardy!<\/p>\n
\u201cHey.\u201d<\/p>\n
That kid who got his butt chewed?<\/p>\n
\u201cWeber…\u201d<\/p>\n
Yeah, what for?<\/p>\n
\u201cFlipped off the TV camera guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
No way.<\/p>\n
\u201cYep! Now he\u2019s gotta march for, like, 12 hours….\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, meet up with Parmer and head to next class. Cigarette butts litter the ground. \u201cGuys cheat the system,” he explains. “They find little places, but I bust every smoker I see.\u201d A tall teacher passes, and a nearby cadet addresses, \u201cHey, dude!\u201d Teacher pauses, turns, \u201cCowabunga, man,” he says. \u201cWhat\u2019s with all the dude\u2019 stuff?\u201d \u201cSorry, sir, Mr. Tadder.\u201d We enter a classroom located across the street from the main campus. I sit in the back, beside a dumpy-built Mexican boy with a gutter mouth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t give a flying foke!” he says. \u201cWe\u2019re seniors, an\u2019 we don\u2019 care!”<\/p>\n
A darker-skinned boy in glasses jokes with a friend.<\/p>\n
Dumpy chides, \u201cHey! How come you talk like a nay-gro?”<\/p>\n
Teacher\u2019s young, obviously uncomfortable, and pitifully inept at curbing the trash talk.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake out your texts,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Another boy grabs a book off the teacher\u2019s desk and scoots to his seat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need that,\u201d teacher says.<\/p>\n
\u201cMenzie, you in trouble now,\u201d says Dumpy.<\/p>\n
(I squirm in the absence of adult control.)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t give a foke.\u201d Teacher must pull the text from \u201cMenzie\u2019s\u201d hands.<\/p>\n
(Hoots go up.)<\/p>\n
\u201cTake out your notes,\u201d he says, \u201cand be ready for a quiz.\u201d Dumpy snarls, \u201cYou won\u2019 give us no quiz. I know you!\u201d (Oh, God! I hate punks! A fantasy hand throttles this fat lump o\u2019 shit\u2019s throat, other hand slaps…\u201cHey, pig foke!\u201d…slap! slap! slap!…SLAP!)<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m cadet\/Lt. Col. Barnett Harris, the highest-ranking cadet in my class, and the battalion commander of the Warrior Corps. From the start, I always knew that I\u2019d be battalion commander when I was a senior. And I am, because I worked my butt off.\u201d (I relate the incident in Parmer\u2019s class.)<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, he\u2019s a schmuck.\u201d What constitutes a \u201cschmuck\u201d?<\/p>\n
\u201cA teacher who…\u201d<\/p>\n
…no. I mean…<\/p>\n
\u201c… Isn\u2019t aware of the system here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe education here.. .they have a set curriculum, obviously. The headmastcr [Or. Fred Heinlej has really been instrumental in writing a curriculum for every single class; but really, the classes here are only as good as the teacher. For example, last year I was in Mrs. Sloan\u2019s [advanced placement ] biology class \u2014 like a college course, superadvanced \u2014 we actually did DNA splicing and genetic engineering and all this crazy stuff, right? But she taught it so I actually understood it, you know, she taught it until I understood it. She wasn\u2019t just concerned about her paycheck. She came here at night, all the time, teaching us one-on-one. And that\u2019s the kind of teacher you learn stuff from. Now she\u2019s not here; but I\u2019m not in that class anymore. So I got everything I could get out of that class, sucked the juice right out of the orange. And I just am lucky, \u2019cause for every class I\u2019ve had, I had the best teacher here. So, here \u2014 anywhere, I guess, but especially here \u2014 it\u2019s the teachers. And of course, a student who doesn\u2019t care isn\u2019t going to learn anything. . .but good teachers motivate students to care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Are you a lifer?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, sir, I came here as a freshman, because, well, I was this really bad boy.\u201d<\/p>\n
A banger?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, nothin’ like that, I was just stupid. I started a forest fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that was just one of the things I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Court order you here?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a court suggestion. I had, like, a 2.0 and was just headed in the wrong direction; so my dad sent me here. And out of spite I was gonna show him I could handle this place. And after a month I saw how my efforts were rewarded; I got double promoted, got ribbons and stuff, and…this was really cool! And I saw the guy in charge of us, Mitch Martin \u2014 he\u2019s at West Point now, 20th in his class, looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger \u2014 and he\u2019s a legacy around here. He was my idol. And then he became my big brother, showed me what he does, how he does it; ever since. I\u2019ve wanted to be the battalion commander. The respect he got was pretty unique.\u201d How do you get respect? \u201cSet the example, have military bearing.\u201d<\/p>\n
What is military bearing? \u201cWay you carry yourself, not being timid, not being afraid of basically anything; an air about you that you know you\u2019re in charge, that you\u2019re responsible for everybody in the academy, that you have all the rank and weight on your shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ever forgive your father for making you come here?<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, I can\u2019t stop loving him because he did. This has been the greatest thing ever to happen to me. Before I came here, I was headed for juvenile hall. I was a screwup. This place turned me around. Whatever I wanted was here \u2014 be on the rifle team, golf team, swimming team, football \u2014 in football I was a starter for four years! I could never do that at a regular school, you know, \u2019cause I\u2019m just not an athlete. When I first came here, I was just a short, fat kid. football was the best thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Are you Norwegian?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Portuguese? German? Hungarian?<\/p>\n
\u201cNope.\u201d<\/p>\n
What?<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad\u2019s American, and my mom’s Japanese.\u201d<\/p>\n
No way.<\/p>\n
\u201cGlad I don\u2019t look it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Your dad\u2019s what?<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerican, just American. New Yorker.\u201d<\/p>\n
Was he military?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, he went in the Marine Corps at 15, before they had computers; they found out two years later, so they gave him a convenience discharge, rather than a dishonorable, because he\u2019d already gotten the Bronze Star and Purple Heart \u2014 had served his country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vietnam?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, World War II.\u201d<\/p>\n
World War II, no way!<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father\u2019s almost 70; he was, like, 50 when I was born.\u201d Oh.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to think he was outdated, when he\u2019d speak about duty, honor, country, loyalty, integrity, you know, like, What are you talkin\u2019 about. Dad? They thought that stuff in the \u201920s! I don\u2019t need that. But that\u2019s the way you gotta be. That stuff is right! You\u2019re either an honest man, can look yourself in the mirror, or you\u2019re one of those people who is ashamed and lives his life miserably. This school made me mature enough to understand that my dad actually knew what the hell he was talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Are cadets aware of some o\u2019 the TACs\u2019 histories?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d Well, like, Donovan? \u201cYeah, Marine Corps sniper, Vietnam, Ninth Marines.. .Walking Dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Major Hatchett? \u201cHatchett! Regional sergeant major, badass Marine!\u201d Muhs?<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst sergeant in the Marine Corps, great guy!\u201d<\/p>\n
I saw a kid get his butt reamed today, is that the procedure if somebody\u2019s lazy, or whatever?<\/p>\n
\u201cTo chew \u2019em out?\u201d<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, we don\u2019t hit \u2019em; in fact, the only kind of physical punishment is to have \u2019em hold their arms out. Some say this school is \u2018looser\u2019 than other military schools, but the thing about this school is that it\u2019s kind of a microcosm of the real world. In the real world you can\u2019t make somebody drop and give you pushups; you\u2019ve got to lead them by example, by your own motivational skills. And this place teaches you how to do that through experience, being out there in formations, gettin\u2019 guys up every morning and in formation, proper uniforms, shoes shined, hair cut. You get guys this age to do that, that\u2019s a pretty good feat. If you can motivate kids to do that, then when you get out in the real world, you have some pretty good leadership skills.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ever have anybody, you know, tell ya…<\/p>\n
\u201c \u2018Go fuck yourself \u2019?\u201d \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well?<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, that\u2019s tough; when somebody does that, it\u2019s almost beyond your control. You go to the TAC officers, one of those Marine Corps DIs, to go get the kid out of his bed; or, you try to, you know, talk to \u2019em, tell \u2019em, Hey, you\u2019re destroying your own life; your parents are puttin\u2019 up roughly 20 grand a year, as much as Stanford costs, for you to come here and what? Screw yourself up? be a flunky? For some reason, I can usually get through to people. I hate it, but screw it. I\u2019ll do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
How \u2019bout the social thing? No girls hanging all over you? I\u2019m sure you get asked. Hey, don\u2019t you miss the chicks? What\u2019s your response?<\/p>\n
\u201cGenerally speaking, I don\u2019t speak to those kind of people, but my response is that it\u2019s definitely helped me. If I had that distraction here. I\u2019d still be headed to juvenile hall; in a traditional school, lot o\u2019 guys do poorly, \u2019cause it\u2019s not \u2018macho\u2019! So they put on a show. I mean, I did that! And in some classes there\u2019s the one really hot chick, so you don\u2019t do any work, \u2019cause you\u2019re concentrating on other things. Well, when you think about it, God, if you get a good education, you get to the college of your choice, then later down the road, say you\u2019re 25,30, your whole future is set, money\u2019s in the bank. Then you go and try to pick up women. I mean, think about it. Should \u2018hustlin\u2019 chicks\u2019 be your priority now, so you don\u2019t get an education, so you don\u2019t have a future, so down the road you\u2019re saying, \u2018Would you like fries with that?\u2019 \u201d Ever get hassled by \u2018townies? \u201cFunny thing, I have never gotten any trouble. Ever! Others have trouble almost every single time. From across the street, somebody\u2019ll yell, \u2018HEY, FUCK YOU!\u2019 and come over, want to fight, but nothing ever comes of it. When I walk through town and there\u2019s townies, it\u2019s just, Hi, what\u2019s up? and I keep on walkin\u2019. I don\u2019t understand how people get in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
These skaters?<\/p>\n
\u201cJust the local wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n
Where to next year? \u201cUnited States Naval Academy.\u201d<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve been counseled? \u201cAlready been there! I went to their Naval Academy summer seminar, and they made sure you knew how tough it\u2019s going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gonna go Navy or Marine? \u201cNavy. See, my ultimate ambition in life is to become the ambassador to Japan, and the Navy\u2019s more, you know, intellectual. In the Marine Corps, what do you do? You go, kill, come back. That\u2019s it. I mean, that\u2019s what my dad did, and we need that, but it\u2019s not what I want. I want to be in command, like of a battleship, you know. That\u2019d be great. From there, I want to be a naval attache, work in the embassies. And I want to work in Washington, D.C. To be an ambassador \u2014 Japan\u2019s a pretty decent world power \u2014 that takes a presidential appointment. So, I figure if I can make it to flag grade, work in Washington, hopefully get a fellowship at the White House\u2014and all these things I can do through the Navy \u2014 then eventually I\u2019ll be in a position to be appointed ambassador to Japan.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo far, I\u2019ve had a great education. I feel pretty prepared for college. And I\u2019m not naive, I know it\u2019s going to be tough. But I know one course at the academy\u2019s gonna be easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s that?<\/p>\n
\u201cJapanese.\u201d<\/p>\n
Say something.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Like \u201cI\u2019m going to be the ambassador to Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c#$%\u00a0A&( )(& Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patrick Swayze\u2019s name is Scott Weber (pronounced Webber), 14, eighth grade, high cheekbones and a killer\u2019s blue eyes; looks like a wrestler.,..<\/p>\n
\u201cI do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Yup.<\/p>\n
(In fact, if this were my school, Weber\u2019d be the first kid I\u2019d recruit; he\u2019s no punk, I can tell. I can tell lough in a glance.) \u201cWhere are you from?\u201d<\/p>\n
(I tell him.)<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it nice there?\u201d<\/p>\n
Snowin\u2019 when I left. (Dressed in full-body wet suit \u2014 black, red, purple, SKI LTD. emblazoned white \u2019cross chest, thigh \u2014 Weber holds his upright board like a pal, the cold surf lapping at his heels.)<\/p>\n
Saw that man yellin\u2019 at ya. \u201cMajor Graves.\u201d Why\u2019s he so ticked?<\/p>\n
\u201cUm, \u2019cause he said, like.. .I missed formation here? and I was there?…\u201d (typical of his age, Weber narrates via short questions) \u201c…and I was pretty late? but he said I didn\u2019t show up? but I did?\u201d<\/p>\n
Somebody said you flipped the TV guy off.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, right.. .like I\u2019m that stupid… people blame stuff on me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why\u2019d your parents send you here?<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause.. .get a good education. But I don\u2019t know, it\u2019s hard, all day…I\u2019m, like, livin\u2019 with the same people…so this is weird.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graves on your ass a lot? \u201cYeah! A lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ever talk to a TAC about it? \u201cYeah, but they don\u2019t do anything…\u2019cause, like…Major Graves is higher rank? so they can\u2019t, you know.. .do anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gonna hang in?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know…probably to the end of the year, if Major Graves doesn\u2019t.. .if he gets cooled down, maybe. Like, if I was a day student? could go home every night? if I didn\u2019t have to stay here…every weekend?…like I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
CADET\/SERGEANT RYAN HANSON, 14 years, eighth grade, is a day student. Before he came here, he attended Earl Warren in Solaria Beach, where \u201cso many kids were in class, if you didn\u2019t understand somethin\u2019, you were just lost. Here, there\u2019s more teachers, and they take the time to help you. My mom wanted me to go to a private school, \u2019cause she saw my grades going down, so she gave me all these brochures. I saw the brochure for here, went on a tour, and I liked it. My mom was really happy? but my dad, he didn\u2019t like it. My parents are divorced, see, and my mom thought I needed a male role model; here there\u2019s a bunch of \u2019em, (he laughs] so my dad didn\u2019t like that idea. He said I should just live with him and keep goin\u2019 to the same school.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, uh…the male-role-model part\u2019s not why I needed to go here; at my old school, I couldn\u2019t learn \u2014 too many distractions. So now I go here, but I live at my dad\u2019s house, so he\u2019s happy. He\u2019s closer, so it\u2019s more of a convenience; and aLso, since I was, like, five, I always lived with my mom, so it was time to live at my dad\u2019s house. I have to get up at 5:30 to pick the bus up, and it\u2019s about 40 minutes to heie, but I like it better.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome o\u2019 the people that say, Oh, man! this school sucks! are, like, I don\u2019t know, more mad at themselves; they\u2019re just not happy. But here, I feel like I\u2019m learning a lot more, \u2019cause if you have any problems, you just got to ask a teacher and they help you, \u2019cause they don\u2019t have 35 kids in class. And I like to surf\u2014 I like surfin\u2019, surf with my dad all the time. He\u2019s a big surfer. But the waves aren\u2019t real good here.<\/p>\n
\u201cGot this bracelet from my dad, when he went to Jamaica; my step-mom lives in Jamaica. I get along with her real well, lot bettcr\u2019n other people. Some people blame their stepparents, you know, sending \u2019em to boarding school. I mean, I\u2019m not sure about it, but some say their parents made \u2019em come here, but I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
\u201cMajor Graves, he\u2019s sort o\u2019 the dad of the junior school; he treats us with respect, if we treat him with respect, but if you do something wrong, he can act mean \u2014 like Weber, he was marching wrong. And the TACs, uh, they\u2019re pretty hard-nosed; I don\u2019t know, \u2019cause I don\u2019t interact with TACs that much, \u2019cause I leave early.\u201d<\/p>\n
You get preferential treatment?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kids accept the fact your mom works here?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n
No problems?<\/p>\n
\u201cNope.\u201d<\/p>\n
CADET\/SSGT ERIC C. BODEN-HOFFFER, kind of a different kid, languid speech, slight East Coast accent, says his mother said, \u201cI either go here or some other place, where, basically, they got you. She\u2019s a nurse, but she\u2019s workin\u2019 three different jobs to keep me here. I came here last year, my freshman year. Wish I could\u2019ve come sooner. I love this place.”<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the type of environment I like, where my time is structured, where I can\u2019t just go, \u2018Uhhhhh, I think I might want to eat….\u2019 And they got all this fun stuff that we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like marching?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t mind it. As far as I see it, I\u2019m getting my exercise, and I\u2019m learning for my future job. See, I got this all figured out: I\u2019ll go to West Point, become an officer, retire in 20 years, get a nice fat pension, then go on into law enforcement or something, stay in that and retire, get another fat pension, and never have to do anything anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
I see.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis school is so hard-pressed for money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh, yeah?<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you got any brains, they\u2019ll accept you \u2014 they need the money. Because they\u2019re going through this whole rebuilding process, and all this stuff, and they\u2019re replacing these buildings, making new libraries, so they have to have the money coming in. But I think we\u2019re gettin\u2019 such a good reputation that we\u2019re drawing in the kids that we want.\u201d Gotta a few yahoos here, you say?<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, yeah! There\u2019s people who, in any other condition, would\u2019ve been kicked out, but you gotta pay the bills somehow.\u201d Nobody gets kicked out, huh?<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, yeah! last year we had the.. .infamous.. .um.. .drug epidemic. I’m, one of our teachers was found to do drugs, and she had invited some cadets over to her house, and they were caught doing drugs over there. So, we had a whole bunch of cadets kicked out.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of your teachers?<\/p>\n
\u201cSpanish teacher. And during that whole time, this school went upside down. During the assemblies we were told, Please don\u2019t talk to the reporters! Send \u2019em up to the commandant\u2019s office. Then one night the classes decided to have their own little demonstration, senior class out there on the Senior lawn, everybody else out here on this lawn. They were trying to get up a petition to get some of the kids back in, because supposedly they had eaten cookies they didn\u2019t know were laced with cocaine….\u201d Cocaine?<\/p>\n
\u201cUm, I believe the teacher smoked marijuana, but I believe the kids only did cocaine.\u201d That\u2019s a relief. Were police involved?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know about that; I do know that the night we had thus demonstration out here, this car drives by, and \u2014 I was lucky enough to be the roommate of a particular cadet who\u2019s not here anymore \u2014 he decides to yell TOWNIE! \u2014 that\u2019s our little slang term, \u2019cause they all hate us.\u201d Yeah, yeah.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he does that, and everybody heard it, so everybody runs to see what was happening, and suddenly a gunshot was fired in the air, and everybody just scattered after that. And ever since, we always joke that we should\u2019ve opened up with our rifle team….\u201d \u201cOVER THERE\u2019S A MAN WHO WENT TO SCHOOL HERE IN 1952.\u201d Looking up, I see Major Hatchett at the trailer, pointing me toward a tall man and a short woman, pondering the immense roots of an ancient tree.<\/p>\n
NYAL STAMOULIS\u2019s wife wants the tree…<\/p>\n
\u201c…rootsand all!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDear, this gentleman\u2019s doing a story on the school.\u201d \u201cOh!.. .that tree! How old\u2019s that tree?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was old then; you\u2019re talkin\u2019 40 years ago when I was here.\u201d<\/p>\n
What brings you back? \u201cActually, we\u2019re just vacationing in Coronado, rented a car, driving around, goofing off, reminiscing a little bit, you know. I graduated from here in \u201954. Looks pretty much the same \u2014 a few new buildings. I was talking to that gentleman…\u201d …Major Hatchett… \u201c…just telling him, you know, I think a lot of these kids are sent here, because their parents don\u2019t want to be bothered, though it\u2019s not so bad, today, seventh grade on. When I was here, some boys spent their entire childhoods here, which is sad, you know. Of course, anymore with these drugs and stuff, all the peer pressure, maybe parents just can\u2019t handle \u2019em.\u201d \u201cNyal said some of the parents were in Europe, and the kids didn\u2019t have anyplace to go.\u201d \u201cThey\u2019d never show up and see \u2019em, you know. I mean, it\u2019s crazy. Then they\u2019d have summer camp, and they\u2019d put \u2019em here in summer camp too. They just didn\u2019t want to be bothered with the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd why were you here? maybe we ought to ask.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I was only here for my last two years of high school, you know, and I was home in the summer and Christmas and all that; hut that wasn\u2019t the case with a lot of \u2019em.\u201d<\/p>\n
Take it you didn\u2019t spring into the military.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he laughs. \u201cI went on to the University of Utah. If there\u2019s anything this place taught me, it\u2019s I didn\u2019t want to be in the military! You see, most people go into the military, because they perceive it as being glamorous; but after they go through two or more years of this bullshit, they don\u2019t ever want to go back to the military again, know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy roommate here\u2014we lived right there \u2014 his father was a general in the Marine Corps. And he came here once or twice and took us to dinner out at Camp Pendleton; I remember it was four bits for a steak or something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Really?<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd another thing that stuck in my mind were those BAMs! I remember watching \u2019em drill out there, and I\u2019d never heard such language \u2014 sounded like a coal mine. Anyway, he became commanding general on Paris Island, back maybe ten years after we\u2019d graduated, when 12 recruits drowned, notorious thing. Of course, that wasn\u2019t any thing compared to what was going on in the Russian Army, they (dually killed some of their recruits on purpose…. * (Gerardy\u2019s voice cracks over the P.A. \u201cATTENTION ALL CAMPUS! ATTENTION ALL CAMPUS… I mean, you have to maintain discipline, that\u2019s one thing, but you can overdo it. Bad thing about the military is it tends to attract a lot of sadists, you know, and if they get in a position of power, hoy oh boy! And! mean students!”<\/p>\n
Were you hazed?<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, I don\u2019t know that it was that bad; I can remember marching around on this damn thing for hours, you know, and I hadn\u2019t done anything! Couple guys got in a fight and I watched \u2019em. T hat was it. They assigned me after-hours marching, in a circle with a rifle, forever.”<\/p>\n
\u201cI told Nyal he was probably guilty of something. Tell him how they lined you up for dances.”<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I was tall, so they\u2019d find a girl who was as tall as me, and that\u2019s what I had for a date; she\u2019d be six five or something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNyal was six foot five when he was 12!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut as much as I hated this place, I was probably better off.. .wasn\u2019t gettin\u2019 enough guidance at home, you know… parents fighting all the time… though it wasn\u2019t as much fun as a public school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t know if this interview\u2019s going to take place. Weber\u2019s wrestling (kicking the ass of) some kid; he seems to be a \u201cdetached\u201d boy, unhappy look on his face a lot, but he\u2019s in his element now.<\/p>\n
On the large lawn that centers the rectangle formed by the unconnected halls McClendon (west), Dorman (north). Hoover (east), and the commandant\u2019s office\/trailer (south), Weber\u2019s Huck Finn voice and laugh narrate the scene, boys wrestling like lion kits, their newly emerging aggressions too long suppressed. Boy on bottom is getting \u201ctortured\u201d in grab-ass, the only expression of affection permitted boys…. \u201cO-w-w-w! my balls!…\u201d \u201c…ha! ha!…”<\/p>\n
\u201c…he\u2019s shoving his FINGER up my…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c…ha! ha!…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c.. .n-o-o-o-o!.. .Weber… o-w-w-w-w…”<\/p>\n
(Another boy jumps atop Weber…)<\/p>\n
\u201c.. .get the fuck off me!\u201d (He does…) \u201c…uhg-g-g-g-g-g-g…\u201d \u201c…cool down, you guys are lookin\u2019 hot…\u201d<\/p>\n
(Weber takes the boy to his back in a \u201ccradle.\u201d)<\/p>\n
\u201c…you\u2019re pinned now, bitch!…”<\/p>\n
\u201c…get off me! I swear I\u2019m gonna beat y\u2019r fuckin\u2019 ass…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c…YOU\u2019RE A BITCH!…\u201d \u201c…O-W-W-W-W-W… GET Y\u2019R FINGER OUTTA MY ASSHOLE, BEECH! YOU\u2019RE A FAGGOT! I\u2019m gonna kill you when I get out…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c…fuck you …\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c…lie down, puta…\u201d<\/p>\n
Four other boys are crowded in Scott Weber\u2019s small Dorman Hall room; supposedly, I\u2019m here to interview Weber, but the entourage comes with the deal. Here are two small beds (neatly made), two corner desks (I sit at one), walls adorned with posters, surfboards leaned sideways. Everybody\u2019s dressed in sweats (still perspiring from completed play), one boy bouncing a small ball, Weber kicked back on his bed.<\/p>\n
Weber, are you a spoiled rich kid?<\/p>\n
\u201cPoor as hell!\u201d<\/p>\n
Where\u2019s home? \u201cTemecula.\u201d Tuh\u2019muk\u2019you what? \u201cTe-MEC-u-la…it\u2019s an Indian word or somethin\u2019? I live in pro\u2019bly the biggest neighborhood? and we just go to the paintball field? or Storms\u2019 baseball stadium? go left into old town Temecula, and where the hot rod show is? and, uh, whole bunch o\u2019 bikes? they…they get busted, like, the motorcycles doin\u2019 wheelies? and, like, rev up the engines so fast? and, like, the cars? pedal to the metal? or something like that, and the cars spinning there without even going? and, like, spinning, going from here to there? car goes VVVSSSSSSS but it was going slow? like, barely even moving? and he tried to go? and it would just stop? and the tires? they just blew? \u2019cause it\u2019s spinning so much? and the cops? they just busted \u2019im \u2019cause he tried to peel out.\u201d<\/p>\n
And your point is…<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe lives in Temecula.\u201d \u201cYeah, I live in Temecula. \u2019Opt this summer… I\u2019m s\u2019pose\u2019 t\u2019 live at my gramma\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
Do your friends say you\u2019re crazy to be here?<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t even know what it\u2019s like. Hey think it\u2019s cool. They think. Oh, m\u2019God! that\u2019d be so rad! I mean, \u2019cause they think, like, the beach.. .same way I use\u2019t\u2019 think before I…\u201d<\/p>\n
…the marching… \u201c…marching sucks!\u201d<\/p>\n
So, did Major Graves punish you?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. He made me march.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t care, like, this whole year, I\u2019ve had to march at 20 hours.\u201d Weber, are you a shitbird? \u201cYeh…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c…a what?”<\/p>\n
\u201c.. .but I\u2019m better\u2019n a shitbird, \u2019cause, like, I\u2019m the worst… \u2019cause, like, other people…I\u2019m that kind o\u2019 guy that other people just blame crap on me? and I don\u2019t care, \u2019cause it ain\u2019t me. Just some stupid.. .like marching? It\u2019s not gonna teach me anything. But I don\u2019t care. I mean, marching, okay, you get punished for one thing you did, but then you can go right up and do it again. T hey have no security here whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n
What do you mean?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could walk right off the campus anytime you want.\u201d But you have formation hundred times a day.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, I know, but see, me and Munninger, we went AWOL a bunch o\u2019 times and never got caught.. except one day… they’re so dumb, they don\u2019t even know. They don\u2019t even notice. And the seniors here? I\u2019d hate to be a senior here, because I\u2019d be just like them. I mean, I\u2019d wait my whole life just to pick on some little eighth grader. That\u2019s how everybody is. Everybody…\u201d \u201c…you have to be…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c.. .that\u2019s just the way. Can\u2019t change it. No way of changing it. And I don\u2019t care if people are tellin\u2019 me what to do? just don\u2019t want people, like, tellin\u2019 me just for the hell of it. Just \u2019cause they like it. That\u2019s stupid. And Major Graves.. .he fools with our minds. He\u2019ll go something, uh…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c… why’d ya do it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, Why’d you do it? He\u2019ll say, Someone told me you did it Then go up to somebody else, Why’d you do it? Someone told me you did it! you know… and he\u2019ll know who did it. And somethin\u2019 else that stinks in this school, like, you tell the truth to somebody? and you get in trouble for it. Go to \u2019em and tell the honest to God truth? and they think you\u2019re lying. They don\u2019t even trust you. Major Graves says we\u2019re all s\u2019posed to trust one another, when he doesn\u2019t even trust anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lot o\u2019 kids smoke cigarettes round here?<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, God! I could be smokin\u2019 right now, lights on, blinds up… I could walk out on the field and smoke and they wouldn\u2019t notice. I could walk straight to the bathroom, or to the drying rack, walk in the drying rack and be suspicious…”<\/p>\n
\u201c…with no clothes or nothin\u2019…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c…yeah…\u201d<\/p>\n
Do ya?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Somebody starts whistling knowingly.)<\/p>\n
\u201cHow come you didn\u2019t get to go home last weekend?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLast weekend?\u201d (Laughter.)<\/p>\n
“… for being around Cruise when he was smoking.<\/p>\n
\u201c…and you weren\u2019t, however…\u201d<\/p>\n
(Laughter.)<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t do anything, I didn\u2019t even say anything, so I got in trouble for it, and…\u201d<\/p>\n
(One boy affects coughing.) \u201c…uh, and lister lit up a cigarette…\u201d<\/p>\n
(Laughter.)<\/p>\n
\u201c…shut up! I wasn\u2019t smoking…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c…yeah, right…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c.. .so were you.. .we were \u2022 all smoking; but I was like, you know, coughin\u2019…”<\/p>\n
(Laughter.)<\/p>\n
\u201c…and we got busted for that, but then, I coulda gone home? but then my mom? she got all sick? too sick to pick me<\/p>\n
up? my dad, he\u2019s in Chicago? and next week he\u2019s in San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kids ever get in fights here?<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, gosh…”<\/p>\n
\u201c…oh, man…\u201d<\/p>\n
“…gosh…\u201d<\/p>\n
“…Munninger…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c…oh…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c.. .almost knocked somebody…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c…like, all dizzy…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c.. .in the bathroom, started kneeing him right in the head, like 20 times…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c…he\u2019s one o\u2019 those kids you\u2019d call a shitbird or somethin\u2019 but worse? \u2019cause he picks fights with everybody…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c.. .oh, I know, he talks too much.. .he\u2019s racial.. .like Oh, your mom\u2019s so raw or Hey! ya know Joe…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c…Joe who…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c…Joe mom!\u201d<\/p>\n
(laughter.)<\/p>\n
(I point to a poster of a girl in a swimsuit above Weber\u2019s head.)<\/p>\n
Thought girlie pictures weren\u2019t allowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t matter unless she\u2019s naked or somethin\u2019…\u201d<\/p>\n
BAM!<\/p>\n
(Weber\u2019s roommate hits the side of a fold-up desk; drops open.)<\/p>\n
WHUMP!<\/p>\n
\u201cWHO-O-O-O-A…\u201d \u2018The sta-a-a-sh!\u201d (laughter.)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just for at night, when Weber, you know…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c…shut up!\u201d<\/p>\n
(Laughter.)<\/p>\n
Well, guys, I think that\u2019s my cue to leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cWanna take a picture?\u201d No thanks.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right. It\u2019s Ray, right?\u201d Yup. Scott, right?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. See ya, Ray.\u201d<\/p>\n
See ya, Scott.<\/p>\n
\u201cMY NAME\u2019S STEPHEN B. GRAVES, and I\u2019m the junior-division commandant I\u2019m retired Army, first sergeant, infantry; spent 2 years, 11 months, three days first hitch, all of it Vietnam, three tours, III Corps area, along the (Cambodian border. Never got dinged, lucked out, \u2019cept for this little bald spot [laughs, pointing to head]. Then got out for a while, then back in, put in a little over 20 years, and retired about 5 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
(A poster in his office reads \u201cQUESTIONS ANSWERED\/ Prices: Answers $5; Answers Requiring Thought $10; Answers Correct $20!\u201d)<\/p>\n
\u201cMy job here comes with 59 seventh- and eighth-grade boys. With those kids, I get a lot of baggage\u2014good and bad. Obviously, there\u2019s 3 great difference between boys\u2019 needs this age and the older boys\u2019. To start off, homesickness is a big part. Unlike the upper-school cadets, these boys will break down and cry, a lot. They don\u2019t want other boys to see \u2019em cry, \u2019cause it\u2019s not macho. But they come to me, and letting them cry, letting their emotions be known, means an awful lot. They really need, at this age, someone who\u2019ll actually listen; they\u2019re not used to having someone who\u2019ll sit down and listen to them, who\u2019ll treat them like a person, instead of a little kid who\u2019s in the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI live on campus. Good news is. I\u2019m here quick! Sometimes when they get up, often when they go to bed, throughout the night, may be a small problem or a big problem \u2014 homesick to you-name-it \u2014 they\u2019ll come knock on my door, sometimes I\u2019ll go home, and they\u2019ll be on my front steps waiting for me. Without really getting into depth on family histories, we get a lot of kids from broken marriages; some people, they\u2019ll just drop a kid off. For example, one boy, his parents just don\u2019t want him, just put him here and abandoned him. Flat out. And that\u2019s not normal. Normally, the families support their kids while they\u2019re here; but this kid, if he does something wrong, they don\u2019t want him. He went AWOL once, and the consequence was he was to be suspended, sent home for four to five days. But his father says, \u2018If he can live on the street for one night, he can live there for five more.\u2019 He\u2019s in the eighth grade. So I made an offer to take care of him, personally, fortunately, the grandparents got involved, but sometimes we have to go a step further to help a kid.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to mirror everything they do in the upper division. We do use the honor system and send kids to the Honor Council; usually, however, because of their age, I can get it out of them clear-cut-and-dry, and it\u2019s a waste of everybody\u2019s time to send them on to the Honor Council. They don\u2019t know the difference between quibbling and lying. When they come here, their beliefs and values and ethics and character are ingrained because of the parent; if they\u2019ve got good parents, we end up with a pretty good kid. And we have some great kids right now, and we\u2019ve also got five or six who are really hurting us. A rebellious kid, just wants to defy authority, doesn\u2019t want to take orders, it\u2019s for the betterment of the school that he doesn\u2019t come onboard; in other words, if we can\u2019t bring him around in a reasonable amount of time, he\u2019s dismissed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re counseled, re-counseled, poked, prodded, guided by hand to where they need to go. I\u2019ve got one right now, nameless, but he just has a bad problem with his parents; and here is a home for some kids like that. Since he\u2019s been here, you know, couple hellos, attaboys, he\u2019s doing great! Just gave him a double promotion. What I\u2019m trying to get him to do is quit judging his parents, quit leading their lives, allow his parents to make their mistakes\u2014be a kid. He\u2019s trying so desperately to lead his mother\u2019s life, doesn\u2019t like it that she\u2019s selling the house, that she\u2019s dating someone; and it\u2019s the same thing from the father\u2019s end of the divorce. So really, he\u2019s struggling to lead both their lives, instead of saying. Hey, I got my own life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have day schoolers here too; as a whole, when they get here in the morning, they\u2019re treated the same. If they\u2019 re gonna be good, they\u2019re really good. Most of our day students are excellent. A couple come in who\u2019re very wiry but a delight. I\u2019ve got one \u2014 the little marks on the wall behind you is his height; been doin\u2019 that since he\u2019s been here. He comes in, takes his medication. He\u2019s extremely hyper.\u201d<\/p>\n
(I\u2019d seen him runnin\u2019 all over, pointing his finger at everybody, goin\u2019 bang! bang! bang!)<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Do you have a hard-nosed side?<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. And they know when that is. They mess around a lot, jump around a lot, play a lot,but they know where the line is. ‘They never cross the line on me. They treat me with an awful lot of respect, because they know I know the position they\u2019re in with their families. One of the things I do control is promotions; they won\u2019t be promoted unless they\u2019re above a 2.0, and they understand that.. .uh, little boy right here… [points to picture under desk glass]… received a 4.0, so I gave him a special promotion to sergeant.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd their conduct must be good, or they will not be promoted. Their rooms must be orderly, and tidy shouldn\u2019t try to hide things. .(he picks up a long stick attached to an angled mirror]…this\u2019s for when they hide things up high, \u2019cause I\u2019m short…. \u201cNo! I will find it!\u201d<\/p>\n
Wednesday, last full day, spent the first part sleeping in. When I found ( ierardy, he was complaining, \u201c…right in the jaw.\u201d Why\u2019d he punch ya?<\/p>\n
\u201c \u2019Cause he hates me.\u201d Oh.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was talking out in class, and we\u2019re supposed to be quiet, so I said something, and he decked me right here.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a full fist?<\/p>\n
\u201cWith two knuckles, like this.”<\/p>\n
So not an all-out punch.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it was! He hit me hard as he could. When you hit someone like this, it targets the muscle right here. Now my entire muscle spasms, and I can\u2019t even open my mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seems like it\u2019s working pretty good.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt works, but it hurts. \u201d<\/p>\n
I follow Gerardy to class, don\u2019t stay long. Visit some teachers. TheyTe all impressive, energetic, good humored, totally in control. One, Mr. \u201cOld Jack\u201d Cargile (two other Cargiles, son and nephew, also teach at ANA), is a retired Marine lieutenant colonel (infantry), and he wears a Purple Heart lapel button. We talk of the Ninth Marines \u2014 the<\/p>\n
\u201cWalking Dead.”<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw \u2019em quite a bit; they came out and supported us. We\u2019d gotten stuck just outside of Khe Sanh near the rock quarry, we lost a whole bunch o\u2019 guys, and they lost a bunch. In fact, the CO of Alpha 1\/4 was with us, was wounded with us…medevac\u2019d…later he was killed. I\u2019ve thought about going back to Khe Sanh sometime.\u201d They\u2019ll let you in there now. \u201cI\u2019m sure there\u2019s a lot of mines still there.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been pretty well policed. \u201cHow \u2019bout those hills?\u201d No, still no man\u2019s land. (Bugle sounds.)<\/p>\n
Main events on Wednesdays are (1) it\u2019s camouflage day (new uniform this year) and (2) the weekly assembly. Boys fall in by status (elite in junior school, designated by turquoise berets, is Stoll\u2019s Guard); \u201cunhonored\u201d cadets, like Weber (ranked \u201cabsolute lowest”), wear goofy-lookin\u2019 duck-huntin\u2019 caps (\u201cthese suck\u201d). Command\u2019s given. “Doubletime, move it!\u201d Cadets clap to every other step; the chapel fills. Assembly begins in one-fifth the time it might take in a public school. Cadets recite the Pledge of Allegiance and sing the National Anthem (not a single mocking note uttered).<\/p>\n
\u201cSeats!\u201d<\/p>\n
Warrior Corps sits in a whoosh.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood morning, leaders!\u201d Superintendent Miller opens.<\/p>\n
\u201cMORNING, SIR!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho can tell us what pro patria means? Right, ‘for country.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Miller\u2019s speech regards Aaron Burr (\u201cman without a country\u201d); teachers sit up front facing the corps; junior schoolers sit in back (nobly resisting instinct to squirm), Miller\u2019s \u201cmessage\u201d whizzing over their heads like physics; intimidating silhouettes of TACs block the exits. In the end, they all stand and sing the ANA alma mater.<\/p>\n
If not for high voices, this might be a Rotary meeting.<\/p>\n
Later, cadet\/Lieutenant Colonel Harris admonishes the corps (gathered below him) in a rousing pep talk. \u201cThis is the time of year when things start to fall apart! Right about now. This is where people start trouble. WF.\u2019RF. NOT GONNA DO THAT! I\u2019m not gonna go down like that! You guys are not gonna go down like that! You\u2019re gonna stick together for the whole year! DO NOT GIVE UP! Everybody in the entire academy right now \u2014 the ENEMY is the I AST STRETCH! Do NOT fall apart! This goes for every aspect of cadet life\u2014avoiding an excuse to fight! keeping your radios down! acting like gentlemen \u2014 members of the Warrior Corps! Are you going to fall apart, companies?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWE\u2019RE NOT GOING TO FALL APART, SIR!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen don\u2019t forget it! Ever since I\u2019ve come to this company, all of you gentlemen have done nothing but improve. It has been constant improvement! Look at yourself. I want you to think about what you guys were like just four months ago. Think about that! Who is the best company?<\/p>\n
\u201c(CHAR-LIE! AL-PHA! BRA-VO! DEL-TA!] COMPANY, SIR!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNever! Never! Never! forget this.\u201d<\/p>\n
I won\u2019t, I think \u2014 staring out from 14th floor, Hyatt on the Bay, day\u2019s first lethargic light \u2014 forget any of those days; 2:00 p.m., yesterday, the Honor Council convened (inside the teachers\u2019 lunchroom) to decide the fate of the boy who\u2019d \u201cstolen\u201d the sweater. Seven cadets (all elected by the corps) and their advisor, Cavallo (who’s lived through four wars), received the accused (a gangly ninth-grade boy, rumpled hair, looking scared) and his accuser. Honor Council President Blair Belluomo (who\u2019d said to me, \u201cI voted to expel my best friend once\u201d) led the proceedings The accuser offered his evidence, then (looking the accused in the eye) concluded:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is indeed true that is a thief! It is indeed true that is a liar! It is indeed true that he is a manipulator of the truth!\u201d \u201cYour charge says \u2018theft,\u2019 \u201d said Cavallo. \u201cDo you wish to add the charge of \u2018liar\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, why not?\u201d<\/p>\n
The accused offered no witness (\u201cI was joking!\u201d his only defense) and pled \u201cnot guilty.\u201d Faculty representative for the accused, Bruce Haggerty (chairman of Social Science Department; former University of San Diego and Palomar College professor), leaned to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cry when I see things like that,\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n
Accused, accuser, and Haggerty then left the room. Deliberations began.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a cock,\u201d said David Parmer (looking at his notes).<\/p>\n
\u201cA serial number is as good as a name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we were younger, it was \u2018finder\u2019s keepers.\u2019 \u201d (laughter.)<\/p>\n
The accused was returned, verdict was read (\u201cguilty\u2014lying and stealing\u201d), the guilty saluted, the guilty left.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thought he was going to be found not guilty,\u201d said Belluomo. \u201cHe\u2019s scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
Afterward, I met up with Gerardy, we walked toward the pool (swim meet versus Carlsbad High).<\/p>\n
\u201cWas he found guilty?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYup.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he gonna be expelled?\u201d \u201cNope, almost. Took three votes. Decided they\u2019d put him on probation, take turns being his \u2018parent,\u2019 get him turned around. Plus he has to march till hell freezes over.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what I like about this school, but I bet 95 percent of junior schoolers say they don\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike this is a reform school or somethin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a reform school….\u201d (I think I know what he meant.)<\/p>\n
Postscript<\/p>\n
Regarding the drug incident involving an ANA teacher, Superintendent Miller explained to me, upon a subsequent visit, that \u201cLast year we had three cadets visit one of our apartments (we have faculty apartments, a teacher was living in the apartment). She invited them in and fed them brownies with marijuana in them. In fact, the boys went over there asking, because they had heard that she, not dealt in that sort of stuff, but made it available and had told kids that \u2018Come over any time.\u2019 At that point no one had ever done it, but these three boys decided to do so. And she had to order out, apparently, and the boys enjoyed a brownie or two. And one of the guys, it ends up, goes someplace and gets somebody to buy him a six-pack of beer, and he\u2019s found later down on the beach \u2014 you know, in public \u2014 and was brought back on campus and later was dismissed. The other two boys, I think, were sophomores. We did urinalysis testing, of course, which came back positive, and they were also dismissed. And the teacher was fired and removed from campus. One parent sued the school for reinstatement. They lost the suit. It wasn\u2019t even brought to trial; it was dismissed by the judge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe board is adamant, the Parents\u2019 Council is adamant: they don\u2019t want drugs on campus; they want violators gone. If it\u2019s a minor case, we will take the kid back the next year; he has to sit a year out, demonstrate that his grades haven\u2019t deteriorated or have gotten better, and that he has gone through a certified drug-counseling program. And we have two or three boys who are back this year, and we\u2019ve had no incidents. We have the option to drug test them randomly, after they\u2019ve returned. We do. They\u2019re clean. So that part of it works for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
I must say, from the point of view of a visiting writer, that my several days at ANA were unusual for various reasons, but in particular, because I was given carte blanche to go anywhere, talk to anyone, ask any questions, and take any pictures I so wanted (“We have nothing to hide\u201d). Peggy Hanson (former director of marketing and recruiting) provided every scrap of information and\/or access that I requested. Her assistance is tremendously appreciated.<\/p>\n
And finally, I called the school two days before graduation and asked to speak to cadet Scott Weber. While waiting for him to be paged, I learned that he recently had been double promoted to corporal. Scott seemed genuinely happy to talk to me but said he would not be at ANA in the fall. He wasn\u2019t sure where he would be, but he thought maybe Texas.<\/p>\n
God\u2019s speed!<\/p>\n
This story first appeared in the\u00a0Reader\u00a0on March 6, 1997<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“I can\u2019t stop loving my dad because he sent me here.” Societies have often tried to whip their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":["post-394600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}