Be all you can be????

[rbryan]

The US Army in its infinite wisdom has changed its mind and pulled the rug out from under Caleb Campbell. After allowing him to enter the draft and get picked up in the 7th rd by the Detroit Lions. He was told yesterday that he must report for active duty and give up his dreams of playing in the NFL until 2010 which in effect eliminates any chance he had.

Gotta feel bad for this kid. I know he made a committment to the Army when he accepted the scholarship to attend West Point, but where is the common sense in this move?? You would think they would jump at the chance to have this kid make the roster and take advantage of the positive publicity. The original plan was to allow him to play and be a recruiter/PR guy for the Army. Instead the Army comes across in its usual fashion. How they get anyone to join these days is beyond me.

[xfl2001fan]

DoD policy was set and the Army had deviated from that in the past. However, that has been rectified.

How was it fair to the Navy and Airforce that their recruits/players/candidates couldn't go play professional sports but the Army guys could. A contract is a contract...and this kid signed that contract. He'll have to do his duty and see just how dedicated he really is to playing professional football in 2010.

The only thing the Army is guilty of is an illegal deviation of policy.

[rbryan]

Talk about crashing back to reality. One minute the kid is on an NFL roster the next he's possibly headed to Iraq to get shot at. I can't imagine what must be going through his head right now.

[millwalldavey]

He signed up for duty, he should complete his duty. Loopholes be damned.

[rbryan]

Not saying he should be relieved of his duty. The Army has thousands of recruiters, why not let this kid do both? I think he could get more kids to enlist than your average recruiter sitting in an office somewhere.

[xfl2001fan]

Originally Posted by rbryan

Talk about crashing back to reality. One minute the kid is on an NFL roster the next he's possibly headed to Iraq to get shot at. I can't imagine what must be going through his head right now.

Forget this kid and his thoughts. Imagine how his classmates must have felt when they first heard they were going to be shot at and this kid was going to be a recruiter and an NFL player, despite the fact that his contract said (essentially) the same thing as theirs.

Athleticism should not be a reason for letting someone out of their contract. This kid nearly got a "break" because he was good at a popular game. I can guarantee you I can find 1000 other Soldier's who have better reasons for becoming recruiters (and thus avoiding combat) than some kid fresh out of college. I can find 1000 other Soldier's who have been deployed two and three times since this kid first left HS.

They've done far more for this country to deserve a break than this kid has. I don't pity him for his "loss." He really doesn't know what "loss" is yet. And if he thinks he's recently faced a hard reality, let him talk to last year's Senior class, or the Senior class from two years ago what "reality" is really like.

I've got three deployments in (nearly) 11 years of service. I find it hard to pity any athlete.

[fansince'76]

Although I initially disagreed with the exception that was made for this kid (http://forums.steelersfever.com/show...610#post392610), I have to think that reversing the decision to let him pursue a NFL career now isn't exactly going to help recruitment and retention efforts for the Army. The Army should have stood firm from the get-go.

[xfl2001fan]

Originally Posted by fansince'76

Although I initially disagreed with the exception that was made for this kid (http://forums.steelersfever.com/show...610#post392610), I have to think that reversing the decision to let him pursue a NFL career now isn't exactly going to help recruitment and retention efforts for the Army. The Army should have stood firm from the get-go.

The Army policy does not supersede the DoD policy. They made the mistake of trying that. The got away with it for a while. But who's going to report that? It's much better to just shed people in a negative light than to get the whole story. That's what it feels like media today is all about. Forget a left wing or right wing media, it's all about the negativity.

[HometownGal]

Originally Posted by fansince'76

The Army should have stood firm from the get-go.

I agree for the most part. I feel bad for this young man that he can't pursue his dream right now, but he did accept the West Point scholarship with all of the "trimmings" so to speak. It's not like he can't pick up his dream in a year or two, however, with all of the flip-flopping going on with government today, the Army should have took a firm stance one way or the other and not have deviated from it.

[xfl2001fan]

Originally Posted by HometownGal

I agree for the most part. I feel bad for this young man that he can't pursue his dream right now, but he did accept the West Point scholarship with all of the "trimmings" so to speak. It's not like he can't pick up his dream in a year or two, however, with all of the flip-flopping going on with government today, the Army should have took a firm stance one way or the other and not have deviated from it.

The Army (and all of the other branches) answer to the DoD. DoD policy is that servicemembers will abide by their contracts. You can add to policy when you're further down the chain, but you can't take away.

The Army had no right to make that kind of promise.

It's like the NFL policy on filming. The New England Patriots had no right to do what they did. They tried to play by their own rules and the NFL over-ruled on it.

There is no standing firm in this issue. Flip-flopping was only necessary because the Army tried to break their higher headquarters standing policy.