Cadets consider new leader, new future
Toolbox
By Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau - Published: January 21, 2009
NORTHFIELD – America got a new president Tuesday. The future military officers at Norwich University got a new boss.
As students and citizens, Cadets here tracked the presidential campaign with the same subjectivity and skepticism as their civilian counterparts. As future servicemen and women, however, they will execute without condition the foreign-policy directives of their next commander in chief.
"He's my boss," said Amanda Plachek, a 21-year-old senior planning to commission this spring in the U.S. Army. "Sometimes you really like your boss. Sometimes you don't. Whoever that person is, though, I'm going to do my job."
For Cadets like Sean Kavanagh, a Newburgh, N.Y., resident, the extent of the U.S. presence in Iraq, Afghanistan and other potential war zones could mean the difference between overseas combat and stateside service.
While Kavanagh harbors his own personal concerns about a draw-down in Iraq, he said he will nonetheless respect the absolute authority of his commander in chief.
"There have been a lot of sacrifices made to liberate that country … I feel if we pull out now, essentially the country would collapse on itself," said Kavanagh, who will commission with the U.S. Marines this spring. "But I can't wait to see how the next four years unfold. I'm really excited about it. Am I in D.C. right now holding a big 'Change' banner? No. But I can't wait to see what his policies are and how he handles future incidents."
Brad Panasiti, a senior readying for a spring commissioning in the Marines, said he and his fellow students for the most part avoid in-depth political debates. At Norwich, Panasiti said, duty to country trumps personal politics.
"It sounds like it's brainwashing, but it's not brainwashing at all. It's trying to make everyone believe in a common goal and strive for the same exact thing" Panasiti said. "You get your job description from the higher-ups, and whether you believe in it or not, you still complete that mission … You have to trust in what they say, and make your men trust in you. That's what makes the military work in such a well-oiled fashion."
Army Spc. Virginia Wong is a case in point. The 23-year-old Hawaii native (born in the same hospital, incidentally, as Obama) has long questioned the rationale behind the war in Iraq.
Still, she served in 2004 and 2005 as a truck driver there, traveling treacherous roads to deliver fuel for helicopters.
"I did my job serving in Iraq, and I would do it again because that's my job and that's what I signed up for. But I didn't necessarily agree with why we were there," said Wong, a 23-year-old Norwich sophomore.
Wong said she supported Obama in the election, primarily because of his foreign policy platform.
"His approach on moving out of Iraq and focusing more on Afghanistan is something I think we need to do," she said. "I voted for him just because I agree with his policies more than McCain."
Excitement over the inauguration at Norwich may be more muted than at other northeast liberal arts institutions. But students said they are somewhat swept up in the moment.
"I think whether liberal, conservative, redneck, hippie, you should be excited," Plachek said. "He's a young guy. It's new, it's fresh. No matter what your political affiliation, you should be a little bit excited."
It's an excitement tempered by the grim realities of war. The changing of the guard in Washington, D.C., students said, doesn't necessarily change prospects for overseas deployment.
"People come back from war different. And you wonder – am I going to come back different?" Plachek said. "Is it going to be a good change? Are you going to mature? Or are you going to come home and drown your feelings in a bottle of alcohol?"
Teaching future servicemen, said Norwich University professor Bill Estill, can be an unnerving business.
"It's a heavy time here," Estill said. "There's a lot of concern for these kids. But they're not naïve. They know what is possible."
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