Dr.
{name- redacted},
The points that you and
{name- redacted} University make about plagiarism ring true. Sadly, those points are backed by unfortunate examples. This is tragic on so many levels. A former Adjutant General from the Montana state National Guard and current serving US Senator plagiarized his Army War College paper. Here are links to various articles about it. The links are in order of precedence.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2...ably_just_ended_a_senate_race_in_montana.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/24/us/politics/montana-senator-john-walsh-plagiarized-thesis.html
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slat...hints_ptsd_influenced_plagiarism_of_work.html
Most damaging are the articles from SLATE.com and the New York Times. The New York Times has the entire paper highlighted with sections where improper or no documentation was used. It is absolutely sickening to look at it.
As I said early, the tragedy of this extends to many things. First, this besmirches the Army Officer Corps and the Officer Education System. He was conferred a Master’s Degree in 2007 with that paper. I know there were various anti-plagiarism websites available back then to prevent this activity. Second, the Senator responds with his mental state at the time. It is true that many Soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress, possibly many more than the population at large realizes. Many veterans go to counseling, receive medication, or get help in various, legal ways. Empathy with his medical struggles is not hard but the Senator damages the reputation of all veterans who willingly suffer through post-traumatic stress while making the right decisions in their personal and professional lives. Using PTSD and medication as an excuse diminishes the seriousness of the issue at hand. Third, the Senator’s office continues to respond with encores of his military service. Embarrassment ensues; no one is questioning his military service but rather his character and integrity. Here is where it gets worse: the United States Army Officer Corps and Education System are supposed to prevent incidents such as this. Independent fact-checking should not have outed this paper. We are supposed to police our profession, help those that seek help, and not embarrass ourselves. We have an entire system that confers Masters degrees to Officer’s in the rank of Major and above (all officers above age of 30). Furthermore, these Masters Degrees help officers advance in rank and responsibility. The Army War College is reserved for officers at the rank of Colonel who are more than likely going to proceed to General Officer ranks and have a strategic impact on the force. The instructors at the War College are retired or active duty Colonels, General Officers, and civilian professionals with PhDs. The Senator’s incident puts the entire Officer Education System under a negative microscope. No wonder Masters degrees from military institutes do not hold a candle to civilian degrees. Do you find that to be the case in your experience Dr.
{name- redacted}?
I am preparing for advanced military schooling in
{dates-redacted} and the biggest point made by
{names-redacted} and my peers is to gain a degree that has civilian accreditation (Naval Post Graduate School is one, National Defense University another) or take night classes for an MBA/MPA rather than work towards a Military Masters of Strategic Studies (or something of that ilk). Something is egregiously wrong with the military profession when we cannot tout our educational standards and degrees as coming close to those of at least the Ivy League.
{anecdote-redacted}.
{Personal opinion-redacted}...thesis papers from the Naval Post Graduate School are anywhere between 30-50 pages in length, the students writing them are in their early 30’s with about half as much time in service as the Senator, and the topics are of a strategic nature. As an institution putting the finishing touches on strategic practitioners before they lead thousands of soldiers into dangerous lands, I assess the Army War College can and should do better to control quality.
{personal natue-redacted}, I am going to use this incident as a teaching point for my soldiers,
{personal nature- redacted}.
Thank you for listening Dr.
{redacted}. I hope you are doing well.
V/R,
Viper1
