A month ago, Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Harker refused to allow newly appointed US Navy Second Lieutenant Cameron Kinley to postpone his military committee for the NFL game in Tampa Bay. From the spokesperson of the Secretary:
Admission to the Naval Academy is an extensive and highly competitive process. The mission of the Naval Academy is to train young men and women to serve as officers in the Navy or Marine Corps. When students are admitted and continue to receive the education of the program, they understand and acknowledge that they will be entrusted after graduation. Every trainee attends under the same conditions, and everyone has the same service responsibilities. Exceptions to service pledges are very rare. After discussions with senior navy leadership and in accordance with the existing policies of the Department of Defense, Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas W. Hack refused to transfer the request of the recent graduates of the Naval Academy to the Secretary of Defense, seeking to delay their appointment.
Since making that decision, ENS Kinley (through his father and other supporters) has been launching a public campaign to overturn the decision, including a letter to his hometown of U.S. Senator Martha Blackburn (R-TN) Letter, which includes ESPN with Other professional sports stores, Dan Patrick Radio Show Interview, And the Twitter endorsement of Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL):
This is wrong.
I will ask @POTUS Intervene so that Cameron Kinley can continue his NFL career before beginning his service pledge.
I also intend to ask the nominee for the Secretary of the Navy to commit to this. https://t.co/HFHoYizKTv
-Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 19, 2021
Then Fox News started to act With this snippet, and also.The match card is also played, use This article Is a good example. The salute and obedience orders stop here, but hey, this is the “newly awakened navy” after all.He even usurped the chain of command Intervene on his behalf by requesting holograms.
Many USNA graduates and other veterans have witnessed the unfolding of this spectacle, and their views on what should or should not be done (myself included) are very different from those of ENS Kinley supporters. Wrote a letter and socialized in the group (I edited it slightly) and sent it to Fox News and Senator Rubio last week. This is the full text of this letter:
It was disappointing to see Senator Rubio and Fox News jump on the trend of Ensign Cameron Kinley — and the onslaught of related media — to pursue his NFL career. The mission of the Service Academy is to train young men and women to become leaders at the huge economic cost of taxpayers, not as a place to train future professional athletes, no matter how talented. What you don’t seem to understand is that there is another U.S. Naval Academy athlete, Charlie Connolly, who requested a postponement to qualify for the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft, but was also rejected by Acting Secretary of the Navy Huck. So, Jinli was not singled out, nor As Senator Rubio said on Twitter, Minister Huck’s decision was “unfair.”
With the help of Fox News, Lieutenant Kingley and his agent successfully started his “story” and continued his “story” for more than three weeks. During this period, Lieutenant Jinli had always been a contradiction between walking and talking. He has stated many times in interviews that he admits and understands that he has no right to get an explanation from Minister Huck, but he always asks to know the reason for his rejection. As a newly appointed naval officer, Ensign Kinley said he needs to let people hear his story. Is this an appropriate action for a commissioned official, or should he accept the decision and his orders and report on the assigned responsibilities? Lieutenant Kinley also reiterated that he really wanted to serve, but only if his conditions included the decision to overthrow Minister Huck.
Perhaps Ensign Kinley did not understand his service obligations when he was sworn in as a trainee of any grade. Perhaps, when Lieutenant Kingley was appointed as a naval officer at the Naval Academy graduation ceremony, what did he mean when he raised his right hand and took the oath of office? Lieutenant Kinley also said that he realized that the Secretary of the Navy made the decision alone, but he pulled Vice President Harris aside at the graduation ceremony and told her that he might need her help. This is another contradiction, which is likely to constitute the improper behavior described by the newly appointed naval officer. in the text:
“Kinley’s actions violated all the military’s expectations of its officers regarding the chain Command and good order and discipline.For an ensign of Boots who hasn’t even left Annapolis Carry out national media campaigns to criticize the lawful orders of the Secretary of State The navy is really unconscionable. If we talk about any other issues, will this be tolerated? problem? Why should there be any different opinions on this?Don’t mind navy football; Jinli’s moves The response to the entire Naval Academy was poor.How could anyone observe all this instead of Want to know what the USNA is teaching will make graduates think this is is it acceptable? This goes far beyond the worst stereotypes of bell-ringer rights. “
Although Lieutenant Kinley’s personal disappointment is of course understandable, his reaction was quite different from that of Lieutenant Connolly, who told the Capital Gazette that he understood that the extension was indeed a “request” and there was no guarantee.That article is Link here.
The story of Ensign Connolly will be an interesting contrast to the continuation of your so-called unfair treatment story by Ensign Kinley. Lieutenant Kinley repeatedly stated that he wanted to serve, but did not understand why he could not try to play football first.This Management command memo The management signed by the former Secretary of Defense Esper is clear and states:
“When the minister of the military department determined that there was a strong Expect the future professional sports of military academy cadets or trainees Employment will provide important favorable media exposure for the Department of Defense, which may increase National recruitment or public affairs tasks, Secretary of the Military Department Relevant personnel can nominate this student or trainee officer to the Minister of Defense, requesting Delay in tendering appointment as appointed official to promote employment Professional sports players. “
Please note that the directive states that the service secretary “may be nominated” (it does not say “will” be nominated or “should” be nominated). This decision does not depend on the decisions of other service secretaries. Although the leadership and athletic director of the Navy football team may have told Ensign Kingley, his classmates on the baseball team are absolutely correct. The discretion in this matter rests solely with the Secretary of the Navy. Senator Rubio’s second speculation about Minister Huck’s decision is hypocritical and tinged with political grandstanding.
If you read the history of changes in this policy over the years, you will see that former Secretary of Defense James Mattis ended his “professionalization” shortly after he took office in 2017, requiring at least two years of service to be awarded the pursuit of professional sports. Career opportunities.reference This article.
Congress has included it in Article 10 with the purpose of ending once and for all the unpredictable political changes. The Esper memo basically bypassed the law and allowed the “postponement” of eight years of commissioning, which is an interesting number given that the current NFL average career is less than three years. The biggest irony here is that this is one of them A few initiatives by former President Trump that the current administration does not have subversion.
To be sure, there are athletes from the Service Academy who have achieved success in professional sports, but there are others who have not. Several people completed their voluntary service before entering the professional sports team. CNN Sports in an article titled “Cameron Kinley (Cameron Kinley) is not the only player who has postponed his professional debut due to military service.” View article At this link.
Although he signed a minimum NFL rookie contract, it depends on whether Ensign Kinley can break the Super Bowl championship list. In most cases, this is a long-term view at best. Surprisingly, a story about a naval cornerback (his college career totaled more than 40 games, with only 87 steals, 13 defensive passes and one interception) lasted for more than one news cycle. Despite these inconspicuous figures, Ensign Kingley is often labeled as a “star” in naval football, but he has not won a position award or even an honorary award in the United States Athletics Congress during his career. The sports media skipped this point and just regurgitated the star bill.
Although it is impossible for everyone to become a star, a more relevant question is whether the service academy should be engaged in the business of training professional athletes. American taxpayers deserve better treatment than this, and the Department of Defense (DoD) policy should reflect that every graduate will complete his or her service obligations before embarking on any other career. Now is the time for Congress to ask the Department of Defense to comply with the law. The claim that interscholastic movement is the key to attracting candidates to the college is specious at best. Thousands of high-quality men and women apply to the Service College every year. They will appreciate the opportunity to serve their country and compatriots.
Signature: Worried Naval Academy alumni and veterans serving the country
in conclusion: This is a personal note from a signatory (me) to ENS Kinley. You are a commissioned official; carry out your mission instructions and stop bypassing the chain of command to try to change them—just as you should study with other students when you were at the U.S. Naval Academy.
the end.
