“One squared-away dude…”
Like many others, I was amused and impressed by the West Point cadet who made a point of conspicuously reading the book “Kill Bin Laden” while awaiting his commander-in-chief’s speech last week. I also took note of his ribbons, and what appeared to be a Combat Infantryman’s Badge, but figured that they must be some sort of student awards. Oh, how wrong I was…thanks to the Times of London, and WeaselZippers blog (the title of this post comes from the Weasel Zippers comment section):
A Times analysis of the badges on the cadet’s chest shows that he is a “prior service” student at the academy, recommended for a place there after active service in Iraq. He is an Army Ranger who has earned an Iraq Campaign Medal and six other awards including an Army Commendation Medal, an Army Good Conduct Medal, a National Defense Service Medal and a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
Very interesting. And very interesting that we had to learn about Cadet Bunde from the Times of London, instead of, say, The Times of New York.
Pat noticed, too.
StickerShock:
I loved that image, too. It was only on conservative blogs where his past service was mentioned at all. I never knew about the “prior service” students. Think about how valuable it must be for the other cadets to go through the academy with a classmate like him! With all its flaws (and any organization has them,) the army still is essentially a meritocracy. This man proved his worth and is selected to be put through the finest formal leadership training available anywhere. We should remember the name Bunde. Chances are, we’ll be hearing it again in the future.
West Point is an incredible place. I’ve chaperoned some class trips there & we’ve been shown around by a graduate of the local elementary school who was a cadet. Like many other cadets, he was inspired to apply by 9/11.
8 December 2009, 9:43 amdriver:
Yes, it’s an amazing story, one which you would think any normal American MSM would be all over. I didn’t know about “prior service” cadets either; it’s similar to the concept of a “field commission,” where an enlisted soldier is promoted to officer based on performance in the field. Doesn’t happen too often. Alas, there is no such thing as a normal American MSM these days.
Konrad Bunde is definitely “someone we should know,” to borrow Blackfive’s phrase. Check this out, found it in the Free Republic comments section:
http://www.isu.edu/~bundcaro/OtherLife.shtml
Sort of related, I have a friend who followed a reverse path….resigned his commission (he was a Captain) in order to pursue his dream of becoming a Special Forces combat medic on an Operational Detachment Alpha (”A-Team”), which is a military occupational specialty for an enlisted soldier, not an officer. Now in semi-retirement (still a Master Sergeant in the army, but director of ROTC for a university), I will be fascinated to see if they will restore his commission before he fully retires. His father and grandfather graduated from West Point, and are buried there.
8 December 2009, 10:09 amStickerShock:
Yes, we’ve been treated to your stories about Brendan in the past. (Worth a reposting.) Glad to hear he’s now a director of ROTC. And if he doesn’t deserve to have his commission restored, nobody does.
8 December 2009, 10:46 am