McKay seeks to activate corps, encourages action

Editor's Note: William Knox, The Norwich Guidon Campus Editor, interviewed Cadet Colonel. Scott McKay about his plans for the Corps of Cadets this school year.

NORWICH GUIDON: As cadet colonel, what are your goals for this school year?

MCKAY: I want to bring the corps closer together. When the corps is split up and people go their separate ways, they don't hold each other accountable, so nothing gets done.

I want to have a well-oiled machine that gets everything done. I want to make sure the corps runs smoothly. To get the class system in effect so everyone knows what their place is and what is expected of them. Make sure the seniors are ready to graduate and the juniors for next year are ready to move up and take the leadership.

NORWICH GUIDON: What area in the corps would you like to focus on most for improvement this year?

MCKAY: This year, my focus is going to be on holding people accountable for their jobs and their actions. If an XO isn't doing his job, he's either going to be punished for it or he's going to be relieved. We have to make sure that the XOs are making sure people are successful academically. There are plenty of people out there who are senior bucks who have been drill sergeants and corporal cadre who have lost interest. Something happened where they just decided not to hold rank.

If I've got someone who's not doing his or her job, I will just put somebody in there. Most times, when you put somebody in a position, they step forward and they do it. They may not want to do it at first, but once they get into it they do. They roll with; saw that a couple of times with a couple of guys last year. They stepped right up, they took charge, and they rolled with it.

NORWICH GUIDON: What legacy do you want to leave behind when you graduate?

MCKAY: I want to see the corps move forward. The problem is that the corps has a mentality that doesn't want to change; change is bad. The corps has to evolve. If you sit somewhere too long, you become stagnant and you die.

The corps is in that stationary mode right now. We've got to move forward. We've got to step up and keep moving forward, otherwise it's not going change. Training tactics have to change based on the situation. Corporals have to learn that if you yell at someone the whole year, it doesn't do anything. After about two or three weeks, they tune you out. You won't be effective anymore.

NORWICH GUIDON: What do you think is the best training tool for freshmen?

MCKAY: Doing. Second semester, when they start taking their positions, they realize then what the challenges are. When you are a freshmen acting as a squad leader, you realize, 'hey, this job isn't as easy as I thought it was.' I think it's true with anything. You learn by doing something. You learn how to make your rack by making your rack. You learn how to be a leader by being a leader, by stepping up to the challenges and doing them.

NORWICH GUIDON: Does every cadet have a responsibility to the freshmen?

MCKAY: I think that every cadet has to set that example of what a cadet is supposed to be. Whether you're a private, a corporal, a sergeant, or captain, you have to set that example at all times, because the freshmen should see that and say, 'That's what I want to be. I want to be one of those guys.'

The best way to do it is to just do what you're supposed to do at all times, because people see that. People don't realize how many things people pick up on, especially freshmen, pick up on just by watching the way other people act, the way they wear their uniform, the way they conduct themselves in class. People don't realize that everybody sees that. It's surprising. Freshmen look up to seniors just because they're seniors, the fact that they wear the ring. It doesn't matter if they're a private, colonel, captain, whatever. Just the fact that that guy has made it through four years at Norwich, he's got a ring, he's going to graduate, as a freshmen you look at that with a kind of awe.

NORWICH GUIDON: What are your goals for the end of Rook Week?

MCKAY: By the end of rook week, all the freshmen should understand what they have to get done during the year. We'll make sure they have a basic understanding of what it takes to be a freshman in the corps, which is everything from how to wear their uniform right to what they have to do to be successful academically.

NORWICH GUIDON: Any extra challenges for you with changes in commandant staff?

MCKAY: The main thing is explaining to them what we do and why we do it, because they don't know. Like the other day I went in to talk to the new colonel and I said, 'We're going to get everyone up to the Dog River Run,' and he said, 'What the heck is the Dog River Run?' He's going to let me do whatever I want, because he knows I know why we do things better than him. The hardest thing is relay to him what we do and get him to understand why we do it.

NORWICH GUIDON: You held the highest position in your class last year. You hold the highest position in the corps this year. Obviously you know what you're doing as a cadet. What's one thing you would want to tell every cadet about your experiences at Norwich?

MCKAY: As a cadet, being a leader doesn't mean you hold a position. You can be a leader and be a private. Privates listen to privates more than they listen to their chain of command, because they are their peers. Being a cadet private is probably one of the hardest jobs. You have no responsibilities outside of getting up, putting on a uniform and going to chow. Being a leader as a private is harder than being a leader who has rank. When you have rank, people have to listen to you.

As a private, if you can get people to do what you do by setting the example, then you are a better leader. So, to pass on to the whole corps, if you strive for that level of excellence, people will follow you whether you are a private or a corporal or whatever you are, if you set the example. And you have to live by it. You can't set a standard and not live by it. Leadership is action, not position.

NORWICH GUIDON: What's the worst thing a cadet can do while they are at Norwich?

MCKAY: Waste time. This is an institution of developing leaders, and if you sit back and don't take advantage of the opportunities you have here, then you are just cheating yourself. Take a leadership position, and even if you don't, lead by example. Take advantage of the things you have here.

This year, I'm going to have under my command almost 1,000 people. I won't have that opportunity again in the Army until maybe I'm 40 and a colonel. I'm going to be doing things that captains don't do, that majors don't do, that colonels don't do in the Army.

There are just so many opportunities that people don't take advantage of. They're letting them waste away.

NORWICH GUIDON: For you, is the honor code black & white or is it gray?

MCKAY: I think it's both. It has black & white sections to it, but the gray area is that the code is a living thing. It's not, 'Here are the rules you've got to live by it at all times.' We're trying to build men and women of honor throughout their whole life, not just here at Norwich.

The gray part is that you have to be an honorable person. Being an honorable person does not mean you do not lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those who do. It's doing things in an honorable way at all times. Don't do to others what you wouldn't want done to you.

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