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CAMPUS

The Norwich Guidon
October 16, 2003

NUCC corporals reintegrated into freshmen platoons

By Bryan Harr
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

After a brief hiatus, corporals in the Corps of Cadets have been reintegrated into the freshmen platoon chain of command.

According to Assistant Commandant Maj. Joyce Rivers, this change in corps policy is part of the university's plan to restore corporals back to their traditional leadership role.

"The traditional role of all corporals is that they are the first line supervisors in a unit," said Rivers. "They are the guys that make sure their people are taken care of. What precipitated [in years past] was an aberration of their role."

Rivers cited inappropriate leadership conduct of corporals who had a distorted idea of their role. Such conduct included "screaming, yelling, cursing and swearing," which is not acceptable in modern military training environments, she said. It is this type of conduct that initiated the metamorphosis of the corporal role over the years.

According to Rivers, cadets were "imprinted" with a false idea of their leadership role and, as a result, reciprocated the inappropriate training they received to those under them. In order to break this cycle of inaccurately modeled leadership, cadet corporals were not included in last year's chain of command within the freshman platoons.

According to Rivers, the commandants did not want last year's freshmen to have a false idea of corporal leadership.

"We wanted to train [last year's freshmen class] the proper way to teach people."

Meanwhile, last year's corporals received classes on leadership exercise and theory to prepare them for their roles this year as cadet sergeants.

The rising corporals, currently active in freshmen training, are trying to more closely adhere to their traditional leadership role. This role primarily consists of showing freshmen recruits the standards of the Norwich University Corps of Cadets. Corporals are allowed to conduct "remedial training" if standards are not met, Rivers said.

This new role is different from what some corporals in leadership positions have expected.

"My understanding was that corporals were supposed to be the attack dog, always on the freshmen," said Cdt Cpl. Ben Brewster, 19, a sophomore history major from Maryland.

Corporals have since come to find that their actual leadership role is quite different.

"During cadre week, we were informed that we were to be the mentor/helper of the freshmen," Brewster said.

Brewster also acknowledged the difficulty in conforming to this role, stating that his interaction with the freshmen this year has been a "hybrid" of his expectations and the defined role of corporal.

"I certainly fulfill the role of keeping them accountable, but at the same time, I feel confident that any of [the freshmen] can come to me with concerns," he said.

The Norwich Guidon is a twice-monthly student newspaper distributed at Norwich University. It provides laboratory experience for students in the Communications program. Claims asserted by letter writers, editorials and other articles do not represent the positions of Norwich University. The Norwich Guidon welcomes signed letters to the editor. They should be no longer than 300 words. Unsigned letters will not be printed, but names may be withheld upon worthy request. All letters are subject to editing for length and good taste. Mailing address: The Norwich Guidon, Communications Center, Norwich University, Northfield, VT 056632. www.norwich.edu/guidon. If you have any questions or comments about the paper, please contact Professor Ken Bush at kbush@norwich.edu.