Army DB Caleb Campbell

The Monkey and I have always maintained that disfunction is like poop; it always rolls downhill. When there is a flaw in leadership, it emanates through an organization like a sickness, making the entire organization fundamentally sick.

This idea holds true in the case of Army 2nd Lieutenant Caleb Campbell, who as the best football player to emerge from the Academy since QB Ronnie McAda, was drafted by the Detroit Lions in this year’s NFL draft, due to a change in Army policy that allowed military members with significant talents to be released from active military service.

Campbell’s selection by the Lions was both the feel-good story of the 2008 Draft (spectators in New York City, the site of the draft, broke out into raucous applause, chanting, “USA, USA!” when his name was called), and a point of controversy among many who felt that Campbell was shirking his duties and the Army sending a mixed message.

As a West Point graduate, I applauded and supported this policy by the Army and pick by the Lions in a blog post here, arguing that the benefit of recruiting new talent and inspiring young people and football fans alike would outweigh the cost of losing one soldier on the battlefield, as Campbell’s primary duty when not in football training would be to work as an Army recruiter and public face for the West Point athletic program.

Army QB Ronnie McAda, 1996

And in case you haven’t been keeping up with Army athletics lately, the West Point football program has strung together one of the lowest winning percentages in Division I college football over the last ten years, ever since the last time an Army player was drafted (Ronnie McAda), who led the team to a 10-2 record and bowl game appearance against Auburn in 1996.

But at its heart - this story isn’t about wininng percentages or boosting up ailing football programs or creating “feel-good” stories. It’s about living up to one’s word.

Duty, Honor, Country?

The Military Academy has a simple, three word motto: “Duty, Honor, Country,” which the greater Army has adopted at least unofficially. The problem is that the facts indicate that the expectation of living one’s life according to the principles of dedication to duty, adherence to honor, and love of country only go one way. The military expects its members to behave according to this immutable ethical code, yet has proven time and time again, especially within the context of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that this code doesn’t apply to the highest levels of the organization, doesn’t apply to the policy makers, spokespeople, and “deciders.”

Need proof? Campbell’s case is the most recent example. He fulfilled his duty, served and played with honor, and no one can doubt his love of country. By entering the NFL, he was simply adhering to a policy that in design would not only benefit himself personally, but the military, the NFL, and the nation as a whole. In a league often plagued by immaturity on the part of players, coaches, and management, imagine what kind of impact on the locker room and playing field a player with Campbell’s leadership training could have positively influenced.

If the Defense Department had a problem with the Army’s policy, they should have done something about it back in 2005, when the policy was first initiated. Changing the goal posts in the middle of the game is reneging a contract and a horrible display of integrity. And not only did the DoD breach a contract with an individual soldier, but they breached a contract with the Detroit Lions, who essentially squandered a valuable draft pick on a player who at the end of the day was deemed in eligible for play. There’s a real case for a lawsuit by the Lions against the military, although there’s no way in a million years their management would pursue such a tactic, as it would be a PR nightmare for them, while legally justified.

"Hero" Jessica Lynch "Rescued" by SF

Need more proof? The Jessica Lynch story is an embarrassing example. In the early days of the war, the military sold to the American public a made-for-Hollywood story about Jessica’s brave stand against her captors and subsequent Rambo-esque rescue by Special Forces. Only problem was that her one-woman stand against Iraqi soldiers was a fabrication and her rescue was staged. But the military sold the lie nonetheless, to trump up public support for the war and to put up a “pretty face” on what was quickly becoming an ugly affair (little did we know at the time of Jessica’s capture and rescue how ugly it would become - Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, & Haditha anyone?)

Army Rangers Pat & Kevin Tillman

But one of the most egregious examples of the “vacuum of honor” at the highest levels of the military (as well among several mid-level leaders), ironically also involves the NFL. And that is the sad story of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, former NFL star, who lost his life at the hands of his comrades in the hills of Afghanistan in 2005. Once again, the military brass sold an outright lie to the military, the American public, and most disgustingly, to the Tillman family. The facts of the case are frankly too heart-breaking to recount here, but again the military expects all from the rank and file but displays nothing but dishonesty when it really counts.

GWB Wearing A Ribbon Not Earned

I began by saying that poop rolls downhill. It is my belief that the lack of integrity among military leadership (and LET ME BE CLEAR - I AM NOT ASSAILING IN ANY WAY THE INTEGRITY OF THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVE ON THE FRONT LINES), flows through the organization from top to bottom. At the top of the poop pile is George W. Bush, Propagandist and Faker in Chief, who has surrounded himself with schemers and charlatans who have deprived this nation of its greatest treasures: its youth and its resources.

The military leadership has had so many opportunities to “make things right” over the course of these wars and its failures to live up to the core principles of DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY, in several notable examples undermines the progress and integrity of the men and women on the ground. The fact remains that achieving integrity will remain an energetic impossibility until integrity is restored to its highest offices.

RELATED POST: Army’s Caleb Campbell No Draft-Dodger