Big news about c.captain's favorite person - Capt Ken Force!

Professional Mariner Forum
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SUBJECT: Serve the Midshipmen for 44 years – lose your Academy housing
Dear Fellow Kings Pointers,
Captain Kenneth Force, USMMA’s legendary, award winning, and internationally acclaimed Midshipmen Regimental Band Director, has been informed by Superintendent James Helis that he has changed the Academy housing policy and Capt. Force will no longer have a place to live on the Academy.
After decades of renting Quarters G, a modest home next to the Academy’s warehouse, Capt Force’s home is no longer his. Instead, Superintendent Helis has decided to offer Quarters G to future, to-be-hired new employees. What has changed at Kings Point such that Captain Force is suddenly being forced off the campus? Seven previous Superintendents clearly saw the value in having Capt. Force aboard the Academy.

For 44 years Capt. Force has enhanced the lives of midshipmen and improved the Academy with his selfless devotion to Kings Point. He has led the Midshipmen Regimental Band, and the Regiment of Midshipmen, in 10 Presidential Inaugural parades – an experience which no Kings Pointer ever forgets. He introduced the now famous midshipmen extravaganza “Beat Retreat” that distinguishes Academy events to this day. The New York Times has covered his numerous accomplishments and Capt. Force himself is honored on the John Phillip Sousa Memorial Statue at the Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C.

The problems here are greater than that of just a simple loss of housing for Capt. Force. As most of you are aware, Capt. Force is handicapped. He has severe mobility problems caused by Guillain-Barré Syndrome. His housing on the grounds of the Academy has enabled him to continue to work and be fully functional as the music director because of his proximity to the midshipmen.

The second, and no less important issue, is that Capt. Force is the Academy’s certified alcohol and substance abuse counselor. He is available 24/7 to midshipmen from Quarters G. Although we would all like to believe that such a position is not necessary, the records speak for themselves and Capt. Force has an incredible 90% success rate in his counseling. Ironically, when Capt. Force wanted to publish his successful AA results, the Academy refused, fearing it would draw attention to our student alcohol usage. Moving off campus would greatly reduce midshipmen access to Capt. Force’s alcohol and substance abuse counseling expertise and make it excessively difficult for the disabled Capt. Force to transport students to off campus AA meetings.

Finally, Regimental Band duties often require Capt. Force’s presence at early morning hours for colors and travel and late hours for practices, some of the very reasons that athletics and other departments are allowed to have on campus housing for faculty and staff. According to Superintendent Instruction 2014-05, Section 5(e)(i), housing can be assigned based on “Employee availability for off hours duties, responsibilities, and emergencies during the past year.” Capt. Force’s duties clearly meet these qualifications.

Injustice triumphs when good men stand silently by and do nothing. Deputy Secretary of Transportation Victor Mendez has demonstrated his interest in the Academy. If you believe that Capt. Force deserves to remain on campus, please forward this email to Mr. Mendez (Victor.Mendez@dot.gov) with a copy to Maritime Administrator Paul Jaenichen (Paul.Jaenichen@dot.gov) and the Superintendent (HelisJ@usmma.edu) and voice your support for allowing Capt. Force to remain in Quarters G. Please copy the USMMA-AAF as well, at usmmaaf@alumni.usmmaaf.com.
Acta non Verba, Capt. Force! Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for our Academy and our midshipmen!
Fraternally,
John Knight
John Knight ‘87
Former USMMA Regimental Band Member

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Well maybe the wealthy alumni can pool their beer money (lol) and buy him a nicely equipped RV complete with chair lift.

But I suppose most of the “support” will be Verba, non Acta.

Sigh.

(I wasn’t joking about the RV either- they can help him out if they really wanted to)

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I actually feel sorry for the man who has such a tiny life that leading the USMMA band is his entire world and always has been? Any sane person would have retired two decades ago and moved to Florida to play golf everyday. This is obviously a move by the Administration there to force Force to take that step to reenter the real world outside the walls of “The Village”. I bet right now the poor man is distraught that his insular little world is being torn asunder like a lifer being suddenly released from 44 years of being institutionalized!

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Don’t make us send Rover to get you if you try to break back in!

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Who is Number One?

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^^^ We must be the same age as I used to watch “The Prisoner” with Patrick McGoohan. Weird British show - not as good as the Avengers.

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That was a great show.

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[QUOTE=c.captain;158106]I actually feel sorry for the man who has such a tiny life that leading the USMMA band is his entire world and always has been? Any sane person would have retired two decades ago and moved to Florida to play golf everyday. This is obviously a move by the Administration there to force Force to take that step to reenter the real world outside the walls of “The Village”. I bet right now the poor man is distraught that his insular little world is being torn asunder like a lifer being suddenly released from 44 years of being institutionalized!
[/QUOTE]

Do I detect a hint of sympathy or dare I say it…compassion?

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c.captain,
I would characterize his life as huge in purpose. The description of John Force above indicates he is a very accomplished musician. However, his service as the designated substance abuse counselor describes a life that must have saved countless lives, and touched thousands more. He not only helped the individual drug abuser’s of Alcohol and other drugs, in turn the recovering young men went onto to live sober lives to the benefit of their future spouses, children, friends, and employers. While not everyone is fortunate enough to recover from the depths of abuse and addiction, those who make it had someone help them back on course to a purposeful life.

I would not characterize such a life as tiny by any means. I would hope that many grateful and recovering alumni who owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Force would take the opportunity to “give something back” and help him out.

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the ridiculousness and buffoonery of the USMMA cadet marching band not withstanding, Kenneth Force has got to be pushing 80 and needs a golf cart to get around…there are times when a man should simply retire or be retired. I can well imagine there is not a single other person at KP with even 30 yet along 44 years there.

Hell, give him a ticker tape parade through Great Neck and erect a statue to the man on the campus but unless the plan is to keep the man there until he dies with conductor’s baton in hand then he needs to go to wherever it is men like him go when their time is through. Doesn’t the gooberment have a special home for elderly bandsmen converted from a cold war era Midgetman missile base in Tuba City, Arizona? If they don’t, then they should!

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for God’s sake look…the man has morphed into an Oompa Loompa!

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[QUOTE=c.captain;158106]

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Who is Number One?[/QUOTE]

I am not a number! I am a free man!

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A change.org petition…

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[QUOTE=New3M;158176]A change.org petition…[/QUOTE]

that will have the weight of used Charmin

the man needs to be retired…

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[QUOTE=txwooley;158157]I am not a number! I am a free man![/QUOTE]

wonderfully surreal to say the least…Number 6 is my kind of man. One who refuses to eat anyone’s Shit Sandwich!

//youtu.be/KO1COaLlzRA

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Aww cmon now, it has 178 signatures! Only 99,822 more to go!

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If they want the man gone they should have the balls to let the man go. But if they did that c.captain would argue that that was unfair and if only he had collective bargaining he would have been able to keep his job… Since he hates this particular institution he doesn’t care that this mans benefits (on campus housing) is being taken away without some sort of due process (like the ECO guys 401k). Am I the only one that sees the hipocracy here? And I do realize that Kings Point isn’t a private institution but at the core it’s the same thing being done to the man.

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BULLSHIT! Force obviously has a full Federal government pension he can collect for the rest of his life! He ain’t being thrown onto the street but only being prodded with a pointy stick to retire. His time has passed as the embodiment to the loonacy that is KP’s well deserved reputation as a militaristic school of nebulous nature. FUCK THEM AND THEIR BAND! That is all Kenneth Force’s doing anyway. They didn’t have one before Force and can certainly survive not having one after he leaves. Time to turn that place into a true MARITIME school and end their being a mini-me Annapolis! End being the home for all the oddballs which otherwise have no place on earth to reside. KP IS A RIDICULOUS CIRCUS RUN BY PATHETIC CLOWNS!

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Tinpot FUCKING FARCE of a place costing the US taxpayer almost $90M a year!

calling Steamer…I need you here man…come in Steamer…

.

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I’m just saying that if the man doesn’t want to retire and there isn’t any law or rule requiring it then he shouldn’t have too. And if those same benefits are given to other people at the Academy then why shouldn’t he be given the same leeway? Or just have the balls and say we are retiring you with a pension with is a much less dick move than shirking the responsibility and half ass telling him too by making a crippled old man have a difficult commute. This country needs the balls to just say what we mean and want without being beat over the head for it. Even though you and I don’t agree on a lot those disagreements can be done somewhat civilly, we are Mariners after all, but if you had a deckhand on your ship not pulling his weight you wouldn’t ask him to move ashore but come into work the next morning you would tell him to take a hike… See what I mean?

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I may be mistaken, but I was always under the impression that the bands at the other Federal Academies hired professional musicians and were generally NOT made up of Cadets/Midshipmen. . . .

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[QUOTE=cmakin;158260]I may be mistaken, but I was always under the impression that the bands at the other Federal Academies hired professional musicians and were generally NOT made up of Cadets/Midshipmen. . . .[/QUOTE]

I believe they are made up of enlisted members of their respective services.

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[QUOTE=TugNtow;158242]I’m just saying that if the man doesn’t want to retire and there isn’t any law or rule requiring it then he shouldn’t have too. And if those same benefits are given to other people at the Academy then why shouldn’t he be given the same leeway? Or just have the balls and say we are retiring you with a pension with is a much less dick move than shirking the responsibility and half ass telling him too by making a crippled old man have a difficult commute. This country needs the balls to just say what we mean and want without being beat over the head for it. Even though you and I don’t agree on a lot those disagreements can be done somewhat civilly, we are Mariners after all, but if you had a deckhand on your ship not pulling his weight you wouldn’t ask him to move ashore but come into work the next morning you would tell him to take a hike… See what I mean?[/QUOTE]

What if he has been asked nicely to retire but has refused? What if he is choosing to be very difficult and unbending? I do not know what Federal civil service rules are for this but imagine they are very protective of the employee and grant most rights to them and not the administration?

The easy answer of course is to disband the USMMA marching band but if they do that there will be a hell to pay with the alums plus much of the tinpot militaristic aspect of the place would have to be scrapped. No more formal reviews if you don’t have a band to play Sousa toons for all the little toy soldiers to march to. All I can say is that the six other state chartered maritime schools manage to graduate competent mariners without them being able to pass and review…why is it needed at KP other than to continue to misbelief by KP supporters it is better than the other schools because they look so damned snappy out there all lined up out there line in some old pre Civil War battle where company’s would form in a square to engage an enemy. That is where all this nonsense derives from…the methods of combat from Revolutionary War days.

those are supposed to be mariners they are training…not marionetts!

the USMMA band MUST GO and they must start with Force!

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C.captain, out of curiousity, 100 percent honest all sarcasm, movie references, exaggerated comments aside. Why do you loath USMMA so much? Did they do something to
You? And I k
Don’t know Force and I’m assuming you don’t either, why is the fact KP has a marching band full of midshipmen so bad? If the place sucks so bad I would imagine that the band brings moral up aittle bit. Just don’t get why you attack USMMA did it do something to you that we don’t know about?