Ph.D infantry soldiers

[George Wallace]

Didn't you once tell me that they were itinerant?   

 

[Shamrock]

I think there's some very important points being missed about sending officers to university for three (+) years.

That's three years they're nowhere near the troops.

 

[FredDaHead]

Four years for us RMC types.  ;D

 

[visitor]

Steve Jobs famously got his idea for the  Apple OS from a dance class in Univ.    The man who invented the optical reading device for CDs  found the seed for his idea in music. I would wager Jobs would have been less creative had he been immersed in what was the status quo  in IT all those  years. Leaders should be creative problem solvers and be willling to think "outside the box".  Many great ideas have come from applying an idea in one field to another.

Can those of you with knowledge of military history cite  examples  of brillliant  strategists who got an idea from an apparently unsual source?

 

[MARS2INF]

Steve Jobs famously got his idea for the Apple OS from a dance class in Univ. 

Just as an aside:  Steve Jobs stole the use of a Graphical User Interface from Xerox on a tour of the Xerox labs... at the time Xerox hadn't patented the idea because they didn't see a demand for the concept - one of the biggest corporate mess-ups in business history... second or third to the New Coke idea. But I digress...

 

[Shamrock]

[quote author=World Intellectual Property Office]
Are ideas, methods or concepts protected by copyright?

Copyright protection extends only to expressions, and not to ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such.  This principle has been confirmed by  the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as the WIPO Copyright Treaty.[/quote]

Source

 

[geo]

Hmmm.... and this has what relationship to the subject at hand?

 

[hotelquebec9er]

If a person spends $40,000 and 4 years learning to "regurgitate information" it was waste of time and money. A university education should  endow someone  wth the skills to think critically,  to understand the context of our sociey in history, to be able to argue logically and consider other points of view, to communicate effectively:  in short: to be an educated person.  Knowledge of "stuff" gets outdated very quickly.  Certainly some people can learn to think critically without the benefit of University, but learning  that under a  brilliant thinker is invaluable.    To my mind a leader  needs to be creative, a forward thinker, be able to assess information and make decisions when faced with unique situations.  Ideally that person would  both be a critical thinker and have  specific knowledge of their trade.

I would argue that in most cases, a university education, if if based on regurgitation (at very minimum) would foster one of the most valuable traits one can find in a military member.  This would be the ability to adapt favourably to an environment.  Let's be honest, the ability to "fit in" and do well in an alien environment (university is far from the "real" world) is very similar to the adaptation to military life.  Military scheduling, ways of doing things and such require a very adaptable person. 

Both are hoop-jumping excercises.

 

[geo]

pert much all that formal education is designed to teach people how to think for themselves, learning on their own.  You don't really need a university degree to become educated (but that piece of paper is validating the fact that you did).

 

[observor 69]

pert much all that formal education is designed to teach people how to think for themselves, learning on their own.  You don't really need a university degree to become educated (but that piece of paper is validating the fact that you did).

I always liked the English way of describing ones attending university as in "He's reading history." If one could get all the text in a particular course and read them you'd have a pretty good education on that topic. For example our Army.ca recommended "military reading."

 

[time expired]

This thread reminds of a quote I read in a book about the Korean war, the author mentioned
that in his dealings with the US Army,that he was amazed that so many were PHDs and so many
were ignorant b%&§?stards and how many were both.
                                      Regards

 

[observor 69]

This thread reminds of a quote I read in a book about the Korean war, the author mentioned
that in his dealings with the US Army,that he was amazed that so many were PHDs and so many
were ignorant b%&§?stards and how many were both.
                                       Regards

I have learned not to be surprised on how true this is. 

 

[geo]

As some wise old Tp WO once told me....

It's hard to soar with the eagles
when you're flying with a bunch of turkeys :