Definition:

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Overarching Goal:

Graduates interact appropriately with others in a wide range of social and professional settings, displaying proper etiquette and dress, consideration for others, and respect for social and professional conventions and traditions

Modern life places graduates in various social settings throughout the world.  Graduates will come into contact with persons who are superiors, subordinates, and equals, military service and civilian, foreign and domestic, of both genders and many races and cultures.  In these diverse situations, good manners and consideration for others facilitate the interaction and effectiveness of groups and the success of missions.  Army officers must demonstrate maturity in their bearing and self-control in their conduct both on and off duty.  They must understand that, as graduates and officers, they are direct representatives of the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Army, and the United States of America, in all their interactions, social and professional, at home and abroad.  In those roles, they must interact comfortably and effectively with a broad range of groups, establishing and maintaining the respect required to influence others by according to others the respect due them as well.

The social development of cadets prepares them for entry into the Army officer corps understanding the social norms of society and the armed services.  They are confident in their bearing in both social and military settings, and are aware of their status as social and professional role models to other service members and society at large.  Cadets are taught to demonstrate consideration for others; this extends to giving respectful consideration to the opinions and feelings of others.

Objectives:

1.  Graduates demonstrate proper etiquette and behaviors consistent with service traditions, customs, and courtesies and with general social customs, standards, and expectations.

• Understand and observe the basic principles of social precedence and protocol.
• Take ownership and uphold accepted military social norms and educate peers and subordinates as needed to correct deficiencies when they encounter them.
• Understand and observe military social customs and functions (e.g., dining-ins, dining-outs, formal receptions and receiving lines, military balls) and are aware of the appropriate expectations of behavior at such events.
• Recognize professional obligations to support the unit and the military.
• Appreciate the levels of dress (e.g., formal, business casual, casual, and informal) and when each is appropriate.
• Uphold military etiquette and maintain professional tone and posture in all dealings with superiors and subordinates.

2.  Graduates demonstrate maturity, self-control, and sound judgment in their interactions with others.

• Understand the expectations and accept personal responsibility for social development.
• Know and practice proper decorum in all dealings with service members and civilians of different rank, grade, and position.
• Conduct oneself as an officer and gentleman/lady in public places, both on and off duty.
• Drink responsibly (e.g., drink socially without binge drinking, getting drunk, and/or driving under the influence) and maintain respectful behavior while consuming alcohol.
• Understand the potential positive and negative impacts that behavior has on an individual and organization (e.g., impact of web-based information sharing, such as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube, on the perceptions of individuals, their unit, and the Army).
• Remain open and teachable with a personal commitment to succeed.

3.  Graduates communicate comfortably and effectively with a broad range of groups.

• Understand and respect individual rights while interacting in a multicultural and mixed gender environment.
• Foster a social environment of cooperation by working through differences in a respectful manner while taking the whole of the group into consideration.
• Communicate and interact effectively with people of other cultures (cross-cultural and multi-cultural competency).
• Communicate and interact effectively with members of the opposite sex.
• Understand different cultures and their perceptions of Americans and America.

4.  Graduates demonstrate a caring and compassionate nature.

• Honor others with dignity and respect.
• Show empathy and concern for the efforts and challenges faced by others even as they demand high standards.
• Seek, listen, and nurture the ideas of others and value their opinions.
• Value people, praise effort, and reward performance.
• Develop and maintain a positive attitude about themselves, teammates and others, and the situation or task at hand.  Graduates recognize that enthusiasm and optimism are contagious and force multipliers.
• Remain humble, giving credit to others, and shouldering the blame themselves.
• Exercise the will to do what is right through disciplined thinking, disciplined emotions, and disciplined action.
• Give to others through community service.

Domain Books:

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