Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"June 7, 2002
Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"
June
7, 2002
|
| 2nd Lt. Andy Blickhahn accepts a gift of books about being an officer from friend and mentor retired Lt. Col. Kurt Webber, former officer-in-charge of the USMA parachute team. |
The U.S. Military Academy can be a demanding place for cadets, and their responsibilities only increase as they rise in rank.
Yet, there is one position in the Corps of Cadets that is far and away the trickiest to hold and uphold -- that of First Captain.
Former Cadet First Captain, 2nd Lt. Andy Blickhahn, credits some of his success at the academy -- including the initial decision to come here -- to his prior military experience. Blickhahn was a sergeant before coming to West Point.
"When I was stationed at Camp Humphries in Korea, I was a private first class," Blickhahn explained. "I didn’t like what I saw as far as how officers treated the higher enlisted people.
"They weren’t given responsibilities they could handle or do their jobs properly, and I didn’t want to be treated like that after 16, 18 years of service.
"I wanted to stay in, so I decided to become an officer to affect greater change," he said.
One day, Blickhahn recalled, he met a second lieutenant who told him that he had nothing to lose by trying for West Point. That was, he decided, his best chance to become an officer.
From the time he arrived at the academy, even before his appointment as First Captain, Blickhahn said he took a no-nonsense, leadership-heavy, outlook to his education.
"After my Plebe year and up until graduation, I was on the Parachute Team, where leadership development is very important," he explained. "The chances [to get killed] are real, there’s nothing fake about it.
"The leadership and standards you hold on that team are real because lives actually depend on it."
That was the basis for his tenure as the leader of the Corps of Cadets.
"Being First Captain required me to do the same things that we’re asking every team leader and squad leader in the Corps to do right now -- be a proactive follower and a visionary leader.
"That has to happen at every level in the command for the unit to run effectively. That’s simply all I’ve done," he said.
Blickhahn said the leader position prepared him for his career as an officer in several ways.
"I’ve had to act at a level of maturity and intelligence that wouldn’t allow for me to make mistakes," he said. "I couldn’t have some of the lapses of judgment that you can afford when your decisions only affect one or two people."
As an enlisted person, Blickhahn was in Military Intelligence. But he said he saw that he was still required to perform many of the tasks given to Infantry units and that he enjoyed the Infantry mission. He quickly made the decision to become and Infantry officer -- and the kind who is always open with his troops.
"As soldiers, we’ve given up a certain number of freedoms, and my soldiers will always know the reasons behind my orders and what they are fighting for," Blickhahn said.
