Saw this new facility in the Guidon. Perception is that it is a place for 18-22 year olds to go in the morning to get out of a slow 2 mile run and a few push ups. The picture in the Guidon is embarrassing for the CoC. The room is overflowing with fat bodies and twigs that are there because they have a boo boo.

What also ticks me off is the Corps has given these kids a crutch to lean on instead of manning up and getting in shape. Military rehab facilities are full of guys with shoulder tears, torn ACLs, messed up backs, post surgery rehab and gun shot wound rehab.....real injuries! This new facility does not develop leaders, it does the opposite.

Before this gets too out of hand, I'll do my best to eliminate "perception" and give you the TRUTH.

First, the only cadets who attend the Corps Rehab Center are those that have been examined by the Ortho Surgeon on hand who gives them a "profile" for a rehab plan that includes what they CAN do for PT - not just what they CAN'T do.

Rehab is overseen by a Physical Therapist or Licensed Athletics Trainer. A cadet shows up with his "profile" signed by the Ortho Surgeon, then is put through a rehab program to address the issue with the cadet. Whats important is that cadets are taught how to rehab the injury on their own, and can do so when their schedule allows.

The Ortho Surgeon, PT and Trainer are all VOLUNTEERS. The Ortho Surgeon had a daughter who was in the Corps, and saw the impact of cadets getting injured through a variety of activities, but not addressing the injury properly, and thus making the situation worse in the long term. He offered to set up a rehab program for injured cadets (something he had done before for a school in California), and hopefully get cadets healthier quicker and under the supervision of properly trained professionals. All we had to do was provide the space, and the CCA donated an ice machine. The Ortho Surgeon and his team volunteer their time in the space we provided to help rehab injured cadets.

I have no idea what "perception" others may have of this - especially if all they see is what they read in a magazine. I can say unequivocally that this program is a HUGE success, and has been highlighted in numerous media outlets for its impact on the overall health and welfare of the cadets. In the past, cadets got hurt, were told to go to Beutel Health Center, but very few went for fear of being viewed just the way 2004FightinTXAg views them - chopping out on their buddies, slackers, lazy, quitters. So instead what happened was we had cadets that developed chronic injuries that never got addressed properly, and in many cases, led to even worse problems for them.

This Rehab Center was set up to address that very issue, and has led to some remarkable success stories of cadets rehabbing and being able to return to unit activities MUCH quicker than ever before. In addition, its FREE for our cadets. Beutel costs the cadets to go for rehab, and they must wait sometimes several days to be seen due to demand and available care-givers. Our cadets get seen the same day their injury occurred, are given a comprehensive rehab plan that is aimed at rehabbing them properly and returning them to full activities as quickly as possible, and is FREE for them.

I find it interesting that college athletes have a plethora of trainers, therapists, doctors, and training/rehab facilities, mainly due to the highly physical nature of what they do and the impact on their bodies, and nobody thinks twice about it. But the Corps of Cadets - another organization that is physically demanding and inflicts a lot of injuries on its members - brings in a Doctor, therapists, and trainers, and sets up a basic rehab center for its injured cadets, and there are those who consider this a place to skip out of PT, to avoid physical activity, to chop out on your buddies, and to just hang out and be lazy. Thats EXACTLY the mindset we were trying to eliminate when we set this up. Total ignorance. We want our cadets to get healthy and STAY healthy so they can participate in all Corps activities all four years. This Rehab Center is helping us do just that.

I hope this clears things up for all, but if you still have doubts, feel free to come and visit our Rehab Center. I'd be happy to show you the facility personally. I'm here every day, and have seen first hand the positive impact this center has already had on our cadets after just one semester. I'd be happy to show you first hand the positive impact this rehab center is having on our Corps, as would the cadets who have benefitted from the program.

And if you believe that PT here consists of a "slow 2 mile run and a few push-ups," I invite you to come join us for PT. We start at 6 am most week days. By all means come join us and see for yourself just how "slow" these cadets run and just how "few push-ups" they actually do. We'll have the Rehab Center open for you afterward...

No "perception" problem here. Just facts - and very positive results.

Nothing like the uninformed refusing to be informed...

Bigpoppa....I am sure the Commandant is not too concerned about handouts from the likes of the OP. He is more mindful of seeking support from those who want to see improvements in the Corps...not from uninformed posters who seek opportunities to run it down.

With all due respect Commandant, I spent all four years in the Corps (2000-2004), never missed a single PT and was in one of the special units up for 0530 PT every morning for three of those four years. Based on my experience in the Corps, it is not ignorant to believe the vast majority of the 60 cadets that attend the rehab center every morning do not really need therapy. If you haven't seen the two page picture in the Guidon I encourage you too. It looks like a 0600 day care center. There are about two cadets actually doing therapeutic exercises while everyone else is standing around. Maybe the magazine did not do it justice, but I have been told many times throughout my career that perception is reality.

I believe the rehab facility has produced positive results for a few that honestly need Physical Therapy. I just find it hard to believe that 60 cadets every morning honestly have severe injuries. Especially considering they are 18-22 years old. They aren't exactly in their thirties and forties when the shoulders and knees start giving out. Physical Therapy and rehab is for those who have had surgery, broken bones, tears in their shoulders, messed up backs, severe sprains. I work in a far more physically demanding environment with about 3,000 people and our physical therapy unit does not even see 60 patients a day and the majority of those they do see are post surgery on shoulders, backs, legs, knees, and ankles.

I commend the volunteers who are running the facility. I just hope they are not enabling Cadets to be weak and not go PT in the morning.

Lastly, to the poster who said I was trying to bring down the Corps. I give every year to the Corps, which is why I get the Guidon magazine. I bring this subject up because I do care about the quality of the CoC and the leaders it produces.

So based on your experience 10 years ago and a photo in a magazine you are going to call the commandant a lier?

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So based on your experience 10 years ago and a photo in a magazine you are going to call the commandant a lier?

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With all due respect to both 2004Fightintxag and Bigpoppa, I came on this site and posted to set the record straight. To present FACTS. NOT "perception is...", NOT "When I was a fish in the Corps...", NOT "I heard...", NOT "A cadet told me..." - FACTS. Thats all I tried to do with my post. If you choose not to believe it, thats your right and your prerogative, however misinformed it may be.

I have no need to read the magazine article FightinTxAg (even though I too get the Guidon magazine from the CCA) - I visit that Rehab Center regularly, and I talk to the Dr and the PT on a regular basis - as well as the cadets undergoing the rehab. Like I said previously, I am here every day, and I am the one who agreed to open the Rehab Center for our cadets and check on its progress regularly to ensure its achieving what we want it to achieve for our cadets. You can assume what you choose to from a 2 page article with pictures, but as I stated before, I know the facts, and know exactly what is working and what isn't. You are free to ignore what I told you about the Rehab Center if you want to. This isn't 2004, and its not the same experience you may have had when you were in the Corps. You can try and apply your 4 years here in the Corps to today's Corps, but once again, you're sorely misinformed and completely out of touch.

Again, IF you really feel that this Rehab Center is a haven for "fatties," "lazy cadets," "washouts," or whatever other term you choose to apply to them, please feel free to come see the Rehab Center for yourself. Until you see it - and the impact its having on injured cadets - all you are doing is making bogus allegations based on assumption, rumor, innuendo, second/third hand info, or flat out misinformation. Thats all I have seen by those who have posted with negative comments about the Rehab Center and the cadets who use it. Not FACTS - just bogus info, assumptions, and rumor. Totally unfair to the cadets who benefit from the Rehab Center, and the medical professionals who run it.

I'd be happy to set the record straight for you by showing you the Rehab Center personally if you feel that strongly about it. Just contact me and I'll be happy to show you the FACTS and hopefully dispel all this bogus, negative information about the Rehab Center.

Okay 2004FIGHTINTXAG...I do believe you have the Corps in your best interest and not intent on "running it down"...maybe I was too harsh with that statement. Let me try to shed some light on how I see perceive all of this based on facts and statistics. First, my background...I am 1SG Cassle, USA Ret, and PCSed to Texas A & M in 2004 as an Army ROTC instructor. I was the Ranger Challenge coach and Rudders Ranger advisor in 04-05. In 2007 I retired from the Army and became a Cadet Training Officer in the Corps until this last year when I decided to pursue a career in the oil industry. So in 10 years I got to know the Corps fairly well. Some stats to ponder...60 cadets out of the 2400 cadets in the Corps that use the Rehab Center any given day equates to 2.5% of total strength. When I was the 1SG of A Co 1st 509th Airborne Infantry ('01-'03) I had anywhere from 5 to 8 of my 140 soldiers on a profile (needing recovery or therapy) on any given day. Taking the lower number of 5 equates to 3.5% of my soldiers who could not perform morning PT...a higher percentage than the Corps. Please consider also the fact that these soldiers have been to basic training, infantry AIT and Airborne school. They were a lot more experienced in the day-to-day rigors of physical fitness and performing tasks required of an infantryman. Today's cadets in the Corps do not have the opportunities to gain the experiential knowledge that my soldiers had...they are college student first and cadets secondly. So comparing them to your physically demanding unit (or whatever you are referring to) of 3000 people that does not have 60 patients is not really comparable...as my company is not really comparable. I am just pointing out that the Corps has a lower percentage of cadets in the Rehab Center than paratroopers I had on profile in my company at any given time. 2004 FTAg, there will always be "chop outs" in the Corps and I had my fair share of "shamers" in my company, but the Corps Rehab Center is a huge positive for the Corps and I firmly believe the majority of cadets receiving treatment are there for a good reason.

Attack the Corps and its cadets with false information, and you get mad the Commandant steps in and defends it.

You guys are fools, and deserve the shaming that GRAM gives you. I hope I don't turn into that kind of Old Ag.

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I think there is a way to defend your position without coming across as attacking. Now if it was just another anonymous poster I would have said nothing(because I expect that), but as Commandant I think there is a better way of doing it.

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He is doing it just fine.

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This isn't the first time I have felt like he has attacked a poster. I guess this is my opinion and I will just leave it as that.

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You might visit the Corps Sports Medicine Facility and get a butt-hurt Band-Aid.

As I said before, I rarely come on TexAgs to comment, but when I do, its only to dispel misinformation - usually based on rumor or second hand information - but my sole intent is to point out the facts and the truth so those on TexAgs get the truth straight from the top. I have no other agenda, have no intention of participating in "pissing contests," and am certainly recognizable by my screen name - there's no doubt who I am when I post.

I attacked NO ONE in my posts - unlike the OP, who attacked the Rehab Center and the cadets who use it, based solely on a magazine article and some pictures. I simply came on to tell the OP and every one else, the TRUTH about the Rehab Center, how it came about, what it does, who runs it, and who uses it. That was it. If thats "pissing on someone's leg," bigpoppa, then you and I have FAR differing views on just what that phrase means. If posting the truth is considered "attacking" others, then I stand guilty as charged. But I disagree with the assertion, and I believe that most who know me and who read my posts would agree with me.

I won't post on this thread again. I've pointed out the facts, and tried my best to explain why we have the Rehab Center and the positive impact its had on the cadets who have had to use it. Is it perfect? No. Do we have concerns about the future and what happens if/when the Dr retires and moves on? Yes. But for now, its a very positive operation that is having a big impact on the overall health of the Corps. And thats good enough for me, at least for now. Like everything else we do in the Office of the Commandant, we assess everything we do every year, and will do so again for the Rehab Center in May when school ends. But there is NO arguing the positive impact the Rehab Center has had thus far across the Corps.

As a final statement, I would offer that CT'97 has it right. Having watched this generation of young people do some amazing things in Baghdad, Mosul, Balad, Kandahar, and Jalalabad, I can say they are as good as anyone else I've ever seen in uniform. They ARE different - so were WE, to the previous generation of warriors - but they rise to the challenge EVERY time, and do some incredible things under some very difficult conditions. Anyone who has any doubts about this generation just needs to spend an hour on the Quad with today's cadets. You'll come away from that experience with a renewed confidence in our future and the young people who will one day run this country. They make me proud every day, and give me hope for the future every day. They are deserving of our support and respect.