Stephen Ruth '92 for Commandant of the Corps

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Ensign Mayo
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12:42p, 10/28/24
AG
http://www.ruthforcommandant.com/

sign petition here ^^

We have enough Generals on campus. This guy will help preserve the traditions in our beloved Corps.
Colonel Stephen G. Ruth is a member of the Angleton High School Class of 1988 and the Texas A&M Class of 1992, where he served as Student Body President. Col Ruth is a former Assistant Professor of Leadership at West Point, former Commandant of the West Point Prep School, and a Harvard Kennedy School Fellow. He currently serves as the Director of Task Force SORD (Strategic Officer Recruiting Detachment) in College Station to provide Army ROTC Scholarships talented youth from diverse backgrounds

He knows and loves the Corps of Cadets for what it is. A leadership laboratory.
He won't try to change it into the US Military Academy. He will fix what needs fixing without ruining the experience for the D&C cadets.

He has experience. He was commandant of the US Military Academy Prep School. He has multiple tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan, Macedonia and Bosnia.
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maverick2076
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12:49p, 10/28/24
Hmmm…despite what that page claims, he was most definitely not the first African American cadet in the Corps.
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ELREY
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In reply to maverick2076 • 1:33p, 10/28/24
AG
maverick2076 said:
Hmmm…despite what that page claims, he was most definitely not the first African American cadet in the Corps.



What they meant is that he was the first African American Student body president that was a Cadet.

They clarified it on the website...
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maverick2076
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In reply to ELREY • 1:33p, 10/28/24
They should probably clarify that, then.
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bigtruckguy3500
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In reply to maverick2076 • 1:34p, 10/28/24
maverick2076 said:
Hmmm…despite what that page claims, he was most definitely not the first African American cadet in the Corps.
I believe it's intended to say that he's the first AA cadet that was also the student body president. At least that's the way I understood it.

Don't know the guy. But I've heard a lot of good things about him from when I was in the Corps, and after.

Ensign Mayo said:
This guy will help preserve the traditions in our beloved Corps.
I'd be willing to bet that everyone clamoring for preserving traditions would probably get pissed if a commandant came in and actually started caring about things like looking sharp in uniform, being good at drill, and kicking out overweight cadets (even last semester zips). The last few march-ins I've seen, whether in person, or on video have looked pretty sloppy. You can't say you want to keep all traditions but really just want to keep all the "fun" traditions while ignoring the ones that require hard work.
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Tango.Mike
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1:54p, 10/28/24
Steve Ruth is a national treasure. He's way too good to be the corps commandant
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mdgtamu
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In reply to Ensign Mayo • 3:40p, 10/28/24
AG
I support this message!
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CT'97
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4:15p, 10/28/24
AG
So you do want to run the Corps like a frat. Nominate and elect the Commandant via popular opinion and social pressure. Not exactly a great way to attract top tear leadership.

You can't have unity of command if you have an organization outside the Commandant's chain of command dictating the hiring and firing.

No offense meant to Steve Ruth, I've meet him and have no reason to believe he's anything but a solid leader and good guy.
Texas A&M - 148 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress.
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ELREY
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In reply to CT'97 • 4:18p, 10/28/24
AG
I bet you are fun at parties…

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n1mr0d
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In reply to CT'97 • 8:32p, 10/28/24
CT'97 said:
So you do want to run the Corps like a frat. Nominate and elect the Commandant via popular opinion and social pressure. Not exactly a great way to attract top tear leadership.

You can't have unity of command if you have an organization outside the Commandant's chain of command dictating the hiring and firing.

No offense meant to Steve Ruth, I've meet him and have no reason to believe he's anything but a solid leader and good guy.


how did the last transformational general work out for you?

guess what? his staff is largely unchanged.

have you seen the search committee?
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Ensign Mayo
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9:45p, 10/28/24
AG
nm
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Tango.Mike
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8:21a, 10/29/24
I texted COL Ruth yesterday to ask if that petition was real and if he knew about it. He said yes to both, that some of his former underclassmen put it together.

The Corps doesn't need a retired GO. It needs someone with boundless energy and charisma like SRT (Steve Ruth from Texas, as he is known across the Army).

And for the concern above about a petition: The Corps largely IS a fraternity. The ROTC departments execute the military training, the commandant's office runs the student organization. And if we're honest, the university chain of command has not always done a bang-up job of selecting new commandants. A 3-star from the Pentagon who hadn't been with troops in 30 years? Some 1-stars who had never been in TRADOC or USMA (or the AF / Navy equivalents)? Good gracious. And the petition isn't hiring SRT anyway, it's just asking the school's bureaucrats to look at excellent candidates already local instead of making the same mistakes over and over
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ELREY
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In reply to Tango.Mike • 9:47a, 10/29/24
AG
Tango.Mike said:
I texted COL Ruth yesterday to ask if that petition was real and if he knew about it. He said yes to both, that some of his former underclassmen put it together.

The Corps doesn't need a retired GO. It needs someone with boundless energy and charisma like SRT (Steve Ruth from Texas, as he is known across the Army).

And for the concern above about a petition: The Corps largely IS a fraternity. The ROTC departments execute the military training, the commandant's office runs the student organization. And if we're honest, the university chain of command has not always done a bang-up job of selecting new commandants. A 3-star from the Pentagon who hadn't been with troops in 30 years? Some 1-stars who had never been in TRADOC or USMA (or the AF / Navy equivalents)? Good gracious. And the petition isn't hiring SRT anyway, it's just asking the school's bureaucrats to look at excellent candidates already local instead of making the same mistakes over and over


Couldn't agree more. COL Ruth is the right person at the right time for the Corps.

The one person on this thread who has complained about the nomination letter has been a defender of the Trigon on several threads and more than likely is a person that likes to complain about everything and has been brain washed by the DEI culture that has taken over the top ranks of our military.


Col Ruth will bring his boundless energy and charisma and hand leadership back to the Cadets.
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CT'97
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In reply to n1mr0d • 11:05a, 10/29/24
AG
I'm not talking about the last commandant. I was the one who came here raising the alarm when I first heard of the changes being proposed by him. What I'm talking about is medaling from outside that leads to conflicts in unity of leadership. In the military it's referred to as unity of command. You can't serve two masters. It's happened several times throughout the last few years on campus and it always has lead to trouble. I would point directly to Katherine Banks as an example, there are others.

How does a President and VP for Student Affairs sit down with a new Commandant and have a legitimate discussion of plans for the Corps if they both know that the Commandant was hired because of pressure from an outside group?

Again, I will say this is not how highly performing organizations operate.

Texas A&M - 148 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress.
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CT'97
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In reply to ELREY • 11:10a, 10/29/24
AG
ELREY said:


The one person on this thread who has complained about the nomination letter has been a defender of the Trigon on several threads and more than likely is a person that likes to complain about everything and has been brain washed by the DEI culture that has taken over the top ranks of our military.

.
If you are referencing me, you are making a lot of broad assumptions and are wrong. I have both defended and been critical of the Trigon and Commandants office as I felt was warranted by the situation.

I will quote Ted Lasso, "be curious, not judgmental."

Again, I am not attacking Steve Ruth. I have only meet him once and have no reason to think negatively about him or the job he would do. My criticism is about outside groups meddling in university affairs and the downward spiral I feel it's sending our university on.
Texas A&M - 148 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress.
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Morbo the Annihilator
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10:29a, 10/30/24
AG
Meddling.

Sorry, that was driving me crazy.
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Outlaw0206
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7:02p, 10/30/24
AG
I've heard great things about COL Ruth, but the new guy will absolutely have a star.
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CT'97
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In reply to Outlaw0206 • 9:20a, 10/31/24
AG
If they want Ruth and need him to be a GO they can get him into the Texas NG and then promote him into one of their GO slots and make his duties being the Commandant.
Texas A&M - 148 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress.
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Tango.Mike
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In reply to CT'97 • 12:29p, 10/31/24
CT'97 said:
If they want Ruth and need him to be a GO they can get him into the Texas NG and then promote him into one of their GO slots and make his duties being the Commandant.


I've always wondered if this was possible. In many states the governor can appoint people to the TAG office, and A&M is the "official military college of Texas"
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Dallas Aggie
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In reply to CT'97 • 11:26p, 10/31/24
AG
LOL. When has the Trigon been a high performing organization? What isn't working is the way that we've been selecting Commandants. . . . It has been a steady march downhill since Tom Darling.

The University academic culture / leadership is not great at selecting Executives. As someone who started and runs a business, it is hard to hire executive leadership with the right combination of judgement, leadership, and charisma.

There isn't one business person on the selection committee for this search. There isn't one person who has routinely hired and fired executives on the committee.

I think that's a problem . . .not a grassroots effort to nominate an outstanding individual.
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CT'97
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In reply to Tango.Mike • 8:33a, 11/1/24
AG
Tango.Mike said:
CT'97 said:
If they want Ruth and need him to be a GO they can get him into the Texas NG and then promote him into one of their GO slots and make his duties being the Commandant.


I've always wondered if this was possible. In many states the governor can appoint people to the TAG office, and A&M is the "official military college of Texas"

It wouldn't be as easy as that, the officers of the National Guard carry a full commission so promoting to GO would take all the regular hoops to jump through. But Texas sits in it's own category at National Guard Bureau because of how big it's footprint is in the force structure and get's to do a lot of what it wants, outside the rules. One of those things is carrying more GO's and E9's than the force structure allots.
Texas A&M - 148 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress.
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CT'97
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In reply to Dallas Aggie • 8:38a, 11/1/24
AG
You're making a lot of assumptions and I'm very sure that most if not all are incorrect. I know the assumptions surrounding the hiring of the commandant are in fact false. But keep making up accusations to support your narrative if they make you feel better.

The Commandant isn't hired in a vacuum by a group of academics in an ivory tower. The fact that you think that's how it works tells me you know nothing of the process.
Texas A&M - 148 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress.
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Ensign Mayo
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9:51a, 11/1/24
AG
the decision will be made by Mark Welsh and 3 of the Regents
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Dallas Aggie
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In reply to CT'97 • 10:30a, 11/1/24
AG
CT'97 said:
You're making a lot of assumptions and I'm very sure that most if not all are incorrect. I know the assumptions surrounding the hiring of the commandant are in fact false. But keep making up accusations to support your narrative if they make you feel better.

The Commandant isn't hired in a vacuum by a group of academics in an ivory tower. The fact that you think that's how it works tells me you know nothing of the process.
Again LMAO. Instead of spewing this nonsense, why don't you tell me what assumption is wrong? Who is on the selection committee that has run a business?
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Dallas Aggie
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In reply to Ensign Mayo • 10:52a, 11/1/24
AG
Ensign Mayo said:
the decision will be made by Mark Welsh and 3 of the Regents
That is great news. Much better than the committee that selected Michaelis. That committee was full of academics or university administrators with only 1 person who had graduated from Texas A&M and was in the Corps of Cadets. There was a total lack of private sector business experience.

MG Tim Green - Former Cadet
Chris Reed - Long time A&M administrator. Admissions. No Corps experience
Kevin Hurley - Long time A&M administrator. Athletics. No Corps experience
Leroy Dorsey - College of Liberal Arts Associate Dean for DEI. No Corps experience.
Tom Reber - Long time A&M administrator. Student Affairs. No Corps experience
Marcos Mendez - Long time A&M administrator. Athletics. No Corps experience
John Hurtado - Academic. Aerospace engineering prof. No Corps experience.
Andrew Bainbridge - Deputy Corps Commander
Angie Hill Price - Long time A&M academic. Faculty Senate. No Corps experience.
Fred McClure - Long time A&M administrator. Former Student Body President. No Corps experience.
Ann Kenimer - Long time A&M academic. Ag. No Corps experience
Meredith Simpson - Office of the Commandant. No Corps experience
Natalie Parks - Student Body President. No Corps experience.

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Trinity Ag
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In reply to CT'97 • 11:16a, 11/2/24
S
CT'97 said:
Tango.Mike said:
CT'97 said:
If they want Ruth and need him to be a GO they can get him into the Texas NG and then promote him into one of their GO slots and make his duties being the Commandant.


I've always wondered if this was possible. In many states the governor can appoint people to the TAG office, and A&M is the "official military college of Texas"

It wouldn't be as easy as that, the officers of the National Guard carry a full commission so promoting to GO would take all the regular hoops to jump through. But Texas sits in it's own category at National Guard Bureau because of how big it's footprint is in the force structure and get's to do a lot of what it wants, outside the rules. One of those things is carrying more GO's and E9's than the force structure allots.
I suspect he is talking about the Texas State Guard -- not the National Guard.

I think the Governor could appoint pretty much anyone he wanted as a 1-star in the State Guard, particularly someone with Steve Ruth's credentials.

The last President picked the previous Commandant, selecting from a pool of candidates nominated by the committee. There was little to no involvement by the BoR. Whatever you think of the outcome or the composition of the committee, this is how things are supposed to work.

Given how the environment has changed, I would be very surprised if that is the case for the next one.

Handing the process over to donors who have influence with Board Members is another way, but I wouldn't bet it is sure to yield a better outcome.
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Dallas Aggie
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12:37p, 11/2/24
AG
It may be "how things are supposed to work" in the University setting. But from where I sit, it looks like a bureaucracy that cares more about process than finding the right candidate. Banks ended up hiring the committee's recommendation. And some really great candidates were eliminated due to not giving the right DEI answers.

No private entity that has to compete to stay alive hires people like this.

This is an important hire.

Is it too much to ask that the selection committee have 1) people that have experience with the organization that they are selecting for, 2) have experience hiring and firing executives, and 3) have some business experience leading teams through challenges?

There are literally 100s (if not 1000s) of people that would fit these criteria and joyfully serve.
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Trinity Ag
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In reply to Dallas Aggie • 4:51p, 11/2/24
S
Dallas Aggie said:
It may be "how things are supposed to work" in the University setting. But from where I sit, it looks like a bureaucracy that cares more about process than finding the right candidate. Banks ended up hiring the committee's recommendation. And some really great candidates were eliminated due to not giving the right DEI answers.

No private entity that has to compete to stay alive hires people like this.

This is an important hire.

Is it too much to ask that the selection committee have 1) people that have experience with the organization that they are selecting for, 2) have experience hiring and firing executives, and 3) have some business experience leading teams through challenges?

There are literally 100s (if not 1000s) of people that would fit these criteria and joyfully serve.
Yes, it is...in fact...a public university setting, and there are rules and laws that govern hiring and firing.

What exact candidate got excluded because "they didn't give the right DEI answers"? What questions do you think were asked?

Or are you just pulling things out of the air from a youtube video made by a parent who is angry because their kid's outfit got sanctioned?

I have no real opinion on who is on the committee other than a range of experiences is probably useful. FWIW, the committee actually changed the eligibility rules to open the search to Colonels like Ruth.

Part of the reason was shortage of Aggie flag officer candidates -- the A&M Corps of Cadets of the 80-90s did not produce a lot of officers who went on to become GOs.

Why that might be is a different, but probably relevant discussion.

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MarineBQ04
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In reply to Tango.Mike • 9:04p, 11/7/24
AG
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MarineBQ04
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In reply to Tango.Mike • 9:07p, 11/7/24
AG
Tango.Mike said:
CT'97 said:
If they want Ruth and need him to be a GO they can get him into the Texas NG and then promote him into one of their GO slots and make his duties being the Commandant.


I've always wondered if this was possible. In many states the governor can appoint people to the TAG office, and A&M is the "official military college of Texas"

Not sure if it can be done with the NG, but certainly with the Texas State Guard. Those that were around in the 90's and early 2000's might remember the Deputy Commandant - Don Johnson - his star was from the TSG. Also, the TSG is how most of the current Aggie Band Directors are "commissioned."

Also from that timeframe, you may remember Jake Betty. He was a retired Army Col, but eventually re-upped with the TSG and was their Commanding General and re-retired as a 2-star.
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OldArmyCT
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In reply to MarineBQ04 • 4:42a, 11/8/24
AG
MarineBQ04 said:
Tango.Mike said:
CT'97 said:
If they want Ruth and need him to be a GO they can get him into the Texas NG and then promote him into one of their GO slots and make his duties being the Commandant.


I've always wondered if this was possible. In many states the governor can appoint people to the TAG office, and A&M is the "official military college of Texas"

Not sure if it can be done with the NG, but certainly with the Texas State Guard. Those that were around in the 90's and early 2000's might remember the Deputy Commandant - Don Johnson - his star was from the TSG. Also, the TSG is how most of the current Aggie Band Directors are "commissioned."

Also from that timeframe, you may remember Jake Betty. He was a retired Army Col, but eventually re-upped with the TSG and was their Commanding General and re-retired as a 2-star.
Back when they picked Rameriz they should have picked Jake IMO. But they didn't ask me.
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hillcountryag86
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In reply to OldArmyCT • 9:56a, 11/8/24
AG
Jake Betty would have been fantastic.
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hillcountryag86
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In reply to Outlaw0206 • 9:57a, 11/8/24
AG
Outlaw0206 said:
I've heard great things about COL Ruth, but the new guy will absolutely have a star.
Unless a star is a requirement, there have been numerous commandants who were full colonels.
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OldArmyCT
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In reply to hillcountryag86 • 2:56p, 11/8/24
AG
hillcountryag86 said:
Outlaw0206 said:
I've heard great things about COL Ruth, but the new guy will absolutely have a star.
Unless a star is a requirement, there have been numerous commandants who were full colonels.
COL Parsons was mine.
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Jock 07
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10:37a, 11/11/24
AG
Nothing to add to the conversation but saw that HLSR used this picture for their Veterans Day tribute today and I thought it was pretty cool. I'm assuming that's his father, maybe grandfather?
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