West Pointers Prepare to Face Changed World
By LYDIA POLGREEN
WEST POINT, N.Y., April 16 — Despite her appointment to the United States Military Academy, Mary Tobin says she never quite grasped the meaning of war. She graduated from an Atlanta high school with good grades and was in R.O.T.C., so West Point seemed an obvious way to get a first-class education at government expense. In 1999 the nation was at peace, and Ms. Tobin did not dwell on the dangers that might lie ahead.
In exactly 45 days, Cadet Tobin will graduate and become a 22-year-old second lieutenant in the Army. Chances are good she will go to Iraq, one of hundreds of thousands of soldiers who will occupy the country until a government is in place. Though she exudes an easy confidence, she is the first to admit it is a little more than she bargained for.
"It is one thing to know that I'll have to lead 30 soldiers who don't like me because I am a snot-nosed kid from West Point," Cadet Tobin said. "But now I might have to go over there and basically be mayor of a town. That is a mission I never imagined." ...
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/18/international/worldspecial/18POIN.html>
Carl
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