Last May I wrote in “Airline Companies Are Driving Customers Away” that the U.S. Military Academy allows cadets only four responses to questions as to whether a specific duty or responsibility was carried out: “Yes, sir,” “No, sir,” “I don’t understand, sir,” and “No excuse, sir.” Col. Larry Donnithorne’s The West Point Way of Leadership (Currency Doubleday, 1993) elaborates that, if an officer has to write letters to the families of soldiers who were killed in action, there is literally no excuse even if the officer did everything right. Common sense doubtlessly influences the assessment of demerits for failures that are outside the cadet’s control, but the catechism, “Yes, sir,” “No, sir,” “I don't understand, sir,” and “No excuse, sir” instills a sense of unconditional responsibility in the aspiring officer.

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