Posted on 11/23/2004 4:19:54 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Applications are down at the nation's military academies, though administrators say the drop has been caused by factors other than any chilling effect from the war in Iraq.
West Point applications were off 11 percent as of Oct. 21 compared to a year earlier. The U.S. Naval Academy posted a 20 percent drop by the same week and the U.S. Air Force Academy reported a 9 percent drop compared to early October of last year.
The numbers are not final because application deadlines for the classes entering service academies in fall 2005 are still months away. And officials at all three academies noted that current application rates are within normal ranges, despite the one-year drop.
At West Point, U.S. Military Academy administrators say the lower numbers likely reflect the tail end of an application spike that followed the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The Naval Academy experienced a similar spike in the last two years, but officials there said it was difficult to speculate on reasons for yearly fluctuations.
The Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy all met or exceeded recruiting targets for the last year. The active-duty Army and the Army Reserve exceeded recruiting goals, while the Army National Guard fell short.
With death tolls mounting in Iraq, some military officials have said they worry lengthy deployments and hard combat could hurt recruiting.
But it's unclear whether a drawn out conflict will have an affect on military academies. While war can stir up patriotism and boost interest in military careers, the long, unpopular war in Vietnam was thought to have depressed application rates to West Point.
"I really have seen it dwindle in the last year, and that to me is curious," Brenda Melton, a counselor at the Navarro Academy in San Antonio, said. "I think part of it is that the war is a major topic and they see people getting killed over there and not everyone is in agreement with it."
U.S. Air Force Academy officials said applications got off to a fast start last year, and the rate is back to normal, with 6,952 by Oct. 4.
"That's usually where we're at this time of year," Capt. Kim Melchor said.
West Point's admissions officer, Maj. Dale Smith, said he's sure Iraq has convinced some young people that the academy is not for them. But, he said, it has not dissuaded enough people to affect application numbers, which were slightly above historical averages.
"We don't sugarcoat it at all," Smith said. "We tell them ... Every solider you see on TV in Iraq is led by a lieutenant, and those lieutenants come from West Point, and they come from ROTC."
West Point is the only service academy dealing with an above-average attrition rate for its Class of 2006 as of the start of this academic year. Of the 1,197 cadets who entered West Point in the summer of 2002, 904 remained by the end of August. The loss rate of 25 percent is greater than the previous five classes, which averaged a 20 percent loss rate.
Of two recent West Point dropouts who spoke on the condition of anonymity, one cited disenchantment with Army life and the other said Iraq was a major factor in his decision.
"I didn't want to be deployed in a war I didn't believe in," he said.
Headline says admissions, story says applications.
that soldier is using that as an excuse...he just couldnt cut it....what a pu$$y....
If application numbers are down, that's fine with me.
For too many years, hands full of people were joining the services for the BENEFITS rather than for the mission of the various services.
I don't have any problem with these numbers.
4 years of a free education SHOULD come with some sort of a price.
If you don't want to step up to the plate when the country needs you, get the hell out of the way of those who will.
Leave it to the liberal-demokkkRAT presstitutes at AP to mix-up applications and admissions, and to attack our brave US Military through the back door. Scumbags.
Actually, the academies are an anachronism. The poorest officers I served under had graduated from the Air Force Academy (and many of my Army friends have said the same about West Point). The Marine Corps has the best trained officers of all the branches of the service, and places a very low reliance on the Naval Academy as an accession point for their new 2nd Lieutenants. Perhaps the other branches should get the clue and just shut down the academies, go to a Marine Corps-type system and we might see fewer people just using the academies as a free ride on the tax-payers' dollars.
Also, potential applicants MIGHT have been concerned about who was going to be the CINC.
I know that affected my son's thinking about potential enlistment.
Yes that is a big difference. They will admit the same number from a smaller pool. Since the admission to applicant ratio is probably 1 out of 30, there will be little effect.
It does point out the leftist bias of the AP, though. Anything to make it look like the war on terror is going badly.
Yes that is a big difference. They will admit the same number from a smaller pool. Since the admission to applicant ratio is probably 1 out of 30, there will be little effect.
It does point out the leftist bias of the AP, though. Anything to make it look like the war on terror is going badly.
Premature evaluation?
Wow. The MSM is digging deep. The deadline is months away, they already have over 4 applicants per slot, and they twisting applicants and admissions.
Professional wordsmiths know how to present ideas accurately. That is the job of a journalist. But they also know how to present ideas inaccurately. That is the job of a propagandist. Which is this?
Even moreso than other schools, the Academy admission process is very complex. There is a pre-candidate questionaire which is an application to even get the real (and real big) application. There is the application itself. Then there is getting a nomination from a Senator or Representative (or President or Vice-President for a few)...each of whom sets their own process and invariably includes an application. There is one number I would like to see in this article...how many Pre Candidate Questionaires did they get back. I bet it is over 40,000 for the ~1,000 slots. It is pretty ridiculous to imply that not enough people want to go to our service academies.
The article doesn't address the qualifications of the applicant pool this year. If the top tier are taking free rides other places, it could have a serious impact.
PS: My son (WP Class of '90) could've gotten a free ride at quite a few good schools. Most of his classmates were also that accomplished. Those qualified for WP had choices, and decided that "protecting and defending the US" was a worthy choice upon graduation.
The state of public education in this country is very likely a part of the reason many don't apply.
The high school teachers are badmouthing the war, the president, and the military in general.
Pretty hard for a teenager to go against all that.
Birth dearth?
I just LOVE "anonymous" sources.
It is very difficult getting into our military academies. I seriously doubt someone went through all that great trouble just to drop out because we went to Iraq. That's just stupid.
yeah pretty much....
the guy probably wasnt mature enough and probably had a ton of demerits....
"Of two recent West Point dropouts who spoke on the condition of anonymity, one cited disenchantment with Army life and the other said Iraq was a major factor in his decision."
Maybe.
Or possibly, "I was about to flunk out anyway because I can't hang, so I'll drop out instead and make up a story about my principled decision to drop out".
B,
I came off Army active duty a long time ago (11 years) and didn't interact with too too many West Pointers. Most were ROTC, especially the LTs.
Anyway, the problem I saw in my surroundings was that the de-education of West Pointers, ie getting the college out of them and getting knowledge into them that they could immediately use, took way longer than with ROTC guys.
What a pantsload. Marine Corps officers aren't better because Annapolis has been taken out of the equation; they're better because Marine Corps training is generally superior. As a matter of fact, because of the additional training an Annapolis mid receives if he or she is headed to the Corps, Annapolis-produced Marines are typically head-and-shoulders above everyone else. Your post makes no sense at all.
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