U.S. military academies attract fewer applicants

[sabra]

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N13495228.htm

U.S. military academies attract fewer applicants
13 Jun 2005 20:46:13 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON, June 13 (Reuters) - Applications from high school students to each of the three prestigious U.S. military academies dropped this year, officials said on Monday, at the same time the Army is struggling to sign up new recruits.

This drop in applications represented the latest sign that the all-volunteer military is having difficulty attracting people during an Iraq war that is producing a steady flow of U.S. casualties, defense analysts said.

Applications to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, which produces junior officers for the Army, declined 9.3 percent this year compared to last year, the academy said. The Army provides most of the ground troops in Iraq, and has born the brunt of the military's recruiting problems.

But the decline was even steeper at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, where applications were down 20 percent from a year ago, and at the U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they were off 22.7 percent.

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[bluestateguy]

1. Well duh

A 2nd lieutenant is going to be right on the front lines in Iraq. Only difference is that a lieutanant has the responsibility of hundreds of other lives in his hands.

[atreides1]

3. Lieutenants don't get that much power

Actually a lieutenant in the Army or Marines usally only commands a platoon sized unit, from as little as 20 to as many as fifty.

In the USAF a lieutenant will command one aircraft to a a section of at least 10, not about how the Navy works.

[Journeyman]

2. And if the case announced this weekend was in fact a "fragging"...

of a 1st and 2nd lieutenant, the number of applications will fall off precipitously.

www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1538699

[Kolesar]

4. three prestigious U.S. military academies

I thought warriors were vat-grown by Sauron in Mordor.
With a tip of the hat to krkaufman

[krkaufman]

8. ummm... that would be...

...vat-grown by Sauron in Mordor, with add'l units produced through outsourcing to Saruman at Isengard.

</geek>

[Kolesar]

12. Ok

It has been a few years since I saw the flick. thanks

[MaineDem]

5. The AF Academy annouced the largest incoming Freshman class ever

I just saw that on the news crawl this afternoon.

:shrug:

[phantom power]

7. Maybe because AF is safer?

To my knowledge, the Air Force guys aren't the ones patrolling the streets of Iraq.

[Inland]

11. The size of the incoming class determined by who the AF accepts.

Therefore it may only be a function of accepting a larger percentage of fewer applicants.

[MaineDem]

13. Good point

And a great propaganda line they can use for a while.

[Inland]

10. Applications down, but class larger.......

Sounds like needs outstripping the pool of recruits there, too.

[David__77]

6. Good!

Starve the war machine. Counter-recruiting should become a national movement, and progressive businesspeople should offer jobs to those who feel obliged to join the war machine.

[geckosfeet]

9. Jeepers,,,, I wonder why that is ??

[mitchum]

14. Why, fraggaphobia?

[marmar]

15. It's ironic...

that this phoney war against a toothless army that was supposed to show American military supremacy is going to suck our armed forces dry, in terms of numbers and morale. This administration has screwed this country in every conceivable way.

[damntexdem]

16. And applications were off most at the Christian Evangelical ...

err, excuse me, Air Force Academy. Go figure!

[barb162]

17. makes no sense that the Navy apps were lower than Army

The army people are the most endangered I think

[Roland99]

18. Fewer recruits and now fewer officers to lead them.