Fox News ran an interesting item yesterday on the decline in the number of applicants to the U.S. military academies. The stunning part was to see Fox News go to great lengths to avoid the real cause for the drop. (Thanks to reader D.S. for the tip.)
Obviously, this is a real problem. All four U.S. service academies have found fewer applicants, while the branches of the military are falling short of their recruitment goals. To read the Fox News report, though, this is due to complex societal pressures, not the obvious cause.
A statement from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., said: "We do not know for certain why the total number of applications rise and fall from year to year. Various factors such as personal motivation and aspirations, the economy, the appeal of military service, and other issues potentially influence those applying to the Academy."
The Navy doesn't "know for certain" why people aren't signing up? You don't suppose it has something to do with an intractable war in Iraq, do you?
Col. Trapper Carpenter, director of admissions at the Air Force Academy, said a stronger economy is partly responsible, as is an increase in grants at Ivy League schools. Others said a series of sexual harassment scandals has lessened interest among young women. Still others pointed to an artificial increase after 9/11, which means the current drop is back to where the level should be.
With all due respect to the service academies and their admissions offices, is this trend really all that difficult to figure out?
#board-2412
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle
