Re: [Marxism] "On the military side, we see a real problem" addendum

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Fewer applying to US military academies
Observers cite Iraq conflict, decline from post-9/11 surge

By Brian MacQuarrie, Boston Globe Staff  |  June 13, 2005

But across the nation this year, the number of high school seniors hearing
the call to service is down; applications to join the Long Gray Line
dropped 9 percent. And that was the least-discouraging news for the
nation's top three service academies, where room, board, and tuition for
four years of a sterling education are free.

Applications for the US Naval Academy plummeted 20 percent, and the number
for the US Air Force Academy fell 23 percent, military officials said.

Colonel Michael L. Jones, the West Point admissions director, speculated
that the decline is linked to hazy memories among today's high school
students about the galvanizing events of Sept. 11, 2001, and not to a fear
of dangerous duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. But with recruitment down
significantly for the regular Army and National Guard, some observers
suggest that a drop-off in interest in the service academies is related to
the hardships of the war on terror.

''All together, these factors amount to a kind of referendum on one aspect
of George Bush's policy, and that's the Iraq war," said Michael T. Corgan,
a Boston University professor of international relations who graduated from
and taught at the US Naval Academy and served in the Vietnam War.

''Parents, in particular, are simply not encouraging their children to go
into the military because, for many, this means an immediate posting to
Iraq or at least to forces in that region," Corgan said.

full:
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/06/13/fewer_applying_to_nations_top_military_schools/

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