West Point or Air Force or Navy academies? Anyone with experiences to share?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son’s best friend went to West Point - he’s extremely bright and driven, wanted to have a sense of mission and challenge himself to the utmost

He liked his time at the USMA. However he has found the last 5 years of his life extremely stultifying, working in a ponderous bureaucracy with people who aren’t particularly bright, driven or mission-focused

He gets out in August and is rolling straight into a top MBA program, and is a bit depressed that he’ll be almost 30 before beginning his real career and regrets what he viewed as a lot of wasted time as an Army officer

I’m sure a random parent acquaintance of this kid is a great source of info for OP.

Then don't post on DCUM FFS. What else are you going to get here other than anecdotes?

Also, that's what he gets for going to USMA and then into the Army. Similar scenario for DH, except he went to USNA, they sent him post grad to MIT, then on to submarines. When he go out he went to Wharton. His time in the fleet he was surrounded by very bright and motivated people because they don't take dummies in the sub force. Be selective about what you do in the military.

OP did specifically say if you know little or nothing about this, don’t respond. Random mom who has a kid, who has a friend that went to an academy means you know nothing about it

The friend basically grew up in my house and shared all this information with me while sitting at my dining room table a couple of months ago. While I do know nothing about it, I'm sharing the experience of a person who is literally currently living through it. Sorry you're so upset that the kind of extremely bright, motivated individual that the Army would love to retain can't wait to get out of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son’s best friend went to West Point - he’s extremely bright and driven, wanted to have a sense of mission and challenge himself to the utmost

He liked his time at the USMA. However he has found the last 5 years of his life extremely stultifying, working in a ponderous bureaucracy with people who aren’t particularly bright, driven or mission-focused

He gets out in August and is rolling straight into a top MBA program, and is a bit depressed that he’ll be almost 30 before beginning his real career and regrets what he viewed as a lot of wasted time as an Army officer

I’m sure a random parent acquaintance of this kid is a great source of info for OP.

Then don't post on DCUM FFS. What else are you going to get here other than anecdotes?

Also, that's what he gets for going to USMA and then into the Army. Similar scenario for DH, except he went to USNA, they sent him post grad to MIT, then on to submarines. When he go out he went to Wharton. His time in the fleet he was surrounded by very bright and motivated people because they don't take dummies in the sub force. Be selective about what you do in the military.

OP did specifically say if you know little or nothing about this, don’t respond. Random mom who has a kid, who has a friend that went to an academy means you know nothing about it

The friend basically grew up in my house and shared all this information with me while sitting at my dining room table a couple of months ago. While I do know nothing about it, I'm sharing the experience of a person who is literally currently living through it. Sorry you're so upset that the kind of extremely bright, motivated individual that the Army would love to retain can't wait to get out of it.

Right, right

[Anonymous]

USNA Prof/retired USN admiral resigns.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/us/politics/naval-academy-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.CE8.5tUr.s-d-aRgMgOAV&smid=url-share

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP- only listen to the responses from people who actually went to an academy or did ROTC themselves of currently have a child doing either. All of these “my husband 20 yrs ago” my “close relative” ect. are pretty irrelevant and/or wrong.

Op here. Yes, thanks and agree. And to add, I am not a fan of this current admin but my dc isn’t going to make a career choice based on what books are in the USMA library. My military family members trend toward Dem but they all lived and survived under admins they didn’t love. And Ds is agnostic.

It’s not “the books”. It’s the embrace of white supremacy, dishonesty, and a narrow minded education. He can still be a doctor outside of the military. No other administration embraced the nazi salute, disappeared people, or ignored the courts.

Grads are being asked to encourage kids to join right now because there’s less interest. None of the grads I know feel they can, in good conscience, do this.

But since you don’t care, start with a medical exam. I hope your son has the personal strength to not follow illegal orders.

The issue of less interest was real but it was over the past 4 years and is already showing signs that it's resolving under the new administration. We are a USNA family who lives in ANP and have ties to admissions. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.

I absolutely know what I’m talking about. You are a propagandist. But since you know SO much, now tell me how many of them are evangelical end-timers. People who think combat is doing “lord’s work”? The academies have become more evangelical and I’m not at all surprised if you’ve seen that type of recruit increase with the convicted cult leader, Trump, in office. Again, this is not your father’s military and the more unprofessional lunatics in charge like Hegseth and Trump, the less professional, less admirable, less safe the whole military will be. The old apolitical, ethical guys are being pushed out and the true believer cult members are emboldened. Dark times for our military.

West Point does not seem "evangelical" to me, nor is combat presented as doing "the Lord's work."

The Air Force Academy is. I'll try to find a recent article that talked about that.

DP. Omg you people are ridiculous.You read an article somewhere and thinks it’s gospel. I have multiple family members in AF, one of which recently came out of USAFA. I’m sure there is an evangelical here and there as there are in lots of environments, but it’s certainly not evangelical

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP- only listen to the responses from people who actually went to an academy or did ROTC themselves of currently have a child doing either. All of these “my husband 20 yrs ago” my “close relative” ect. are pretty irrelevant and/or wrong.

Op here. Yes, thanks and agree. And to add, I am not a fan of this current admin but my dc isn’t going to make a career choice based on what books are in the USMA library. My military family members trend toward Dem but they all lived and survived under admins they didn’t love. And Ds is agnostic.

It’s not “the books”. It’s the embrace of white supremacy, dishonesty, and a narrow minded education. He can still be a doctor outside of the military. No other administration embraced the nazi salute, disappeared people, or ignored the courts.

Grads are being asked to encourage kids to join right now because there’s less interest. None of the grads I know feel they can, in good conscience, do this.

But since you don’t care, start with a medical exam. I hope your son has the personal strength to not follow illegal orders.

The issue of less interest was real but it was over the past 4 years and is already showing signs that it's resolving under the new administration. We are a USNA family who lives in ANP and have ties to admissions. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.

I absolutely know what I’m talking about. You are a propagandist. But since you know SO much, now tell me how many of them are evangelical end-timers. People who think combat is doing “lord’s work”? The academies have become more evangelical and I’m not at all surprised if you’ve seen that type of recruit increase with the convicted cult leader, Trump, in office. Again, this is not your father’s military and the more unprofessional lunatics in charge like Hegseth and Trump, the less professional, less admirable, less safe the whole military will be. The old apolitical, ethical guys are being pushed out and the true believer cult members are emboldened. Dark times for our military.

West Point does not seem "evangelical" to me, nor is combat presented as doing "the Lord's work."

The Air Force Academy is. I'll try to find a recent article that talked about that.

DP. Omg you people are ridiculous.You read an article somewhere and thinks it’s gospel. I have multiple family members in AF, one of which recently came out of USAFA. I’m sure there is an evangelical here and there as there are in lots of environments, but it’s certainly not evangelical

DP You are naive. Colorado Springs is very evangelical and it’s had an impact on the academy. This is common knowledge. No, the instructors are not teaching it, but the academies ARE getting more evangelical students and it’s impacting the military as a whole. It’s creepy and unfortunate. We have a grad in the family too. And we’ve seen the changes over the years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son’s best friend went to West Point - he’s extremely bright and driven, wanted to have a sense of mission and challenge himself to the utmost

He liked his time at the USMA. However he has found the last 5 years of his life extremely stultifying, working in a ponderous bureaucracy with people who aren’t particularly bright, driven or mission-focused

He gets out in August and is rolling straight into a top MBA program, and is a bit depressed that he’ll be almost 30 before beginning his real career and regrets what he viewed as a lot of wasted time as an Army officer

But he had a hook that got him into that MBA program and will get job interviews because of his veteran status. I've seen it time and time again - people with lower end stats getting into top programs because of military service. His trajectory will be better than most because of his service and he will quickly catch up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son’s best friend went to West Point - he’s extremely bright and driven, wanted to have a sense of mission and challenge himself to the utmost

He liked his time at the USMA. However he has found the last 5 years of his life extremely stultifying, working in a ponderous bureaucracy with people who aren’t particularly bright, driven or mission-focused

He gets out in August and is rolling straight into a top MBA program, and is a bit depressed that he’ll be almost 30 before beginning his real career and regrets what he viewed as a lot of wasted time as an Army officer

But he had a hook that got him into that MBA program and will get job interviews because of his veteran status. I've seen it time and time again - people with lower end stats getting into top programs because of military service. His trajectory will be better than most because of his service and he will quickly catch up.

100% accurate.

[Anonymous]

West Point professor resigns over loss of academic freedom and free speech.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/opinion/west-point-trump-military.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:West Point professor resigns over loss of academic freedom and free speech.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/opinion/west-point-trump-military.html

A philosophy professor who specializes in ethics is resigning. Oh, the horror.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Point professor resigns over loss of academic freedom and free speech.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/opinion/west-point-trump-military.html

A philosophy professor who specializes in ethics is resigning. Oh, the horror.

Are you being sarcastic? An ethics specialist resigning is an even bigger red flag than someone who teaches physics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Point professor resigns over loss of academic freedom and free speech.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/opinion/west-point-trump-military.html

A philosophy professor who specializes in ethics is resigning. Oh, the horror.

What is wrong with you ?

Peter the traitor alcoholic is in charge we have zero national security yes this is horrifying and anyone sending a kid to amy of the services under Peter is unamerican and stupid

Book banning alone is unacceptable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Point professor resigns over loss of academic freedom and free speech.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/opinion/west-point-trump-military.html

A philosophy professor who specializes in ethics is resigning. Oh, the horror.

Actually, ethics are a pretty important part of officer training. What is an illegal order etc. Loyalty to the Constitution and so on.

We should all hope the ethics lessons sunk in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To OP -

My DS is an incoming Plebe at USNA. He did not apply to any other academies, but did receive a full tier 1 NROTC scholarship. He applied to, and was admitted, to one Ivy, one Ivy plus, and two public Ivies (take these titles with a grain of salt, but all are highly desirable dcum schools). That is all to say he had options.

He chose USNA because he wants the discipline, the suffering, the shared experience, the potentially better summer placements, and Annapolis. He wants to be an officer. He wants sea stories. He wants adventure. He isn’t a typical fraternity type that likes to socialize and party.

His large public high school regularly sends one kid/year to an academy. All are top students and hold leadership positions in and out of school. All are athletes, either the varsity or club level. None have been recruited athletes, so I can’t speak to that process.

I was told by another USNA mom that it isn’t just your son that goes to the academy. It is the entire family. This isn’t regular college. These kids are making big decisions at a young age and being pushed to their extremes mentally and physically. The worry will always be there. For my son, he will graduate and deploy under the next administration. That is still a long time away.

I would suggest watching the Army-Navy game 2017 intro online. If you or your child connect in any way to the complex emotions presented, then please proceed and do so with clear eyes and a goal to wrap up the application over the summer. If this video doesn’t pull at you, then this isn’t the right path. Good luck.

Thank you for posting this, PP. My DS is a rising high school senior and just attended Navy Summer Seminar. The 2017 A-N game intro that you mention sums it all up.

Best of luck to your son as he heads into I-Day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP- only listen to the responses from people who actually went to an academy or did ROTC themselves of currently have a child doing either. All of these “my husband 20 yrs ago” my “close relative” ect. are pretty irrelevant and/or wrong.

Op here. Yes, thanks and agree. And to add, I am not a fan of this current admin but my dc isn’t going to make a career choice based on what books are in the USMA library. My military family members trend toward Dem but they all lived and survived under admins they didn’t love. And Ds is agnostic.

It’s not “the books”. It’s the embrace of white supremacy, dishonesty, and a narrow minded education. He can still be a doctor outside of the military. No other administration embraced the nazi salute, disappeared people, or ignored the courts.

Grads are being asked to encourage kids to join right now because there’s less interest. None of the grads I know feel they can, in good conscience, do this.

But since you don’t care, start with a medical exam. I hope your son has the personal strength to not follow illegal orders.

The issue of less interest was real but it was over the past 4 years and is already showing signs that it's resolving under the new administration. We are a USNA family who lives in ANP and have ties to admissions. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.

I absolutely know what I’m talking about. You are a propagandist. But since you know SO much, now tell me how many of them are evangelical end-timers. People who think combat is doing “lord’s work”? The academies have become more evangelical and I’m not at all surprised if you’ve seen that type of recruit increase with the convicted cult leader, Trump, in office. Again, this is not your father’s military and the more unprofessional lunatics in charge like Hegseth and Trump, the less professional, less admirable, less safe the whole military will be. The old apolitical, ethical guys are being pushed out and the true believer cult members are emboldened. Dark times for our military.

West Point does not seem "evangelical" to me, nor is combat presented as doing "the Lord's work."

The Air Force Academy is. I'll try to find a recent article that talked about that.

DP. Omg you people are ridiculous.You read an article somewhere and thinks it’s gospel. I have multiple family members in AF, one of which recently came out of USAFA. I’m sure there is an evangelical here and there as there are in lots of environments, but it’s certainly not evangelical

DP You are naive. Colorado Springs is very evangelical and it’s had an impact on the academy. This is common knowledge. No, the instructors are not teaching it, but the academies ARE getting more evangelical students and it’s impacting the military as a whole. It’s creepy and unfortunate. We have a grad in the family too. And we’ve seen the changes over the years.

My daughter is at the AFA and this is absolutely true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ROTC would be my choice over an Academy.

same