The U.S. Naval Academy, where I have been an English professor for almost 18 years, is the crown jewel of commissioning sources for the Navy and Marine Corps. It enjoys the reputation of being an elite academic institution with academically competitive admissions on the level of the best civilian colleges. There is one way the Naval Academy is different from its civilian counterparts: its Navy and Marine Corps officer graduates can one day end up with a finger on the button or trigger. Thus, we should demand the highest quality students possible and provide them the best education possible. We are not doing either.
