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    Marine Option at VMI

    I graduated from VMI over 15 years ago, but we didn't have to do push-ups as part of the VFT at that time. Pull-ups, sit-ups, and a 1.5 mile run were the evaluated events (minimum 5 pull-ups, 60 sit-ups, and under 12 for the run). That's probably changed, but I very much remember the joy of...
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    Commissioning numbers for 2016

    50-55% is still way higher than it used to be in the 1990s and early 2000s.
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    West Point Graduation: Texting while Marching

    Webster's on "bigot": a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance. Again, you are free to be intolerant of whatever you...
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    West Point Graduation: Texting while Marching

    Keeps it interesting...
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    West Point Graduation: Texting while Marching

    Or that the Earth is 6,000 years old and flat. Or that Halloween and birthday parties are exercises in "idol worship." Or that if you kill "infidels," you get 72 virgins when you die. Or that an ancient alien overlord flew DC-8 airplanes full of evil sprits into active volcanoes before...
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    West Point Graduation: Texting while Marching

    I think you're confusing the right to express an opinion and be free from government retribution-which is what the First Amendment protects as regards individual speech-with a personal obligation to respect whatever opinion is offered by other people. You don't have to "tolerate" opinions you...
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    Atheist Groups Warns Florida Schools to Comply with New Pledge of Allegiance Law - Or Else

    And, apparently, to sell American flags to school districts.
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    Atheist Groups Warns Florida Schools to Comply with New Pledge of Allegiance Law - Or Else

    The Pledge of Allegiance has always given me a creepy vibe, but as Lewis Black once said, it's used now as a type of "coffee for third graders." In other words, it gets them up and helps focus their minds. I don't so much object to it being used in that way as long as people are given the...
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    Favorite Songs/Music?

    "Man, come on. I had a rough night, alright? And I hate the fu#king Eagles, man."
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    Sweet Briar College to close

    For younger alums as well, Bruno. I have many fond memories of the place. They and some of the other women's colleges used to host "mixers" on weekends, and I spent a fair bit of my Second and First Class years hanging out there with a few of my BRs. It's a beautiful campus and the girls...
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    Leather Shoes vs. Corfams?

    For the three or four times I actually had to wear Blues or Service Dress on active duty, I wore the leather shoes. I had Corfram shoes that I bought to wear as an upperclassman at VMI; however, my fondness for them only lasted a month or so. Yeah, you had to be more diligent with the leathers...
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    Life after the Military

    I graduated from VMI and was commissioned in the Air Force. I think that at the time of my entrance onto active duty, I wasn't 100% sure as to if I would stay to 20 or leave at the first opportunity. I was open to both possibilities, but ended up choosing the latter option. I was a missile...
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    Competition from same school/district

    I'm from Annapolis and went to high school there. I'm not sure if my particular school had multiple USNA entries each year I was there, but there was at least one a year (with several applicants). And some got NAPS or whatever as well. The area is really dense, too. A lot of high...
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    AFROTC 13N Scholarship Information

    And for what it's worth, making a missileer is relatively cheap. I mean, when you compare it to a pilot or a doctor or something like that. I did not have an ADSO outside of the usual ROTC one. That may be different with incentive scholarships now, but I haven't heard it from my buds still on...
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    AFROTC 13N Scholarship Information

    I was a missileer at Minot a little over 10 years-ago. Am out of the service now, but can tell you how it was. If you have any questions about the duty, just feel free to post and I'll answer if I can. And I'm aware of a lot of the changes to the career field, and they are for the better...
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    Tulifinny sesquicentennial

    I tend to agree with Bruno that the point of honoring the event is to note the bravery and brotherhood of shared sacrifice. It's to motivate and inspire cadets to endure the VMI experience and to bond them with those who attended before them. I don't think that this was always the case...
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    Class of 2015 Non-rated AFSCs

    The good thing is that with a lot of the changes coming to AFGSC, it won't be as awful as in years past. I pulled over 265 alerts under North Dakota in the bad old days. The pressure to become an instructor/evaluator is off, as that can't happen during the first tour anymore. The "gotcha"...
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    Phases of the Ratline

    I did none of those things. Slept a lot and ate as much as I could. Room was still a mess. The suckitude of Thirddom is overstated. It is far better to be a Third than a Rat. You may not have a car or a lot of weekends away, but you are more into your major and can focus on the classes...
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    VMI vs USNA

    I did a bit of surfing just because I was curious... The Navy has shut down the dairy farm, but they still own the land. The County has a 30-year lease on the property, and there is an independent organic dairy operating there. Part of the lease is that there has to be space for the care of...
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    VMI vs USNA

    Probably true. The USNA's mission is to produce career naval officers, so I'm unsurprised. Most people aren't going to be Admirals, though (no matter where they went to school). Of the few who do get that far, it makes sense that the majority are USNA folks.
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