Oh well ...
I agree KPMarineopsdad. Jasperdog - How does a 17 year old know what he's going to do, I was just asking a question.
So first let me say as KP2001 indicated, I did not intend you to take the stance personally nor do i believe I directed it so.
As for "How does a 17 year old know what he's going to do." That's an interesting question. Ironically, in the case of many who come to USMMA with the intention of going active duty and who do not approach the "Options and Opportunities" is has to offer with an open mind, had they gotten into their "first choice" which if it wasn't USMMA would likely have been one of the other Service Academies - that's exactly what they would have been required to do.
I could gladly give you a ton of statistics here as well as "anecdotal" relevant, and factual information to explain why I and many other alumni have grave concerns about the increased number of recent graduates going active duty vice pursuing careers in the maritime industry immediately upon graduation - basically over the past 10-15 years the number has increased from an average of about 15% to 25+% and last year was almost 33% - but right now that's obviously what you want to hear. Additionally, regardless of what I or any other individual feels; either active duty in any of the services (you might be surprised to learn for example, there's a sub-group of alumni for example, some of whom are Active Duty Navy and Coast Guard, who feel that having non-Maritime Services and options i.e. Army, and Air Force so openly available isn't a good thing) are as an acceptable way to satisfy your service obligation, as sailing on your merchant marine license.
I will only say this, every year I talk to many, many young men and woman about coming to the USMMA, and in all cases whatever they decide is fine by me - that said I do suggest that they approach all the opportunities available to them upon graduation with an open mind, and I indicate that if they feel very strongly that what they are looking for is a career on active duty, there are likely other avenues for them to pursue, especially if what they are looking for is a career in one of the services other than Surface Navy, that may serve them better. There are numerous threads here on this forum that you can look over to see a) I'm not unique in my opinion, and b) there are numerous reasons why some who share that opinion have it.
On the subject of why I said what I said as an alumnus and what KP2001 alluded to I will only say my opinion and growing concern is rooted in one thing and one thing alone. Continued and increased funding of the USMMA by Congress. During this past fall's budget hearings, there were more questions than ever as to what unique mission the USMMA was serving when so many graduates went active duty upon graduation in 2010.
Again in closing my thoughts on this subject, I apologize if in any way you felt I was raining on your parade. Congratulations to your family and as has been said earlier - your son - assuming he gets a full appointment, completes the full four year program, and passes the Pre-Commissioning physical, basically be able to join any of the armed services as a commissioned officer.