Service Academies Shrinking

osdad

5-Year Member
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Feb 10, 2010
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740
The force management effort "simply means fewer qualified young men and women will get an opportunity to attend,"... Col. Carolyn Benyshek, the director of admissions, USAFA LINK

My DS talked with a recruiter yesterday who informed him that the AF has to reduce by thousands of officers and that promotion boards have not been meeting recently. So it’s natural that the pipeline be throttled down too.

Have the other SA being similarly affected?

What does this hold for career progression of current Mids/Cadets?
 
I've heard a lot of officer's talk about this while I work on my homework in the academic buildings....seems like this is really affecting people at the O-3/O-4 level.

And we've had some 09 grads handed walking papers too according to some of the firsties I've talked to...I'm hoping LITS or Luigi can provide more info on the Coast Guard side of things
 
I heard that the ROTC ranks will be impacted first. I believe that for 2010 grads from Marine ROTC, there were no air contracts available. Only USNA grads were given Marine air contracts.
 
I've heard a lot of officer's talk about this while I work on my homework in the academic buildings....seems like this is really affecting people at the O-3/O-4 level.

And we've had some 09 grads handed walking papers too according to some of the firsties I've talked to...I'm hoping LITS or Luigi can provide more info on the Coast Guard side of things

Haven't heard of any walking papers for any graduates, and I wouldn't expect to, there are plenty of Ensign/LTJG billets. Some LTJGs will fill LTs billets and LT will fill LCDRs.

O-4 boards to some extent and O-5/O-6 boards have been, to quote one commander "a blood bath". Promotion zones have been smaller for a variety of reasons...a big one, people aren't getting out at the same rates as in the past.

Times are tough.
 
It has been rumored that 300 USAFA cadets in the Class of 2011 do not have slots for after graduation.
 
It has been rumored that 300 USAFA cadets in the Class of 2011 do not have slots for after graduation.

And where are you getting this "Rumor" from. There were some who have had to change career field because of a cutback in certain occupational fields, and they may still be finishing up some of them; but I doubt that it's almost 30% of the class.
 
I think you are confusing things regarding the AFA. The incoming class of 15 (hs class of 11) were informed that the apptmt size would be about 300 less. The AFA class of 11 is fine.

That is the thing, nobody absolutely nobody here can tell you what any branch will look like regarding manpower needs 2,3,or even 4 yrs from now. The military's needs can change drastically based on the economy (i.e. 2011) or something like 9/11. You just don't know.

I would say this that from a spouse who watched the RIF in 92/93, the SERB in 94 and the low O4 promotion rates in 95, the approach is usually done in a targeted way and in increments. The writing was on the wall in 89 they were overmanned because they were not washing back students at UPT, but washing out, and G forbid you needed a waiver...it was unheard of. Gulf I came about in 90, and staved off for a few yrs until like now we were leaving the area and the economy was in the tanks.

This is what you are seeing now. Also, on the ROTC forums, you can see the Army is starting to have issues because the boards are slowing down, and it is no longer that just throw your cover in the ring.

You also see it on the USNA threads where they say now are the days of 1 strike and you are out.

Our military has to maintain a budget, and Gates has been told to cut. He has a choice on how to target the cuts. From a fiscal standpoint it would make sense to slow the incoming pipeline down, with the hopes that the economy will improve and members will start to dive again.

The military has an inverse relationship with the economy...when it is bad retention rate is high, when it is good retention rate is low.
 
Also hearing rumblings that USNA Brigade will not be going from 30 to 36 companies next year as previously planned due to budget constraints. They had wanted to reduce the size of the companies from about 150 mids currently to about 125 - 30. Guess they're counting on less mids overall due to attrition, separation for cause, etc. so company size will also reduce accordingly.
 
Also hearing rumblings that USNA Brigade will not be going from 30 to 36 companies next year as previously planned due to budget constraints. They had wanted to reduce the size of the companies from about 150 mids currently to about 125 - 30. Guess they're counting on less mids overall due to attrition, separation for cause, etc. so company size will also reduce accordingly.

That's not quite true. Be forewarned, anything I have is nothing more than rumor mill either. And we all know how that gets...

If they don't switch to 36 companies, then the company size will not significantly change. They're not going to arbitrarily cut people to fit a company size of 125, it's more of an organization thing (of course, things are more one strike now..). It's not really that they might not have the money for the mids, it's that they don't have the money for the random infrastructure costs of creating six new companies, which are apparently surprisingly expensive.
 
Also hearing rumblings that USNA Brigade will not be going from 30 to 36 companies next year as previously planned due to budget constraints. They had wanted to reduce the size of the companies from about 150 mids currently to about 125 - 30. Guess they're counting on less mids overall due to attrition, separation for cause, etc. so company size will also reduce accordingly.

Confirmed by plebe who was to switch but now is not.
 
Hello. My son is arriving in June of '11. This will be a dumb question but here goes! How many cadets share rooms at the Academy? I have heard that it used to be three but may (due to reduction) go down to 2. Is this correct?
 
As far as CGA '09 I am not aware of anybody getting "walking papers." They all got assignments and are moving on in June or July. Bad rumor I'm saying.:eek:
 
I heard every other cadet will have to pay tuition now. And I heard that the Air Force Academy is going to shoot every 3rd person who fails a class. And I heard that the Naval Academy will not accept more than 13 new cadets for the class of 2016. Coast Guard will be a correspondence school now.

I heard it all from Cadets and Mids so I know it's like probably really true and stuff. Some parents who read the forum told me it's like way likely that all this will happen.
 
Hello. My son is arriving in June of '11. This will be a dumb question but here goes! How many cadets share rooms at the Academy? I have heard that it used to be three but may (due to reduction) go down to 2. Is this correct?

At USAFA there are renovations going on in Vandenberg Hall, the older of the two dorms. They are doing two floors per year, and this will continue for two more years. This is leading to most cadets being put in three-person rooms, at least at the four and three degree levels. Every semester things change around a bit, and this last semester, part of wing staff was sharing the hall of son's squadron.

Stealth_81
 
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