There are 1/C Mids being separated these two weeks for conduct/honor offenses - one month before commissioning!
I think this goes to show that there are certainly some standards being upheld, and in part refutes the broader assertions that might lead one to believe that the current state of the academies is akin to a remake of "Animal House" (hey, if Fleming can reference Disneyland, then I feel at liberty to make my own pop culture reference here). As the father of a USMA cadet, as well as having family connections to USNA, I have my own thoughts about both the Fleming article and its references to Heffington’s letter regarding USMA.
In brief, it is obvious to any critical reader that Fleming is much more concerned with being an iconoclast or provocateur than with giving a fully accurate account of some of the modern day challenges that (rightly or wrongly) the academies face. Replete with hyperbole and generalizations, it reads more as propaganda than a serious critique, damaging its credibility and the arguments that do merit scrutiny.
The Heffington letter, which Fleming describes as giving him such “personal joy” can be found here for any who are interested:
https://medium.com/@UlisseRJ/open-letter-to-grads-from-ltc-ret-heffington-659dac71511f. It has been discussed extensively on this forum in the past so there is little to be accomplished by rehashing it here. However, despite the larger points that it makes which might bear some validity, my personal opinion is that it is overly anecdotal and personal in nature — once again painting with far too broad a brush.
In Fleming’s treatment of this letter, he refers only to Superintendent Caslen's initial generic statements on it without any mention of the more detailed point-by-point refutation that he subsequently made. Fleming could have chosen to take issue with some of General Caslen's counterarguments, but to simply pretend that he never responded to the letter’s assertions beyond “evoking” graduates is disingenuous.
One related question that I have regards “The Federalist” and why they chose to publish this incendiary piece by Fleming in the first place. Without involving politics, and despite what this media outlet purports to be, it is increasingly under scrutiny for its penchant of disseminating Kremlin-based agitprop and there is curiosity as to who actually funds “The Federalist”? Further questions could center around who exactly is served by making such inflated accusations against the honesty and value of our national institutions.
My personal disappointment in these two treatises only involves seeing the negative effect on interested parents and prospective candidates — calling into question the overall value of the academies and their impact on cadets and midshipmen. Our DS had four-year scholarship offers for both AROTC and NROTC at fabulous schools (as well an another academy appointment) and made his own decision to attend USMA. From our perspective, all I can say is that neither he nor our family have any regrets whatsoever and we could hardly be more thrilled with what we have experienced during the past two years.