- Joined
- Dec 19, 2010
- Messages
- 518
I think one important fact is being forgotten: West Point's goal is not just to produce the best officers; it's to produce the best officers into a diverse officer corps. WP has to contribute to making the officer corps geographically and ethnically diverse to fair/pre-determined levels.
If WP just took the best candidates across the board, then we would end up with an officer corps with little minority representation and where most people come from big cities and their suburbs. That is not a healthy officer corps. Officers need to learn from others with different life experiences than their own so they can lead others who have had different experiences.
With that being said, if you're the 2nd best candidate in an ultra-competitive district, that sucks. However, if you're really as good of a candidate as you claim to be, you should get in off the NWL. I understand how you look at the person from a rural, uncompetitive district who has far worse stats than you but then gets an appointment and say "well this system is unfair", but you must consider that that candidate has also not had the same opportunities as yourself. In his local context, he's the best they've got. In your local context, they've selected the best they've got.
What's unfair about that?
If WP just took the best candidates across the board, then we would end up with an officer corps with little minority representation and where most people come from big cities and their suburbs. That is not a healthy officer corps. Officers need to learn from others with different life experiences than their own so they can lead others who have had different experiences.
With that being said, if you're the 2nd best candidate in an ultra-competitive district, that sucks. However, if you're really as good of a candidate as you claim to be, you should get in off the NWL. I understand how you look at the person from a rural, uncompetitive district who has far worse stats than you but then gets an appointment and say "well this system is unfair", but you must consider that that candidate has also not had the same opportunities as yourself. In his local context, he's the best they've got. In your local context, they've selected the best they've got.
What's unfair about that?