Today is an important day with regards Sea Year, and, possibly the future of the Academy. If Sea Year is gutted, and the mids are limited to state ships only, I fear for the longevity of the Academy. Reports are that recruitment remains active, and interest is high. But, there is not a final pronouncement on Sea Year yet. My personal thoughts, and it is just my .02, that a permanent change from commercial to just MSC would probably not cause to much heartburn. A complete change, to just state ships could lead to implosion. The need for KP would be severely at risk because it would loose its key training, which contributes to the function of the school. There is so much wrong about how DOT and MARAD are treating KP. They are too numerous to list. but, examples of the pure BS that is going on can be found on other sites. Todays meeting is really weird. Last year the superintendent issued rules to the mids to stop the use of quotes in their email signatures; during the announcement of the meeting he used a ending paragraph which quoted a 12th century muslim poet saying the embrace of change is good, which does nothing but cause mids to opine that some bad stuff is coming down. I have heard many things about what today's meeting will bring, but, as of now none of it is verified. My personal thought is that the Administration is going to throw another poison pill, sh!t bomb just to try to screw with the incoming administration, as it appears they are doing all across the board from Israel to the ambassadors. KP has been a pawn for the state ships, and a sash agenda, why change now. On the other hand, maybe, a slight maybe, but maybe, the Superintendent is going to try to save his job under Chao, and save Sea Year--but I doubt it based on past history. Hoping I am wrong..
