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- Sep 27, 2008
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Reminds me of one of my company officers, my #1 in the Batt and #2 of 30 in the Brigade. He was at USAFA as a cadet, but left his second year because his girlfriend was pregnant, and he wanted to marry her and be a present father from the beginning. He completed his education as a Navy NUPOC, and went on to success as a submarine officer. He is now the COO for a cruise line. He made a considered choice consistent with his values.I know plenty of people who ‘quit’ USNA who are extremely successful. My ring dance date left USNA. Graduated Columbia and then Harvard, served in the reserves and is highly successful. He didn’t quit. He left for his reasons. BTW, none of our classmates had any issues with him leaving and many of us are still friends with him. It wasn’t the right fit for him.
The truth is, plebes, despite NASS, CVWs, talking to grads, other Yard visits, poring over usna.edu and watching videos and reading mid blogs, simply do not know what being a plebe and then a midshipman is like until they take the oath on I-Day and those big bronze doors close behind them. The system allows them 2 years to figure it (and themselves) out for free, recognizing some of them have to reconcile reality with whatever was in their head during the application process, and decide, knowing what they now know, to stay or go. They may apply for one set of reasons, but find themselves staying for another set.
I am sure all the SA Admissions teams keep years of data and analyze the heck out of the attrition stats. I recall an interesting study when I was on USNA staff, when it was shown a majority of attriting plebes over PS tested as introverts. They were not getting an occasional dose of quiet time to re-charge. PS routines were slightly adjusted. Attrition of introverts dropped. A large number of Navy senior and flag officers test as introverts, but they have no problem leading people, so USNA realized they were leaking potential talent. I am INTJ, and I had a rough time at OCS, not with the academics or military training, but because I never seemed to have a minute to myself without others around. That led to a great story about me getting fried, but I’ll save that for a dull day.
The litmus test for those voluntarily separating is “are you running to something or away from something?”
I do wish Admissions could somehow test for those who had the propensity to lie, cheat or commit other major misconduct or honor offenses. Guaranteed those candidates wrote the usual essays full of patriotic desire to serve, delivered crisp and impressive interview responses, earned glowing letters and evaluations, and racked up appropriate HS academic, sport and leadership stats - but you can’t tell who has the deep crack in character that can lead to some truly awful actions. Extreme case, Diane Zamora (USNA) and David Graham (USAFA), both incarcerated for capital murder. They were the cherished, high-performing son and daughter of proud and happy parents as they were launched at their respective academies, with no clue as to what they were capable of doing, and then concealing.
I went off on some tangents here, but the decision to leave USNA can range along a continuum as to the “why.” Admissions does a professional job of selecting applicants, but there is no Sorting Hat to identify those who realize they don’t have the grit factor required to get through a 4-year grind.
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