Originally posted by Darion
Also, the American public gets more than their share back out of those cadets. Yeah, you go to school for free, but then you're obligated to four to six years of active duty plus some active reserve time, and then you're eligible for a recall to active duty for the rest of your life.

Sound like a good deal?
It is a good deal! And when you're getting paid as an officer your salary and benefits are being paid for by the American public, so the public should still have high expectations of your conduct.

The taxpayer not only pays for officers to get trained at the academy (or other commissioning sources), they also pay them for the service they give. I was a bargain as an ROTC Cadet because the taxpayer paid a fraction of the cost it would have if I went to the academy (I wasn't on full scholarship).

Commitments vary, but I have a typical four year active duty and four year inactive reserve commitment. Being recalled to active duty for the rest of your life is technically possible, but is very rare and only happens in specialty areas. All of the people I know that have been recalled from either inactive reserve or after their commitment was fully served (they were civilians) were given a voluntary opportunity. In most cases more people volunteered than the military needed, so some people were turned away.

My point remains that when the taxpayer is footing the bill for your education they are justified to expect more from you than some schmo paying his own way through UW Stout.

Originally posted by Darion
Don't know how the Navy does it, but if you get caught doing anything that even remotely resembles "the stereotypical college lifestyle" at West Point (Army service academy), they kick you out with all kinds of a hurry. This includes drinking, smoking, walking too fast, walking too slow, swearing, sleeping during the day, getting lower than a "C", that type of thing.

It's like living in garrison, it's not exactly a party atmosphere. Actually it's the opposite, it's like garrison but about eight times as strict with no partying on the weekends.
I'd be surprised if Air Force Academy Cadets were more resourceful than West Pointers. I know plenty of both. At the Air Force Academy, Cadets rent apartments in the local area, or get hotel rooms for the times they are able to go off campus. They are able to arrange for delivery of various and sundry things. Rules are tight for freshman, but lighten up as the years go on. In theory by the time someone is a senior they are responsible enough to take care of themselves.

People get caught breaking the rules, but usually get more than one chance before they are kicked out. The Air Force lets people have enough rope to hang themselves instead of just kicking them out right away. The other way of looking at it is saying you're giving people an opportunity to learn from their mistakes. I guess you can look at it either way.