According to some argument for keeping the academies, the main reason proponents cite for doing so is to attract high caliber students to the military. In my opinion, this means that if such a student learns about the academy, gets excited about the military, but graduates from another college to enter the military (like you)--it's Mission Accomplished for the military. Whether a high quality person attends an academy or not, the DOD couldn't care less. It is advertising. This actually works well, as there are only a thousand spots every year at an academy. When many more thousands become interested in military service and are motivated to improve themselves for the academy but are denied, and take a path through another college, that is awesome for DOD because they did not have to give these people a free ride (with exceptions.)
Nowadays, with television, helping to put a face on the Navy is the Naval Academy's football team, this argument about the NA being an important recruiting tool holds truer. Televised football games bring the military to people's living rooms under guise of a simple college team. A strong football team is of course sought, so 40 of the few spots at the Naval Academy Preparatory School are saved for football players who have been given scholarships to play for other universities. Yes, this takes away spots from more academically gifted students, but the point of the Academy is to present a positive public image. Thus, the public and the military expect a lot from academy graduates--sometimes unrealisticallyputting a lot of pressure on these people.
Part of the way academy graduates are treated stems from jealous enlisted and officer coworkers. Anybody who has all this hate for a-grads just because they did not make it and know people who know someone who knows someone who did not like an a-grad because he wears a ring must be extremely jealous. It means that all a-grads suck, right? And you also seem to have a problem with this 'a-grads are better', but you are the one who sees yourself as less of a man to have to say "we are all equal on the boat." I don't think a-grads count themselves higher, I think you just feel lower and have to make a comment about it. I don't think the civilian world thinks of the military in terms of academy or even in terms of officers and enlisted. They just see people putting their lives on the line in other countries. Though some a-grads might want to wear their rings, it is other crew members who are worse when they are concerned with with distinguishing themselves as "I'm not worse than him!" every time an a-grad walks by. Dude, nobody said you aren't equal. You imagine it. Maybe every time yo usee an a-grad you think, "damn if I had that ring I would have been promoted already." Or, he wouldn't have reached commander if he wasn't wearing that ring. Stupid thoughts that you have to reply to to make yourself feel better, when none of them were suggested in the first place but for your own imagination.
