Steve Wilkins said:
... Personally, I like the way the Marine Corps makes officers. ...
Therefore I will not talk about Marines! I think they it right. :icon_smil
I attended a retirement dinner at the Army/Navy Club in Washington in January 2005. A shipmate, Vice Admiral retired. He was my Ensign DivO years ago. The subject of officer training became the topic of conversation, initially, but digressed to a near food fight. A Congressman in attendance, put for the notion of a Purple Suit Academy, replacing Annapplis, West Point and Colorado Springs. We left in agreement that it was possible to combine academies at Annapolis, Kings Point and New London into one academy at Annapolis. Lot of shouting at that table that night. :icon_rage
My hypothesis is as follows: Last class of USNA mids will be the 2009 class. Last class for NROTC, as we know it, will be 2009 Class. Trek of OCS from Pensacola to Rhode Island will be cancelled. In 2006 OCS will be reconstituted at the USNA Yard. OCS, six months in duration, two classes each year. Theoretical maximum output would be on the order or 8,500 officers per year. More than sufficient to fill the current requirement of about 3,000 per year. OCS will begin the summer of 2006, as the class of 2006 graduates thereby freeing necessary space and etc. for the incomming OCS class. Current costs to graduate a midshipman from USNA is about $280,000 for the four years at the yard. Back of envelope calculations estimate the new OCS structure will result in a cost of about $50,000 per graduate. Infastructure is in place, knowhow is there, little costs to implement.
This hypothesis is based on the combined think/speak of the forum that being a USNA graduate brings nothing "extra" to the table, in fact some sources produce better officers. Variations in NROTC programs is well recognized and an inverse relationship seems to exist between cost and quality, for which I have no factual basis for which to make such a claim.
Input into OCS would be at the start of sophmore year in college, or, later, specifics determined in the devil of the details.
Future issue of Navy Post Graduate School could also be addressed. Space would be vacated as capacity exceeds input, i.e., 8,500/3000. Natural to bring in this school? Synergy? Maybe.
I speaketh as a tax payer.
Defense Shield UP!