Subject: AF Academy finished
From: "Jim Baker"
Date: 8/31/03 7:22 AM Pacific Daylight Time

0's when the
military
had to take what they could get. The ranks were decimated by the public
apathy,
and poor pay. I think they are still running the place like a university,
and the
result will be more of the same. They have lost their pride, and their
distinction.
Today, I would no more hire an Academy graduate, than a convicted thief.

Those first two sentences are the statements of an ignorant person. The pay
raises of 1980, 1981 (about 25% in those two years bringing pay to approx.
civilian par for several years) were the highest in decades, before or
since. Also, due to the pay raises and obvious support from the President,
the military was rejuvenated, the antithesis of decimated, when Reagan was
elected following the debacle of the "hollow force" created under Ford and
Carter in the 1970s. So the entire underpinning of your argument is wrong.

I would also disagree that the service academies are run like a "typical"
public university. Have you ever been to one during the school year?There
have been mistakes made recently and through investigations and punishment
have/has been and should be, as the situation unfolds, meted out. Also,
your "sky is falling" statements show you have no historical perspective.
The academies go through periodic "scandals" (I remember them from the
1950's up to today) that are due to their atypically high moral/ethical
standards compared to other universities. I understand the severity of rape
when compared to cheating and lying. The USAF will properly deal with the
problem just as the Army and Navy have properly dealt with sexual
harassment/rape episodes at their academies.

Finally, your last statement shows you to be woefully stupid. God help your
organization with thinking like that. Actually, since the students are
Americans, you probably wouldn't want to hire any Americans. I mean to say,
the few taints the many in your argument, therefore no kid can be trusted if
a few kids screw up. Brilliant thinking.

Jim Baker
ROTC Graduate




Well said and long needed saying.


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer