Declination: the angular difference between true north and magnetic north. If the GM angle is east you add. If the GM angle is west you subtract.

Integrity: honest and truthful in what you say or do. If thirteen 2ndLts are caught cheating you subtract 13, 2ndLts.

Interesting that USMC shows higher ethical standards than Canoe U. Somehow not surprised.

I don't pay much attention to Fleming - that horn's gotten a bit tinny and he only knows one tune - but the broader question of the Academies, their role and status, that deserves continued attention.

IMHO, the Academies must, on an absolute basis, stand for highest ethical standards, lest they lose all credibility and with it their raison d'être. To go to Fleming's angst, I'm not troubled by affirmative action in admissions or even flexibility in administrative actions. But when it involves an offense requiring dismissal (e.g., smoking dope), the only acceptable punishment for those determined to have committed the offense with which charged is ... dismissal.

That's the cut-and-dried issue: a level field and same strictness for jocks and non-jocks alike. But behind this clear-cut matter of enforcing clear-cut rules there lurks a more insidious ethical issue that my experience also associates with serious recurring problems in the Services: the belief that that which is not forbidden is always OK. Thus sexual harassment designed to not cross bright lines but continuing a misogynist culture within the Service (see discussions here and elsewhere on women in submarines, etc.). Thus low-grade cheating when the subject can be rationalized as irrelevant in the real world (this incident). I would argue that officers need two sets of guidelines throughout their careers: the rules and the ethics. Absence of either is officer failure and a threat to mission.

The US Marine Corps has a character unique among the Services: it always knows who is its customer: the American people. Canoe U seems often to think that it's its own customer. Serious thought should be given to Rickover's recommendation: Close It!"

As a Marine and Naval Academy grad, I can tell you that there is a world of difference between the Naval Academy Experience and the Naval Academy Football Team Experience. Ten years ago, we did one of our endless command surveys and we were asked if minorities got special treatment. The one minority group that was singled out for criticism was the football team. The stereotypical football player was a guy who was strong, dumb, and got a way with a lot.

I don't put too much stock in Fleming's editorial. We had a similar flap in Post from another civilian faulty member 10 years ago. One of the great things about having civilians, instead of military instructors is that you can have someone who has been there 10, 20, or 30 years and, as in this case, isn't afraid of upsetting the Admiral.

USNA is a place that is always in flux. There is a constant and healthy fight between the civilians, the senior officers, the younger officers in fresh from the fleet, and the new crop of mids about what the institution is and should be. Its Sparta or Athens. Its Harvard ROTC or a four year OCS or a four year, junior officer training course. We'll never settle on what it should be, but the fight keeps things interesting. I'm glad I went there and that such a place exists.

Have to love the equivocation of the one 2LT who admitted to failing classes and a previous honor violation.

And then the other LT who questioned the need for compass work in the age of GPS. Deep trouble lies ahead.

Oh well, 13 fewer shitbirds polluting the officer pool. I have repeatedly told my junior officers that having fewer good LTs is better than having plenty of shitbirds (see 80/20 rule for more details).

Good for the Marines for weeding these guys out. We definitely don't need officers like that. I don't think that this incident says anything about the service academies, per say. I have found that one of the strengths of the U.S. officer corps is that we come from a diverse range of backgrounds. I know exemplary officers from the academies, ROTC, and OSC. I know terrible officers from all three commissioning sources as well. There are bad apples in every bunch. People always trot out the argument that ROTC and/or OSC is a cheaper way to produce officers than the academies, so we should get rid of the academies. I think that ignores some basic points. First off, the government pays more to produce an ROTC-trained officer than is usually acknowledged. The govt doesn't just pay the cadet's tuition bill and a small stipend, but also funds the ROTC program itself including the staff, field training exercises, summer Advance Camp, the works. More than likely, the govt is providing significant funds to the cadet's university as well. Secondly, the Academies function as more than just officer training programs, but also as centers of learning in their respective services. Could they be reduced to essentially think tanks without the officer training function? Sure. But it makes for a stronger officer corps to have both together much like civilian universities both train undergrads and provide a platform for academics to pursue knowledge.

When I was at Thousands Beaten Senseless as a third lt, we had around six booted for cheating on academics. This story is nothing new. The Bozo Show is a joke. A pathetic waste of time and tax payer money. The place is run by ticket puncher yes men and idiots that make pretend they know what they are doing. Was then, and is now. As far as USNA grads, I found them to either be average officers or losers. Why would a smart USNA graduate want to throw his/her life away by joing Uncle Sams Misguided Children? My guess it´s a person that knows they are not smart enough to make it in the Navy, so they decide to go play army instead.

Today, they are all losers. What reasonable person would sign up to be an officer? They are scraping the bottom of the barrel. These pukes just got caught. It´s time to get rid of the USMC. They no longer have a mission.

Semper Fi Mac! FTMC!

That's the problem with Canoe U. Although non-grads are allowed on the academic side, the military and leadership jobs go to Academy grads only. Which is why the place seems always a generation behind the world just over the fence: the real world advances in real time; the Academy is led by folks cloistered and sheltered from American life since the time they left high school.

Years back I suggested that Marty Evans become the next Superintendent. Strong leader, proven record, excellent results running Naval Postgraduate School. But never a shot at running the Academy: she hadn't gone to school there.

You'll know the Navy is serious about the Academy when it sends a non-grad to run the place. Until then, it's all in the family.

Being no too far removed from one of the academies, I can say with total confidence that football players (the NCAA athletes in general, really) are held to totally different standards than other cadets or midshipmen. IMO, they do some additional work, but not to the point to warrant the levels of special treatment they get when it comes to disciplinary issues, etc. Most cadets do resent this.

That said, for a variety of reasons, once they graduate alot of these guys end up becoming awesome officers. Not all of them, but a good bit do. Maybe its the team dynamic, I don't know. But I think its safe to say one's performance at the Academies don't neccesarily- or at all- equate to being a good officer , and the opposite is also true. One of my closest friends almost didn't graduate several times for a host of totally legitimate reasons and now I can honestly say I know few guys who are more committed to their job and soldiers than this guy is.

Civilian professors at the Academy are indispensible, but don't let peoplelike Fleming fool you. Alot of these "civilian" professors at the Academies have been there so long they really are more a part of the institution than most of the rotating military faculty (two decades there will do that, I suppose). Trust me, the cadets notice. I had a civilian history teacher who would make uniform corrections, tell us to "train as we fight" when studying, among some other obnoxious habits. The cadets resented her. Professors such as this are typically few and far between, but they do exist. With a few exceptions, I had incredibly civilian professors, most of whom brought a valuable non-military perspecitve to the subjects they taught. But reading his article, Fleming strikes me as one of the armchair guys who has been there long enough to think he's actually an Admiral in charge of policy and whatnot.

It's on the free part of the site now:

http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/05/marine_cheating_052510w/

I was a 2/LT at TBS. We had about six LTs get caught cheating on a land navigation test-- they had obtained the list of the coordinates of the painted ammo cans which were the points we were to find. They simply took the ammo can numbers of their assigned coordinates from the list. Unfortunately for them, one of the ammo cans was missing and they were the only ones who 'found' that particular site. Maybe it was Vietnam, but they were not kicked out. There was some sort of non-judicial punishment, I think, but they were allowed to stay. The rest of us in the class were a bit disappointed in that-- I recall that one of the offending LTs was a fomer seminarian at that. At least there were no USNA grads in the group-- I am a grad.

To paraphrase William Shakespeare, "{t]he fault, dear Brutus, lies not in ourselves but in our stars ... "\, in the case in point in the stars affixed to the shoulder boards of adm. jeffery foul...er. Thankfully, this excuse for a "leader" [based on his tenure at Canoe U. ... not before of which I have little or no knowledge] is about at an end ... please exit stage right ASAP and don't let the door smack you in the ass on your way out ... his reign has been a disaster from day one and -to my mind- he has disgraced his oath, the institution from which I graduated before he was out of diapers and which I love [warts and all]. the Navy, and himself, Of course ... consider who appointed him !

As for Professor Fleming, I greatly respect him -although my knowledge is limited to his writings and a few conversations with Mids he has taught ... I do not always agree with everything he says ... there are problems, serious problems, which need correcting, just as there are problems with our society, our government and our economy ... however, there is NO NEED to throw out the baby with the bathwater ! We found our President, we found Mike Mullen, we found Bob Gates, surely we can find a true leader of the stature of a Chuck Larson and so many others to restore the principles and burnish the honor lost during the past few years at USNA !

// Begin rant///

Having served under several USNA grad Marine Corp officers, not surprised cheating takes place. Most of the officers I served under must have never got caught. The adage is probably, if you don't get caught, it isn't cheating.

The only officers worth their weight has always been, and always will be those Mustang's who had served as enlisted before. Only they really know what is going on in the barrecks, and out sight. Only they know how and where to look for trouble, and how to correct t, and only they know who should be NCO's and who should be kick out.

The idea that just because you have a four year degree somehow makes you eligible to lead Marines is foolhardy at best. While OCS and the other commissioning programs are tough and occasional produce fine leaders, most Marine officers are treated like kings in the Corps. This coupled with their complete inexperience makes for a bad mix. Most officers are MIA 80% of the time in the company area's. Especially the Lt's. Where are they? WTFK. One reason hazing still persist today, is the absolute absence of leadership in the garrisoned areas.

Remember that officer in Band of Brothers? That is most Marine Corps officers. Sad. When I saw that episode, I fully recognized his bread.

///End rant///

I think JPWREL has a point about the academies and cost - I have seen stellar officers from the academies and poor ones. Some were what the Navy calls 'mustangs' and others weren't. The same is true for OCS and ROTC. There are some greats and some really poor ones who make it through all the commissioning forces. Certainly in the force, an academy grad has nothing over an OCS or ROTC guy other than a longer contact list...Today the academies are like Ivy League schools; just as hard to get into as Harvard is. Maybe, they shouldnt be for the top HS grads but a cross section of American HS students who want to make the service a calling.