Military applications decline

Despite the unpopularity of continued action in Iraq, enrollment in major military academies remains stable, but the number of applicants is decreasing.

At the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy, the number of incoming cadets enrolled has remained constant between 1,200 and 1,400.

But the admissions pool for each school has regressed to totals similar to those prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, military officials said.

And both military academies have seen a decrease in their applicant pools from last year to this year.

Maj. Shelly Jackson, media officer for the admissions office at West Point, said more than 11,000 students applied to the school last fall, while only 10,773 applied this year.

“There has been a decrease in the applicant pool, not in the actual number of students accepted,” she said. There are 1,251 freshmen cadets enrolled.

“We are back down to pre-9/11 numbers,” said West Point spokesman Mike D’Aquino. He added that applicant pool numbers are down 9.7 percent, but that they are coming down from historic highs.

D’Aquino said patriotism engendered by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the media exposure of the academy during its bicentennial anniversary might have led to the high number of applicants.

Jackson said the applicant numbers might be down due to parents’ fear of sending children into the military.

Rolland Stoneman, associate director of admissions for the Air Force Academy, said that although the applicant pool is shrinking, the academy is on track with its enrollment.

“We’re pretty constant in enrolling over 1,300 students,” he said.

There was a 23 percent decrease in applications this year— from 12,430 to 9,601.

Stoneman said the previous numbers of applicants have been unusually high, as they normally average roughly 9,500 applicants.

He added that there are no definitive answers as to why there was a surge in the number of applicants and that the war in Iraq was not a major factor.

“This year’s freshmen are the first to not have been in high school during 9/11,” he said, implying that the incoming class’s preference for a military school was not defined by the terrorist attacks of 2001.

“Surveys taken by freshmen indicate that the top two reasons for joining the academy are the opportunity to fly high performance airplanes and the caliber of the academic education,” Stoneman said.

But the number of graduates for each academy hovers between 900 and 1,000 graduates.

Stoneman said the U.S. Air Force gets at least five years of military service out of its commissioned officers. Pilots can be required to serve as many 10 years.

West Point and the other academies produce roughly 25 percent of new officers for each branch of the armed forces.

“We are the premier leadership development institution of the world,” D’Aquino said.

University ROTC programs are seeing similar stability in their enrollment numbers. This year, the UNC Air Force ROTC has nine freshman enrolled, and the Army ROTC has roughly 65 cadets in the battalion.

Lt. Col. Elizabeth Agather, a University professor of military science and leader in the Army ROTC program, said there has been an increase in enrollment because more students are attracted to the benefits of the program and a broader group of people are targeted by recruiters.

Though the cadets are aware that they must serve in the armed forces after graduation, that knowledge does not really impact enrollment in the program, she said.

Capt. Rob Schmoldt, professor of aerospace studies in the Air Force ROTC program, said the threat or fear of going to war after graduation doesn’t have a major impact on enrollment.

“Iraq is mostly an army enrollment and enlistment issue,” Schmoldt said. “The conflict is very army-centered.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.