<p>da2013, Congratulations on your appointment!</p>
<p>I can understand what you mean by not being able to develop intellectually. </p>
<p>However, I can tell you from what I have observed that such a fear is actually somewhat misguided. </p>
<p>My uncle is a graduate of West Point, and while military indoctrination does occur at the academies, the academies DO NOT try to limit one intellectually. </p>
<p>I got to experience this first hand as I attended a Candidate Visit Weekend at Navy, and sat in on a leadership class. The topic for the class was actually a debate about the Benghazi Crisis. The instructor, a Navy SEAL, did not try to influence the midshipmen’s political opinions, but rather remained objective throughout the debate, encouraging all perspectives to arise during the debate. While one would expect a very limited variety of perspectives regarding the crisis, the midshipmen were actually quite varied in their opinions.</p>
<p>I am sure that there are other great examples of the academy encouraging different modes of intellectual thought. If the Navy or the Marines is what you really want to do, you shouldn’t turn USNA, the premier officer training school just because you think that your intellect will be stifled by the Academy.</p>