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For anyone that can “trace their development through years of a culture of “ward rooms””, it is common knowledge that both in the Navy and the Marine Corps that the more senior one becomes, the greater the odds that the person they are saluting is an Academy grad. However, I am just an interloper on this thread. Perhaps, instead of me, we should ask those who made the initial comments about MMA being the ”best” to prove their position. I am simply rebutting. Perhaps, it is I who should say “prove it”.</p>
<p>In re your “undecided” rebuttal, I am having real difficulty getting my arms around what you are attempting to say. Your comment:
seems to be a tangent but a summary of your argument that the education for MMA students should be different due to their different mission. I think that is what I have been stating all along about the suitability of a MMA education as compared to Naval Academy training as preparation for a Naval career. However, to get back on track about “undecided” candidates, please allow me to rephrase. Why do you feel that MMA has a dropout rate twice that of the other Academies? And if you are going to say that it is because four years of academics is crammed into three years, my understanding is that it is still the same eight semesters that all colleges require. Or if you are going to say that USMMA does not offer history majors, be aware that USNA liberal arts majors require more technical coursework than do your transportation majors.</p>
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I think we agree completely here. My point entirely.</p>
<p>No where did I state that I was anti-union. Just pointing out that the Woop grad up in the mountains of Afghanistan right now is not protected by one and that this, to me, is one of the points I offer to support your view as stated above that there are, indeed, differing degrees of service. And I guess you have never been at the receiving end of a fleet oiler JP line where the pressure is almost too low to sustain positive flow until after normal working hours overtime kicks in and things suddenly become normal.</p>
<p>Wow, I thought for a second that you were actually apologizing until I waded through your waffling and rationalization which, again, was difficult to follow. To paraphrase, what I think you finally ended up stating was that a very juvenile “Bite me” is an acceptable form of salutation from a “bitter guy” who knows how to open a box of laundry detergent and which end of the toilet plunger goes into the bowl to one who has had “years of a culture of “ward rooms”, “officer clubs”, “rounds of golf on and off base”, and of course having stewards and messmen to serve you and do your laundry for you.” Please correct me if I am wrong and I will gladly accept your apology. Quick question: How did you ‘serve’ during your reserve commitment? Anyone who has ever been on a Navy ship knows that everyone, even the enlisted, has their laundry done for them. Anyone who went to the Naval Academy would realize that fresh water is often an extremely critical issue at sea and they know and appreciate all the many methods of conserving this precious commodity.</p>
<p>“elitist mentality”. LOL. That should give me a few stroke advantage this morning. My partners will not be able to hit the ball from laughing at this description of me. I just wish my Woop buddy didn’t have to work and could be there. He would really appreciate it.</p>