More on the looming military manpower crisis.

West Point, Annapolis and the Air Force Academy generally attract an impressive pool of applicants. The ROTC programs are often based in less prestigious state universities where academic standards are generally lower than the service academies. This is why it can be argued that many of the best and brightest officers still come out of institutions such as West Point. Thus, when the application numbers dip it is cause for concern, and even more so if the most competitive young men and women are not applying in high numbers. This relates to an aspect of the current manpower crisis and that is that young officers are often not opting to stay beyond their initial committment. Even before the Iraqi debacle, only about one fourth of West Point were staying beyond their mandatory five year period of service. Fewer applying to US military academies - The Boston Globe - Boston.com - Higher education - News

Across the nation this year, the number of high school seniors hearing the call to service is down; applications to join the Long Gray Line dropped 9 percent. And that was the least-discouraging news for the nation's top three service academies, where room, board, and tuition for four years of a sterling education are free.

Applications for the US Naval Academy plummeted 20 percent, and the number for the US Air Force Academy fell 23 percent, military officials said.

Don Edwards writes a useful piece in the Washington Post Outlook section. Unfortunately, the web version drops the useful graphs that accompanied the print version.