The Sunday (April 20, 2009) Washington Post Outlook article by Thomas Ricks recommends closing down the the federal service academies will not only trim the federal budget, but will improve leadership in the US.

Ricks offers the standard position of cost to begin his argument. “[S]ervice academies [are] more than twice as expensive as taking in graduates of civilian schools ($300,000 per West Point product vs. $130,000 for ROTC student).” He fails, predictably, to note the value of the education in terms of national service both in and out of uniform.

Given his writing credentials, Ricks article lacks rigor and fact. It relies heavily on anecdotal comments such as comparing a West Point education with that one offered at a community college. If I am not mistaken West Point repeatedly ranks in the top 10 of all colleges and universities. All one has to look at are the Forbes and US News and World Report Rankings.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/16/AR2009041603483.html

Ricks will discuss this article at 1300 hours EST. on Monday 20 April at www.washingtonpost.com/liveonline. Let’s all join the conversation and share some facts with him.

Thomas E. Ricks is a special military correspondent for The Washington Post and senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq. His most recent book, The Gamble, covers the Iraq war between 2006-2008. Ricks is a graduate of Yale University.