West Point is the canary in the coal mine...The Officer Corps is in trouble...

Thanks to Itsa_Me for the link!

via Medium

Just recently a cadet openly and obviously plagiarized his History research paper, and his civilian professor reported it. The evidence was overwhelming — there was not the slightest question of his guilt, yet the cadet was not found. The professor, and indeed all the faculty who knew of the case, were completely demoralized. This is the new norm for the cadet honor system. In fact, there is now an addition to the honor system (the Willful Admission Process) which essentially guarantees that if a cadet admits a violation, then separation is not even a possibility. In reality, separation is not a possibility anyway because the Superintendent refuses to impose that sanction.
Academic standards are also nonexistent. I believe this trend started approximately ten years ago, and it has continued to get worse. West Point has stated standards for academic expectations and performance, but they are ignored. Cadets routinely fail multiple classes and they are not separated at the end-of-semester Academic Boards. Their professors recommend “Definitely Separate,” but those recommendations are totally disregarded.
I recently taught a cadet who failed four classes in one semester (including mine), in addition to several she had failed in previous semesters, and she was retained at the Academy. As a result, professors have lost hope and faith in the entire Academic Board process. It has been made clear that cadets can fail a multitude of classes and they will not be separated. Instead, when they fail (and they do to a staggering extent), the Dean simply throws them back into the mix and expects the faculty to somehow drag them through the academic program until they manage to earn a passing grade.

Story here. 

Wow.

This is a story of anguish and pain.  Its also one of frustration.  I don't know what's going on at West Point but if this is even half true then you can point to this as another data point of why we will lose the next "real" war.

Don't get my wording jacked up.  The stuff in Afghanistan, Syria, Africa, Yemen and Iraq is real but its not against a peer opponent.  That's what I mean by real.

Back on task.

West Point is suppose to be a rigorous environment that tests the mettle of potential officers both physically and academically.

It is failing in that mission.  While the writer focused on the academics I just can't help but wonder about the physical.

We know for a fact that they're failing the moral test.

Another great American institution has crumbled.  In the past we laughed it off and made ourselves feel better by saying that its just another symptom of big govt.

While annoying we could deal with nonsense from the EPA,FEMA, Social Security Admin etc.

But what happens when the US military becomes just another failed govt institution?

I have no idea but we're about to find out.