Navel Adadamy grads choosing Marines in largest numbers ever

Baltimore Sun:

When it came time for Jake Dove, a senior at the U.S. Naval Academy, to decide how he would fulfill his required military duty after graduation, there was no question about it: Marine Corps all the way.

"In my eyes it's a perfect community," said Dove, an Annapolis High School graduate. "The idea of being a platoon leader in charge of guys that have done two, three tours in Iraq already, when I haven't been over there - that's an awesome responsibility. I'm eager to take it on."

Despite a war that has entered its fourth year with mounting casualties and waning public support, more and more midshipmen at the Annapolis military college are volunteering for the Marines when asked to choose how they will fulfill the five-year commitment required of all academy graduates.

When the assignments were made official last month for the 992 members of the class of 2006, 209 were placed as officers with the Corps - the most in the school's 161-year history. And more would have done so if there were enough openings: an additional 45 who sought the Marines were assigned to other duty when the allotment was filled.

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The rate of casualties in Iraq has fallen recently so the story assertion of mounting casualties is somewhat misleading (Instapundit discusses the semantics of casualties.).

However, there is a good reason someone interested in a military career would choose the Marine Corps. For the first time in the history of the country the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the commander of NATO are Marines. When you look at current threats, the Navy basically has become a platform for launching either air attacks or amphibious oeprations. There has not been a serious navel battle since World War II. In contrast the Marines have a reputation for being in every engagment the US has fought recently.

This means the opportunities to use the talents learned at the academy will more than likely be with the Marines. Navel aviation was the other popular career route for recent graduates. When Gen. Tommy Franks was visiting with Marine units during Operation Iraqi Freedom, he told the troops, "If I had a son, I would want him to be a Marine." That is quite a compliment from a very good soldier.