data analysis

Analysis of USNA Annapolis Racial Bias In Admissions

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Yes, we’re focused on the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. But the diversity and standards problems afflicting West Point, currently in litigation with Students for Fair Admissions, are also the problems afflicting Annapolis. So we pay attention when others, including CDR Salamander , write about the Navy. And today we learned about an exceptional … Read more

Return-on-Investment of Service Academies

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The report “Return On Investment in Graduates of the DOD Service Academies: Assessment and Improvements ” [Local copy link] published in July 2023 by the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) is an excellent piece of research with very interesting information and insights on officer retention. We recommend reading it. Below we offer a brief summary … Read more

Updates: Data Request, SFFA v Harvard, and the Academies

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We’ve been quite busy and other things have taken priority on posting. However, there have been a few events worth noting: New Data Request We filed another FOIA request last year with the West Point office. It included requests for meaningful data for applicants and classes of 2020-2026, including, among some other helpful information, demographic, … Read more

West Point Branch Composition and Preferences

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In our recent post “Call for Sunlight…”, we outlined West Point branch selection and which groups went into which Army branches to put context around USMA’s stated need for preferences in admissions. Finding that certain minority groups were less represented in non-combat arms than in combat arms, we also speculated that one driver of the … Read more

Call for Sunlight: USMA OIR withholds Graduation, Commissioning, and Retention Statistics and Conceals Evidence of their Existence. Why?

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“Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” Brandeis, L. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously wrote in his 1913 article “What Publicity Can Do” that “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants,” discussed here and often cited by proponents of transparency in government. He was referring, apparently, to “the wickedness of people shielding … Read more