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I think this is a fascinating perspective, or at least one I haven't heard before. I can't say I have a lot of experience with the military though. Although no

I think this is a fascinating perspective, or at least one I haven't heard before. I can't say I have a lot of experience with the military though. Although now that I think about it, that's what ROTC is right? They pay for your education, and pay you to gain experience using that education on Defense, then when your obligation is met you can keep going or do your own thing with a patriotism-boosted resume. It's a win-win

nerdponx 4y ago
This perspective is also brought up somewhat frequently when discussing NASA.
pcl 4y ago
I assume woodruffw is referring more broadly to what used to be called the military-industrial complex, in addition to direct military staffing. The gist of the idea is that the Department of Defense is a (the?) major funder of all sorts of industry in the US, typically in the form of contracts for products and services. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military–industrial_complex https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military–industrial_complex
hackernewds 4y ago
You're vastly overestimating the reach and impact of the ROTC program though
- bluepizza 4y ago
  Maybe, maybe not. Nobody knows. Not even the military, as per the article.
  - QuarterReptile 4y ago
    The article doesn't mention ROTC, and none of its few links that I opened mentioned ROTC either. Your hand waving pessimism seems clearly unwarranted in this case. You think scholarships are just getting fired off with no one knowing who, where, or when? At a decent guess for upper bound size, I see an estimate of 56% overall AD officers coming from ROTC. 2018 DoD demographics report puts total AD O-1 population at 28000, which should be a two year rank, so cut it in half for your new officers per year of 14000. Add 10% for people failing out, and you get about 8600 officers per year in ROTC, or a total of 34000 since it's a four year program.
- Jarwain 4y ago
  I meant it more like ROTC was an example of one such program, of which I'm sure there are many whether directly like that or indirectly through companies. Of course, using companies as a medium for propagating welfare has its own problems

nerdponx 4y ago

This perspective is also brought up somewhat frequently when discussing NASA.

pcl 4y ago

I assume woodruffw is referring more broadly to what used to be called the military-industrial complex, in addition to direct military staffing. The gist of the idea is that the Department of Defense is a (the?) major funder of all sorts of industry in the US, typically in the form of contracts for products and services. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military–industrial_complex https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military–industrial_complex

hackernewds 4y ago

You're vastly overestimating the reach and impact of the ROTC program though

bluepizza 4y ago
Maybe, maybe not. Nobody knows. Not even the military, as per the article.
- QuarterReptile 4y ago
  The article doesn't mention ROTC, and none of its few links that I opened mentioned ROTC either. Your hand waving pessimism seems clearly unwarranted in this case. You think scholarships are just getting fired off with no one knowing who, where, or when? At a decent guess for upper bound size, I see an estimate of 56% overall AD officers coming from ROTC. 2018 DoD demographics report puts total AD O-1 population at 28000, which should be a two year rank, so cut it in half for your new officers per year of 14000. Add 10% for people failing out, and you get about 8600 officers per year in ROTC, or a total of 34000 since it's a four year program.
Jarwain 4y ago
I meant it more like ROTC was an example of one such program, of which I'm sure there are many whether directly like that or indirectly through companies. Of course, using companies as a medium for propagating welfare has its own problems