This article in the NYTimes last week pointed out a trend that’s un-ordinary but not unexpected The significant increase in applications that military academies saw last year. 

Seriously. West Point’s applicant pool went up 9.6 percent, the Naval Academy’s pool increased by 40 percent, the Air Force Academy’s went up by almost 10 percent. That’s thousands more high-school seniors vying to join the military academies, and an increase double of that at Harvard. 

The reasons the Times cited are complex: the recession made students and families more cognizant of the costs of college; a surge in patriotism and the desire to serve; the cooling of tensions in Iraq; even a better advertising campaign spearheaded by the military.

The second two don’t really apply to USPSA, but the economic and patriotic lines of reasoning were the most-supported in explaining the increase. These are the most abiding and most applicable. These numbers show where thousands of students in the U.S. are at–wanting to serve their country, but also cognizant of the economic reality. This year, it’s manifesting itself in increased military-service-academy applications. In a few years, once the bill passes, we’re confident that it will show in the number of students from all over the country applying to the Academy.