For the past year, Victor Davis Hanson was the Shifrin Chair of Military History at the US Naval Academy, and writes a regular column for National Review Online. His column at http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson-archive.asp is definitely worth a read; his column on the Americans riding to Baghdad, "The Long Riders" is a classic. He received a Ph.D. in Classics from Stanford University, is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and has written 170 articles, book reviews and editorials on classical and military history and contemporary culture. [Search Google for Victor Davis Hanson]

Shannon E. French is a tenure-track assistant professor of philosophy at the US Naval Academy. She has written a book, The Code of the Warrior: Exploring Warrior Values Past and Present (forward by John McCain), and an example of her approach to the subject of the Warrior Ethic can be found in a Chronicle of Higher Education article, "When Teaching the Ethics of War Is Not Academic". It's also very interesting to read her assemblage of a Summary of Inputs Concerning Critical Thinking at USNA that came from officers, faculty, and staff of the Division of Professional Development at USNA. This article should be a good discussion point for Alumni concerned about the direction of the Academy.

I certainly can't pretend to speak for all alums but I for one am very glad these are the kind of civilian faculty teaching at my alma mater. I also know there are some alums who think that Mids should just be taught to follow orders, but as future leaders of the Navy, developing critical thinking skills at an early age is critical and I am glad to see there are folks at USNA concerned about developing these skills in Mids.