ABSTRACT

The admission of women is only the most recent and highly publicized in a series of important changes at the US service academies. Despite their strong commitment to tradition, each of the academies has undergone a profound metamorphosis since World War II. By the 1970s, they could boast of achieving what academy officials on various occasions have viewed as a "revolution" in their programs. Reform and innovation at the academies tend to reflect a combination of external stimuli and internal initiatives. As distinguished from trivial or cosmetic changes, the most important changes have occurred when the external climate has encouraged change and when academy leaders have held office long enough to develop an interest in new programs. Cues to the academies from their task environment span a variety of procedural, structural, and programmatic matters that are broader than the Athenian-Spartan realms of concern.