Would cadets at MMA be subject to Homeland Security draft in the event of some sort of emergency?
The federal government has no special power over maritime academy cadets, except those who have signed contracts to be in one of the commissioning programs; the National Guard, the Army ROTC, the U.S.M.C. Platoon Leader Course, the U.S. Navy SIP or BDCP, and the U.S.C.G. MARGRAD programs. Cadets in commissioning programs make up about 15% of the cadet population at MMA. The rest of the cadets are no different than civilian students in the eyes of the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Defense. How likely is it that the federal government would take maritime academy students in the middle of their training for a national emergency…not. Even service academy cadets and midshipmen during WWII were allowed to finish their training before commissioning. (Sometimes the training was sped up, but they did finish.) We have had two cadets leave this semester because their National Guard reserve units were called up, but that is a different issue than the one you asked about. (
