In this post, my alma mater, Valley Forge Military Academy, announced its closure effective at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year.  While I believe that most of us saw this coming based upon the rumored goings-on at the school over recent weeks and months, I still find myself saddened by the announcement. 

I spent three of my five years in the academy, studying the usual courses.  Eventually, I was hired to teach computer programming to both academy and college cadets in Shannon Hall during my sophomore year in the junior college.  In fact, that was my very first paid IT job in a long series of IT jobs.  This is to say that my attachment to the academy goes a little further than just having been a student.

To be clear, I won’t be losing any sleep over the academy’s closure, but it’s on my mind as I make my way through this Monday, September 15. 

Yes, the college will continue, but for how long?  The demand for military schools is not going to explode any time soon, best as my crystal ball can tell.  Neither is the cost of education liable to be substantially reduced any time soon.  So, I find myself wondering how much longer the college will be able to continue to operate at the same campus with the same maintenance, funding, enrollment, and leadership headaches.

Full disclosure: I know nothing of keeping such a school running and I leave it to those with greater experience and interest to keep the college afloat. 

I wish the best for the college and its future.  I hope that the standards so easily abandoned over the last fifteen years or so can be restored with new leadership who are committed to the task.  With fewer cadets to supervise, I would hope this would become a much easier mission than in past years.

Time will tell. 

P.S.  Very belated thanks to COL Lee Temperton, BG Alfred Hess, and BG Alfred Sanelli for hiring me to teach computer science in 1975 and 76.  I’ve used the skills learned during that job to help train hundreds of computer users in both academic and industrial settings over the years.