well, at least these troops spread democracy:
A federal judge said Friday that the U.S. Army's military academy at West Point can refuse to let outsiders on campus for an anti-war demonstration during Vice President Cheney's commencement speech.
(...) The commander, Brian Crawford, said in a written statement that protests had never been allowed on the grounds and could be "inconsistent with the military mission and can detract from the good order, discipline, security, morale or loyalty of the soldiers." The would-be protesters argued that Cheney is likely to speak in support of the war in Iraq and they should be allowed to express an opposing view.

on the US military becoming less alluring:
Recent graduates of the US Military Academy at West Point are choosing to leave active duty at the highest rate in more than three decades, a sign to many military specialists that repeated tours in Iraq are prematurely driving out some of the Army's top young officers. According to statistics compiled by West Point, of the 903 Army officers commissioned upon graduation in 2001, nearly 46 percent left the service last year - 35 percent at the conclusion of their five years of required service, and another 11 percent over the next six months. And more than 54 percent of the 935 graduates in the class of 2000 had left active duty by this January, the statistics show.