Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-14138255-20140829002738/@comment-24891101-20140831230625

It's part military academy, certainly, but I also tend to think that it also has elements of other universities, especially in fields which require certification. Remember, it's one of the best, not the only one, like most nation's service academies. This implies that the degree one gets from Beacon is very well respected, and that other places would have less well-respected degrees, though alumni would be technically certified. This, in contrast to the notion of uniformity which a military academy seeks to instill, where one O-1 is substitutable for another in their aptitude, at least in theory, as they're all cogs in a machine. In contrast, Hunters use wildly non-standard equipment, and all have radically-different combat styles, at least in Vale. So, the students there have selected Hunting (or a closely-related field) as their career path, and are attending an accredited, high-level university, rather than joining the military. This I see as a fundamental difference between Vale and Atlas: civilian versus military oversight for Hunters. In Vale, I've gotten the impression that Hunters who Hunt are subject to a civilian regulatory body, rather than the military, whereas in Atlas, Hunters are part of the military. Basically, in Vale, Hunters are like engineers, and academies have paramilitary trappings but are civilian, and in Atlas, Hunters are military, and the academies are essentially service academies.

And why are we talking about Ironwood being in charge of Beacon? It's a university of a foreign power, he has no authority save what is dictated by treaty. Obviously a hypothetical, but it's not as if he could have any designs whatsoever.

Otto: As to point 3, that's fine if you don't want an officer corps.