A controversial Naval Academy professor is back in the spotlight after calling for an end to military academies.

Bruce Fleming, a professor at the English Department of the U.S. Naval Academy since 1987, has been praised for his short stories.

But now he's turning that sharp pen towards a missive calling on the new Republican legislative majority to shut down 'four hugely expensive and unproductive U.S. service academies (Navy, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard) — taxpayer-funded undergraduate institutions whose products all become officers in the military — to more modest and functional schools for short-term military training programs, as the British have repurposed Sandhurst.'

Bruce Fleming, a professor at the English Department of the U.S. Naval Academy since 1987, has been praised for his short stories

Writing at Salon, Fleming's column goes on to argue that the military is not suited to education - as opposed to training - and that the academies have lived beyond their usefulness.

'When they were founded in the 19th century (the Air Force split off from Army after World War II), college was classics and religion for gentlemen, so it made sense to have technical training institutes for people who would be in charge of increasingly technical warfare,' he writes. 'All the service academies have now to justify their cost and their pretensions, it seems, is their once-illustrious history, and the club of 'tradition,' which they wield mercilessly against students who dare question why things are as they are.'

Writing at Salon , Fleming's column goes on to argue that the military is not suited to education - as opposed to training - and that the academies have lived beyond their usefulness. Pictured: West Point Military Academy campus

As they stand, he argues they provide no benefit to the taxpayers who back them and stand as mere 'vanity projects' operating without oversight, accountability, or indeed any room for criticism from military subordinates on their operations.

Among their biggest defenders, he continues, are parents benefiting from government benefits and paid education.

'And no,' he adds, regarding health benefits, 'most people in the military aren't remotely likely to be shot at.'

He claims that from his own long experience enjoying his own taxpayer funded job at the navy's institution that no one ever asks if they're doing their jobs well.

Far from enjoying any academic boost, the students struggle to stay awake in class as they balance outside responsibilities.

Fleming claims that from his own long experience enjoying his own taxpayer funded job at the navy's institution that no one ever asks if they're doing their jobs well

As The Washington Post reported in November, Fleming has long been an outspoken critic of the Naval Academy's practices and clashed with the institution's brass.

He told the paper the school attempted to silence him with a formal reprimand this year after he criticized the school's sexual assault prevention training.