Thank you for your reply. I appreciate the info.
The battery replacement did end up costing about $162 to replace ($110 for the battery and the rest in labor, etc.). It's not that I really mind paying for a battery, however, it's just that it's suspicious enough to have one battery fail, but when it happens again, there obviously is a problem somewhere causing the battery to drain. I took it back to the dealer again thinking that they'd realize this is most likely a sign of a problem and would pay closer attention to diagnose any problem (maybe outside of the standard diagnostic test). Also, if I decided to take it elsewhere, I could get the battery cheaper, but then I would have to pay Ford $65 for the diagnostic test after which I would be back in the same price range again when all is said and done.
My hunch is that there is some sort of minor short or something causing a very small, but consistent, drain on the battery while it is parked because the first battery failed only 9 months after I purchased the car. (Since the car is mostly parked from completion of manufacturing until sale). This would leave the battery in a "weakened" state at the time of purchase. The second battery failed in less than two years under normal, everyday, driving where it is parked overnight and during working hours each day (thereby making the battery lose power slower due to less "down time"). It's all pretty logical. No matter how you look at it the battery should not fail in under three years (I have owned quite a few cars and have "never" had to replace an original battery in under 5-6 years).
The unfortunate part of taking the car to another dealer means paying another $65 diagnostic test charge if they do not discover a problem..... then, how many more places do I go/how much $$ do I spend, until someone discovers a problem (or not).