By pyrene
In the article in Military Review Online Exclusive (September 2024) “West Point 2050: How the U.S. Military Academy Is Preparing for Future Conflict” by Superintendent LTG Gilland and Dean BG Reeves, they cited Stephen Ambrose’s book, “Duty, Honor, Country: A History of West Point.” Great book to reference. The 1966 foreword is written by Dwight David Eisenhower. The 1999 afterword, is written by Andrew J. Goodpaster. They are fitting bookends for West Point.
President and General of the Armies Eisenhower emphasized the honor code. General and 51st Superintendent of USMA Goodpaster closed with a call to give the Academy’s leaders “the authority, support, and latitude they need” to “exercise firm leadership in order to ensure that the institution is responsive to the needs of the army and nation.”
Fair enough. But, what if previous leaders have let slip the standards for honor? What if some inquiries from graduates are stonewalled, obfuscated, and actually answered by lies?
The trust and deference due to accomplished leaders at West Point shifts to calls for transparency and accountability.
It must be very irritating for leaders to read questions and thinly veiled criticism in the media when they see their mission and are going about it with all they have. The grousing of old grads probably has been background noise for every generation of leaders at West Point. But, this ground swell of legitimate concern is different.
It can’t be dismissed as partisan politics, even if only one side of the aisle in Congress asks about issues at the Service Academies. Because the issues aren’t political. They are essential to the values-based, values-keeping, values-promulgating institution that is the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Look at what “Ike” wrote in 1966.
“West Point is best known for the consistently high quality of its graduates; anyone who has made it through four years at the Point is assumed, rightly, to possess attributes that will normally make him a good officer.”
Today, almost everyone makes it through the four years. West Point’s 90+% graduation rate is higher than any New York State University campus.
“The reasons for this record of success are many, but one which I deem to be important is that the honor code has always been a pervasive part of the system.” “It is the Corps’ most treasured possession.”
Are there locks on cadet doors? On anything other than a flimsy “lock box”? What do Cadets say in private and on non-attributable surveys? Where is the line between privacy and open integrity for laptops, cell phones, social media, etc.?
Furthermore, “Everyone familiar with West Point would instantly agree that the one thing that has set it definitely apart from every other school in the world is the fact that for a great number of years it has not only had an “honor” system, but that system has actually worked.”
What are the stats on how well it is working today? Do reports from the field reveal the same about Grads?
And, “The continuity of the Corps led to the instilling in the new cadet a respect amounting to veneration for the honor system. The honor system, as a feature of West Point, seems to grow in importance with the graduate as the years recede.”
Note: new cadet. Yet, over 50% of cadets – not new cadets – found guilty of an honor violation are returned to Corps. Did their imposed penance imbue them with honor or teach all others that honor violations, like regs, just come with an acceptable price?
“Today, I profoundly feel that in its perpetuation is one of the best assurances of our nation’s future security.”
From my lowly stature, but keen vantage point, as the Head Mouser in Washington Hall, I concur.
Maybe future articles on West Point 2050 will expand on honor and how character – integrity
“at West Point is as real as the honor code. Character is the Academy’s overriding concern, a concern to which it has always given a single-minded, almost fanatical devotion. It is because of this West Point is hailed by military institutions throughout the world.”
What are the tangible, observable, measurable proofs of honor and character today?
The recent graduates’ 2020 “POLICY PROPOSAL: AN ANTI-RACIST WEST POINT” screed calls the question.
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