The Mission Statement According to a Cadet...

It is impossible to get an accurate view of the United States Military Academy completely from outside its walls. Therefore, in order to obtain well rounded information regarding the school I spoke with an attending cadet.
William Guinther is a freshman, or “plebe” at West Point. He has been in attendance since July 2nd, and has participated in a variety of courses and extracurricular activities. In addition to surviving six weeks of Cadet Basic Training over the summer, he has been a part of West Point’s varsity swim team, water polo team, and scuba diving team. He has dealt with rigorous academics and hazing by upperclassmen, and feels overall that West Point has been, and continues to be an intense experience. During our conversation, I asked him specifically about West Point’s mission statement, and how it plays into his life. He began by impressively reciting the mission statement word-for-word, a task that even the most theatrically-savvy would struggle with. The first aspect of the mission statement that he addressed was interestingly the order of words. He found it notable that West Point’s goal to “inspire” was last on the mission statement list, after “educate” and “train.” Cadet Guinther said that the United States Military Academy wanted people to arrive at the school already inspired. You were supposed to come knowing that you wanted to become part of the military. He noted that at West Point, inspiration takes a back seat to education, where at civilian colleges; the reverse tends to be the case. He went so far as to say that West Point does inspire you, just only in one direction. Cadet Guinther also mentioned that at West Point, those in attendance are told that their major does not impact what they will be doing in the military. It is more important that cadets acquire critical thinking skills that can then be transferred to their service in the army. Personally I found this particular mindset similar to that of a civilian college, where learning applicable life skills is more important than memorizing vocabulary words.
I then asked Cadet Guinther whether or not he thinks that in general West Point achieves its goal as outlined in the mission statement. He said yes, and that the school is based upon a doctrine of slow immersion into a military lifestyle that begins on day one. CLDS (Cadet Leadership Development System) begins the moment freshman walk on to campus, and concludes with graduation. The four years at West Point are spent gradually building higher military expectations with lower supervision, a system that thus far seems to be creating strong military leadership. Despite the foreignism of West Point’s mission statement, based on my conversation with Cadet Guinther I have to believe that it serves a purpose (Guinther).

Bibliography:

Guinther, William. Telephone interview. 04 March 2008.

Historically Speaking...

I’m choosing to begin the discovery process of this blog with some basic facts about West Point, including its history and mission statement. Long before becoming an academy, West Point was used for military purposes. Strategically placed on the west bank of the Hudson River in New York, West Point proved its value as a military fortress during the Revolutionary War. It was founded as a military academy in 1802 by legislation bearing President Thomas Jefferson’s signature. The school’s primary academic focus was engineering, and West Point graduates are credited with most of the construction of American railways, bridges, and roads during the first half of the nineteenth century. The United States Military Academy gained recognition for graduate leadership during the Mexican, Indian, and Civil Wars. Its list of alumni includes such names as Robert E. Lee, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Ulysses S. Grant. Following the Civil War, the school’s curriculum was expanded beyond engineering, and during the World Wars of the early nineteen-hundreds, both enrollment and facilities at West Point were expanded. In more recent years, West Point’s core of cadets has grown to include women, as well as a higher population of minorities, and its academics span a broad variety of subjects (A Brief History of the Academy).
West Point is grounded in a long, deep history that reaches back for centuries. Upon learning about this history, the reasons behind the military traditions of the school are more clear. The reasoning behind many of West Point's practices seems to be that "it's always been done this way." It's no secret that traditions are hard to break, and I guess that this fact applies to West Point as much as it does anywhere else. However, it is POSSIBLE to bend, mold, and break traditions. The question then becomes, SHOULD they be broken? Many people would argue that we are currently fighting a very non-traditional war, and therefore traditional military tactics will not work. Is this the case? Should West Point begin to alter their traditions? Even if these traditions are, in a way, historical landmarks?
Upon reading all of this information on West Point’s website, I noticed a repetion of the words “duty,” “honor,” and “country.” These words appear in the United States Military Academy logo, on the top of every page, and variously throughout the website’s text. These three words define West Point’s mission. In its entirety the United States Military academy’s mission reads as follows:
“To educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the Nation as an officer in the United States Army” (USMA Mission). For the next few blogs, I’m going to further explore this mission statement. I wish to examine it through the eyes of current West Point cadets; do they think it’s too broad? Too narrow? Do they think it’s an achievable goal? How do the cadets’ opinions of the mission statement compare with the academy’s opinions as expressed on its website? The United States Military Academy is rich which history and tradition, but is that history and tradition enough to hold up a mission statement? This is the ultimate question that will be addressed in my following blogs.

"A Brief History of the Academy." The United States Military Academy at West Point. 2001. US Army. 25 Feb 2008 .

Asking "Why?"

I like to understand things. When something is broken, I want to know how it happened. When someone’s angry, I want to know why. When I don’t know something, I ask. The topic of this blog is the United States Military Academy (also referred to as West Point), and during this writing process I will ask and answer the question of why. Why does West Point do things the way it does? Why does it follow traditional training methods when America is fighting a very non-traditional war? Why is so much emphasis placed on uniforms and room organization? For the next several months I plan to further my understanding of the United States Military Academy with the help of a variety of sources, including interviews with attending cadets, and web resources.
A native New Englander, I grew up in a democratic household with a family of self-described liberals. Although my grandfathers served in the Army and Navy, none of my relatives have been involved with the military in recent years. As a household, we do not support the invasion of Afghanistan or Iraq, and are fully behind bringing our troops home. Personally, I have a great respect for the men and women of our nation who make the selfless decision to enlist in the military, and deeply admire their courage. Those who are accepted to West Point attend the school for four years, graduate as an officer in the Army, and then spend a minimum of five years in active duty. Getting in to West Point is not easy. With an acceptance rate of 14% ("The United States Military Academy"), those who are selected for admission are at the top of their games both physically and academically. However, with the possibility of a nine year commitment, attending the school cannot be taken lightly. I’m under the impression that those who endure the tedious application process and challenging enrollment must have a strong motivation to do so. Therefore, it is my goal in this blog to discover what that motivation is, and use this information to determine why the United States Military Academy does things the way it does.

Bibliography:

"United States Military Academy." The Princeton Review. The Princeton Review. 19 Feb 2008 .