 okay move out gone by a wonderful they'd been funny thing is I never wanted to be a cadet in the first place I mean I didn't grow up with the idea of going to the Military Academy like a lot of others even when I was in high school I didn't know where I was going to college who knows what might have happened if a bunch of us hadn't gone together for a coke that day is 30 bucks for two new tires like cars running you gotta watch what money on them well well you know what is calling the Ivy League why not that said you can't beat them for liberal arts education I'm for prestige what about you Doug where you headed I don't know yet hey old buddy I thought you're coming to state with us yeah well I mean I might but I want to take a look around first you know I couldn't make of the my mark but you ought to consider the Military Academy Doug me well sure are you kidding now come on you guys you can get a darn good liberal education at the Military Academy yeah but you still need pull to get in there I didn't even think about West Point again until a couple of weeks later when our college counselor also suggested it I told him what the others had said the Military Academy was a place where they locked you up for four years you've got the wrong impression of the Military Academy Doug I know because I just visited there with a group of secondary school counselors it's an up-to-date educational institution and I don't mean just new buildings and facilities I mean the whole academic program that place is still pretty big on engineering though isn't it Mr. Kelsen no of course there's extensive coverage of the sciences nuclear energy electronics rocket propulsion aeronautics you name it but there's also more emphasis on non-technical subjects history economics international relations languages that's because the Academy graduate today could just as well find himself sitting around a diplomatic conference table or in charge of a nuclear energy plant as in command of troops or he could be attending civilian graduate school three fourths of the graduates do you know three fourths here's the Military Academy catalog and a profile of the class that entered last year why don't you look them over well thank you Mr. Kelsen but I'm really not interested that's too bad Doug because you have the right combination for the Academy good marks athletic skill leadership ability of course you might not be able to qualify the competition is pretty stiff maybe you'd better think in terms of some other college I'll just look this over that night I studied the Academy catalog what surprised me was the variety of courses quantum mechanics Shakespeare management engineering political philosophy linear algebra and programming there were over a hundred electives to choose from I was also impressed by the background of the faculty and by the Academy's program in the computer sciences and the use of educational TV I decided to prove to Mr. Kelsen that I could get into the Academy so I applied to my congressman for a nomination he asked me to send my school record to a civilian selection board which then interviewed me I guess I did all right for the congressman wrote and said that he took the board's recommendation and would nominate me for an appointment to the Military Academy during my senior year in high school I was notified to take the three-part qualification exam medical physical aptitude and one day my letter of appointment came and you can guess how the folks acted you'd have thought I'd been elected president or something I knew I'd miss my friends if I accepted still it felt good to be picked to qualify for a college with such high standards congratulations I just heard the news thank you sir but I'm still not sure whether I'm going to accept really I'm surprised it's quite an honor to be appointed to the Military Academy I know sir but I there are a couple other colleges that I want to consider well yes of course but then if you do go elsewhere you'll never really know if you could have lived up to the Academy standard will you I knew that mr. Kielsen was challenging me well I never could resist a challenge you're at what point now and we're gonna make a cut out of you although it's officially termed new cadet barracks we fleece soon learned why everyone calls this introduction to cadet life beast barracks give me this message sir general MacArthur's message for the far east I send you one single part one small idea written in red on every beachhead from Australia to Tokyo there's no substitute for victory the commander of the new cadet battalion is the king of the beast he and his staff have the responsibility of making cadets out of civilians and they take their jobs seriously under the supervision of the tactical officers the cadet detail provides basic military training which includes plenty of marching and drilling PT and a taste of soldiering in the field using modern combat weapons they also make sure that new plebs become familiar with the standards of the core of cadets and with the cadet honor code the honor code was established according to the precepts laid down by Colonel Sylvain is there father of the Academy it means simply that that shall not lie cheat or steal nor condone anyone who does rigid adherence to an honor code and system may seem harsh especially when the cadet honor committee has to recommend that a cadet be dismissed from the core but on the battlefield integrity is a life and death matter we relied upon without question there were times that first summer when I didn't think I was going to make it especially when I heard from my buddy on vacation but whenever I felt like quitting I said to myself try one more day if thousands of others could make it you can too and I did at the end of August we were formally presented to the core we were no longer new cadets we were now plebs and members of the core as we marched along the plane I felt proud I knew I had met the Academy's first challenge that fall when the academic program started I began to feel as though I was going to college at last the aim of the Military Academy today is to give you a general education in both the arts and science along with a broad military education during the school year 80% of the time is spent in academics and 20% in military training here mr. Gilson sorry I didn't write you sooner you were right about the academic pace here it's plenty tough take plebe math for example so far we have covered vector analytic geometry much of calculus and linear programming now we are into differential equations yes sir under the system established by colonel Sylvain it's there classes at the Academy are small of the seminar time sir the radius vector from the sun to a planet sweeps out in a classroom participation is stressed and there are frequent quizzes as a result each cadet receives a maximum of individual attention from his instructor and learns to think on his feet that's right mr. Kaiser thank you my marks that fall average 2.7 out of a possible 3.0 this was pretty good considering I was competing with some of the sharpest men in the country before I knew it it was Christmas time very dinner academy policy had changed so that now plebe's to got Christmas leaves we worked long and hard for six months and we were ready for a break great to be home our nation's oldest continuously occupied military post with links to the past as solid as the links of the great change General Washington used to block the Hudson River to British shipping some of the United States military Academy and the Brits like of the long gray line mean of the military Academy and you learn to handle the academic work of course it helps to have a fine new reference library and someone to study with on a weekend afternoon always something that surprises people that the Academy is co-ed on weekend just like a lot of other colleges how to communicate with our troops can't be that rough you know I really got a hand at these W really got this place figured out why not I'm not aiming to be another MacArthur a rise in power I'm just here for an education period that's all sure that's all come on oh buddy let's solve this problem had things all figured out at least I thought I did until that summer when we took our field training in the hills near West Point I was writing home it suddenly struck me soldiering at camp Buckner had turned out to be a real kick particularly our recondo training for reconnaissance commando a combination of mountaineering hand-to-hand combat and making like GI Joe revolutionary style at the end of recondo we went out on a simulated Ranger mission a lot about responsibility when you're the one who has to lead a patrol through enemy territory and surprise attack of army life on weekends Buckner is almost like a summer resort he gets them every put it for classes that fall of the yearlings I felt far removed from the plea of the previous year far busier to what was physics chemistry and history added to our other subjects and continually being improved experiments the problems our instructors have signed were challenging many of our instructors also made use of the closed circuit television facilities today you are viewing the creation of a new hairdo which while not appropriate for cadets is certain to revolutionize hair styles for women in this experiment the vandagraph merely demonstrates the repulsion of bodies of similar charge in this case the strands of hair repelling one another radially outward of course we weren't always in class there was studying to be done in the barracks and there were more than 60 organized extracurricular activities to choose from I worked on the class committee and I was selected for the cadet choir and labeled by some experts as the best in the world it's aim is to make every cadet an athlete or in the words of President Kennedy intelligence and skill can only function at the peak of their capacity when the body is healthy and strong at West Point every cadet undergoes a concentrated program to improve his basic physical abilities he is also given instruction in carry-over sports that will help keep him in shape throughout his army career being on the team particularly during football season as a squad leader during new cadet barracks as I worked with the new police I began to realize that it isn't enough just to be an honor student or a good athlete by the time he graduates every cadet has to be ready to accept the responsibilities of leadership he has to prove himself as a cadet as a man and as a leader of our third year I took on additional responsibilities as a cadet corporal the academic program broadened out still further when as second and first classmen we studied military and constitutional law history international relations political philosophy economics and military psychology and leadership we delved into all aspects of 20th century engineering and technology jet propulsion and aerodynamics amplifiers radar micro circuitry lasers and solid-state electronics we studied nuclear fission and fusion and radiation detection neural design and analysis advanced weapon systems even space technology one thing I found very interesting was the academic computer center with the use of closed circuit TV we were given comprehensive instruction in computer programming and operation plus hands-on experience at the console the idea was not to make us computer technicians but rather to give us an understanding of the many military applications of computers later on I took extra instruction qualified for a gold card which meant I could use the computer anytime it was available on my own our four years at the academy we continued our military training are some exact rep we studied the art of warfare ancient and modern questions on the weapons mr. Davis sir how is the paper cartridge used the paper cartridge all right one requirement for the Revolutionary War soldier was that he had his own teeth he had to bite off a portion of the cartridge and pour powder in the pan close the prison and he would pour the remainder of the powder down the bore followed by the from your ranks at General MacArthur come the great captains who hold the nation's destiny in their hands we learned about our heritage not only the leaders of our armies in times of war ran Lee Eisenhower Bradley and Westmoreland but also many of the explorers engineers educators and statesmen who conquered the West and helped build this country into a great nation we took indoctrination trips to various branches of the Army Navy and Air Force I served as a platoon leader in a regular Army unit dear mom and dad it hardly seems possible at four years I've gone by this will be my last letter to you as a cadet you tell your family you turn down graduate school no but I'm going to you know you really turned into the gun how tight oh you were the one who wasn't going to get involved in West Point remember sure I remember look at you now Italian you want honorable mention in the National Science Foundation competition yeah with the help of the computer you're in the top 5% of the class okay okay rub it in you know you should have competed for that road scholarship well Jack was right I had changed dad remember I wrote you about the chance I have to go on to graduate work I've decided however to take Ranger and paratroop training and go to a troop unit first in a couple of years I'll have a tour of duty as a graduate student at a civilian University thinking back on it I'm glad I decided to be a cadet here's at the Military Academy have really added up for me now I can see the road ahead clearly many careers in the Army I know now that this is the way I want to go this is the way I'm going to achieve my personal goal not that it will be easy what lies ahead is the biggest challenge of all but I feel prepared I feel equal to her along with a thousand other young men I've met the challenge of West Point I know this isn't the end it's just the beginning