Path to Success

West Point well-known as a military academy where men and women go to become career officers in the United States Army as a National Monument many of West Point's images have become familiar to us there's the chapel on the hill Army versus Navy and Notre Dame and Stanford there's a clock on the quadrangle there's the cadet dining hall orientation for newcomers military training there's the full dress parade flirtation walk and hats in the air on graduation we know it as a place of tradition and of a mystique that has touched the lives of historic figures George S Patton Douglas MacArthur Dwight Eisenhower have gone there past generations of Lafleur Mark at the Argonne forest at Normandy at Bastogne Sicily North Africa the Philippines Korea Southeast Asia the long gray line duty honor country these are some of the images we've come to associate with West Point but what is the Academy's relationship to the present to a world grown more complex and confusing one that demands uncommon qualifications from people planning to play a purposeful role in its future just what is West Point today and how does it relate to the process of preparing for a career as a professional army officer [Music] [Applause] given this situation what kind of scenario would you propose what if we can put that memory capacity of 10,000 characters on an integrated circuit the final proof of any theory is the prediction of experimental result you have supported your position with appropriate citations of American caseload president Paul Gauguin impressionist classicist what about stress analysis the dynamics of heat transfer realpolitik or idealism power or morality which is it and so we come to ployed and Marx [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I wasn't entirely sure why I wanted to come here I've been told West Point ranked fourth Road scholarships awarded after Harvard Yale and Princeton but that wasn't it I had the feeling I would discover here what I could do well it was awesome coming up against what I told myself I was going to do when here I was doing it I don't feel it would have meant the same to go somewhere else there's no mistake in the transition is tough very tough from the first day there are incredibly high demands West Point is not for everyone I still have a high respect for West Point but it's not for me I couldn't stand the regimentation too restrictive I think it's true there are a few here who probably don't think we should be here we just have to keep a sense of humor and try a little harder cbt cadet basic training for men and women historically also known as beast barracks a difficult time no denying it but in a way an essential indoctrination to the standards cadets are expected to live up to at West Point and beyond to set a pattern of personal excellence to serve as a foundation for a military career it is a value is central to the profession of arms there were times I wasn't at all certain I'd get through it looking back I wouldn't trade the experience I would pass this along get a head start before leaving home to come here get in shape lift weights swim run don't sit back and celebrate the fact you've been accepted I never ran so much concentrated so hard tried so much or felt as big a sense of achievement and anything I've ever done before you have to say it isn't for everyone some great people come here and taking a shot at it and then decided well just wasn't for them my quitting had nothing to do with the difficulty of the work I just realized that the military wasn't what I wanted to do with my life new people among the very top of the nation's high school graduates plebs they call them or fourth classmen or members of the class of whatever year it is four years from now here to measure themselves against themselves and to give West Point an opportunity to reconfirm its judgment in the selections that made if logic were a matter of opinion we'd have a very illogical world which in fact we do but it isn't illogical because of logic you see because logic is a study and not a belief now does anyone find that illogical B follows a when we go forward not because we took a vote on it but because it is unreasonable to suggest otherwise now I want you to bear this in mind no matter if you're caught in a problem in math or staring at an engineering principle and even when you're looking at the social sciences or humanities I had already been accepted here when somebody asked me what degree I was going to go for I've since learned that the academic program here consists of 40 courses that ultimately lead to a Bachelor of Science degree now what this means when you break it down is that all cadets have to complete a core program beyond that the cadet has to select an area of concentration in which to focus remaining courses and these include basic science applied science and engineering the humanities and national security and public affairs electives are sequenced to ensure a progression of study that will take the cadet to even higher levels of sophistication leading to a degree of Bachelor of Science if we take an overview of the entire academic program it is one that will provide a well-rounded basis for intellectual and professional development not just at West Point but for life personality and adjustment languages data control and information retrieval macroeconomics ethics and leadership literature [Music] statistical probability microscopy analysis in organic chemistry shaping three-dimensional structures to teach a theory searching for questions that may suggest an answer I think that the emphasis that's been placed on the hands-on concept of instruction is first-rate theories are taken off the blackboard and fed into real-life situations it shrinks the distance and makes it an experience [Music] the competition for scholastic honors is keen cadets must of course test themselves against Academy standards as well as against their own personal objectives exams though competitive are administered in an almost ivory tower setting or nowhere at West Point is underhanded competition permitted students work together with the faculty here to enforce the standards set by West Point's long cherished honor code which states simply that a cadet will not lie cheat or steal nor tolerate those who do and it must be so without exception and particularly so in the military where lives may rely on the premise that a person's word will be as good as his or her bond upon the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that upon other fields on other days will bear the fruits of victory General MacArthur said that and at West Point we take it pretty seriously if you are not on an intercollegiate team than you are on a club or intramural team every cadet is an athlete some better than others but no advisors or spectators military training most intensive during the summers of the Academy is pursued throughout the four years stay if you're going to be an officer I mean you have to know the application of some of the things that go on in a classroom in an imperfect world assuming you're a realist you've got to know how to deal with every eventuality after all that's what West Point has always been here for I think it became clear to me somewhere between wet feet and cold coffee that I'd never become wealthy as in the Army officer but I would also avoid the frustration of irrelevance I'd had the chance to be of service to the concepts and the nation I believe in the officers can be tough on you but they can also be understanding I found when I was confused or uncertain or just plain wipe-down i could discuss it with them get it all sorted out and take off again it was a collaboration before it's all over every cadet man and woman will have gone to at least one special school so in every graduating class there'll be some who will have gone through jungle warfare school all will have served at least a month as platoon leaders in active army units somewhere in the world or trudged across Arctic glaciers in northern warfare school one airborne wings or so load in a training helicopter some will have taken Ranger training duty honor country says what I felt when I wanted to come here I'm not embarrassed to say I still feel it only the words have begun to look taller I'd like to be sure I'll measure up [Music] what is West Point [Music] it's a continuity of a tradition a place where it's possible to qualify for the profession of arms it's an environment where men and women can achieve an excellence beyond most expectations and beyond a career