A Brief History of West Point
West
Point's role in our nation's history dates back to the Revolutionary
War, when both sides realized the strategic importance of the commanding
plateau on the west bank of the Hudson River. General George Washington
considered West Point to be the most important strategic position in
America. Washington personally selected Thaddeus Kosciuszko, one of the
heroes of Saratoga, to design the fortifications for West Point in 1778,
and Washington transferred his headquarters to West Point in 1779.
Continental soldiers built forts, batteries and redoubts and extended a
150-ton iron chain across the Hudson to control river traffic. Fortress
West Point was never captured by the British, despite Benedict Arnold's
treason. West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in
America.
Several
soldiers and legislators, including Washington, Knox, Hamilton and John
Adams, desiring to eliminate America's wartime reliance on foreign
engineers and artillerists, urged the creation of an institution devoted
to the arts and sciences of warfare.
President
Thomas Jefferson signed legislation establishing the United States
Military Academy in 1802. He took this action after ensuring that those
attending the Academy would be representative of a democratic society.
Colonel
Sylvanus Thayer, the "father of the Military Academy," served as
Superintendent from 1817 to 1833. He upgraded academic standards,
instilled military discipline and emphasized honorable conduct. Aware of
our young nation's need for engineers, Thayer made civil engineering
the foundation of the curriculum. For the first half century, USMA
graduates were largely responsible for the construction of the bulk of
the nation's initial railway lines, bridges, harbors and roads.
After
gaining experience and national recognition during the Mexican and
Indian wars, West Point graduates dominated the highest ranks on both
sides during the Civil War. Academy graduates, headed by generals such
as Grant, Lee, Sherman and Jackson, set high standards of military
leadership for both the North and South.
The
development of other technical schools in the post-Civil War period
allowed West Point to broaden its curriculum beyond a strict civil
engineering focus. Following the creation of Army post-graduate command
and staff schools, the Military Academy came to be viewed as the first
step in a continuing Army education.
In
World War I, Academy graduates again distinguished themselves on the
battlefield. After the war, Superintendent Douglas MacArthur sought to
diversify the academic curriculum. In recognition of the intense
physical demands of modern warfare, MacArthur pushed for major changes
in the physical fitness and intramural athletic programs. "Every cadet
an athlete" became an important goal. Additionally, the cadet management
of the Honor System, long an unofficial tradition, was formalized with
the creation of the Cadet Honor Committee.
Eisenhower,
MacArthur, Bradley, Arnold, Clark, Patton, Stilwell and Wainwright were
among an impressive array of Academy graduates who met the challenge of
leadership in the Second World War. The postwar period again saw
sweeping revisions to the West Point curriculum resulting from the
dramatic developments in science and technology, the increasing need to
understand other cultures and the rising level of general education in
the Army.
In
1964, President Johnson signed legislation increasing the strength of
the Corps of Cadets from 2,529 to 4,417 (more recently reduced to
4,000). To keep up with the growth of the Corps, a major expansion of
facilities began shortly thereafter.
Another
significant development at West Point came when enrollment was opened
to women in 1976. Sixty-two women graduated in the class of 1980, to
include Andrea Hollen, Rhodes Scholar. Just as women are a vital and
integral part of the U.S. Army, so they are at West Point.
In
recent decades, the Academy's curricular structure was markedly changed
to permit cadets to major in any one of more than a dozen fields,
including a wide range of subjects from the sciences to the humanities.
West Point went wild last week when the world's most wanted terrorist was declared dead.
"When we heard the news of Osama bin Laden's death here on Sunday night, the corps went wild," said Anne Danczyk, a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy.
"Cadets were going nuts," she added. "We had boom boxes and American flags everywhere, and a band sporadically started playing. It was awesome.
"It certainly pumped me up and gave me and my peers here a motivation boost, and we are more spirited here than ever."
Danczyk, a 2005 Whitefish High School graduate, exuded enthusiasm long before a team of Navy SEALs killed bin Laden. Her appreciation for her education and excitement for her future - in the military and outside it - are evident in every syllable.
That Danczyk has thrived at West Point might surprise those who knew her in high school. She was a cross-country runner and a choir member; "the idea of working for the Army sounded like the other end of the pendulum," she said.
But Danczyk's father, Gary, had spent 24 years in the Army, and her mother, Annell, had worked for years as an engineer with the Department of Defense. Danczyk applied to the military academy, her father's alma mater, and was stunned when she was accepted.
"I was ecstatic," she recalled. "I figured, I actually got into this place; I'd better go."
She promised herself that she would stick it out at West Point for a year and take her training one day at a time. But when she started at the academy, Danczyk was impressed with the people there.
"I thought, wow, I want to work with these people," she said. "They're really intense and really loving what they do."
She was further impressed by the unique opportunities she had at the school - impressive chances that balance "all the bull crap you put up with," she said.
Those opportunities include a chance to meet national leaders. Laura Bush will speak at a banquet May 20, the night before Danczyk graduates. Vice President Dick Cheney will hand Danczyk her diploma.
Danczyk also has visited eight countries during her four years at the academy. She has vacationed in Quebec, Puerto Rico, Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands and taken school-related trips to four other nations.
In Japan, Danczyk job-shadowed with a small military unit that flies Black Hawk helicopters for VIPs. She was part of a cultural immersion in Ecuador, practiced winter warfare tactics with cadets in Chile and studied Spanish and socioeconomics in Costa Rica.
When she wasn't traveling, Danczyk was busy with extracurricular activities. She sang in the choir for a semester and walked onto the track and cross country teams her first year at West Point.
"That was probably the hardest thing I've done here, because [the competition] is Division I," Danczyk said.
Her attitude toward the team was similar to the spirit that had prompted her to apply for West Point in the first place: She figured she might as well take a shot.
"I made the team ... and was like, well, I guess I'm doing it. I guess I'm going to stick it out," she said. "In the end, competing at that level and lettering, it was like, holy cow, I'm capable. Wow, I'll keep pushing."
Danczyk competed for one season, then switched gears. For three years, she was a member of West Point's alpine ski team, which Danczyk called the best part of her experience at the academy.
"They are like my family," she said.
Among the ski team members, Danczyk felt at home. Her travels around the world have not made her forget the love she has for the Flathead Valley.
"We're the closest to Montanans, the people I consider normal," she said of the ski team.
While Danczyk loved the extracurricular opportunities, she was equally enthusiastic about West Point's military training.
"I love it," she said.
After she graduates and receives her commission as a second lieutenant, Danczyk will have two months off in Montana. Then she will spend six months at Fort Sill, Okla., for officer basic training, then about a month at her first post at Fort Lewis, Wash. After that, Danczyk expects to deploy to Afghanistan.
"I was so stoked to hear that," she said. "You want to go where the troubles are because you think, well, I'll go there and can help fix it. Politics aside, if there's some way that I can improve the situation, that would be awesome."
Eventually, Danczyk hopes to be a Female Engagement Team member. The team, which is connected to special forces, does interrogations and research on Afghan culture, she explained. It sends military women to find information from Afghan women, who are barred by culture from certain interactions with men.
The idea of being in a military hot spot doesn't scare Danczyk, who says she thrives on chaos.
"I'm really confident and way more confident in a live-fire drill, in the mud," she said. "The more chaotic it gets, the calmer I feel."
Despite her love for the military, Danczyk said she doesn't plan on making a career in the Army. She will serve cheerfully for five years, the time required by her time at West Point. Then she hopes to swing back to the opposite side of the pendulum again and find a career as a singer.
"I would love to pursue that dream of classical voice and performing arts. I love that side of stuff, too," she said. "It's not that I want to sell the Army short, but I have other dreams, too, and I do want to do this."
Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com
liberalism + Socialism = Terrorism
liberalism + Socialism = Terrorism
Email us
patcnews.patriot@aol.com
patcnewsconservative1@aol.com
LLC 501C- 4 UCC 1-308.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITHOUT PREJUDICE
West
Point's role in our nation's history dates back to the Revolutionary
War, when both sides realized the strategic importance of the commanding
plateau on the west bank of the Hudson River. General George Washington
considered West Point to be the most important strategic position in
America. Washington personally selected Thaddeus Kosciuszko, one of the
heroes of Saratoga, to design the fortifications for West Point in 1778,
and Washington transferred his headquarters to West Point in 1779.
Continental soldiers built forts, batteries and redoubts and extended a
150-ton iron chain across the Hudson to control river traffic. Fortress
West Point was never captured by the British, despite Benedict Arnold's
treason. West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in
America.
Several
soldiers and legislators, including Washington, Knox, Hamilton and John
Adams, desiring to eliminate America's wartime reliance on foreign
engineers and artillerists, urged the creation of an institution devoted
to the arts and sciences of warfare.
President
Thomas Jefferson signed legislation establishing the United States
Military Academy in 1802. He took this action after ensuring that those
attending the Academy would be representative of a democratic society.
Colonel
Sylvanus Thayer, the "father of the Military Academy," served as
Superintendent from 1817 to 1833. He upgraded academic standards,
instilled military discipline and emphasized honorable conduct. Aware of
our young nation's need for engineers, Thayer made civil engineering
the foundation of the curriculum. For the first half century, USMA
graduates were largely responsible for the construction of the bulk of
the nation's initial railway lines, bridges, harbors and roads.
After
gaining experience and national recognition during the Mexican and
Indian wars, West Point graduates dominated the highest ranks on both
sides during the Civil War. Academy graduates, headed by generals such
as Grant, Lee, Sherman and Jackson, set high standards of military
leadership for both the North and South.
The
development of other technical schools in the post-Civil War period
allowed West Point to broaden its curriculum beyond a strict civil
engineering focus. Following the creation of Army post-graduate command
and staff schools, the Military Academy came to be viewed as the first
step in a continuing Army education.
In
World War I, Academy graduates again distinguished themselves on the
battlefield. After the war, Superintendent Douglas MacArthur sought to
diversify the academic curriculum. In recognition of the intense
physical demands of modern warfare, MacArthur pushed for major changes
in the physical fitness and intramural athletic programs. "Every cadet
an athlete" became an important goal. Additionally, the cadet management
of the Honor System, long an unofficial tradition, was formalized with
the creation of the Cadet Honor Committee.
Eisenhower,
MacArthur, Bradley, Arnold, Clark, Patton, Stilwell and Wainwright were
among an impressive array of Academy graduates who met the challenge of
leadership in the Second World War. The postwar period again saw
sweeping revisions to the West Point curriculum resulting from the
dramatic developments in science and technology, the increasing need to
understand other cultures and the rising level of general education in
the Army.
In
1964, President Johnson signed legislation increasing the strength of
the Corps of Cadets from 2,529 to 4,417 (more recently reduced to
4,000). To keep up with the growth of the Corps, a major expansion of
facilities began shortly thereafter.
Another
significant development at West Point came when enrollment was opened
to women in 1976. Sixty-two women graduated in the class of 1980, to
include Andrea Hollen, Rhodes Scholar. Just as women are a vital and
integral part of the U.S. Army, so they are at West Point.
In
recent decades, the Academy's curricular structure was markedly changed
to permit cadets to major in any one of more than a dozen fields,
including a wide range of subjects from the sciences to the humanities.
Anne Danczyk will graduate from West Point later this month.
"When we heard the news of Osama bin Laden's death here on Sunday night, the corps went wild," said Anne Danczyk, a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy.
"Cadets were going nuts," she added. "We had boom boxes and American flags everywhere, and a band sporadically started playing. It was awesome.
"It certainly pumped me up and gave me and my peers here a motivation boost, and we are more spirited here than ever."
Danczyk, a 2005 Whitefish High School graduate, exuded enthusiasm long before a team of Navy SEALs killed bin Laden. Her appreciation for her education and excitement for her future - in the military and outside it - are evident in every syllable.
That Danczyk has thrived at West Point might surprise those who knew her in high school. She was a cross-country runner and a choir member; "the idea of working for the Army sounded like the other end of the pendulum," she said.
But Danczyk's father, Gary, had spent 24 years in the Army, and her mother, Annell, had worked for years as an engineer with the Department of Defense. Danczyk applied to the military academy, her father's alma mater, and was stunned when she was accepted.
"I was ecstatic," she recalled. "I figured, I actually got into this place; I'd better go."
She promised herself that she would stick it out at West Point for a year and take her training one day at a time. But when she started at the academy, Danczyk was impressed with the people there.
"I thought, wow, I want to work with these people," she said. "They're really intense and really loving what they do."
She was further impressed by the unique opportunities she had at the school - impressive chances that balance "all the bull crap you put up with," she said.
Those opportunities include a chance to meet national leaders. Laura Bush will speak at a banquet May 20, the night before Danczyk graduates. Vice President Dick Cheney will hand Danczyk her diploma.
Danczyk also has visited eight countries during her four years at the academy. She has vacationed in Quebec, Puerto Rico, Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands and taken school-related trips to four other nations.
In Japan, Danczyk job-shadowed with a small military unit that flies Black Hawk helicopters for VIPs. She was part of a cultural immersion in Ecuador, practiced winter warfare tactics with cadets in Chile and studied Spanish and socioeconomics in Costa Rica.
When she wasn't traveling, Danczyk was busy with extracurricular activities. She sang in the choir for a semester and walked onto the track and cross country teams her first year at West Point.
"That was probably the hardest thing I've done here, because [the competition] is Division I," Danczyk said.
Her attitude toward the team was similar to the spirit that had prompted her to apply for West Point in the first place: She figured she might as well take a shot.
"I made the team ... and was like, well, I guess I'm doing it. I guess I'm going to stick it out," she said. "In the end, competing at that level and lettering, it was like, holy cow, I'm capable. Wow, I'll keep pushing."
Danczyk competed for one season, then switched gears. For three years, she was a member of West Point's alpine ski team, which Danczyk called the best part of her experience at the academy.
"They are like my family," she said.
Among the ski team members, Danczyk felt at home. Her travels around the world have not made her forget the love she has for the Flathead Valley.
"We're the closest to Montanans, the people I consider normal," she said of the ski team.
While Danczyk loved the extracurricular opportunities, she was equally enthusiastic about West Point's military training.
"I love it," she said.
After she graduates and receives her commission as a second lieutenant, Danczyk will have two months off in Montana. Then she will spend six months at Fort Sill, Okla., for officer basic training, then about a month at her first post at Fort Lewis, Wash. After that, Danczyk expects to deploy to Afghanistan.
"I was so stoked to hear that," she said. "You want to go where the troubles are because you think, well, I'll go there and can help fix it. Politics aside, if there's some way that I can improve the situation, that would be awesome."
Eventually, Danczyk hopes to be a Female Engagement Team member. The team, which is connected to special forces, does interrogations and research on Afghan culture, she explained. It sends military women to find information from Afghan women, who are barred by culture from certain interactions with men.
The idea of being in a military hot spot doesn't scare Danczyk, who says she thrives on chaos.
"I'm really confident and way more confident in a live-fire drill, in the mud," she said. "The more chaotic it gets, the calmer I feel."
Despite her love for the military, Danczyk said she doesn't plan on making a career in the Army. She will serve cheerfully for five years, the time required by her time at West Point. Then she hopes to swing back to the opposite side of the pendulum again and find a career as a singer.
"I would love to pursue that dream of classical voice and performing arts. I love that side of stuff, too," she said. "It's not that I want to sell the Army short, but I have other dreams, too, and I do want to do this."
Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com
The Patriot Conservative News Tea Party Network
liberalism + Socialism = Terrorism
Thanks for your Support
© All copyrights reserved By Patcnews
liberalism + Socialism = Terrorism
Email us
patcnews.patriot@aol.com
patcnewsconservative1@aol.com
LLC 501C- 4 UCC 1-308.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Content
and Programming Copyright 2018 By Patcnews The Patriot Conservative
News Tea Party Network © LLC UCC 1-308.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITHOUT
PREJUDICE All copyrights reserved By Patcnews The Patriot Conservative
News Tea Party Network Copyright 2018 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials
herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be
reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast
without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter
or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the
content. © All Copyrights Reserved By Patcnews The Patriot Conservative
News Tea Party Network
No comments:
Post a Comment