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Expanding Horizons: West Point’s Enhanced Military Training
In the summer of 2024, West Point’s Department of Military Instruction (DMI) launched a series of training programs to enhance cadet education. DMI introduced six new Military Individual Advanced Development (MIAD) opportunities and two Academic Individual Advanced Development (AIAD) experiences, broadening the scope of cadet training beyond traditional air assault and airborne courses.
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SCPME Introduces New Character AIADs
The Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic (SCPME) implemented two new Academic Individual Advanced Development (AIAD) opportunities this past summer: one domestic, one international. Both AIADs offered cadets the opportunity for experiential learning and reflection during their 10-day character experiences.
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Popping the Glass “Bubble”
In August, seven cadets graduated from the Special Forces Combat Diver Qualification Course (CDQC) at the Special Forces Underwater Operations School in Key West, Florida, completing what is one of the most elite training courses in the military. Notably, two of the seven—Cadet Megan Cooper ’25 and Cadet Clara Sabo ’25—became the first women from…
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Memories of the Melt
This year marks the 25th West Point Association of Graduates’ Class Ring Memorial Program, colloquially known as the “Ring Melt.” The Ring Melt has forged connections that Debbie Edelen ’92, WPAOG’s Director of Class Services, has described as a “visible and everlasting bond, illuminating the strength and commitment to Duty, Honor, Country of a Corps…
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Leveraging West Point for Innovation
Starting on R-day, all new cadets begin to internalize the adage “collaborate to graduate,” which includes forming shared experiences with their classmates and eventually bonding with fellow alums while serving domestically or abroad (and even at the Army-Navy Game). The West Point experience develops this spirit of collaboration in all graduates.
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Physicians of the Long Gray Line
West Point is known for developing leaders of character, and its graduates who go on to serve in the medical field are no exception. There is a rich history of West Point graduates becoming physicians, making an impact in all areas of healthcare, both on and off the battlefield.
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Staying Committed: LTC (P) Tom Nelson ’04
During his time as a cadet at West Point, Lieutenant Colonel (Promotable) Tom Nelson’s commitment to a military career began to solidify. “The challenges and purpose-driven environment fueled my determination,” he says; “however, it was when the Army offered me the opportunity to attend graduate school and teach in the USMA Department of Math that…
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Alternate Routes
I grew up in Happy Camp, California, a small logging community where Bigfoot statues outnumber stoplights four to zero. When I was 6 years old, my mom called me and my siblings into the house to watch Neil Armstrong become the first person to walk on the moon. Like so many kids from that era,…
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Grads of the Ghost Army
It took 50 years to declassify their actions and another 28 years for its soldiers to get recognition for their role in World War II; however, on March 21, 2024 the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, popularly known as “The Ghost Army,” received the highest honor Congress bestows, a Congressional Gold Medal, an award first given…
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New Captains Lead with Vision
On June 13, 2020, members of the Class of 2020, sitting six feet apart due to the COVID-19 pandemic, graduated on the Plain, without any friends or family present.
