By Erika Norton, Senior Multimedia Journalist
West Point firsties celebrated Branch Night on November 29 where the Class of 2024 opened their envelopes to receive their U.S. Army branch assignments. Upon graduation, these cadets will be commissioned as Army officers and enter into the Army branch they were assigned.
Members of the Class of 1974, their 50-Year Affiliate Class, attended the event with COL (R) Lee A. Van Arsdale ’74 served as the guest speaker. Members of the Class of 1974 also assisted in presenting firsties with their “first brass” branch insignia pins.
“When you get your branch assignment, you’ll remember that the rest of your life,” Arsdale told the firstie class.
Arsdale shared advice for cadets about the importance of staying in top physical and mental condition as a soldier, and recommended that they re-read the Constitution since those ideals are what they swear an oath to support and defend as Army officers.
There were 1,028 cadets in the Class of 2024 who received a branch with 72% of cadets receiving their first choice, 93% receiving a top three preference and 97% receiving a top five preference. Zero cadets received their last branch preference, 88% were most preferred by the branch they received and 11% were preferred by the branch they received.
Here is the breakdown of how many cadets were placed into each of the 17 branches:
- Infantry: 187
- Armor: 98
- Field Artillery: 162
- Aviation: 97
- Engineer: 133
- Air Defense: 64
- Military Intelligence: 66
- Signal Corps: 47
- Cyber: 40
- Adjutant General: 21
- Quartermaster: 20
- Transportation: 20
- Ordnance: 26 (12 of the 26 are Explosive Ordnance Disposal)
- Military Police: 12
- Medical Service: 20
- Chemical Corps: 9
- Finance Corps: 6
