The West Point Class of 2005

James Robbins:

...

A 1992 grad said that the current class differs from hers. They are more serious, she said. They looked sharper at the graduation parade, and seemed more focused at the ceremony. Guest speaker General Richard B. Myers noted that this class entered with a nation at peace, which had transitioned to war. Yet the members of the class had kept with it, even though they could leave voluntarily any time before the beginning of their third year. When General Myers made this observation the crowd, parents, siblings, and friends, began to applaud. It was a great moment, not a response to an obvious applause line, but a spontaneous tribute to a spirit that deserves respect. These new officers (and service members in general) know what they are facing. Stories of the occasional deserter or recruitment shortfall become chum for the media; that reenlistments are up, particularly in the theaters of conflict is not generally reported. Moreover, at West Point, the washout rates are down significantly. Those with doubts, questioning their commitment or ability to meet the challenge, the marginal applicants, are not showing up. Those who answer the call today are aware, determined, motivated. They are not coming just to get an education. They know they will probably soon be in harm’s way, and they are preparing themselves, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

...

When MacArthur graduated at the head of the Class of 1903 he had no concept of the two world wars that awaited him, or of Inchon, or after. Likewise, the members of the Class of 2005 cannot know what the long term holds for them. The graduates of the early 1840s thought they would be fighting Indians in Florida, but wound up in Mexico. Graduates of the 1850s saw their future in plains warfare against the Comanche and Sioux, but ended up fighting each other, led by the veterans of the Mexican War. Grads of the 1950s who prepared to fight World War III with the Soviet Union found themselves in Vietnam. Those of the 1990s who were told that history had ended and the future was peacekeeping are today dismantling the global terrorist network. And the war on terrorism will not last forever. New challenges will arise as the old ones are overcome. The Class of 2005 will soon have a chance to see and do things they could not have anticipated, but from those I have gotten to know over the past few years I am positive they are up to the challenge.

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