I met an anime writer online and turns out he is a West Pointer by risa
Given the odd and seeming incongruity of loving Japanese animated storytelling, and studying things like air assault and other ways to unleash death and boom, I asked him (ever eloquently) “What’s that like??” and he took the time to unpack a response…
Now for a warning – this is really, really, really long. Long as in, longer than any blog post I think I’ve written (this whole message is almost 1500 words). Get a cup of coffee and turn on some classical music, because you’re going to be reading for a while.
As for the “personal question,” yes, I’m a cadet (student) at the US Military Academy. Now, the hard part – “what’s it like” has such a broad list of implied questions.
The main problem that I, and most West Pointers, have is that we tend to try to answer that question by describing our routine. I will do that, but I’ll also try to convey the things that actually set us apart, because as I’m about to point out – in terms of what we do we’re not too different. Now, our routine is a bit different from the average college. We have formations every day during the week (breakfast at 6:55am, which means you have to wake up at around 6:30am to shower and get dressed and make it down on time; lunch at 11:55am). Classes run from 7:35am to lunch, and then from after lunch (around 12:45pm) to 4:00pm. After classes end, we have two hours of either drill (I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a military parade, but drill is just practice for those parades) or athletics (everyone plays a sport of some kind – a relatively small percentage play intercollegiate, but everyone has to play intramurals if they’re not on an intercollegiate or club team). Saturdays are a toss-up, depending on the weekend. Sometimes we will have training that goes from about 6:30am to lunch, and other times we will have to go to our home football games (mandatory for all cadets), and other times we will have the day off. Sundays are the only day of the week that we always have completely free.
More routine…during summers we do military training. The summer before our freshman year we undergo our version of basic training, which is about six or seven weeks long. At the end we march back to West Point and go through a week of supply points (getting computers, telephones, rooms set up, etc.). The second summer is more concentrated training that focuses primarily on infantry tactics. In the past it was about seven weeks long, but I they shortened it starting this year to decrease the amount of wasted time so now it’s six weeks. The third and fourth summers are comprised of four activities – CTLT (going to a US army unit and following a lieutenant around to see what the “real army” is like), an MDS (military development school: there are a broad range of them, some of which you have probably heard about, such as airborne school, air assault school, etc.), a West Point detail (taking a leadership position out at one of the first two summer training camps), and an AIAD (advanced individual academic development – a fancy way of saying “internship”). Now obviously all four things are not done in one summer, they are spaced out over the third and fourth, so you might do CTLT and a West Point detail during the third summer, and then do an MDS and an AIAD the next.
So that’s the basics of our “routine.” It’s pretty packed, and depending on the academic major can be quite hectic. In general most students average around 19 to 20 credit hours per semester for their first two years until they start taking their academic major classes. From there the average increases for engineering majors, like myself, to about 21 credit hours on average per semetser. For liberal arts majors the average generally drops to about 16 to 17 credit hours.
Now looking at the routine, the main things is just that: “oh, they’re just busier on average than the typical college student,” which is true. The amount of work we are made to do definitely outweighs the average student, though I know that it’s well within the means of reason to be busier than we are (since it all comes down to the amount of work you’re willing to place on your own shoulders anyways, so oftentimes comparing “work schedules” becomes a moot point because you’re not necessarily busier if you’re not putting in the effort anyways). What really sets us apart is how connected everyone is here, and what that means for us in the future.
There is a bond that exists between all West Pointers, past and present, having graduated or still at the Academy, that I don’t see at other schools. The origins of this bond are found in the way that we live, and the amount of time we spend interacting with each other, as well as in the nature of the profession that we are required to enter (the US Army). I’ll start with the “way we live” and “the amount of time” we spend together, as these two are linked. We live together in a way that requires that we grow close to one another. For starters, every cadet who enters the academy is placed into a company (in case you have no idea what a “company” size unit is, I’ve put together a little list of terms at the bottom so you get the general idea). The company becomes a “family” of sorts. We live on the same floor, we eat at the same tables in the mess hall (yes, we are assigned where we eat, and to an extent where we live). In short, we live together, every day, for the entire academic year. Not only that, but unlike in a regular college where so long as people aren’t killing each other, it doesn’t really matter, at West Point cooperation and unity are goals within a company. The company wants everyone to get along well, and to succeed in academics, the physical requirements (we have physical performance tests), and the military requirements. Cadets are put in leadership positions within the company based on their year (senior, junior, etc.) and their rank within the class (as well as numerous other factors that would take a book to explain, which is what this response is turning into). These leadership positions mean that you have a “stock” in what others think of your performance, and in how you treat them. All of those factors contribute to the bond. Finally there is the bond that comes from the fact that all of us will graduate as lieutenants in the US Army. We all know that, whether we like it or not, we will end up fighting somewhere, side by side with the people we graduate with. Everyone goes, and so it’s that inevitability that also draws us close to one another.
That last paragraph is what, I think, really sets West Point apart. If I had gone to Harvard, or some other Ivy League school, I don’t think I could have such an immediate, deep attachment to someone I had never met who had attended that same school like I do at West Point. If I know someone’s a West Pointer, it’s like I have an instant connection that makes us close in a way that I would have to wait for years to achieve with an ordinary friend. I’m a senior now, and I have come to appreciate that connection more and more as the years have passed.
Well, this turned out to be longer than a blog post – but that should actually give you a full-bodied view of what it’s like to be at West Point. There are so many facets of cadet culture that I would have to write a book to capture them all and give you a “real view” of what it’s like, but I think that sets out the most prominent points and helps give you a taste of “what it’s like.” I hope.
Anyhow, keep on doing your great work, and I look forward to more blog posts, emails, etc. as you can send them.
Mike
West Point unit sizes:
Brigade – contains 4 regiments (the US Military Academy contains 1 brigade’s worth of cadets, or about 4,000 cadets)
Regiment – contains 2 battalions
Battalion – contains 4 companies (numbers of people don’t really matter at this level, because on the Battalion level people don’t really interact, interaction occurs within companies)
Company – roughly 120 cadets (25 seniors, 30 juniors, 30 sophomores, 35 freshmen, on average), contains 4 platoons
Platoon – roughly 30 cadets, contains 4 squads
Squad – roughly 7 cadets, contains 2 to 3 teams
Team – roughly 2 or 3 cadets
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