West-Point.ORG, The West Point Connection

Sincere thanks to all who have contributed to Fund Drive 35.  Donations now exceed 40% of FD35 goal, $99,462.  You may donate to FD35 by credit card, PayPal, or check: http://www.west-point.org/donate/

The mission of WP-ORG is to connect and support graduates, parents, and friends of the Military Academy to maintain and strengthen the associations that bind us together.  I was reminded, recently, of our unique West Point bound and my appreciation of being connected to other graduates through WP-ORG.

A couple weeks ago I was picking my kids up from school when I saw a familiar sight.  A Gym Alpha t-shirt.  The ill formed gray cadet physical training t-shirt with the Academy crest and the last name of a cadet printed above the crest.  In some parts of America, like Highland Falls or any town near a military post, a cadet t-shirt wouldn't be overly out of place.  But in rural Minnesota, you don't come across Army t-shirts very often... much less anything related to West Point.  Of course I stopped the student wearing the Gym Alpha shirt and asked about his connection to the Academy and, I discovered the student's older brother attended the Academy.  I talked with the student about his brother and life at the Academy for a few minutes before I had to leave.

Since leaving the army eight years ago, and then my husband leaving the army three years ago, I've come to appreciate making those small connections with other people who have experienced the same life that only another soldier experienced.  Though the student at my children's school hadn't experienced life as a soldier, he knew enough about the Academy to respect what his brother went through and the commitment expected upon graduation.  Every day the WP-ORG connects graduates, classmates, company mates, and cadet families.  We are a unique group of Americans that have experiences with which only other West Point graduates and family member can relate.  I thoroughly appreciate WP-ORG which, through its forums and website, promotes conversations that continue to bind the Long Gray Line together keeping us all connected.

WP-ORG is a 501(c)(3) organization connecting more than 30,000 USMA graduates, parents, and friends of West Point.  Since its beginning in 1996, WP-ORG has been funded by the generosity of member contributions.  Please consider assisting in our mission to connect our West Point community by making a donation today.

You may donate to FD35 by credit card, check, or PayPal:

- by credit card: https://secure.west-point.org/donate

- by PayPal: http://www.west-point.org/donate/

- by check made payable to WP-ORG and sent to:

WP-ORG
3800 Buffalo Mountain Road SW
Willis, Virginia 24380-5082

Please be sure to indicate your affiliation and/or year group on your
check or PayPal donation.

Thank you,

Kristen Lewis
USMA '01
____________________________________________________

FD35 Donation Report, sorted by WP-ORG member group, etc.:
https://secure.west-point.org/donate/report/

WP-ORG Budget April 1, 2014 - September 30, 2014:
http://www.west-point.org/budget

What is WP-ORG & Why Donate?:
http://www.west-point.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=66&Itemid=73    

The U.S. Military Academy has won a cyber-warfare competition among the five U.S. service academies. The annual Cyber Defense Exercise this week tested which of the academies could create a computer network that would best withstand a four-day barrage from experts at the National Security Agency. West Point said on Friday that its team of 30 cadets finished with more points than the Air Force Academy, which won the exercise last year.

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Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point Saturday faced off against a number of other teams, including competitors from other countries' service academies and other U.S. military academies, at the 48th annual Sandhurst Military Skills Competition. A West Point cadet, wearing a gas mask, takes part in the weapon assembly part of the competition. More than 500 cadets from military academies and universities around the world competed Saturday. The competition consisted of 11 events.

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Highest West Point grades since Robert E. Lee. Seven Silver Stars in World War I. Superintendent of West Point. Commander at Manila. Youngest major general and Army chief of staff in American history. Architect of the pacification of Japan. Chief military officer in Korea. There may never be another resume quite like that of Douglas MacArthur. And yet MacArthur — commander of one of the greatest air, land, and sea campaign in the history of the world — is remembered today as the man who faded away after a fateful firefight with Harry S. Truman, and his name, no longer festooned with glory and draped in heroism, is now invoked principally as shorthand for a military man out of control and out of sync with his commander of chief. Today his is a cautionary tale, not an inspirational one.

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WEST POINT, NEW YORK – If Douglas MacArthur or Ulysses S. Grant went to the U.S. Military Academy today, they might be testing their defensive skills hunched in front of a computer screen. A team of caffeine-fueled cadets is spending long days this week in a computer lab trying to fend off threats cooked up by experts at the National Security Agency. The annual Cyber Defense Exercise will determine which of the five service academies can create computer networks able to best withstand the four-day barrage. The 14-year-old exercise lacks the lore of army-navy football, but not the intensity. Not only does the exercise dovetail into the military’s broader strategy of staying ahead of the curve in computer operations, but the West Point cadets relish the chance to test their computer skills against their peers.

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The United States Military Academy at West Point is one of the most elite institutions in the country. Students, or cadets as they're called at the West Point, receive a full scholarship to the school in exchange for a five-year commitment to the Army after graduation. An education at this school, which came in at No. 12 on our list of the 50 best colleges in America, is anything but a breeze. From academics to athletics to other extracurriculars, one day at West Point could look like an entire month on anyone else's calendar.

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The Army’s academy has established a cyber warfare research institute to groom elite cyber troops and solve thorny problems for the Army and the nation in this new warfighting domain. The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., plans to build a cyber brain trust unprecedented within the service academies, filling 75 positions over the next three years — including scholars in technology, psychology, history and law, among other fields. The chairman of the organization, called the Army Cyber Institute, will be retired Lt. Gen. Rhett Hernandez, the first chief of Army Cyber Command, according to Col. Greg Conti, the organization’s director. The institution, which aims to take on national policy questions and develop a bench of top-tier experts for the Pentagon, will be defining how cyber warfare is waged, to steer and inform the direction of the Army.

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ELEVEN YEARS after she was kicked out of the military under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, veteran aviator Lissa Young has returned to West Point. Armed with a 2013 Harvard doctorate, at the age of 52, Young is finishing her first semester as an assistant professor teaching general psychology. In March, as a civilian, she stood before a class of freshman cadets, called “plebes,” who seemed as nervously excited as she was about the day’s touchy topics: love and sexuality. “Lu-uv,” Young began, drawling out the word in her Southern accent for laughs. “The class you’ve all been waiting for.” She covered attraction and romance, dating and rejection. Then she flashed on screen photos of celebrity couples. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. The less pretty pair from the TV sitcom The King of Queens. And then Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi. “So,” Young said, pausing. “Let’s talk about sexual orientation.”

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DURHAM — A sea of orange adorned Oyster River High School on an emotional Saturday morning as the Durham community honored the memory of Todd Heuchling and Marina Slavin. Hundreds of runners and volunteers turned out proudly clothed in orange t-shirts emblazoned with the words “Todd's Trot.” On August 21, 2003, the final day of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point marathon team tryouts, Todd Heuchling was fewer than 100 yards from the finish line when tragedy struck. He was overcome by heat stroke and passed away at the age of 19. Todd's parents, Bob and Sally Heuchling, chose to honor the memory of their son by organizing Todd's Trot, now in its 11th year.

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Michaela Loomis, Kimball High Class of 2013, was presented with her varsity letter for swimming at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., on March 14. Loomis, a first-year cadet at West Point, swims the breaststroke for the Army Black Knights women’s team, which went 6-6 in the NCAA Patriot League during the 2013-14 season. Her best times, set Dec. 12 in the Army’s meet against the U.S. Naval Academy, include a mark of 1 minute, 5.60 seconds in the 100 breaststroke.

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