Raising The Bar

In this article, I would like to share with you some excerpts of my Command Guidance to USCC and the Corps for this academic year. The cornerstones of this philosophy are: instilling in our cadets physical toughness, the warrior ethos, and the commitment to excellence in all endeavors. Wherever West Point cadets go, whatever they do, it will be apparent that they are the best; best in sports, best in academics, best in appearance, best in discipline and bearing, and best in military skills. To instill in our future officers the importance of excellence in all endeavors, we are raising the standard in many areas. Why raise them? Simply put, because the quality of the fine men and women at West Point is constantly increasing; what used to be a challenge for previous classes to attain is now common for current classes. We also realize that these future officers are facing a world much different from when we were lieutenants. Our future graduates will be defending America’s interests and freedoms against terrorists and other enemies and doing it with the equipment, tactics, and doctrine of the Objective Force. To succeed, these units will rely on their training and skills but also will require leaders who are trained and comfortable operating in an environment characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. West Point alone produces about 25% of the lieutenants for the U.S. Army every year, so we must do whatever we can to instill in these motivated, capable young men and women the qualities and characteristics to help us fight and win on these ill-defined battlefields and return home with their soldiers victorious.

Emphasis for AY 02–03. My first area of emphasis is in cadet physical development. I firmly believe that graduates of West Point must excel in physical fitness as well as in physical education; they cannot just meet Army minimums. Beginning this term, cadets who achieve lower than a “C-” on a record APFT will be enrolled in the Commandant’s Physical Remediation Program (CPRP) and must pass another record APFT to exit the program. The CPRP is designed to be remedial in nature, not punitive, and designed to inculcate in our cadets the importance of a lifetime commitment to physical fitness. Rick Olson began a forerunner program in January, and it has proven its worth. I have expanded its scope and increased the expected levels of performance based upon a review of the fitness levels we believe a leader in our transforming Army must attain. Cadets who fail two consecutive record APFTs are subject to separation, just like any cadet who fails an academic course twice. However, we also are providing some carrots to go with the stick. We are adding incentives for physical excellence in companies, based on the cumulative individual achievements of cadets on physical fitness tests, such as guidon streamers, performance passes, and exemptions from morning inspection period (AMI) for a few days to a week.

Beginning this term, the Corps of Cadets also will do unit physical training once a week during the non-intramural periods of the academic year. The Department of Physical Education also is working with intramural teams to find ways to include cardiovascular and muscle-strengthening improvement opportunities as part of the intramural experience. The overall objective is to inculcate a physical training culture in the Corps that our cadets will continue when they become officers.

I also intend to use combatives instruction, in hand-to-hand combat and close-quarters combat, as a vehicle to make our graduates physically harder and tougher. We are exploring the possibility of increasing the amount of instruction during summer training and during physical education classes, as well as adding combatives to our Brigade Open Championships and possibly teaching more advanced levels of combatives as a DPE elective course.

My second major area of emphasis will be in cadets’ military development. We must instill the warrior ethos into our cadets. While we expect that cadets will sometimes fail on their journey to become an officer, we should not allow them to tolerate that failure as an endstate. We must instill in cadets the importance of excelling in each of the roles of an officer and instill in them the notions of selfless service and teamwork. To support this goal, we are considering making the completion of a military developmental school a baseline requirement. If a cadet fails a school for an academic or physical fitness deficiency, we will make every effort for that cadet to repeat the same school the next summer or, if necessary, over the First Class spring break. The main objective is not the completion of the school; it is to successfully complete a tough military training event with soldiers they will soon lead and to gain the personal confidence associated with that completion. It is a means to an end.

The social development of cadets also is a critical component of their USMA experience. We want to strengthen this concept in the interactions and supporting programs for the Corps. Our cadets must have the requisite interpersonal skills and social graces to interact in any environment, whether dealing with a foreign local tribesman or senior government official. Inherent in this issue is the mature treatment of alcohol, expectations of personal behavior as a young officer, and appropriate interactions between genders. Along with these skills, cadets must acquire an appreciation of the Army family and the unique traditions and culture associated with a career in the military. The Directorate of Cadet Activities, with input from the Brigade Tactical Department and Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic, is charged to strengthen the focus of instruction and emphasis on cadet social development.

In closing, let me say CST 2002 was a great success. I want to thank the staff and faculty of West Point and the soldiers in the field who contributed to this success. We must build on that success for the future. Our focus for AY 02–03 is clear. We want cadets who are committed to excellence — physically, academically, and militarily. We want a curriculum that fosters that commitment and inspires them to attain levels of performance they did not know they could reach. We want leaders who are attentive to details, act selflessly, and think militarily. We want ethical and moral behavior that is second nature. We want our cadets to see all of these attributes in each of our staff and faculty. I am confident that, through our collective efforts, we will continue to provide the soldiers of our Army the best leaders possible. They deserve nothing less.

Go Army!

BG Leo A. Brooks, Jr.

BG Leo A. Brooks, Jr. ’79