February 2000

• LTG Christman held his semi-annual Command Information briefing to the USMA staff and faculty on 25 February.  He made a number of jokes about his skiing accident in Vail last month (knocked out, broken collar bone, etc.).  Here are some of the highlights:

  • On the "Brick and Mortar" side: 

    • Construction will begin on the Michie Stadium Athletic Complex in June 2000.

    • A donor from the Class of 1969, Mark Hofffman, is contributing $5 million to construct a new 12,000 square foot press box at Michie in 2001.  It will have the outward look of the press box area in Giants Stadium but have functionality over lavishness.

    • The new Crew and Sailing Center is designed but the donor is a little short of the required funds to start construction, temporarily delayed.

    • Phase II of the Hotel Thayer renovation may begin this summer.  Included in this phase is the realignment of Thayer Road to put the hotel parking on the hotel side of the road and move the road to the area of the existing parking lot.  Also 120 more rooms will be added.

    • The Supe is seeking Congressional support to build a new science building on the site of Central Apartments in 2004 and expand the Library into Bartlett Hall to form a new library and learning center in 2006.  

    • The demolition of Arvin Gymnasium is 80% complete.  For our reunion, one can expect to see only the Hayes Gym section and the Crandall Pool still standing.  The Army leadership is still working with one Congressman to determine the final scope of the new Arvin CPDC.

    • Pershing Center (former Ladycliff College)  is receiving a $3 million facelift from Army funds.  Included in the facelift will be a pedestrian mall leading up to the museum, a memorial park and a dressed up Abrams Gate, complete with Sherman tank painted to resemble Creighton Abram's tank, "Thunderbolt".

    • Family housing continues to get renovation funding - the north and south Old English units in this fiscal year and New Brick  in FY01-03.

    • Look for a new skeet and trap club house at Range 4A which will look somewhat like the 49er Lodge, a golf team clubhouse at the east end of the new driving range planned for the old 16th hole, $1 million to upgrade the snow making equipment at the Victor Constant Ski Slope.

    • Route 218, the "low" road to Cornwall from West Point, has been closed since one lane slid down the hill, just outside of Lee Gate, during Tropical Storm Floyd in September 1999.  New York State plans to rebuild the washed out segment this summer.

    • Keller Army Community Hospital will open its new MRI and CT facility by mid-July.

  • Funding for the USMA.  A team did a thorough study of the funding needed to sustain USMA.  It concluded that the $150 million annually projected by the Army is $20 million too low and the Supe is working to increase the funding level.  In fact, he is seeking an additional $30 million next year over the $170 million to reduce the backlog of maintenance and repair and to improve the library facility and operations.

  • Highland Falls and Fort Montgomery.  Construction has begun on an 86 room Holiday Inn Express in Fort Montgomery.  A Rite Aid opened this winter in Highland Falls and a car wash may be constructed on the site of Pellie's Pontiac.

• For those of you coming back to our 20th reunion and that have not been on West Point for a visit, here are some of the noticeable changes:

  • Arvin Gymnasium is disappearing quickly.  See photos in the Scrapbook.  The vista from Mills Road is worth looking at now that the 6th floor gym is gone (along with part of the 5th floor racquetball courts and Central Gym, too).  By October my guess is that all that will be left will be olympic size pool and the old area with the boxing rings and Hayes Gym (site of the Indoor Obstacle Course Test).  John Shimkus can fill you in on the tight rope that the USMA and Army leadership has walked in order to keep funding in place for the new Arvin Cadet Physical Development Center.

  • Thayer Road is being transformed into a real pedestrian mall.  Many of the new granite curbs are in place or on site.  The road intersections will be changed to memorial spots with black and gray polished granite.

  • Cullum Bridge (between Mahan Hall and Thayer Hall) is open to traffic after a closure of 10 years or so.

  • Howze Place, near the old Smith Rink location (now the AOG Herbert Alumni Center) is being reworked.  In the next year or so, this will be the main route up to the Stony Lonesome area as  Stony Lonesome Road gets blocked by Michie Stadium by the new Michie Stadium Athletic Complex (MSAC).  The West Point Master Plan calls for a new access point for Stony Lonesome Road at Mills Road to be built between the north end of Michie Stadium and Fort Putnam.

  • Shea Stadium is being rebuilt thanks to another class.  The Army provided the funds to redo the track and put in an artificial turf field for the sprint football team (150 lb football to us old timers).

  • Stony Lonesone has been transformed.  Joining the old housing area is a new housing area (about 2 years old), a commissary (about 10 years old), a Child Development Center, a combination PX Shoppette, Class VI and Auto Garage, and a new PX to open this summer (with a Burger King!).

  • The Grey Ghost housing was torn down and replaced by New Grey Ghost.  Same row houses but more spacious, definitely designed for today's living habits.

  • Short overcoats have all but been phased out.  I think the Class of 2001 is the last class to be issued the overcoats.  The standard winter uniform for cadets is "as for class with parkas and knit caps".  If the snow gets bad, the Corps goes to BDUs.  Remember the one blizzard where we went to class wearing the class uniform with trousers bloused in our combat boots?

  • More on uniforms.  The lizard loungers are out!  The Class of 2000 was the last to be issued the Cadet Blazer Uniform.  No replacements except maybe the next item . . .

  • Speaking of uniforms, the stylish running suit is the cadet loungewear of choice.  This version of Gym A is authorized for evening study periods in the library, sporting events, etc.  Hmmm....

  • If memory serves me correctly, Central Guard Room announcements for CCQ's to report to CGR to pick up packages would list companies by regiment, i.e., A1, B1, C1, etc.  Today's announcements are by letter company - A1, A2, A3, A4, B1, etc.  I was wondering why the change.  My theory is that it has to do with the way computer spreadsheets sort the company names...

  • Cadets do a lot more activities after classes.  There is something called Unit Training Time (UTT) that the cadet chain of command utilizes for company level training.  On my way home tonight, I saw a large number of units conducting PT - runs, ruck marches, and even one group running in BDUs, wearing their protective masks, carrying rifles and rucks.  I fondly remember rack time on the afternoons when we weren't participating in intramurals.

• How about the newest class sons and daughters?  Maybe two categories - first spouse and current spouse.  In the first spouse category, I'll offer up my daughter - Allison Elizabeth Morris - born at West Point on 8 February 2000.