The Obvious

• The United States Military Academy at West Point, NY is the oldest military post in the United States (since 1778).
• West Point is also the oldest military academy in the U.S., established 1802.
• West Point is possibly the oldest true university in the U.S., with education in math and the sciences.  Harvard (and Yale) claim this honor, but they were established as divinity schools.  Math and science didn't become a major part of their cirriculum until the 1850's.
• Of West Point's first two graduates, one was a Christian, and the other a Jew.
• Of 60 battles fought in the Civil War, 55 saw West Point graduates commanding on BOTH sides of  the conflict. In the remaining battles, a West Point graduate commanded on one of the two sides.
• West Point has only 4000 cadets (total) because that's the number the Congress of the United States has mandated for the institution.  Prior to 1964, the number was 2,529.
• Even though cadets can major in such subjects as diverse as English, History, or Political Science, every graduating cadet receives a Bachelor of Science degree.
• Many people assume West Point teaches the 'art of war'. It does not.  It's main cirriculum is in the sciences and humanities.  If you want to become a general, leading thousands of troops in battle, you first have to go to command school, and then the U.S. Army War College.
• West Point is not just a campus, or a military post - it's actually a military reservation.
• The Corp of Cadets has representatives from every state in the union, most U.S. possessions, and several foreign countries.
• Females were first admitted to West Point in 1976.  Currently they represent 17% of all cadets - the same percentage as in the U.S. Army.

• Why did the U.S. establish a military 'college'?  So our country wouldn't have to depend on foreign engineers and artillerists during times of conflict.
• Who originally designed West Point?  Thaddeus Kosciuszko, an engineer who learned his trade in Poland.
• How good a job did Kosciuszko do?  Fortress West Point was never captured by the British, despite Benedict Arnold's treason.
• How important was West Point's location in the 1700's?  General George Washington considered West Point to be the most important strategic position in America.
• Speaking of 'Washingtons', West Point grad George Washington Whistler (1819) was chosen by the czar of Russia to build the first railroad between Moscow and St. Petersburg.
• West Point is the offical silver bullion depository for the United States (gold is at Ft. Knox).  It is also a U.S. Mint, the only one making gold coins for our government.
• Thayer gate at West Point is exactly 41 miles from Central Park in Manhattan (as the 'crow flies'), and about the same milage to Bridgeport, Conn. on the Long Island Sound.
• Although Manhattan is larger than West Point, it's not by much.  28 sq. mi. compared to West Point's 25 sq. mi.
• West Point has only awarded Bachelor (undergraduate) degrees, EXCEPT that from 1988 -93, it awareded Masters degrees in Leadership Development.  The students were future tactical officers of West Point (TAC's).  The Congress of the United States stopped the program.
• Richard Hatch, the winner of the CBS summer show 'Survivor', an ultimate 'game player' who used an 'alliance' to gain advantage over his competitors, was a cadet at West Point for 2 years (did he misunderstand the values within the cadet honor code?)
• Although the cadet management of the honor code was an unofficial tradition, Superintendent of the USMA, Douglas MacArthur formalized it with the creation of the Cadet Honor Committee.
• Robert E. Lee, the General-in-Chief of the Confederate Armies was not only a West Point graduate (1829), but also served as the superintendent of West Point (1852 - 1855).
• Andrea Lee Hollen, the first woman graduate of West Point, was a Rhodes scholar (1980).
• Gen. George S. Patton, one of the greatest leaders during World War II, took 5 years to graduate West Point (when only 4 was allowed), was the 'goat' (last) of his graduating class, and who's statue at West Point faces the library, a place, it's said, he never visited during his tenure there.
• Gen. George Armstrong Custer, of Indian war 'fame', was a brilliant Civil War leader, and was the first Union general to accept the Confederate flag of truce at the war's end.  He was also the 'goat' of his class (1861), and was court-martialed shortly after graduation for failure to break up a fight between two cadets.
• The 1st Division Barracks building, a red brick building within the central courtyard, was built in 1851.  Some of it's notable residents include John Schofield & Philip Sheridan (1853), John J. Pershing (1886), Douglas MacArthur (1903), George S. Patton (1909), Matthew B. Ridgway (1917), and Norman Schwartzkopf (1956) of 'Desert Storm' fame.
• Highland Falls, the town right outside the Thayer gate, has only one fast food restaurant, a McDonalds, that has two 'Claims to Fame':  it's the only McDonalds known that delivers, and it's located on West Point land.  The 'good folks' of Highland Falls wouldn't allow zoning for it.
• West Point sports has had some very good coaches over the years, including Vince Lombardi (ass't. football), and Bobby Knight (head - basketball).
• Thirty-two West Pointers have been pictured on postage stamps, including thirty graduates and two other distinguished attendees of the academy -- Edgar Allan Poe and James (Abbott) McNeill Whistler.  Ulysses S. Grant (1843) has appeared on forty different postage issues. He is followed closely by Dwight D.Eisenhower (1915) who has appeared on thirty-seven stamps.
• Today's seniors ('firsties') claim they are 'slighted' compared to the '2004' class:  TV's and phones in the rooms, a spring break, and no 'pinging' in the central area.  But they forget that not that many years ago, cadets went 11 months before they could leave West Point.
• West Point was the first school in the U.S. to use rings as a class symbol.  The tradition started in 1835, and has been continuous with the exception of 1836 (no rings), and 1879 (cuff links).
• More to follow