HAPPY HANK

How I survived the first summer at West Point is still a mystery. I was only 17 and had done little in my life to prepare me for the severe emotional and physical demands of Beast Barracks. For two months I looked forward only to the end of that phase, and to the ensuing academic year. Little did I know what lay ahead.

For one thing, which company you ended up in made a whole lot of difference. Since company assignment was based on height, there were only four companies possible. Of those, K-2 was renowned to be the easiest on plebes. I-2, C-1 and D-1 had opposite reputations. So, of course, I was assigned to I-2, one company I knew I wanted to avoid.

The first thing I found out was that there were now a lot more upperclassmen to deal with. In the summer there had been about 4 of us to every one of them. Now the odds were reversed. There were nearly three upperclassmen to every plebe.

To make matters worse, the company tactical officer was new and was obviously intent on establishing a real reputation (he already had quite a reputation, but we didn't know that.) He had arranged for a first classman from another company to be the company commander -- a real slap in the face of all the firsties in the company. That was the first shot over the bow.

Captain Emerson called a company meeting on the first day of "reorganization week." He said that we were going to be the best company at everything and, as a first step, we had to make the company look a lot better. It wasn't up to our new standards. For the next few days I was on my hands and knees scrubbing dirt out from between floor boards with a toothbrush. That had no noticeable impact on the appearance of the company, it was just another warning shot.

One of the things the Tac promised was that we were going to win the Banker's Trophy, which was awarded to the company that does the best in intramural athletics. "Intermurder" is serious business at West Point. It is mandatory, for starters. Most everyone attending is a good athlete since that is one of the admissions criteria, so the sports are usually played at a fairly high level. We were one of 24 companies, so declaring that we would win the trophy was a very bold statement.

Every Saturday in those days there was a parade followed by and inspection in ranks. The inspections were unpleasant affairs at which the Tac, sometimes replaced by the cadet cadre, looked you over with great attention and assigned you demerits for tiny imperfections in your uniform or equipment. My favorite gig was for "insect in rifle bore." Obviously it had entered the bore during parade. In other words, inspection was your best opportunity all week to acquire demerits whether you deserved them or not.

After the first couple of Saturdays the outcome of the first intermurder games was known. As a result of a lot of creative team formation and an unusually athletic plebe class, we had won every single game or meet held. Captain Emerson, who was now being called "Happy Hank" by the cadets who had never seen him smile, strode out onto the stoops to take the inspection. He talked earnestly to the company commander for a few minutes, turned and walked away. Huey Donald, the company commander, announced to the company that the company intermurder teams had performed spectacularly and, as a reward, the company would be excused from inspection. "Company, Dismissed."

As the other 23 companies stood in ranks having their rifles inspected for mislocated insects, we returned to our rooms with no demerits. Talk about an incentive! It was a long time before Happy Hank could find an excuse not to excuse the company from inspection. Our teams were thrashing everyone. No one wanted to win more than we did.

The upshot of all this is that we had won the trophy halfway through the winter season. With additional emphasis on academic achievement, we won the Dean's Trophy every semester. There was only one other thing a company could win, and we never did win the drill streamer, but we were always second.

The effect on the morale in I-2 of winning the trophies was astonishing to me. We assumed and believed that we were somehow better. That translated into lots of things, all of them good. We all could see exactly what Emerson was doing but that didn't lessen our self-esteem. I used similar techniques myself throughout my career (not as effectively, I'm sure) and I suspect all of the cadets in I-2 took that lesson with them after graduation. We still speak reverently of Happy Hank and I-2.

After that year, Emerson was sent to M-2, historically a bastion of indifference, to shape that company up. The second of his years there, M-2 beat us out for the Banker's Trophy. In his three years as a Tac, his company won the trophy twice.

Many years later I was at a retirement home that is populated almost exclusively by retired military, many of them West Point grads. I happened to have a conversation with an old grad who told me a long story, the point of which I have forgotten, but which at one juncture dealt with his assignment to West Point as a tactical officer.

He told me that he had been the tac of K-2 and found it to be a sorry mess of a company. He decided that he had to do something drastic to shape it up. He made up his mind that K-2 would win the Banker's Trophy. He called his firstclassmen together and told them that they were going to do that. He wanted the best athletic organizer in the company to be put in charge of intermurder and to develop and strategy for winning the trophy. The cadet chosen to lead the charge was Hank Emerson. They won the trophy.