Final Report of the
West Point Study Group
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Final Report of the West Point Study Group |
p. iii, line 16 should read "Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges"
p. 4, insert ; on line 28 between "for" and "ethic"
p. 42, line 2, "agendas" should read "agenda"
p. 90, line 40, should read "of relative . . . "
DAPE-ZBW
27 July 1977
General Bernard W. Rogers
Chief of Staff
United States Army
Washington, DC 20310
Dear General Rogers,
Attached is the report of the West Point Study Group charged by you to examine all aspects of the United States Military Academy. The undersigned are in agreement with the findings and recommendations contained therein and recommend early attention be given to them.
The enthusiastic assistance accorded the Study Group by civilian and governmental institutions was of great value. The respect, deep concern, and great affection for the Military Academy evidenced throughout the country was not only heartwarming but inspired our work. We have been heartened by the dedication and quality of the cadets, faculty, and staff of the Military Academy and by the basic strengths of the institution. We note that West Point is changing and has changed even as we conducted our inquiry. We are encouraged by the initiative already taken to address many of the problems discussed in this report.
Deeply aware of the responsibility that you placed on us, we respectfully submit this report.
HILLMAN DICKINSON Major General, USA Chairman, Academic Committee |
JACK V. MACKMULL Major General, USA Chairman, Environment Committee |
JACK N. MERRITT Brigadier General, USA Chairman, Military Professional Committee |
In the aftermath of the cheating incident of 1976, the Chief of Staff of the Army felt the need for a broad, searching examination of the entire U.S. Military Academy and saw in the climate of healthy self-examination the opportunity to make such changes as might be found necessary. Thus, in early January, he directed the formation of the West Point Study Group and charged it to study, not simply those aspects pertaining to Honor, as in the case of the Borman Commission, but with a thorough review of all aspects of the Academy. The Study Group drew its members and consultants from the active Army, Department of Army civilians, Federal Service employees and leaders of the academic and business community. Military members represented a spectrum of military branches, experience, educational disciplines and varied service at the Academy. Some had no previous relationship with West Point. Consultant recommendations were solicited from many sources: the National Academy of Sciences, the National Institute of Education, the Middle States Association of Schools Colleges, the Department of Defense including all three services, the Library of Congress and other appropriate civilian organizations. A detailed list of committee members appears at Appendix B. The Study Group operated under the general auspices of the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel and consisted of three committees-Academic, Environment and Military Professional Development--each under the guidance of a general officer
Over the next 7 months, the members of the Committee probed relevant aspects of the Academy employing a variety of techniques. To develop a database, the Study Group conducted numerous interviews, made many visits, administered questionnaires and studied a wide field of available literature. The Group consulted with members of the Army staff, the Superintendent, Dean and Commandant of the Academy and over 300 members of the Academy staff and faculty, as well as the superintendents, deans, commandants and faculty of the other U.S. service academies and the Canadian, British, German and French academies. The Group also interviewed nearly 600 cadets and several cadets and midshipmen from the Air Force and Naval academies. Over 40 general officers, active and retired, were contacted to determine what those who had achieved professional success might suggest to improve the Academy and its graduates. Still other interviews included leaders of the academic community.
The Study Group made fact-finding visits to numerous locations including all U.S. and five foreign service academies. The Group also visited 16 private or state colleges or universities. Visits to active Army educational institutions included the US Army War College, the Command and General Staff College, and seven Training and Doctrine Command Schools. Study Group members visited nine Army divisions. Questionnaires were administered to nearly a thousand newly-commissioned lieutenants and over 700 of their commanders and subordinates. Questionnaire responses from Academy personnel included over 1600 cadets and nearly 400 staff and faculty. The Study Group also elicited letter responses from current corps and division commanders, major command chiefs of staff, commandants of combat and combat support arm schools and separate brigade and regimental commanders.
Research efforts embraced a wide variety of material to include accreditation reports of both the United States Military and Naval Academies. The Group reviewed previous studies of the various academies such as the reports of the Folsom Committee, the Kappel Board, the White Committee and the General Accounting Office. Equally useful were the annual class questionnaires and surveys of graduates. The Group also studied a number of commercially published works.
The Study Group defined objectives and measures of success, generated discussion, evaluated alternatives and recommended actions and topics for further study. Military Academy personnel participated and assisted the work in many ways, as did many other Department of Army organizations. The Study Group particularly appreciates the willing help and advice received from individuals throughout the country. Former military men were generous in their aid. Busy educators enthusiastically provided invaluable help and perspective. The affection and concern for the Military Academy throughout the country have been inspiring to all who have participated.
A. Introduction
Responding to guidance from the Chief of Staff of the Army, the West Point Study Group examined the United States Military Academy and found it basically a sound institution. This report summarizes the ways in which the Group believes this institution can be made even better, The Electrical Engineering 304 cheating incident in the Spring of 1976, the Report of the Special Commission on the U.S. Military Academy (the Borman Report) in December 1976, and our review indicate that the Academy has fallen victim to a number of problems which in complex and subtle ways have compounded. The Study Group believes that these problems can be solved by prompt and vigorous action to carry out the recommendations of the Borman Commission, West Point Special Actions Group, and this report. The following report is inevitably problem oriented. It makes no attempt to chronicle the many excellent aspects of West Point, and there are aspects of every part of the Academy which inspire admiration.
The problems assume a variety of specific forms, but certain generalizations are possible. First, the Study Group notes a slackening of the pursuit of excellence. It appears everywhere in cadet life but is most troubling in the academic program. Many cadets, of course, vigorously work for academic achievement. A significant number, however, do not. Some even attempt to discourage other cadets from seeking academic distinction, using methods which range from casual disparaging remarks to conscious manipulation of peer evaluations. There are similar denigrations of military training, athletic prowess and of adherence to the highest ethical and professional values. One must assert correctly that such attitudes are abundant in every undergraduate institution. We believe, however, that the National Military Academy bears a special responsibility for excellence.
Second, the Study Group observes a concomitant decline in the standards demanded of cadets by the Academy, perhaps in part because of concern for attrition. Marginal scholastic performances do not preclude graduation. Even the frequency of success on the playing fields has declined. There is a pervasive need to set and enforce standards in all aspects of the cadet experience.
A third general problem identified by the Study Group is an apparent
lack of accepted common objectives for the whole institution, an uncertainty
of purpose which repeated recitation of the mission statement cannot disguise.
There is a disturbing lack of comprehensive supervision and long-range
planning. There are too frequent examples of unclear assignment of responsibility
and authority. Senior officials seem overly occupied with minor administrative
matters. The Superintendent's
span of control is excessive, and the brevity of his tour conflicts
with the need for continuity in that position. The Dean and the senior
faculty--all tenured and steeped in knowledge of the Academy--are teamed
with transient counterparts in the Department of Tactics. At the junior
officer level, the faculty comes from the upper quartile academically,
while the tactical officers are overwhelmingly from the lower half. There
are doubts and conflicts about the role of tactical officers, the place
of women in the Army, and priorities in the education and training of cadets--to
name but three contentious issues. Cleavages exist between faculty and
non-faculty, academic and military, senior and junior, tenured and non-tenured,
male and female, officer and cadet. Rather than joining in pursuit of a
common goal, the various elements follow their separate aims, lacking in
true communication, uninformed of each other's interests, each believing
his own programs should be afforded first priority, often competing for
cadet time.
Not surprisingly, cadets frequently find themselves whipsawed among conflicting requirements that show little toleration for other demands. Multiple tasks rigidly scheduled so fragment each day that cadets seldom enjoy the satisfaction of concentration on a single activity, whether academic, military, athletic, or recreational. The large number of courses required for graduation and the few options for electives result in scattered academic attention and limited opportunity for study in depth. The need to improve management of cadet time is heightened by the existence of cadet chain of command duties (sometimes unnecessary or unimportant), the rigors of physical education and sports schedules, and a large number of attractive extracurricular, recreational, and cultural activities.
The Study Group found that a relatively humorless atmosphere seems to prevail. True, West Point is a serious place engaged in a serious purpose. It has always been so but did not always lack the lightheartedness and zest that characterize most groups of young people who are presumably following a freely chosen path. A certain grimness marks many of the cadets, an outlook which may blind them to many of life's humorous aspects and rob them of much of the enjoyment of their four-year experience.
Fourth, the Academy is not institutionally sensitive to evidence of the need for change nor is it organized to be decisive in making changes. Problems are identified falteringly and solved hesitantly. Most tradition-laden institutions change slowly, and this characteristic can and has been a strength. West Point must not scrap fundamental principles and mimic every fad. Indeed West Point has avoided much of the trauma and turmoil experienced by other institutions of higher education and has retained features to which the best colleges are now returning. For this we compliment the Academy. But a healthy institution also confidently identifies its own weaknesses and aggressively moves to correct them. The Study Group sees a number of areas at the Academy which call for such attention. There should be a review of all pedagogy in both the educational and training programs; poor courses should be improved or eliminated; a major effort to improve cadet writing should begin; quality standards for graduation should be established. Measures should be taken to reverse the intellectual inbreeding of the faculty and staff and to increase their participation in the educational mainstream of the county. The pervasive negative effects of the General Order of Merit, the Leadership Evaluation System, and the Disciplinary System should be recognized and curbed. The contemporary leadership style of the Army at large should replace the autocratic style which too often is seen at the Academy and which impairs the effectiveness of young graduates in their initial tours. Admission standards, especially the demanding physical fitness requirements for women, should be reviewed. The Academy should address the problems of the intercollegiate athletic program: the need for clear direction, for support from all quarters, for improved facilities.
Finally, the Study Group wishes to reaffirm the importance of the Honor Code to the central purpose of the Academy and to stress the need for all aspects of Academy life to be organized and conducted to support the Honor Code and the highest ideals of the military profession. Recent reforms in the Honor System seem efficacious but should be reevaluated in the near future. What should never be forgotten is that honor taken for granted is honor lost. The Electrical Engineering 30 episode underscores that hard lesson. The development of personal and professional integrity is a process of continuing education and renewal for all cadets and all officers. The Academy should be a wellspring of this process for the Army.
The Study Group concludes this introduction by offering as our first
recommendation the adoption of the following Concept of the U.S. Military
Academy. This statement is the Study Group's effort to explain what
the Academy should do to accomplish its mission and to remedy the lack
of accepted common objectives. Chapter II contains the specific recommendations
judged necessary by the Study Group to solve the current problems of the
Academy. Chapters III - IX present the findings which emerged from the
Study Group's investigations, along with detailed explanations of the resulting
recommendations, The Study Group submits its report with confidence in
the fundamental strength of the Academy and with a desire to ensure its
full health and vitality.
B. Concept for the U.S. Military Academy (proposed for adoption
and written in a tense appropriate for that purpose).
The mission of the United States Military Academy is to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate shall have the character, leadership, intellectual foundation and other attributes essential to progressive and continuing development through a career of exemplary service to the nation as an officer of the regular Army.The educational and training programs of the Military Academy should inspire cadets to-dedicate themselves to careers of self less service to the country as professional military officers. This goal requires cadets to adopt without reservation the ideals inherent in the motto Duty, Honor, and Country. All aspects of the Academy must support and reinforce this objective.
In accomplishing its mission, West Point leads young men and women through the transition from civilian to officer. The time for each phase of this transition--from civilian to cadet and from cadet to officer--resists precise definition and varies among individuals. Thus, each stage raises questions about cadet progress. Such questions might address the time at which cadets develop a mature concept of honor or duty and when they are prepared for the responsibilities of leadership. These issues prompt continuing debate and constant efforts to improve the five integrated programs that coalesce to form the West Point environment: Academic, Character Development, Military Professional, Athletic, and Extracurricular Activities.
1. Academic Program. The Academic program constitutes a fundamental building block of the four-year experience. It provides the intellectual bases for future education and training, both academic and professional; for the formulation of a personal ethic for the development of character and for effective decision making. During the academic year, this program has the highest priority.
The academic program provides high quality education in a challenging military environment, preparing cadets mentally for the rigors of a career of service? in peace or war. The program lays a foundation for developing the judgment and ethics re4uired of professional Army officers. It develops an appreciation of society and the role of the military in it; it fosters an interest in world issues. The learning process enhances the ability to sort information and develop associations among the variety of ideas and facts and then to apply these to defining and solving problems, both practical and theoretical. Equally important objectives are: developing self confidence; learning to allocate time and resources judiciously; learning to make reasoned judgments; and learning to write and speak with clarity and precision.
A desire for academic excellence is a central theme of the academic program. High achievement reinforces intellectual interests, develops habits of continuous self-criticism and improvement and permits a full realization of potential.
Although specialization in the accepted sense is not a primary goal of the academic program, cadets receive exposure to the basic intellectual disciplines that would support post-baccalaureate education and later specialization.
Cadets are introduced to the theoretical and applied sciences and engineering, the social and behavioral sciences, language, and the humanities. This required grouping of courses is designed to establish a foundation in the mathematical and experimental methods of the physical sciences and their application to science and engineering; an understanding of the concepts, methods of analysis, historical and quantitative techniques of the social sciences; an appreciation of the important scholarly, literary, ethical, cultural, religious, and other institutional foundations of society; and an understanding of human behavior. Building upon this general education, cadets select concentrations in at least one field or discipline to develop the confidence that comes from fuller knowledge and to satisfy their intellectual curiosity. Unifying themes in the disciplines are sought so that cadets may experience the power and recognize the consequences of the integration of learning.
The academic program emphasizes understanding and use of general principles rather than the memorizing of detailed techniques of solution. Cadets must be capable of stating a problem, selecting an appropriate approach to solving it, producing a solution, and interpreting it to others.
Cadets must have time to reflect, to synthesize, and to gain the confidence that comes from true understanding. This requirement means that adequate time for study, free from distraction, must be available during the academic year. Administrative procedures must be closely and continuously monitored to detect those encroaching on cadet study time.
Learning constitutes the most important undertaking of the academic year. Cadets must sense staff and faculty interest in them and dedication to their development, but simultaneously they must recognize their personal responsibility to meet prescribed standards. A reasonable choice of electives and a constant awareness of the relevance of the material studied to future work at the Academy and to a career in the Army will enhance motivation for study. Broad and general in nature, the academic program meshes with a calling, the demands of which are equally broad.
2. Character Development Program. The character development program assists cadets in constructing a personal moral code that will sustain them through a career of Army service. This program has its theoretical roots in the academic program. Academic preparation in the philosophical development of moral precepts builds a framework for the reasoned development of moral percepts. Ethical implications of each discipline require constant emphasis. Additionally, voluntary religious activities enhance spiritual development and heighten awareness of moral issues. Furthermore, each member of the staff and faculty should act as a model for cadets by demonstrating personal responsibility and integrity of the highest order. The cadet Honor Code and System challenge the cadets and furnish the opportunity for introspection and moral growth at West Point and during their whole military career.
The Honor Code forms the cornerstone of the ethical structure of cadet life. Although the Honor Code is not a comprehensive prescription for ethical behavior, it contains a set of irreducible standards common to all honorable people--refusal to lie, cheat, or steal. Additionally the Honor Code includes the tenet of self-enforcement. The Honor System applies the Honor Code to cadet life, demanding that the daily the precepts of the Code.
A high standard of personal honor remains a basic expectation of men and women in the profession of arms. As novice officers, cadets must quickly recognize that moral rectitude is a prerequisite for those entrusted with the guardianship of a self-governing society. Cadets should be nothing less than completely honest in dealings with subordinates and superiors who depend daily on the correctness of their actions. Newton Baker has reminded all that "the inexact or untruthful soldier trifles with the lives of his fellow men and with the honor of his government." The Honor Code and System should provide cadets a basis for continuing ethical development both as cadets and as officers.
3. Military Professional Development Program. The Military Professional Development program makes West Point unique. Throughout the four-year experience, the cadet gains an intellectual appreciation of the profession of arms available elsewhere. During the four-year program, the cadets receive an appropriate balance of theory and practice in the school of the soldier. This balance appropriately reflects the total purpose of the Academy. Three objectives guide the military professional development program. The first aim is to have cadets understand classical and contemporary concepts of warfare. Second, cadets must develop individual military skills and be able to apply them in leadership situations and responsible staff and technical assignments. Finally, cadets study the techniques of command and gain an appreciation of the principles of leadership. During the academic year, the Military Professional Development program gives the cadet unique intellectual depth in the military profession through courses in Military Systems, Modern Warfare, Decisionmaking, Battlefield Simulation and the like. This instruction complements the more traditional courses in Psychology, Leadership, Military Law, Military Art (History), and related electives.
During the summer training period, cadets learn to apply military skills in extended leadership laboratories in a variety of settings. These exercises challenge cadets in such diverse areas as supervising and training subordinate cadets, holding positions with the U.S. Army in the field, and participating in special activities.
The sum of these summer experiences combines with the classroom contributions to produce graduates well prepared to enter post-graduate military training and subsequently to assume the duties and responsibilities of a commissioned officer.
4. Athletic Program. The fourth element of the West Point experience is the athletic program. This program reinforces the other three by providing the opportunity for personal growth in a physically vigorous, competitive environment. In addition, it provides recreational release from a crowded, demanding daily schedule, while emphasizing the development of the individual strength and endurance required in the field Army. The program gives a strenuous introduction to individual combative skills and stresses the importance of maintaining high levels of physical fitness. The advanced program teaches sports which cadets can pursue in later years and encourages them to excel in at least one. While focusing on individual development, the program also provides a foundation for structuring physical fitness programs for Army units.
Intramural and intercollegiate athletics further reinforce the pursuit of excellence that is fundamental to all aspects of the Academy. But they also develop teamwork and leadership skills. Vigorous competition occurs, but athletic victory is never an end in itself. Intramural competition should be sufficiently intense to generate interest but not to the degree that cadets impair their studies. The intercollegiate and intramural programs, club sports, and the physical education program must be integrated to emphasize the continuing professional and character development of the cadet.
5. Extracurricular Activities. Extracurricular activities represent the final dimension of the West Point experience. Extracurricular activities encompass religious activities, recreational sports clubs, community programs, cultural activities, military skill programs, and academic clubs. These programs emphasize the development of the cadet's intellectual, physical, and professional skills in an environment conducive to personal growth, and simple enjoyment. Recreational sports clubs emphasize life-long activities such as sailing and skiing. Community assistance programs, such as scouting or youth team coaching, reinforce a commitment to service. Programs related to military Skills such as orienteering contribute to professional development. Cultural activities permit cadets to expand their awareness of art, music, and the theater and to experience personal achievement in these areas. Finally the academic extracurricular programs provide for expanded interaction with other cadets outside the classroom and for the exchange of ideas with students at other universities. The entire extracurricular program expands the range of cadet contacts and opens the Academy to a wide range of attitudes, ideas, and pastimes.
Thus the major Academy programs foster continuing intellectual, character, and professional development. They do so in an environment that emphasizes sub ordination of self to the interests of the Nation. The Academy seeks to develop an inquiring, enlightened military leader. These words summarize what the Academy must do to fulfill its mission.
The following recommendations fall into three categories: one contains recommendations without qualification and two are conditional. The two conditional groups are "Experiment with," indicating a recommendation for trial with a small group of students for a limited time and "Consider," pertaining to areas where a problem clearly exists but supporting data are insufficient to permit a firm recommendation. For purposes of clarity, the underlining has been continued in the text of the recommendations. Page numbers in parentheses indicate location of discussion in the body of the report. This format has been adopted to facilitate use by the Academy in identifying recommendations of the Study Group.
Internal Governance
1. Ensure that the Superintendent serves in office a term of four to eight years and that he has demonstrated competence as an academic. A longer term will provide stability and continuity of policy and contribute to academic excellence. (p. 39)
2. Change the function of the Academic Board from implementing policy to providing policy advice on academic matters to the Superintendent, except in discharging duties prescribed by statute. Include Director of the Office of Physical Education, the Director of the Office of Military Instruction, and the Head of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership. (pp. 36-39, 40)
3. Establish an Academy Policy Board with the mission of providing advice to the Superintendent on all policy matters having general significance for the Academy. (pp. 39-41)
4. Alter the structure of boards and committees as shown on page 53 to reflect the missions of the Academic Board and the Policy Board. Delegate to responsible officials and committees policy implementation authority insofar as practicable. (pp. 39-41)
5. Reduce the personal involvement of heads of academic departments in governance activities, particularly by curtailing their participation on boards and committees. This measure will permit them to concentrate their efforts on their departments, their teaching, and their disciplines--in short, on academic excellence. When a head of department is elected to serve on the Policy Board, consider replacing him on the Academic Board with another tenured faculty member of his department. (pp. 38, 78)
6. Increase participation by other tenured and non-tenured staff and faculty in the governance of the Academy. This action will lead to a wider range of talent and viewpoints in governance and to a deeper commitment to the vitality of the institution on the part of those groups. (p. 38)
7. Strengthen the roles of the Superintendent, the Dean, and the Commandant in the governance structure. Certain committees should report directly to the Dean and the Commandant rather than to boards or other committees. Executive functions formerly performed by committees should be done by the Dean and the Commandant within policy guidelines set forth by the Superintendent on advice of the various boards. (pp. 43-45)
8. Establish the Office of Policy, Plans and Analysis with responsibility for institutional research to include data collection and analysis; long-range planning; assisting the Superintendent in setting the agendas of the Policy and Academic Boards, the Board of Visitors, and the USMA Advisory Committee; and coordinating the scheduling of all significant activities at the Academy. The Director should be a colonel whose tour should be 4-5 years and who will also serve as Secretary of the Policy Board. (pp. 41-43)
9. Develop a data bank and a research and evaluation program on possible and probable candidates, appointees, cadets and graduates. This information will permit measurement of attitudes and performance at selected benchmarks. (p. 42)
10. Establish a Faculty Council consisting of all tenured faculty and staff members, and two non-tenured faculty members from each academic department representing their non-tenured colleagues. The Dean should serve as its chairman; the Council should meet with the Superintendent in order to facilitate communications between the Superintendent and the faculty. (p. 43)
11. Expand the membership and tenure of the Superintendent's Honor Review Committee. The Committee reports to the Superintendent but should also transmit its reports to the Policy Board for consideration and comment. (p. 43)
12. Establish a Committee on Professional Development and a Committee on Cadet Life as standing committees of the Policy Board to ensure continuing review of all aspects of the educational training and extracurricular programs of the Academy. (p. 165)
13. Establish temporarily the position of Deputy Superintendent, a fourth general officer position. During the early years following this report it is expected that the Superintendent, Dean and Commandant will be devoting much of their attention and energies to the careful examination of the Academy's programs. The addition of a Deputy Superintendent during that period will allow the Superintendent to focus his efforts on those areas requiring his personal attention and reduce his personal span of control within the governance structure. (pp. 48-50)
14. Reorganize the Academy's staff structure in accordance with existing Army regulations thereby reducing the Superintendent's span of control. Establish an Office of the Deputy Post Commander and organize a directorate staff to assist him in carrying out his responsibilities. (pp. 48-52)
15. Establish the Director of Automation and Training Support as single manager for all Academy automation and instructional technology resources and procurement actions to improve the interface with Department of the Army Staff in those areas and to facilitate improvements. (p. 43,51)
16. Establish both an Academy Computer Advisory Committee and an Automatic Data Processing (ADP) User's Group. Also, formalize an ADP Master Plan to include evaluation and provision of necessary support to the USMA Preparatory School. (pp. 43-44)
17. Expand the computerized Cadet Information System and improve computer support to cadets and administrators.
18. Restructure the existing Department of Tactics redesignating it as the Office of the Commandant. Redesignate the Office of Physical Education and the Office of Military Instruction as the Department of Physical Education and the Department of Military Instruction. (p. 51)
19. Establish the Department of Military Development (within the Office of the Commandant) under the new position of Brigade Tactical Officer to reduce the Commandant's span of control. (p. 51)
20. Redesignate the Office of Military Psychology and Leadership as the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership, an academic department under the supervision of the Dean. Transfer such staff service functions as personal counseling, Cadet Troop Leader Training, and Leadership Evaluation System to other departments of the Office of the Commandant. (pp. 40, 51-52)
21. Establish the Office of the Director of
Cadet Activities with responsibility for the existing Cadet Activities
Office and selected Cadet Treasurer functions now under the control of
the Superintendent's Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics. The Director
should have tenure and, in the near term, report to the Deputy Superintendent.
(p. 51)
Admissions (pp. 44-45, 173-176)
22. Undertake a more aggressive recruitment program.
a. Improve the information provided to members of Congress.
b. Develop a program for early acceptance of outstanding applicants.
23. Change admissions procedures to limit the cases decided by the Academic Board to those which are major deviations from admissions policy.
24. Restrict athlete recruitment to candidates with demonstrated ability or potential for outstanding contribution in a sport, along with ability to perform satisfactorily in the academic and military training programs.
25. Permit class quotas to remain unfilled should insufficient numbers of fully qualified applicants be found in the candidate pool.
26. Change the title of the Director of Admissions and Registrar to the Director for Admissions.
External Governance
27. Establish the USMA Advisory Committee to meet two to four times each year to advise and assist the Superintendent. Members should be nominated by the Superintendent, approved by the Chief of Staff and appointed by the Secretary of the Army. Consecutive appointments not to exceed six years should be managed so that not more than one-third expire each two years.
A chairman and about 12 members should be selected all of whom have distinguished civilian or military backgrounds. There should be no ex-officio members. Provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App 1) apply. The panel should have a Secretariat stationed at West Point.
The committee should advise the Superintendent at least annually and reports should be forwarded to the Chief of Staff, the Secretary of the Army, and the Board of Visitors. (pp. 46-48)
28. Establish ad hoc Visiting Committees under the aegis of the Advisory Committee to assess department and other agencies. (p. 47)
Shaping Cadet Academic Attitudes
29. Reduce graduation requirements to approximately 40 academic courses. (pp. 65, 66-68, 71-75)
30. Restructure the curriculum to allow sufficient specialization to take advantage of individual cadet interests and aptitudes. (pp. 70, 73)
31. Eliminate all orders of merit which establish relative ranking of cadets from first to last. (pp. 65, 90)
32. Eliminate the normative grading system for physical fitness tests and physical education; establish minimum standards. (pp. 63-64, see also Item 126)
33. Improve the interdepartmental coordination of scheduling for examinations and papers. (p. 65)
34. Ensure involvement of the Superintendent, Dean, Commandant and other senior members of the staff and faculty in academic activities such as counseling, faculty seminars, cadet seminars, lectures or classes in order to maintain contact with and demonstrate interest in scholastic pursuits. (pp. 77-79)
35. Consider initiating a faculty/tactical officer interchange with some officers serving two years as instructors and two as tactical officers. (See also Tactical Department, Item 115). (pp. 81-82, 98-100)
36. Include in the orientation of new staff and faculty information on the importance of mutual support among all components of USMA stressing the harmonious relationship required to achieve the common goal. (See Tactical Department, Item 113). (pp. 81-82, 98-100)
37. Restructure the Leadership Evaluation System to eliminate peer ratings and their potential to encourage undesirable behaviors. (See also the Corps of Cadets, Item 131). (pp. 64, 111-113)
38. Reorganize the cadet chain of command and other military duties to eliminate unnecessary administrative details and inefficiencies which interfere with study activities. (See also the Corps of Cadets, Item 130). (p. 111)
39. Administer on a periodic basis the Institutional Functioning Inventory of the Educational Testing Service to provide the Academy's leadership information on attitudinal trends. (pp. 66-67, 177-181)
Academic Curriculum
40. Improve the quality of instruction, and enforce uniformly high standards of student performance. (pp. 80-82, 89)
41. Draft objectives for each department indicating the learning outcomes pertinent to core curriculum course offerings. Integrate all the various aspects of the cadets' educational experience. (p. 67)
42. Review academic departmental structures, disestablishing and combining where appropriate. (pp. 71-72)
43. Reduce the overall academic program to approximately 40 courses to diminish fragmentation of cadet time and effort. (pp. 64, 67-74)
44. Restructure the time allocated to academic pursuits. Ensure that scheduling fewer courses allows greater time for individual study, approximately double the time spent in the classroom. (p. 90)
45. Establish a care curriculum required for all cadets at not more than three-fourths of the total program. Ensure that each cadet is given a broad general education. (pp. 71-76)
46. Retain a strong, though somewhat reduced, math/science/ engineering component in the care structure so that cadets learn the experimental and analytical techniques of the basic sciences. This sequence should provide integrated and progressively more advanced courses leading through electronics and engineering science into engineering analysis and synthesis, with emphasis on concepts in the basic and engineering sciences and emphasis on decision making in engineering. (pp. 71-72)
47. Allocate sufficient courses from the core to ensure thorough exposure to theoretical and conceptual problems that have no set solutions, such as are found in the behavioral sciences and social sciences. Material in systems engineering and related areas of the applied sciences should also stress problems for which there is no single solution and which include consideration of social values and consequences. (p. 69)
48. Provide a strong preprofessional sequence of social sciences, behavioral sciences, history, and public affairs to develop each cadet's awareness of the people, government and society which he will serve. This should include courses such as modern and military history, economics, law, political science, international relations, and cultural/political geography, basic and social psychology, and organizational development. (pp . 71- 73)
49. Ensure that the physical and applied sciences, economics, and behavioral science courses and sequences coordinate closely with the mathematics courses to require use of mathematical skills as soon as possible after they are acquired by the students. (pp. 84-85)
50. Emphasize analysis, critical evaluation, and the handling of masses of data in applied sciences and engineering courses, diminishing wherever possible the descriptive approach. (p. 68)
51. Reinforce current programs aimed at producing competence in written and oral communication skills by establishing a more intensive, coordinated interdepartmental effort running through the entire four-year curriculum. (pp. 71-72)
52. Maintain a four-semester foreign language program for all cadets. Give consideration to making its placement flexible within the eight available semesters so that cadets can receive this instruction at a time most mutually advantageous to the institution and individuals. (pp. 72-73)
53. Eliminate the core course in graphics and mechanical drawing. (p. 72)
54. Include instruction in computer use and management in cadet Automatic Data Processing courses.
55. Avoid establishing a full disciplinary "majors" program, which would require too many elective sequences in a variety of areas to support the objectives of a broad, general education. Interdisciplinary areas of concentration ensure a desired degree of specialization without the high costs involved in accredited majors. (pp. 61,70)
56. Construct comprehensive elective programs from which each cadet is required, with the guidance of a qualified faculty advisor, to select an area of concentration according to his talents, abilities, and interests. Require him to structure a sequence of courses reaching a fourth year college standard in the selected area to develop the confidence that comes from fuller comprehension and to satisfy intellectual curiosity. (pp. 71, 73-75)
57. Discourage dilettantism in elective selections by deleting a general studies track as an option. The smorgasbord approach in such a track is contrary to the stated goals of concentration. (pp. 70-73)
58. Offer elective sequences in systems engineering and operations analysis building upon realistic problems and examples from Army life. These sequences might include courses in the methodology of systems engineering followed by practical situations analysis, methodological and analytical tools for problem solving, concepts modeling, applications to small and large military unit actions, campaign analysis and gaming, and, at the highest level, political military interactions. (pp. 75-76)
59. Carefully review and reduce the variety of elective courses offered and emphasize quality in the remaining offerings. (pp. 69-71)
60. Initiate elective study for most, if not all, cadets not later than the second semester of Third Class (sophomore) year to permit more thorough study of at least one elective area (note the possibility of a five-semester sequence) and to provide intellectual stimulation through emphasis on personal interests and abilities. (p. 75)
61. Ease pressure on the entering Fourth Class cadets by reducing the heavy current loading of mathematics and substituting a program more balanced among the four principal disciplinary areas. (pp. 69-70)
Ethics and Professionalism Curriculum.
62. Establish a comprehensive and progressive program in ethics and professionalism to prepare cadets for the ethical, personal, and other leadership problems that confront commissioned officers. This program should include courses in introductory and social psychology, organizational behavior and development, leadership, philosophy, introductory and military law, and American institutions and should extend into other appropriate courses. (p. 73)
63. Institute a course in philosophy and ethics for Fourth Class or Third Class year. (p. 73)
64. Institute a course for Second Class or First Class year on American Institutions to address problems of the military profession and other institutions of American society. (p. 75)
65. For the staff and faculty conduct seminars and symposia on philosophy and ethics. See also 46 and 47 Curriculum. (p. 73)
66. Establish a committee or other mechanism with the task of integrating ethics and professionalism courses with the cadets' other training and experience so that they are mutually supportive. (p. 73)
Library (pp. 76-77)
67. Consider reducing the issue of instructor reference materials to increase faculty use of library. (p. 77)
68. Establish a long-term loan policy for cadets to assist in reducing congestion in the library during peak-use periods. (p. 77)
69. Reduce use of duplicated extracts in an effort to promote more use of the library by both faculty and the cadets. (p. 77)
70. Coordinate timing of writing assignments to distribute demands on library. (p. 77)
71. Diversify writing and reading assignments to distribute demands on the collection. (p. 77)
72. Continue orientation programs for cadets and faculty. (p. 77)
73. Provide a position for the Librarian within the governance structure and include his counsel when planning courses. (p. 77)
74. Continue to appoint departmental representatives to the library. (p. 77)
75. Designate assistant librarians as department advisors to allow closer coordination between the department and main libraries. (p. 77)
76. Continue to solicit faculty input to the selection and purging programs to ensure the currency of the collection. (p. 77)
77. Develop a comprehensive long-range plan
to incorporate the latest library technology to support the learning needs
of the Academy in the future and to minimize the costs of future modernization
and expansion. The Academy should review the work being done at Carnegie
Mellon University in this area. (p. 77)
Faculty
78. Establish a formal system for selection of tenured faculty which includes review of candidates by committees of the Academic Board, by the Administration, and by selected outside advisors chosen as appropriate from the Advisory Committee, ad hoc visiting committees or other sources. (p. 78)
79. Consider rotation of department heads after five-year terms and increase the number of tenured faculty to allow reasonable rotation. Current department heads need not be affected unless they so desire. (pp. 79-80)
80. Encourage professors with administrative duties to teach each semester a minimum of one course, the nature of which varies from year to year and which frequently is a core course. Expect course directors as a matter of routine to teach the courses they direct. (p. 78)
81. Consider assigning a permanent associate professor as one of the regimental tactical officers (typically for a term of 1-2 years). (p. 84)
82. Consider allowing selected permanent associate professors to extend their tenure beyond 30 years.
83. Make the academic rank of full professor attainable by permanent associate professors (those with tenure to 30 years service). (p. 79)
84. Increase the continuity, maturity, experience, diversity, and overall quality of the faculty.
a. Encourage the faculty's scholarly research and professional activities. (p. 78)
b. Increase the number of instructors teaching a fourth year. (p. 80)
c. Return more former instructors for second or third tours. (p. 80)
d. Consider granting a limited number of outstanding instructors a new class of tenure guaranteeing retention at the Academy until completion of their twentieth year of service. (p. 80)
e. Secure instructors from such sources as the Foreign Area Officer Program, career civilians, and Material Development and Readiness Command officer project managers and laboratory supervisors. Develop programs for repetitive tours of such officers. (p. 80)
f. Develop a faculty exchange program with civilian institutions.
g. Increase the number of visiting professors to achieve civilian representation on the faculty of about 5 percent. Use this program as a source for the early addition of women to the faculty. Consider placing two or three visiting professors in departments such as English, history, and chemistry rather than one in each. Authorize grade levels commensurate with their civilian positions. (p. 81)
h. Increase the proportion of non-Academy graduates on the staff and faculty to 50 percent or more. (p. 82)
i. Ensure instructors in each department attend a variety of high-quality graduate schools and receive formal training for the subjects they are to teach. Consider extending selected officers in graduate school for a third year. Allow officers on direct assignment to the faculty to attend refresher graduate schooling. (pp. 80-81)
85. Ensure that an Academy teaching tour is and is viewed as being career enhancing. (Requires combination of actions on part of the United States Military Academy, Department of the Army, and Military Personnel Center). Possible actions include providing facts of school and promotion selection to assignment officers, to individuals at the Academy and to the officer corps; integration of Academy assignments with career specialties, careful management of the timing of assignments to West Point and subsequently, improving each department's management of opportunities for career development and instruction to individuals and boards involved in personnel actions. (p. 82)
86. Create in departments an environment of
free communication between the senior and junior faculty. (p. 82)
Pedagogy
87. Employ a variety of learning strategies.
a. Continue to emphasize instruction in small sections, but take greater advantage of them by stabilizing the academic section and the instructor. (pp. 86-87)
b. Continue to deemphasize standardization of pedagogical techniques in favor of greater instructor flexibility. (p. 81)
c. Increase the use of lectures where special instructor knowledge is needed. (p. 86)
d. Experiment with and improve the use of computer assisted instruction. Enter computer networks to make use of software developed by others. Exploit modeling techniques, Monte Carlo simulation, computer graphics, and engineering design programs. (p. 88)
e. Improve the
use of visual aids including educational television, computer graphics,
models, mock-ups, and demonstration laboratories. The blackboard should
be used creatively and dynamically so that a problem develops before the
cadets. It should not simply serve as a static display. (p. 87)
f. Consider
experiments with individualized instruction using combinations of lectures
and seminars in conjunction with a self-paced program requiring mastery
at the "A" or "B" grade level before advancing. (p. 88)
88. Continue to improve instructor qualifications by guiding their graduate study and by training instructors in teaching techniques with emphasis on the small section and seminar technique. (pp. 86-87)
89. Improve the ability of cadets to participate in small sections.
a. Teach a logic subcourse, early in the curriculum, for example, in Fourth Class math or English. (p. 87)
b. Assign different supplementary readings from the library to different cadets in a section when appropriate. (p. 87)
90. Improve the motivation for cadets to study.
a. Ensure that cadets understand the interrelationships of sequential courses and the interrelationships among disciplines. Establish prerequisites as appropriate. Hold cadets accountable for previous learning. (pp. 84-85)
b. Consider the interdepartmental use of readings which are applicable to two or more departments or disciplines.
c. Ensure that faculty and staff understand the rationale of the curriculum. Whenever possible relate course work to Army experience. (pp. 84-85)
d. Review the required readings to select significant ones which can be assigned in their entirety. (p. 86)
e. Show a greater willingness to fail marginal performers. This will only happen if the consequences of failure can be made less drastic by improved makeup systems and alternate commissioning options for failing cadets who have leadership ability. (p. 88)
91. Improve laboratories.
a. Review the
laboratory program to require practical work in fewer disciplines while
raising the quality of the work done. Computer assisted and project laboratories
of up to four hours in length should be considered. (p. 86)
b. Reduce the
time and resources used in two hour laboratories by a greater use of in-class
demonstration laboratories. (p. 86)
92. Improve the ability of the cadets to write and to use mathematics. Establish interdepartmental committees, reporting to the Dean, to coordinate instruction in and use of these skills throughout the curriculum. (pp. 83-84)
93. Improve retention of basic course principles.
a. Reduce the frequency of evaluation giving greater flexibility to the instructor but increasing the relative weight of Written Partial Reviews and Term End Examinations. (p. 95)
b. Resection infrequently.
c. In addition to in-class problems, require homework problems of increased depth. (p. 86)
94. Provide an improved program for academically marginal cadets, giving consideration to alternate tracking and temporarily reduced course loads. (p. 88)
95. Establish a high quality book store in order to stimulate interest in outside reading.
96. Consider providing flexibility in the foreign
language sequences for some cadets by establishing optional shorter but
more intense language courses.
Academic Administration
97. Revise the academic calendar and daily schedule.
a. Consider establishing two terms with approximately equal numbers of attendances. The first term should end in December. (p. 89)
b. Establish standard length for all class periods (50 to 60 minutes). Schedule the academic day in one-hour blocks, using multi-hour periods for problem sessions and laboratories. (p. 89)
c. Consider staggering attendance at noon meal. (p. 89)
d. Consider expanding scheduled day somewhat beyond 1515 hours. (p. 89)
e. Consider reducing time required for meals and associated formations. (p. 89)
98. Improve incentives.
a. Eliminate 3.0 grading system. (p. 89)
b. Use a letter grade system. (p. 89)
c. Continue other features of USMA Initiative #1, except as it allows 3.0 grading system. (p. 89)
d. Use a Quality Point Average to identify cadets who are to receive honors (Distinguished Cadets, Dean's List). Normally compute Quality Point Average at term end, except for plebes and cadets in academic difficulty. For these, a mid-term computation may be appropriate. (p. 90)
e. Consider establishing a probationary system to motivate marginal performers (see graduation requirements). (p. 91)
f. Continue the policy of assigning graduates to initial tour with troops in their basic specialty; postpone graduate schooling, except for certain scholarship winners. (pp. 90-91)
99. Provide alternative service obligation for separated cadets by one or more of the following: (pp. 91-92)
a. Revoke DOD Directive 1332.23 (cadets separated after the start: of Second Class year normally will be called to active duty in an enlisted status for at least two years).
b. Modify DOD Directive 1332.23 so that ex-cadets separated after the start of Second Class year may enroll in any pre-commissioning program within nine months of separation. Successful completion and acceptance of commission will cancel any requirement to serve in an enlisted status.
c. Modify DOD Directive 1332.23 to require cadets separated after the Start of Second Class year as a result of circumstances indicating an intent to evade obligations incurred as a result of attendance at the Academy to repay those costs directly attributable to the education and training received.
100. Improve counseling services.
a. Develop a comprehensive plan for a decentralized counseling program. (p. 93)
b. Develop a formal program that would establish a mentor relationship between officers and cadets on the basis of one officer to 6 to 8 cadets. All faculty members and staff should participate in this program. (p. 93)
c. Develop an improved visual display of course interrelationships for academic counseling. (p. 93)
d. Initiate efforts to administer interest or attitudinal to successful officers, both early and late in their careers, the information thus derived to assist in matters as branch choice. (p. 93)
101. Change graduation requirements.
a. Establish requirements for the successful completion of an approved program of a set number of courses through study in residence and the achievement of a set minimum Quality Point Average. (p. 93)
b. Determine specific requirements after further study by the faculty.
c. Permit turnback cadets to continue summer military training with their original class. (p. 93)
d. Require turnback cadets to attend summer academic sessions in lieu of leave as necessary. (p . 93)
e. Permit turnback cadets to enroll in all upper class courses for which they satisfy prerequisites, including Military Science and Physical Education. (p. 93)
f. Permit turnback cadets to carry reduced academic loads. (p. 93)
g. Graduate turnback
cadets when they satisfy requirements for graduation (mid-year possible).
(p. 93)
Intercollegiate Athletics
102. Manifest institutional commitment to intercollegiate athletics by:
a. Publishing a policy statement on athletics. (pp. 125-126)
b. Setting goals for the intercollegiate athletic program. (p. 125)
c. Increasing appropriated fund support. (p. 129)
d. Constructing, and maintaining outstanding athletic facilities, beginning with a winter athletic complex. (pp. 126-127)
e. Increasing the frequency of key officials' attendance at practices, NCAA contests, and press functions. (p. 126)
f. Ensuring continuing professional management of the intercollegiate athletic program. (pp. 128-129)
g. Increasing alumni support and participation. (p. 127)
103. Reconstitute the Athletic Board as a standing athletic committee with the following tasks:
a. To advise the Superintendent on matters of policy and facilities. (pp. 127-128)
b. To provide for an integrated, coordinated and balanced athletic program. (pp. 127-128)
104. Establish new guidelines for the position
of Director of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA). He should not be an active
duty Army officer. He should be a West Point graduate, knowledgeable and
experienced in athletics and business, and he should be hired on a long-term
basis. Job performance, however, should be the overriding consideration.
(pp. 128-129)
Tactical Department (Office of the Commandant)
105. Augment the Office of the Commandant by the addition of a separate operations and plans section. (p. 107)
106. Increase the access of the tactical officer to cadets. Make clear that tactical officers should be free to counsel individuals for brief periods during study time. Ensure that there is a period during the week when a tactical officer can meet with his entire company or any part of it. (pp. 98-99)
107. Consider establishing offices for tactical officers in the company area to improve the access between tactical, staff and cadets. (pp. 99-105)
108. Consider forming Tactical Officer Teams wherein a tactical officer would have primary responsibility for one company but would also have collateral responsibility in one or more additional companies. This organization would increase the continuity and consistency of leadership and would assist in the proper orientation of newly assigned tactical officers. (p. 104)
109. Assign one Command Sergeant Major to each of the four cadet regiments to perform in the traditional noncommissioned officer role thereby furthering consistency and stability as well as improving cadets' ability to deal with soldiers on their initial assignment.
110. Assign one Tactical Noncommissioned Officer for each company to assist the tactical officers.
111. Consider eliminating (at least for some years) the Cadet Company Commander and clearly reaffirm the tactical officer as the commander. Continue to have a Cadet Captain in the company but designated as the "Company Captain." Change the title of Battalion and Regimental Commander to Battalion and Regimental Captain. These changes would clarify authority of the tactical officer and establish an effective barrier to the cadet chain of "administrivia." (pp. 98-S9, 110)
112. Institute a better selection process for tactical officers to ensure that the criteria include wide military experience and academic achievement as well as outstanding performance as an officer. Prospective tactical officers should be interviewed. (pp. 101-104)
113. Provide a better orientation for all newly arrived personnel. This program should be comprehensive to ensure it develops an understanding of the objectives of the Academy and the ways they are to be achieved. At a minimum the program should include:
a. Mission, goals, environment, and cadet systems (i.e., Disciplinary System, Fourth Class System, Leadership Evaluation System, Ethics and the Honor Code and System, and Regulations).
b. Leadership/academic development philosophy and program.
c. Staff and faculty officer responsibilities for cadet leadership (academic development, enforcement of regulations, and maintenance of standards).
d. Tactical Officer, academic faculty, and cadet relationships.
e. Cadet motivation; attitudes toward issues of concern (e.g., women at the Academy and in the Army, EE 304 status).
f. Skills and methods needed to develop leadership and motivate cadets.
g. Interpersonal skills; performance counseling skills; techniques of group problem solving.
h. Familiarization with the reports and studies that have been significant in the Academy's evolution.
i. Future Army battlefield systems, as part of understanding the goals for cadet development.
j. The relationship between success as a cadet and success in the Army.
114. Ensure that all officers, particularly new instructors, are advised prior to attending graduate school that they will be expected to: (1) adhere to and enforce Academy standards of appearance and discipline; (2) contribute to a variety of additional activities, e.g., cadet sponsor, coaching, summer training program. (pp. 98-100)
115. Consider instituting a formal exchange program (2 years as Tactical Officer and 2 years as instructor). This program will assist in reducing conflict between academic and military demands on cadets, merge two role models in the eyes of the cadets, and reinforce the academic environment in cadet companies. (See also Shaping Cadet Academic Attitudes, Item 35). (pp. 98-100) The features of the program are:
a. Officers with outstanding service records and outstanding academic credentials in various disciplines would be assigned either to the tactical staff or faculty. After two years, the tactical officers would become instructors, and the instructors would become tactical officers.
b. The input should be about six per year so that the number in the program would be 12 tactical officers and 12 instructors.
c. All academic departments should participate.
d. Officers selected for this program need to be selected early in their career to manage career progression carefully. (Department of the Army has examined the concept and can manage the small number of officers involved through a proper career progression).
116. Revitalize the nature of the Company Academic Counselor Program or develop an Associate Tactical Officer Program whereby a faculty member as an associate tactical officer learns the duties of the tactical officer and could assume them if needed. This program will assist in bridging the gap between the tactical officer and instructor and will improve cadet attitudes towards academic pursuits. (p. 97)
117. All tactical officers should be given some opportunity to instruct. This step should improve their relations with cadets and enhance their prestige. (p. 121)
118. Promulgate a central leadership principle to guide the basic approach used by all tactical officers and to help eliminate questionable leadership practices by officers and cadets who do not understand positive, supportive leadership. (p. 105)
119. Review all requirements placed upon tactical officers to determine whether they are essential or whether they can be done elsewhere. We strongly urge a thorough analysis to determine which requirements might be simplified by computer assistance. (p. 98)
120. Create a sense of participation for the tactical officers by ensuring their input into policy decisions and by creating a forum for tactical officers to talk with the Commandant and Superintendent about the health of the Corps. (pp. 99-100)
121. Consider according to a Senior
officer in the Commandant's office status equivalent to "Permanent Assistant
Professor" to assure the perpetuation of reforms, consistency in philosophy,
and continuity of institutional memory. (p. 104)
Military Instruction and Training
122. Improve significantly the academic content of Military Science taught during the academic year. The curricula and pedagogy changes would take advantage of the unique opportunity afforded West Point to provide intellectual depth in the study of the military profession. (p. 121)
123. Teach Military Science by teams and, depending on content, use Office of Military Instruction instructors assisted by a tactical officer or academic instructor, or both. The team approach will also assist in bridging the gap between military professional instruction and academic studies and will reinstitute the role of the tactical officer as instructor and teacher. (p. 121)
124. Improve the summer training programs by instituting the following actions:
a. Introduce a "Drill Cadet" Program for the Second Class in which cadets work as a Drill Cadet in the Army Training Centers under the supervision of Army Drill Sergeants. This program will assist in eliminating recognized weaknesses in cadets' "ability to talk with soldiers" and "concern for the welfare of men" by placing them in an environment where effective interpersonal communication and supportive leadership are required. (p. 121-122)
b. Eliminate some cadet military skill training for Second Class cadets, particularly that high-cost training that has relatively narrow application to the active Army, e.g., helicopter training. If the ranger and airborne courses are eliminated from the cadet program, graduates should be allowed to attend them after graduation. (p. 121-122)
c. Eliminate First Class participation at Camp Buckner to free the First Class for branch-oriented Cadet Troop Leader Training (CTLT). Some First Class cadets might be needed as instructors and would get a shorter CTLT, but the new Third Class should assume major responsibility for running their own organization at Camp Buckner. (p. 122)
d. Establish and promulgate to the Active Army a clear set of policies and objectives for the conduct of CTLT programs to ensure that each cadet undergoes the desired experience.
e. Ensure that a positive and supportive environment exists in cadet Basic Training (CBT). The physical training, demanding schedule, and general environment are important to the transition from civilian to cadet. (p. 122)
125. Develop regular communication with the Army Training and Doctrine Command in order to ensure current knowledge and advances in military training. Care should be taken, however, to avoid forced relevance to the Active Army at expense of greater intellectual depth in the profession of arms.
Physical Education
126. Replace "curve" grading in physical education with criterion referenced grading. A minimum absolute standard with either Pass/Fail or successive absolute levels for higher grades would eliminate unnecessary competition that currently exists. (p. 123)
127. Re-evaluate the physical education standards for women. The Study Group believes that the physical stress on women is excessive and that the level of physical conditioning being demanded on them may not be justified by future service. (p. 123)
128. Continue the Academy's high quality physical
education program, which we note is both well done and important to Army
service. (pp. 123-124)
The Corps of Cadets
129. Stability. Adopt policies which lead to stability in the Corps. Do not rotate cadets among companies routinely. (pp. 110-111)
130. Cadet Rank and the Cadet Chain of Command.
a. Prescribe
a single chain of command each year (no rotation) designated on a merit
basis. (p. 111)
b. Eliminate chain of command positions and duties that are trivial in nature and are essentially a source of "make work." (p. 111)
131. Leadership Evaluation
a. Eliminate the "peer type" ratings, but retain ratings by tactical officers and cadet officers. (pp. 111-112)
b. Sever the relationship between Leadership Evaluation System (LES) and General Order of Merit or class standing. (pp. 111-112)
c. Simplify and reduce the frequency of ratings. (pp. 111-112)
132. Disciplinary System
a. Revise the system of positive incentives to encourage and recognize outstanding performance and balance the existing emphasis on punishment, which encourages minimum acceptable behavior. (p. 113)
b. Create a Disciplinary Review Committee (composed of cadets and members of Tactical and Academic staffs) to draft a system of rewards. (pp. 113-114)
133. Competition. Replace inter-personal competition with challenging objective standards of performance. (p. 115)
134. The Fourth Class System
a. Continue efforts to eliminate abusive and negative leadership while emphasizing supportive, developmental leadership in the Fourth Class System and Cadet Basic Training. (pp. 115-118)
b. Initiate a comprehensive follow-up to the 1969 Study of the Fourth Class System to include a re-examination of the underlying assumptions and prevailing attitudes surrounding the Fourth Class System with particular emphasis regarding the role and effect of stress. Consider engaging expert consultants in human behavior to do an analysis of the Fourth Class System. (pp. 116-118)
c. Take immediate action to:
1) Eliminate written examinations on Fourth Class knowledge (p. 118)
2) Eliminate specious material in Fourth Class knowledge. (p. 118)
135. Women
a. Establish a continuing comprehensive study of the performance of women as cadets and subsequent to graduation.
b. Begin assigning women as tactical officers in AY 1977-78. (p. 119)
136. Establish a program of sex education for all cadets that would be straightforward, mature, and sufficiently broad to encompass physiology, reproduction, contraception, hygiene, and responsibility. (p. 119)
137. Branching. Separate branch, assignment from General Order of Merit and allow tentative branch assignments to be made in the Second Class year. Permit First Class cadets to participate in branch related Cadet Troop Leader Training during First Class year. Base branch selections on demonstrated ability, aptitude and interest rather than the General Order of Merit. (p. 124)
Honor Code and Honor System
138. Develop an "Honor Ethic" which subsumes the Honor Code in a broader concept making clear the importance of an obligation which transcends individuals and individual loyalties without appearing to subvert the bond between cadets. This more general statement should place the Honor Code in perspective, clearly identifying it as the central experience for a cadet in the process of developing a personal standard of ethical behavior. (pp. 137-139)
139. Affirm the statement of the Honor Code. (p. 139)
140. Retain the Honor Code in its present form with no change to the requirement that cadets report all honor violations, i.e., retain the non-toleration clause. (p. 139)
141. The Honor Code is a reasonable standard against which to measure behavior as long as the slightest transgression does not result in permanent separation in all cases. (pp. 138-140)
a. Recognize the Honor Code as being less than a comprehensive prescription for honorable behavior. (p. 137)
b. Encourage the Corps of Cadets to permit the Full Honor Board to recommend "discretion" (i.e., other than permanent separation) in appropriate cases where a cadet is found to have committed an honor violation. (p. 138)
142. Continue a supervisory role for the Special Assistant to the Commandant for Honor Matters within the administration of the Cadet Honor Code and Honor System. (p. 137)
143. The Superintendent's Honor Review Committee should have an expanded role with wider representation. This committee should not be the final interpreter of the honor code; that responsibility rests solely with the Superintendent, acting for the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Army. (p. 142)
144. New cadets should be fully under the Honor Code at the outset; the Superintendent's discretionary powers are adequate to deal with extraordinary circumstances. (p. 140)
145. The jurisdiction of the Honor Code should be universal; that is, the Code should apply at all places and at all times. Nevertheless, there are troubling questions concerning the responsibility of the Honor System for enforcement. Should the Code and System be coterminous or are there situations where there is only personal responsibility for enforcement? Continuing review of this matter will be needed. (pp. 140-142)
146. Retain the new Honor Committee procedures for further evaluation during Academic Year 1977-78. (p. 140)
147. Award cadet rank to executives of the Honor Committee. (p. 146)
148. Define lying in the Cadet Honor Code to be the making of an oral or written statement or gesture of communication made in the presence of and to another, intended by the maker to deceive or mislead. (p. 141)
149. Include the offense of wrongful appropriation as defined under Uniform Code of Military Justice in the definition of stealing in the Cadet Honor Code.
150. Eliminate the absence card completely (or, as a minimum, simplify the card). (pp. 140-141)
151. Establish a formal procedure for redress involving the Company Honor Representative and/or the Special Assistant for Honor Matters for the cadet who feels that his punishment or implication resulted from improper questioning. (p. 141)
152. Continue to improve the education plan
for all aspects of the Honor Code and System. (pp. 137-138)
U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School (USMAPS)
The Study Group conducted, in effect, a separate study of the Military Academy Preparatory School, the details of which have been available to the Department of the Army, the Superintendent, USMA, and the Commandant, USMAPS. Our recommendations are listed below:
1. Establish a Board of Visitors for the Preparatory School with representation from Department of the Army, the Academy, civilian educators, and appropriate Army agencies.
2. Retain the present assignment of the Preparatory School under the jurisdiction of Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel and ensure closer coordination between the Academy and the Preparatory School.
3. Retain the Preparatory School at Fort Monmouth, N.J. Prevent instability experienced in recent moves.
4. Retain the current funding system end provide funding at levels necessary to support the mission effectively.