In The News

WEST POINT, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
09.18.2024
Story by Steven Stover
780th Military Intelligence Brigade (Cyber)

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WEST POINT, N.Y. – 1st Lt. Angeline Tritschler, 11th Cyber Battalion, and 1st Lt. Andrew Constable, 781st Military Intelligence Battalion (Cyber), 780th MI Brigade (Cyber), both USMA Class of 2021, were selected to represent the Cyber Branch at the U.S. Military Academy Branch Week, August 25 to 29.

Branch Week is a valuable experience that forms the foundations of many cadets’ impressions of the Army’s branches. Cadets get the chance to interface with the equipment, personnel, and mission of each of the Army branches, as well as some functional areas and special operations units. This is also one of the last chances for first-class cadets or “Firsties” to speak with branch representatives before submitting their final branching preferences.

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WP-ORG is currently in the middle of our fundraising drive, and we need your support. For 28 years, WP-ORG has provided essential online communication services for West Point graduates and their families.

While social media has become popular for class communication among younger graduates, some classes and societies have discovered the challenges of relying on large, unresponsive platforms when assistance is needed. For example, after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, we were able to immediately remove sensitive images from our servers to protect Afghan interpreters who had worked with U.S. forces. Because our contact information is available online, I received a phone call from a COL, who informed me that graduates had understandably posted photos of themselves, and their fellow soldiers on personal and class websites hosted by WP-ORG. In some of those photographs, were the images of Afghan interpreters.  He was alarmed that those individuals were at great risk for identification. With him on the phone to guide me to the images he had identified, I was able to immediately remove those images to protect the people left behind, who had aided our troops.  Over a day or so, we found, and removed, images that likely would have put people in more danger. This level of responsiveness simply isn’t possible with big social media companies. At WP-ORG, we’re here to help you with a single phone number and email address, always ready to assist.

So, what do we do for West Point graduates? We provide web-based services for classes, societies, and individuals at no cost. This includes creating websites, offering WordPress templates, and providing personalized support to help users learn and manage their sites. We upload the basic framework and a basic template, and, if needed, teach the user some of the basic techniques to start their website in a person-to-person manner. We don’t just give you a platform and leave you to figure it out—we’re here to help every step of the way.

A few of the available services for graduates are listed here:
https://www.west-point.org/grad-services/

Can you easily avail yourselves of this service?  Yes!  A very few examples are the classes of 1960, 1955, 1968 and 1989
Class of 1955: https://www.west-point.org/class/usma1955/
Class of 1960: https://www.west-point.org/class/usma1960/
Class of 1968: https://www.west-point.org/class/usma1968/
Class of 1989: https://www.west-point.org/class/usma1989/

Recently, the Class of 1955 found themselves in a tough situation when their longtime webmaster could no longer manage their site. A volunteer stepped forward, and we transitioned them to an easy-to-manage WordPress site, while preserving all of the invaluable historical content his classmate created. 

Our commitment is to ensure that these pages remain available. If classes would like, their page may be turned over to class children to continue the legacy of the class. One class listserv for a ‘40’s class is being maintained by a class daughter, allowing for the children to communicate and stay connected.

All of these services—and more—are made possible by your donations. Every six months, we hold fund drives to keep WP-ORG running smoothly. Your contributions directly support the platforms and personalized services that graduates rely on.

Please consider donating today to keep these critical services available for all West Point graduates and families and here for you!

General Donation Link: https://www.west-point.org/donate/
Credit Card Donations: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/
Donation Report: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/report/
FD56 Budget: https://www.west-point.org/budget/

Respectfully,

Dian Welle
WP-ORG, Inc.

Dear WP-ORG Community,

We’re kicking off our 56th semi-annual fund drive (FD56) with a goal to raise $40,465, ensuring the continued operation of West-Point.ORG for the upcoming six months.

To contribute, you can donate online via this link: https://www.west-point.org/donate/. You can select your preferred payment method – credit/debit card, PayPal, check, or even stock donations. We believe in full transparency, so if you’d like to see the specifics of our budget, it’s available at https://www.west-point.org/budget/.

For the past 28 years, we’ve relied on your twice-yearly donations to keep WP-ORG running and serving the West Point community. Your contributions serve as a strong endorsement of the work we do. By keeping West Point grads, parents, cadets, and friends connected through email lists, websites, and other resources, we’ve been able to fulfill our mission. This approach has worked successfully for nearly three decades, and we’re confident that together we can make this fund drive a success as well.

Our goal is to continue offering the services you depend on, from dynamic WordPress-powered websites for clubs and societies to email listservs that keep everyone in touch. Your support has always been the key to helping us carry out our mission providing “an online communications infrastructure that enables graduates, parents, and friends of the military academy to maintain and strengthen the associations that bind us together”.

Please consider donating today:

• General Donation Link: https://www.west-point.org/donate/
• Credit Card Donations: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/
• Donation Report: https://secure.west-point.org/donate/report/
• FD56 Budget: https://www.west-point.org/budget/

Thank you for your continued trust and support!

Sincerely,
Warren Hearnes ’89
on behalf of WP-ORG Advisors

Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, will receive the 2024 Sylvanus Thayer Award from the West Point Association of Graduates. Obama will be the fifth U.S. president to receive the Thayer Award during its 67-year history. The award will be presented on September 19, 2024, during ceremonies hosted by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

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