Branch Night
During the first semester of the Firstie year the first class will have Branch Night. Some time in November the Firsties will assemble in Eisenhower Hall to hear the Commandant briefly speak about the importance of the evening in relation to the future officers' chosen profession in the Army.
For the first three years at the Academy each cadet has received information about each of the 16 Branches. By the time Branch Night occurs they will understand what the normal duties, responsibilities, assignment patterns and locations are for each of the Branches. Late in the Cow Year each cadet must indicate, by order of preference all specialties for which they are qualified and eligible. Branches are then assigned according to performance, preference and current Branch goals [which means what the Army needs at that time]
The Commandant will give the order and TACs will hand out envelopes to the Firsties that contain the insignia of the Branch to which they have been assigned. On order the cadets all open their envelopes at one time. Exultation, cheers, groans, high-fives and more are heard coming from Ike Hall once the envelopes have been opened and then there's a time for relaxation and refreshment with the Branch representative and the other members of their Branch "family."
Branch options include the following:
- Combat Arms - Air Defense, Armor, Aviation, Field Artillery, Infantry
- Combat Support - Chemical Corps, Corps of Engineers, Military Intelligence, Military Police, Signal Corps
- Combat Service Support - Adjutant General Corps, Finance Corps, Medical Corps, Ordnance Corps, Quartermaster Corps, Transportation Corps
These links show all of the sleeve and collar insignia currently in use at the USMA [note these are not DOD or US government web sites]
The Branch Links Page has links to branch homepages or the links to the USMA page of interest for the branch.
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Army Armor Branches |
| Army Corps of Engineers |  |
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Army field artillery |
| Crossed rifles of the infantry |  |