United States Military Academy Introduction

 United States Military Academy Introduction

The United States Military Academy at West Point (USMA), also known as West Point, Army, The Academy or simply The Point, is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in West Point, New York. The academy, located in Orange County, sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, 50 miles north of New York City. The Academy traces its roots to 1801, when, shortly after his inauguration, President Thomas Jefferson directed that plans be set in motion to establish at West Point the United States Military Academy. The entire central campus is a national landmark and home to scores of historic sites, buildings, and monuments. The majority of the campus's Norman-style buildings are constructed from gray and black granite. The campus is a popular tourist destination complete with a large visitor center and the oldest museum in the United States Army.

Candidates for admission must both apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a member of Congress or Delegate/Resident Commissioner in the case of Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands. Other nomination sources include the President and Vice President of the United States. Students are officers-in-training and are referred to as cadets or collectively as the United States Corps of Cadets  (USCC). Tuition for cadets is fully funded by the Army in exchange for an active duty service obligation upon graduation. Approximately 1,300 cadets enter the Academy each July, with about 1,000 cadets graduating.

The academic program grants a Bachelor of Science degree with a curriculum that grades cadets' performance upon a broad academic program, military leadership performance, and mandatory participation in competitive athletics. Cadets are required to adhere to the Cadet Honor Code, which states that a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do. The academy bases a cadet's leadership experience as a development of all three pillars of performance: academics, physical, and military.

Most graduates are commissioned as second lieutenants in the Army. Foreign cadets are commissioned into the armies of their home countries. Since 1959, cadets have also been eligible to cross-commission, or request a commission in one of the other armed services, provided they meet that service's eligibility standards. Every year, a very small number of cadets do this, usually in a one-for-one "trade" with a similarly inclined cadet or midshipman at one of the other service academies.

Because of the academy's age and unique mission, its traditions have influenced other institutions. It was the first American college to have an accredited civil-engineering program and the first to have class rings, and its technical curriculum was a model for later engineering schools. West Point's student body has a unique rank structure and lexicon. 

All cadets reside on campus and dine together en masse on weekdays for breakfast and lunch. The academy fields fifteen men's and nine women's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sports teams. Cadets compete in one sport every fall, winter, and spring season at the intramural, club, or intercollegiate level. Its football team was a national power in the early and mid-20th century, winning three national championships. Its alumni and students are collectively referred to as The Long Gray Line, and its ranks include two Presidents of the United States (as well as the President of the Confederate States of America), presidents of Costa Rica, Nicaragua and of the Philippines, numerous famous generals, and seventy-five Medal of Honor recipients.