The Tainted Image of West Point

...I had learned how one could easily eliminate four cumbersome steps in a particularly difficult problem, but the recitation of my solution in class was met only with consternation and embarrassment on the part of my instructor, a major...

...The higher one's average, the more privileges accrue...

...Actually, we have had more people [cadets] who were disturbed by the Woolridge and Turner incidents than they were by Song My," says Colonel Harry A. Buckley, director of military psychology and leadership at the Academy...

...Wrongly pro-nioted or not, these officers now have found a secure bastion in West Point's Army...

...Since different instructors of different sections teach the same lessons and administer the same tests to all their sections at different hours, it was an easy matter to cheat...

...The academic system has taught the cadet's mind to function in a linear way, the plebe system has taught him to obey, and the honor system has taught him that obedience and conformity are the highest virtues...

...A House Armed Services subcommittee, after a seven-month inquiry of its own, concluded that a "tragedy" took place at My Lai, and that U.S...

...The glorification of trivia which the Army calls "attention to detail" ensures that cadets spend most of their time obeying the rules, as a matter of habit...

...My four years at West Point as a cadet, and my year in Vietnam as a captain in the infantry, lead me to judge that far from being foreign, the incident—and particularly the cover up—represent the true character of the U.S...

...It culminates in the translation of public sentiment into political action—the kind of action that can turn West Point into something better than a trade school for men who will rationalize and conceal America's atrocities...

...Cadets with all subject averages above seventy-five per cent have more weekend privileges...

...I doubt that the late General Douglas MacArthur thought so...

...Your guidepost stands out like a tenfold beacon in the night —Duty, Honor, Country" (Emphasis added...

...As a company commander in Germany, I had given regular "command information" classes based on Department of Defense "fact sheets" on such topics as "Why We Are in Vietnam...

...A habit of obedience is what is desired, and habits take some time to develop...

...If a cadet leaves his room and marks his card "authorized absence," he is honor bound to observe the applicable rules...

...4,000 young men whose natural propensities must be controlled for "image" purposes...

...Before a plebe may ask a question, he must first ask permission, and if the "authorities" are in no mood for questions, they need not entertain them...

...Kenneth O'Donnell, President Kennedy's White House chief of staff, claims that "MacArthur was extremely critical of the military advice that the President had been getting from the Pentagon, blaming the military leaders of the previous ten years, who, he said, had advanced the wrong young officers...

...Above all, the plebe learns that if he wishes to prove himself, he cannot disobey the rules...

...Once, as a plebe, I was interested enough (and naive enough) to read ahead in my differential equations book...

...Despite the bland and rigid atmosphere of the classroom, the system is highly competitive...

...Why does the Army employ 1,000 plainclothesmen to investigate civilian dissenters...

...Cadets rendering reports in formation might chance reporting "all present or accounted for" to protect a derelict classmate were it not for the fact, again, that it is a matter of honor...

...Army today...

...By their moral courage, such men as Lieutenant Font are demonstrating that it is possible for some individuals, at least, to be stronger than the rules imposed on them by even so rigid an institution as West Point...

...You [the uniformed graduates] must stimulate to action and lead the silent majority of our nation...

...War Crimes...

...The variation is that the briefers are not required to prove a mathematical equation...

...This ritualistic recitation (which begins always in mathematics class with "Sir, I am required to prove . . .") leads to a daily memorization process which the cadets call "specking...

...But I can compare West Point to an unusual learning experience of mine...

...Typical is the recent rule issued to commanders who might be questioned by newsmen about air support missions for Cambodian troops...

...Before cadets begin work on themes, term papers, and special graded projects, they are "encouraged" to discuss their ideas with classmates, but once a cadet touches his pen to paper, such dialogues are strictly forbidden...

...The key words here are "instruct" and "train," and they mean something quite different from "educate" and "teach...

...The size of cadet classes is small— about fifteen...

...And the returning alumnus — until just recently — has brought with him the same philosophy and mission orientation he learned at West Point in the first place...

...Apparently, cadets cannot stomach corruption in the operation of mess halls and the illegal sale of guns, yet it was reported that they were so stirred by Koster's farewell speech that "they leaped onto their chairs, cheering and clapping, and then, without waiting to be dismissed, rushed out of the mess hall to hold further demonstrations in support of their indicted commander...

...The academic emphasis is on engineering at the expense of the humanities, although it is possible for some cadets with previous college experience to receive a bachelor of arts degree...

...Cadets are regrouped each month in accordance with their cumulative grade average...

...It is also, essentially, a closed institution...

...He estimates that as much as one sixth of our class, or about ninety cadets, were involved in the scandal which never became a scandal...

...When was the last time you shined those shoes, mister...

...It continues with the aroused consciousness of an informed public...

...It is not surprising that the My Lai massacre came to the attention of the public through the efforts of a draftee with a critical and questioning attitude, not through the efforts of General Koster or other career officers...

...I, for one, think it is important for people to talk with each other...

...His day begins at 5:30 a.m...

...manliness is respect for authority...

...This was his first year of teaching, and evidently he had not read ahead as far as I. I learned the lesson: don't rock the boat...

...Their pride stems from its glorified tradition, and the fact that cadets themselves administer the honor system...

...Since 1812 every superintendent has been a graduate...

...Retired Lieutenant Colonel Luther C. West, whose twenty years of experience in the Judge Advocate General Corps and his continual challenges to the West Point mentality have given him an insight into the nature of the system that few others possess, has written: "Thus, at a tender age, the West Point Cadet learns that military rules are sacred and in time readily accepts them as a substitute for integrity...

...If a cadet is present when his room is inspected, he says "all right," which means that all visitors to his room, and all absent roommates are authorized by regulation...

...Those daily Saigon briefings known to reporters as the "five o'clock follies," are not essentially different from the daily classroom recitations at West Point...

...At one time or another, all Army combat divisions in Vietnam have been commanded by West Pointers...

...The academic dean while I was a cadet, Brigadier General William W. Bessel Jr., remarked that there seemed to be a direct relationship between success in the service and proficiency in mathematics...

...General William G. Westmoreland is still counting the bodies (showing more proficiency in multiplication than in addition...

...Military Academy...

...So did others...

...I began with the 1954 Geneva Accords and the SEATO treaty...

...Meaningful change begins—has already begun—with individuals who have the integrity to defy the system...

...The authorities purposely dismissed the culpable cadets—one of whom was the son of a prominent active-duty general—one and two at a time over a two-week period, so that the press would not get wind of the scandal...

...It was my experience of being in Vietnam—the experience of "body counts" as a measure of success, the experience of seeing prisoners tortured, the experience of seeing a country and a people destroyed in the name of saving them— that provided final confirmation of the gnawing doubts that had possessed me...

...The history of our involvement in Vietnam has been cloaked in secrecy and deception...

...Four mandatory formations each weekday keep potential wanderers in the corps well in check...

...Where the image of West Point is concerned, the practice of deceit is acceptable . • ." Since I attended no other college, it is difficult for me to compare West Point to civilian schools...

...I am not alone...

...I resigned my commission in Vietnam, completed my tour of duty, left the Army, and have spent all my time since then in speaking, writing, and organizing against the war...

...Since the instructors at West Point uttered their words of wisdom from within tailored military uniforms, most of them sporting medals, airborne wings, and ranger tabs, I was forced into some subtle associations: knowledge is neat, clean shaven, and unwrinkled...

...A cadet who knowingly submits an incorrect report, for whatever reason, is subject not to demerits but immediate dismissal...

...As a senior, I had suspicions of a cheating ring involving members of the major athletic teams...

...In rejecting his application for CO status, the Army asserted that Font lacked sincerity of conviction—a remarkable charge to level at a man who is willing to sacrifice his chosen career and risk imprisonment rather than participate in what he considers an illegal, immoral, genocidal war...

...Those on the dean's list are periodically excused from Saturday morning inspections, and so on...

...We've been teaching a total environmental approach to engineering for years...

...The massacre of foreign civilians and General Koster's role in the cover up do not seem to bother most of the current cadets at West Point as much as one would expect...

...Why is the Academy so defensive about the war...

...Through its own sterile insti-tutionalism, West Point seems to be moving away from the ideals expressed by MacArthur...

...But in practice it is a method of rigidly policing a cadet's every movement, of substituting a set of regulations for the development of personal moral judgment, and of indoctrinating the cadets in the principle of blind obedience to military authority...

...They may not lie on their bunks between reveille and taps...

...In my own case, the process of re-education began when, as a second lieutenant on duty in Germany, I filled my spare hours reading some of the basic works of philosophy and psychology that had not been part of my education at West Point...

...The important fact is that no one outside the corps of cadets and the administration found out about it...

...Cadets unable to say "all right" are reported...

...When he and lower ranking officers were charged by a special Army investigation board with false swearing and dereliction of duty, he resigned his prestigious post as Superintendent of the Military Academy so that he would not taint the image.of West Point as he awaited the outcome of the investigation...

...There is an almost religious reverence for this simplistic and absolute code throughout the corps of cadets...

...A member of the class of 1969 recently submitted a letter of resignation, declaring his contract with the Army "null and void...

...The new cadet's schedule is so well planned and so rigorous that he has no time to reflect...

...In fact, he feels it is leading the way...

...I can no longer take his statement lightly...

...The real meaning of the West Point motto—Duty, Honor, Country—had no substance here...

...Each cadet has an absence card in his room which has two basic markings: authorized absence and unmarked...

...truth and authority are synonymous...

...the Academy's alumni—and even its undergraduates—now are challenging the system and the mentality that governs it...

...Tk^AjOR General Samuel W. Kos-ter's alleged suppression of the facts of the My Lai massacre while he was in command of the Americal Division has brought West Point more publicity than it would like to have...

...I will examine them independently, although in practice they interact and overlap in the daily lives of cadets as they are molded into "motivated" Army officers...

...No one who has been to Vietnam would dispute this...

...It is difficult for a cadet to see who directs the honor system, and its true purpose is even more obscure...

...Memorization and repetition no longer sufficed...

...The subcommittee also contended that what happened was "foreign to the normal character and actions of our military forces...

...Since inspecting cadets are honor bound not to reveal their inspection times, it is almost impossible for a cadet to pursue a course of action not in accordance with the rules that the authorities have set for him—unless he lies...

...I would be a professional soldier...

...The cadet's honor is used against him, and he learns to associate absolute obedience to regulations with his personal code of honor...

...It would be an understatement for me to say I noticed some discrepancies between what these documents said and what the Department of Defense said they said...

...But the plebe answers the questions faithfully and begins slowly marching to the conclusion that obedience is truth...

...This is the West Point honor code, and in itself it raises a wholly admirable standard...

...The system of instruction reinforces the inexperience of West Point's instant professors...

...If a military superior should thus give an order to wipe out a village, to search and destroy, or to cover up a massacre of unarmed women and children, the loyal Academy-trained or Academy-influenced officer of whatever rank is well prepared to obey...

...One would think this would enhance effective communication between student and faculty...

...When he graduates, the academic system, the plebe system, and the honor system have usually achieved their purpose of instructing and training him, of molding his character...

...The confidential instructions directed officers to ignore the air support issue while stressing the interdiction of enemy supplies, the protection of Americans in Vietnam, the Viet-namization program, and the "ancillary benefit" to Cambodian forces...

...Since he resigned his commission he has devoted his time to speaking, writing, and organizing against the Vietnam war...

...Nine of the last ten chiefs of staffs have been graduates...

...The American people do not know nearly enough about the institution which produces this small, powerful, and self-perpetuating elite...

...officials made a "conscious effort" to cover it up...

...But even the West Point system cannot prevent close friendship among young men who have struggled through plebe year together...

...The West Point plebe system teaches that the highest virtue is pleasing the upperclassmen and the administration —that is, the authorities, and that the greatest sin is to displease them...

...One of my classmates had more than suspicions, since his roommate played a central role in the ring...

...Brigadier General George A. Lincoln, who headed the Academy's department of social sciences from 1954 to 1969, demonstrated the West Point origin of the "firepower" idea when he defined the Army's role: "The function of the profession of arms is the ordered application of military resources [in this case bombs and artillery shells] to the resolution of a social problem" (Emphasis added) Are these the attitudes that West Point ought to produce...

...they learn quickly three basic answers—yes, sir...

...Where knowledge is dispensed in quantified doses and students are graded daily, a teacher need stay only a few lessons ahead of his students...

...Pontius Pentagon If this is the proper role of career officers, why must the Army spend millions of dollars on propaganda campaigns which it calls "public information...

...I listened carefully to what he said to us at West Point during his magnificent farewell speech in 1962: "Others will debate the controversial national and international issues which divide men's minds...

...Now I had to think the issue through for myself, something I had not been accustomed to doing...

...The number of resignations in my 1965 class and in the class of 1964 has alarmed the Army...

...When I was a cadet, I would have reacted the same way...

...In 1951 there was a cheating scandal so big even the Army could not keep it from the press...

...At the same time I was exposed to a number of current publications that imparted points of view which were unfamiliar—and at first quite suspect—to me...

...and continues until 10 p.m...

...A cadet does not lie, steal, or cheat...

...The West Point academic system, far from providing an atmosphere of reasoned pursuit of knowledge, develops an attitude of competitiveness which obviously pays high dividends when it comes to fighting for selection and promotion in the Army, but which doubts little, and functions well within a closed system...

...During the 1968 Tet offensive I was enrolled at the military advisers' school at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, preparatory to assignment in Vietnam, and I found it impossible to reconcile the official classroom optimism with the catastrophic scenes portrayed on the nightly television news...

...The process continued when my brother, a decorated veteran of the Korean war, undermined my preconceived notions about Vietnam...

...What little free time he may have is •devoted to folding laundry, shining his brass and his shoes, and memorizing plebe lore...

...The system is really meant to control 4,000 aggressive, virile young men living in the narrow, gray confines of the U.S...

...But since class sections and instructors are changed monthly, the small classes serve more to control the cadets than to communicate with them...

...Often, the upperclassmen would place a coin behind a new cadet's neck and instruct him to "sweat it to the wall," "But, boss, I was only doing my thing" The dehumanization of plebes is a year-long process...

...Dialogue beyond that point is "cheating...

...At seventeen, most plebes are intent, as I was, on proving to their families, their friends, and the authorities that they can "take it," no matter how ludicrous certain aspects of "it" may be...

...The effect of this process is obvious: It teaches preoccupation with form rather than substance, with facts rather than understanding, and it breeds intellectual superficiality...

...Embarrassed by my ignorance, I was determined to learn all I could of the war in which I was about to participate...

...New cadets would be lined up against a wall and made to "vibrate" by pulling back their chins as hard as possible, thus building up a sweat which would entitle them to a shower...

...In a recent address to the graduating class of the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Major General Roland F. Kirks said: "We need mayors of cities and presidents of universities who will delight in battle...

...We were proud that it was the Cadet Honor Committee which passed judgment on accused offenders, and that not even one violation would be tolerated, whether the accused turned himself in or not...

...But not all West Pointers are willing to swallow their integrity to stay on the "team...

...Colonel Charles Schilling, head of the department of engineering at West Point, has said with pride, "As far as I know, we are the only school in the country that trains every student who goes through here how to talk to a computer—the most important modern language of our time...

...To expect West Point to reform itself is as absurd as to permit the Pentagon to investigate its own war crimes...

...When I returned to the States in 1968, back from two years in Europe and en route to Vietnam, I was not prepared to counter the surprisingly dovish arguments of my older brother...

...I had every intention of becoming a career officer, serving my country for life...

...General David M. Shoup, commandant of the Marine Corps in the early Sixties, has pointed out that the military school systems "produce technicians and disciples, not philosophers...

...The nice thing about a set of principles of this nature is that as soon as the officer himself takes command, he can write a good many of his own rules, and the higher he is promoted, the more rules he can write, and the more people will be subjected to his rule-making authority...

...in terms of leadership and attitude, it is the Army...

...As he progresses through his military career, the rules remain uppermost in his code of honor...

...General Westmoreland's repeated assertion that firepower is the key to success in Vietnam is a consistent application of West Point doctrine...

...Why are so many political speeches made by generals...

...Not all means of instilling obedience are officially condoned by the Academy...

...I was proud to have been nominated to West Point...

...Caught up in our moral self-righteousness, we did not ask the important question: Is the system itself honorable, or even reasonable...

...Plebes are not allowed to talk to each other en route to and from classes, at meals, or in the general barracks area...

...A cadet may know next to nothing about his subject, but as long as he gives the impression that he does, he will satisfy his instructors...

...During this period, all cadets were assembled and told the essential facts in order to minimize unhealthy rumors...

...Every plebe is required to memorize the mission of the Academy: "to instruct and train the corps of cadets so that each graduate will have the qualities and attributes essential to his progressive and continual development throughout a lifetime career as an officer of the regular Army...

...It remains for the honor system to add a degree of nobility to categorical obedience, so that the future Army officer is able to glorify his inflexibility and worship his own moral powerlessness...

...After a day of mass athletics, bayonet training, lectures, and drill, the exhausted plebe welcomes his sleep...

...The central message of their briefing was this: if the cadets exercised strict discipline, no one outside West Point would ever know, and the image of the Academy would be protected...

...But instead of investigating we shut our eyes...

...If anything, the fad is following us...

...If General Koster is found guilty of knowingly suppressing the facts, I will find it easy to understand why he did so—to protect the "image" of the Army, West Point, and himself...

...Learning is not the aim of this intellectually isolating rule...

...It is a method designed to "rate" cadets, not educate them...

...For this speech, Lieutenant General Jonathan O. Seaman, commanding general of the First Army, presented General Kirks with the "coveted" Freedoms Foundation George Washington Honor Medal...

...The ostensible purpose of the plebe system is to instill discipline, a discipline which the Army defines as "a state of mind which leads to a willingness to obey an order no matter how unpleasant or dangerous the task to be performed...

...To a degree unprecedented in the annals of West Point, the Academy's alumni-—and even its undergraduates—now are challenging the system and the mentality that governs it...

...The incoming plebe class enters West Point on the first Tuesday in July and is subjected to two grueling months of harassment and humiliation at the hands of a cadre of upper classmen before the academic year begins...

...He is one of the founders of the Veterans Inquiry into U.S...

...Most of the cadets were allowed to resign, but beyond that the affair was minimized by the Academy to protect its image...

...Some cadets have decided to file as conscientious objectors while still at West Point...

...We are not following the current fad...

...During my junior year, although I failed to grasp the fundamental principles of electrical circuits, I passed the course easily, "specking" on a day to day basis...

...no, sir...

...no excuse, sir...

...During my first instruction on this sacrosanct subject, we were told that the code was the essence of West Point's greatness, setting it apart from all other educational institutions in the world...

...Cadets who are absent from their rooms during one of these inspections and who have left their absence cards "unmarked" are reported...

...West Point carries out its mission by three basic means: the academic system, the ROBERT B. JOHNSON, JR., a 1965 graduate of West Point, served as an infantry captain in Vietnam after two years of Army service in Europe...

...It involved ninety cadets, including most of the football team...

...Lieutenant Louis P. Font has become the first selective conscientious objector in the 168-year history of the Long Gray Line...

...It was a wise upperclassman who first ordered the plebe standing in front of him rigidly at attention to keep his eyes straight to the front...

...Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our process of government . . . these great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution...

...The system of instruction is predicated on the idea that subject matter can be broken down into neat little units which cadets can digest efficiently and regurgitate with precision...

...As a young plebe, I was most impressed with the seriousness with which everyone concerned seemed to accept the honor code...

...West Point sets the example: If an incident reflects unfavorably upon the Army, cover it up...

...Mathematics is particularly heavy (one hour and twenty minutes per day, six days a week, in the first year...

...My parents were proud...

...A year after I graduated an honor scandal did occur...

...Cadets are called upon daily to be graded in the sciences...

...As a result, although West Point graduates number less than ten per cent of the annually commissioned Army officers, fifteen of sixteen active duty four-star generals are alumni of the Academy...

...The new Concerned Officers Movement, whose members are still on active duty, boasts the membership of many Academy graduates, including a West Point lieutenant colonel...

...The tactical department, the academic department, and the athletic department are predominantly staffed with graduates...

...Beast barracks" has been referred to as the great equalizer, presumably because all new cadets are treated alike regardless of their social, economic, or military background...

...He objects only to the Vietnam war...

...They were ordered to decline to answer the questions of reporters...

...They cannot be argumentative or verbose in their response to upperclassmen...

...After a few years of career military service, rule-worship sometimes entirely supplants moral integrity...

...It is particularly concerned with what can happen at night, when cadets might wander off post into the wickedness and perversity of the outside world to indulge in what they see fit, and make fools of themselves in front of the Great American Public...

...The honor system has a double effect on the plebes...

...Do you exercise the same forthrightness in stamping out permissiveness and incompetence in your civilian environment as you do in your military command...

...West Point is more than a small part of the Army...

...I had elected Russian as my foreign language in spite of its difficulties so that I would know how the "enemy" spoke, how he thought and acted...

...How these young men were caught is not clear and is really unimportant...

...Each new cadet is strictly "on his own" to prove that he can "take it...

...During this period, known as "new cadet" or "beast" barracks, the plebe learns basic military protocol, is instructed in the traditions of the corps and the service, and is subjected to an intensified version of basic training* all under the supervision of serious Army officers and a well prepared and immaculate cadet cadre...

...Colonel Charles Broshaus, head of something called the department of earth, space, and graphic sciences (whose principal offerings are mechanical drawing and physical geography), refuses to consider the allegation that West Point is behind the times...

...Its purpose is to enable the academic department to evaluate a student's performance solely on the basis of his individual effort...

...Four years is a long time for a young man to live under West Point's intellectually and morally stultifying conditions...

...That is the function of West Point: to train the future professional leaders of the Army...

...This kind of verbal ritual trains future Army officers to remain uncritical of their superiors in the face of even the most dubious military pronouncements and policies...

...Thirty-six of forty-seven lieutenant generals are graduates...

...they are simply required to prove that we are winning the war...

...The rooms are inspected by on-duty cadets as many as four times each evening...

...A favorite unofficial method when I was a cadet was the shower formation...

...The instructions also warned officers, "Public statements will not go beyond the above directly or by allusion, nor will specific details on any mission or number of missions be discussed...

...There are regulations which require that a cadet be present only in specified, wholesome places at night...

...But transforming the character of the institution itself will be much more difficult...

...About eighteen members of the class of 1968 had organized a cheating ring centered primarily around physics exams...

...Where the image of West Point is concerned, the practice of deceit is acceptable, and it is all the more acceptable where the image of the Army and distinguished graduates is concerned as well...

...At age seventeen, my mind was relatively defenseless...

...Otherwise, the freshman might be tempted to direct his eyes to the shoes of his intimidator and ask a counter-question of his own...

...They must not only follow the same absolute standards as the upperclassmen, but they must also suffer the humiliation of pointed and personal questions to which they must reply truthfully—such questions as: "When was the last time you took a shower, smackhead...

...If a plebe follows the rules and plays his prescribed role, he reaps a negative reward: he is not unduly harassed...

...In fact, his "honor" is entwined with the rules, and so long as he obeys the rules, whatever their content, or whatever manner of man or fool may have written them, his honor is sound...

...Because of the finality of an honor violation, the tendency develops among friends not to investigate suspected offenders too thoroughly...

...plebe system, and the honor system...