Carved from Granite: West Point since 1902

Ch6: The Spartan Academy: Military Training

209 MILITARY TRAINING for cadets improved dramatically over the course of the twentieth century. Its progress reflected the growth of military professionalism as the army expanded and modernized to meet the global commitments of the nation. Despite these improvements, however, Academy leaders succeeded in keeping military training general in nature and preventing it from intruding too heavily on other development programs. The greatest improvements in military training resulted from the nation’s involvement in war. Following the Spanish-American War, Academy leaders realized the need to prepare cadets for the practical challenges that awaited them as officers at home and abroad. World War I further dramatized the need for tactically proficient junior officers who could assume their duties quickly and competently upon reaching their first units. Moreover, it exposed the inadequacy of West Point’s facilities for conducting high-quality military training. Of all the wars since 1898, none had as great an impact on military training at West Point as World War II. In the years leading up to that conflict, Academy leaders acquired large tracts of contiguous land to expand maneuver areas and build modern training facilities; these additions dramatically improved the quality and efficiency of cadet training. For the most part, the patterns of training that developed for each class during World War II have continued to the present. Since World War II, successive commandants have enhanced the training received by cadets. They increased rigor and realism and sought to incorporate scenarios relevant to the warfare that cadets were likely to experience after graduation . Additionally, they expanded the range of training activities available Chapter Six The Spartan Academy Military Training 210 CHAPTER SIX to cadets, both at West Point and in distant venues. By the early twenty-first century, cadets received some of the finest training available in the army. I. Military Training through the First World War As discussed previously, the Academic Board unveiled a new curriculum in 1902, the centennial year. At first glance, little had changed. The curriculum remained heavily oriented on mathematics, science, and engineering, which used “the rational faculties to the best advantage.”1 Development of a cadet’s intellect and character remained the highest priority for cadet education; in contrast, acquiring the practical knowledge of the military profession could wait until after graduation. While Academy leaders gave primacy to theoretical knowledge, they could not ignore the hands-on military training that would equip graduates with the practical knowledge to succeed as junior officers. The Spanish-American War and ongoing operations in the Philippines underscored the importance of such instruction, as West Point officers would bear heavy professional responsibilities very soon after graduation. Accordingly, the new curriculum reflected Academic Board members’ “full appreciation . . . of the immense advantage of practical knowledge.” In making the curricular changes, they professed a commitment to helping cadets “secure as wide familiarity as possible with the technical and practical bearing of all subjects studied.”2 The quality of military training already had improved considerably under the supervision of Otto T. Hein, the commandant during the first years of Albert Mills’s tenure as superintendent (1898–1906).3 Hein was an 1870 graduate of the Academy who had spent seven years on the western frontier and five as the military attaché in Vienna before returning to the West Point. Familiar with Prussian advances in the art of war, he was dismayed by the Academy’s antiquated training methods. In the latter nineteenth century, the cadets’ military training centered on parade-field drill, lectures, and demonstrations; there was relatively little hands-on training of the sort that would prepare cadets for the practical skills they would need as officers in the twentieth-century army. Hein moved aggressively to improve the situation by adding rigor, realism, and variety wherever possible. To begin, he issued cadets a field service uniform and standard army field equipment for summer training. The cadets, now properly outfitted, underwent hands-on training in each of the principal branches of the service, starting with basic soldier skills and advancing to small-unit missions. During the academic year, Hein rotated cadets through a variety of leadership positions in the Corps to prepare them for comparable duties as officers. His THE SPARTAN ACADEMY 211 tactical officers gave lectures on army administrative procedures to familiarize cadets with the complexities of leading and managing units; he even...