The Army women's tennis team has announced its 2014-15 freshman class, welcoming six newcomers, announced by head coach Paul Peck.

Hannah Dahlem, Victoria Falk, Leslie Frankland, Bridget Geurnard, Alyssa Hall and Julian Mok have each joined the Black Knights for the 2014-15 season.

Dalhem, a native of Avon, Conn., played at Avon High School. A four-star recruit, she has been ranked as high as No. 83 by the Tennis Recruiting Network. She was the All-Courant Player of the Year for the Hartford Courant in 2011 and earned all-state, all-conference and scholar-athelte honors in 2011 and 2014.

Hailing from Lake Forest High School in Illinois, Falk is a two-star recruit who has been ranked as high as No. 322 by the Tennis Recruiting Network. She boasts an impressive academic history with a 4.9 GPA (on a five-point scale). She was the Lake Forest High School women's tennis team captain in 2013 and contributed to two Illinois State Team Championships in 2010 and 2012. Read More

Colonel Ty Seidule visited Apple Headquarters in Cupertino, California to discuss Apple’s support of the digital textbook initiative in Military Art. He then visited the company Unity 3D in San Francisco. Unity makes a video game engine that the Department will use to create apps for Gettysburg and Normandy to support cadet education in Military Art and on staff rides.

Award Recognition: On 20 August, COL Ed Naessens presented a PANE Department Coin to Cadet Paul Asare-Agyapong (NENO 2015) for his recognition of being one of the top 7 student interns of nearly 1300 students from across the country at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). In the long history of cadet AIADs at ANL, this is the first time any cadet has gained this level of recognition. Cadet Asare-Agyapong's work is also published in a LANL technical report.
Cadet Agyapong & COL Naessens

Astronomy Club participates at Club Night: On 19 August, the first Tuesday night of the new school year, the leadership of the Cadet Astronomy Club consisting of Cadets Alberto Squatrito, Oliver Di Nallo, William Maier, Samuel Hartford, Jonathan Roche and Spencer Collazos along with club OICs Dr. Paula Fekete (PNE) and LTC David Harper participated at Club Night held at Ike Hall. Club night is always a great opportunity to recruit new club members. This year’s event proved to be a great success as well, as more than 100 additional cadets signed up to join the club. We had several of our telescopes showcased at the event. For the first time in many years, the weather decided to cooperate! We were able to take a look at prominences and sunspots visible on the setting Sun courtesy of LTC Harper’s new 60-millimeter Lunt hydrogen alpha solar telescope (the club requested the 100-millimeter version as part of DCA’s last year mid-year funding). The first meeting of the club was its organizational meeting on 25 August, attended by club leaders only. Weekly Astronomy Club meetings will resume on 2 September. The Astronomy Club is looking forward the move to its new observatory, located in the newly renovated part of the Science Building, expected to take place no later than 1 October 14.

Symposium: During 25-28 August, CDTs Ian De Mallie, Steven Vollmer, Melissa Yasnowski, and Christopher Wink will travel to the Directed Energy Professional Society's (DEPS) Annual Symposium in Monetary, CA to present research conducted using the High Energy Laser (HEL) in the Photonics Research Center (PRC). CDTs Yasnowski, Wink, and now 2LT Phil Corbins explored the effects of beam angle on burn-through time in an attempt to answer questions related to engaging UAVs with HELs. CDTs De Mallie, Vollmer, and now 2LT Frank Arnold explored the effects of rotation and conductor-doped surface coatings the heating rates of steel in an attempt to answer questions related to defeating mortars HELs. Work on these projects is ongoing, the status of which will be presented at the symposium. PNE and PRC faculty COL Kraig Sheetz, LTC Louis Florence, and Dr. David Kashinski are session chairs of the employment portion of the symposium in which the cadets will present.

Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, USMA Superintendent (center) and Lt. Gen. David D. Halverson, Commander of Army IMCOM, join other leaders in cutting the ribbon for the opening of Scott Barracks, Aug. 29. Named in honor of General Winfield Scott, Scott Barracks was built in 1936 and underwent wall-to-wall renovations over the past year. A favorite among the cadets inhabiting the upgraded barracks is the air-conditioning which was retrofitted with the new roof installation.

Seven of the eight Mississippi Cadets, class of 2018, were able to quickly link up for this photo during the New Cadet Talent show and awards ceremony at Camp Buckner on their final evening of Beast Barracks, August 11, 2014.  The class of 2018 unveiled their motto “With Strength We Lead, 2018” at this event.  The next morning they departed on their culminating event, the 12.2 mile fully loaded ruck march, where they marched the last two miles amongst the cheering family, friends, tourist, and West Point staff and faculty…and, of course, the upper three classes waiting in the cadet area.

The Department of Law: Conducted the War Crimes Staff Ride from 17 June to 1 July 2014. Four cadets and one professor participated. They were LTC Ward Narramore, CDT Michael Sanchez, class of 2014, CDT Bridget Haupt, CDT Matthew Pope, and CDT Braetana Roy, all class of 2016. Participants visited Bosnia, Croatia, Germany, and the Netherlands. The purpose of the trip was to examine the brutality of war and the attempts to bring war crimes perpetrators to justice and the many challenges of using criminal and international law as tools to prosecute war crimes. Specifically, cadets were asked to consider the difference between war crimes and standard criminal acts; who should be held accountable and by whom; and what legal structures exist to deal with complex problem.

In Bosnia cadets observed a criminal trial prosecuting lower level officials from Bosnian War; visited Srebrenica, the site of a massacre of over 5,000 civilians in 1995; and met with the International Committee of Missing Persons, an organization dedicated to finding and identifying the many missing persons from the Balkan wars. In Croatia, participants toured Vukovar, the site of a 90-day siege in 1991 by the Yugolsav army in which many civilians were indiscriminately bombed and ultimately gathered up and shot. In Germany cadets learned about war crimes committed by the Nazi government in War World II and the ultimate response to those crimes by visiting Dachau, Munich, and the site of the Nuremberg tribunals. Finally, cadets traveled to The Hague in the Netherlands to visit and observe ongoing court proceedings at the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court.

The full scope of the trip gave cadets the opportunity to consider both the historical evolution of the response to war crimes, as well as both the national level impacts and response and the international response to a more recent conflict.

Ecological Research in Ecology (EV471). On 29 August 2014, 23 Environmental Science Firsties in Ecology (EV471) collected data on coniferous tree needles on West Point. Although needles on the same tree might be expected to conform to a genetically determined size, differences in needle age, exposure to sun or shade, wind, temperature, or moisture supplied through a particular branch could influence needle length. During the lab cadet teams developed a hypothesis, determined a research design, collected data, evaluated data with statistics, and made conclusions to determine if needle length differs on a tree based upon the needles’ proximity to sunlight. The Environmental Science majors are being taught field research techniques and the importance of applying the tools of science and statistics to solve ecological questions. POC is LTC Mark Smith, mark.smith@usma.edu.

Cadets Frankiesha Hawkins (left) and Nathan Moran (right) measure needle length in conifers as part of their Ecology assignment.

Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering Symposium: During 25-28 August, faculty and cadets from the Photonics Research Center's High Energy Laser (HEL) Project participated in the 2014 Directed Energy Professional Society System Symposium in Monterey, CA. PANE CDTs Melissa Yasnowski and Christopher Wink presented their work on the effects of laser beam incident angle on burn-through time in an attempt to answer questions related to engaging UAVs with HELs (now 2LT Phil Corbins also participated in the research). PANE CDTs Ian De Mallie and Steven Vollmer presented their work on the effects of rotation and conductor-doped surface coatings the heating rates of steel in an attempt to answer questions related to defeating mortars with HELs (now 2LT Frank Arnold also participated in the research). CME Cadet Kyle Okular presented his work on a computational thermal model for the loss of mass due to absorption of laser energy.

Their research, funded by the High Energy Laser Joint Technology Office (HEL-JTO), was very well received by the directed energy community and they brought back many ideas to further this cutting-edge research for years to come. PANE faculty COL Kraig Sheetz, LTC Louis Florence, and Dr. David Kashinski served as conference chairs of the Employment portion of the symposium where, in addition to the cadet presentations, 18 other researchers from around the country presented their work on furthering the concept of employing directed energy weapons in an operational environment. Additionally, Dr. Gunnar Tamm of CME, also a participant in the HEL group research, presented his project on an improvised microwave system. The Photonics Research Center has actively participated in high energy laser research, and has supported this Directed Energy Professional Society Symposium, for eight years. Shown in the photo are the cadets named above and the Director of the Joint Technology Office, Dr. Lawrence Grimes.

Triathlon: LTC Ken Allen traveled with nineteen cadets from the West Point Triathlon team to Lake George, NY for Labor Day weekend where they competed in the Lake George Triathlon on Saturday, 30 August. They also conducted their fall training weekend in the Lake George area for the remainder of the weekend. The team placed 2nd in the collegiate division behind Penn State and earned a cash prize of $300. The top athlete from West Point was cadet Angelica Dickson ’16 who was the 2nd overall collegiate female. This race served as the first collegiate race for many of the West Point athletes and, for some, their very first triathlon. All of the athletes competing were working towards qualification for the USA Triathlon Collegiate nationals in the spring of 2015. The training weekend was also a huge success with cadets performing skills and safety training on open water swimming, cycling, and running with head coach Ian Obrien and team building exercises integrating new members into the squad..

In his opening remarks to the graduating class at the U. S. Military Academy at West Point in May, President Obama called out four cadets by name. Three of them were women: Austen Boroff and Erin Mauldin, leaders in one of the academy’s four regiments, and Calla Glavin, a Rhodes Scholar and lacrosse goalie. At the ceremony’s close, Obama was succeeded by the chain of command, which ended with the top cadet — Lindsey Danilack, just the fourth woman to hold this position — giving an order. “Class of 2014, dismissed,” she said.

From its founding in 1802, on George Washington’s earlier recommendation, until 1976, West Point admitted no women. Since then, more than 4,100 have followed in the steps of the first 62 female graduates in 1980. Many more are on the way, too, now that the American military will be opening combat positions to qualifying women by 2016. The 263 female cadets who started at West Point this year made up 22 percent of the incoming class, a record number, up from 16 percent last year.

They and their fellow first-year cadets, or plebes, reported for Reception Day on July 2, which marked the beginning of six weeks of cadet basic training, a k a Beast Barracks, and the end of their civilian lifestyles. “I knew I was going to need to step it up in the physical realm,” Danilack says, referring to her own early days on campus. “But I never knew it was going to be as hard as it turned out to be.” Upon graduating, she and her classmates received their commissions — and their bars — as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army. Read More

Chris Carnegie's interception at the end of the first half helped send Army into halftime with a 21-3 lead and the Black Knights held off a late Buffalo rally to claim a 47-39 season-opening victory on Saturday afternoon at Michie Stadium.

Army rushed for 342 yards and seven scores on the ground, and the defense intercepted three passes by Buffalo (1-1) quarterback Joe Licata as Army won its first game under head coach Jeff Monken. Larry Dixon led the rushing attack with 20 carries for a career-high 174 yards and two touchdowns. Terry Baggett had 74 yards on six carries, including a 41-yard score, while Tony Giovannelli, Angel Santiago, Raymond Maples and Matt Giachinta each reached the end zone.

Through the air, Santiago was 6-for-6 for 96 yards and A.J. Schurr had one completion for 29 yards. It was the first time since Oct. 1, 2011 Army did not throw an incomplete pass in a game.

Although Licata was intercepted three times, he did throw five second-half touchdown passes and accounted for 396 yards as Buffalo attempted to get back in the game after falling behind 47-17 early in the fourth quarter. Licata completed 34 of his 49 pass attempts, six to his favorite target Marcus McGill, who totaled 123 yards and two touchdowns. Read More

The United States Military Academy Sailing Team participated in a training clinic at the United States Naval Academy Aug. 30-31. The clinic, instructed by Greg Jordan, USMA Class of 1979, allowed the Cadets to re-familiarize themselves with boat handling and racing tactics, and prepare for different weather scenarios. The training clinic has been an annual event since 2005. See More

It's Branch Week at West Point! All week long, cadets have the opportunity to meet with Branch representatives to learn about the different U.S. Army career fields and equipment through static display tours, leader panels, independent research and social functions. See More

USMA West Point is one of the top schools when it comes to early career and even mid-career salaries. High-end early-career salaries for bachelor's degrees United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point average $75,100 while high-end mid-career salaries for bachelor's degrees average $123,900.  This data comes from PayScale including the salary information of US civilian employees.  Self-employed and contract or project based employees were not included.

From 2- 20 June, the Department of History conducted the Cold War staff ride. Lieutenant Colonel (R) Ray Hrinko and Captain Erik Davis led six USMA cadets and one USAFA cadet through Germany, the Czech Republic, and Hungary to study the effects of the Cold War on Central and Eastern Europe. The cadets used their time in Berlin, Potsdam, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Munich and the Fulda Gap to better understand how the Cold War developed, how European people lived under the communist system, and why communism ultimately failed in these nations.

In Berlin cadets examined life in both the East and the West parts of the city through walking and bike tours. Cadets interacted with the remnants of the Berlin Wall, the dichotomous architecture of the two sides of Berlin, and memorialization of the Soviet occupation of Berlin after WWII. Faculty and cadets also spent a day in Potsdam touring the chateau where President Truman, Churchill and Stalin met to decide Europe’s post-WWII design. A particular treasure in Berlin was a guided tour of the Stasi Headquarters given by an eighty-year old lifelong resident of East Berlin. For more than two hours, the officers and cadets were able to ask her questions about life in Soviet-occupied Berlin, life under the German Democratic Republic, and the fall of communism.

In Prague the cadets received a guided tour given by a man who participated in the Velvet Revolution, which ended over forty years of communist control. They toured an underground nuclear fallout shelter designed to protect members of the Czechoslovakian communist party and Wenceslas Square where Czech students forced the collapse of communism through massive protests. Additionally, the cadets spent some free time taking in the beauty of Prague’s medieval era buildings and the Charles Bridge.

After an overnight stay in Vienna to visit the Schonbrunn Palace where President Kennedy met Khrushchev in 1961, the cadets stayed in Budapest, Hungary for three days to tour some of the sites of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. The House of Terror Museum, located in the headquarters of the Hungarian Cold War-era secret police, was particularly enlightening. The museum was designed using multimedia-enriched displays of artifacts, interviews and interrogation cells. It encapsulated some of the worst communist population control techniques as well as what befell those who tried to overthrow the communist system in 1956.
Finally, the cadets spent an evening in Munich discussing the role of the Middle East and terrorism in the Cold War by analyzing the 1972 murders of Israeli Olympians. The cadets also toured the OP Alpha Museum to examine the role of American forces along the Iron Curtain.

Capstone Team Interviews Client at Vicksburg, MS. Cadets Bruce Spencer, Krishawn Tillett, and Rapheal Waruinge from the Systems Engineering Department traveled to the Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg MS to conduct initial client interviews and stakeholder analysis for their senior capstone projects. The cadets represented two teams that will work with ERDC over the upcoming academic year. One team is working to model life cycle costs and the other team is working to model the military logistics at the APODs and SPODs. POC is MAJ Paul Santamaria or LTC Libby Schott.

Systems capstone team interviews the Center for Army Analysis (CAA). On Friday, 5 September, COL Garrett Heath from the Center for Army Analysis (CAA) at Ft. Belvoir, VA, met with a team of D/SE cadets who are working on a capstone project for him. Cadets Tom Boule, Garrett Holmes, Eliot Knotts, and Dirk Vandermeyden are developing a software tool for multi-attribute decision analysis that will be used by CAA analysts in their work. COL Heath was accompanied by CAA analysts Nancy Zoller, Kristin Veale, and Sarah Harrop, who joined in helping define the requirement for the project. POC is Dr. Roger Chapman Burk.

Triathlon: LTC Ken Allen traveled with three cadets from the West Point triathlon team who competed in the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Mont Tremblant Canada on Sunday, 7 September. Each cadet qualified by winning their respective age group divisions in an Ironman 70.3 race over the past year. The event had over 2700 athletes representing 87 countries. The three cadets performed magnificently against the top athletes in the world. CDT Dylan Morgan ’16 placing 10th in the world in the 18-24 year old male division, CDT Connor Wernecke ’16 placed 35th in the same division and CDT Catherine Sedy ’16 placing 21st in the world in the 18-24 year old female division. CDTs Morgan and Sedy had previously competed in the 70.3 World Championships last year. CDT Wernecke will compete in the full Ironman World championships in Kona Hawaii in October.

Army Sailing Defeats Navy at Spirit Rider Regatta D/G&EnE Instructor CPT (P) Matty Haith accompanied the Army Sailing Team to Long Island 5-7 September in order to compete in the Spirit Rider Regatta. The regatta honors Patrick O’Keefe, a firefighter who died in the North Tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11, as well as other first responders and heroes of 9/11. In addition to sailing, the regatta featured a memorial to those who lost their lives on 9/11, which was well attended by members of both the NYPD and NYFD. Both Army and Navy Sailing Teams compete in this event yearly, and although the emphasis of the event is to remember fallen heroes, in friendly competition, the Army Team has beaten Navy over the past four years. POC for this message is CPT (P) Matty Haith at matty.haith@usma.edu.

A C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane based at Stewart and operated by the New York Air National Guard is heading to South Africa to participate in an air show.

The Air National Guard announced the trip Thursday. The plane will carry 13 members of the U.S. Army's Golden Knights parachute team to the African Aerospace and Defense event this weekend in Pretoria, South Africa.

The plane will also carry an unmanned drone. Both vehicles will be on display during the event.

The Air National Guard's 105th Airlift Wing operates eight C-17s. The unit is based at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh.

In addition, officers from the Air National Guard plan a series of exchange activities with South African military officers. Source.

120 cadets enrolled in ME404 presented their concepts for the redesign of current project spaces in Mahan Hall. Cadets were asked to consider versatility, space efficiency, and security in their designs and queried their classmates and faculty to determine what would make an ideal space for cadet projects. Among the many ideas that cadets incorporated into their final designs were the following: collaborative work spaces, display areas, box seats that can also be used for storage as well as overhead storage, Smart Boards, protected testing areas, Wi-Fi capability, and a solar powered trash compactor. 

This is the eighth year of the mechanical engineering design showcase, which is part of the senior cadet design experience and prepares cadets for the design process and collaborative nature of their impending capstone projects. Whereas last year’s ME404 cadets designed potential merchandise for WPAOG’s gift shop, this year’s cadets were asked to design a project space in Mahan Hall that could accommodate the increased cadet enrollment in the mechanical engineering program. (This year, 120 cadets will graduate from this program, making it the single largest academic major at West Point.)

Class of 1951 Leadership Chair invests in all levels of leaders at West Point during visit.On 9-10 September, Mr. Tom Tierney, the Department of BS&L’s Class of 1951 Leadership Chair, made his third official visit to West Point, and personally mentored 54 cadets across many academic departments and 21 faculty members through small group leadership seminars and meals. Mr. Tierney held two three-hour seminars with a total of 33 yearlings and cows discussing leadership and your authentic self where he facilitated great discussion and reflection on self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and qualities of the most effective and impactful leaders in their lives so far. Additionally, Mr. Tierney hosted a dinner for 12 Brigade and Regimental leadership or staff firsties, and talked about their increased responsibilities, difficulties with peer and genuine leadership, and definitions of success.

Expanding from his impact on cadets’ leader development, Mr. Tierney also hosted two shorter seminars with junior rotating faculty from BS&L, Math, and English Departments, facilitating a rich discussion and reflection on defining work and life success, and working toward taking inventory of how we spend our time on important, unimportant, urgent, and non-urgent tasks. Finally, Mr. Tierney invested in the senior civilian and military faculty in the department over lunch, discussing such topics as personnel and talent management, leading in times of constrained resources, and career transition. Overall, Mr. Tierney’s goal of adding value to West Point and its different populations was achieved over this short two-day visit. We look forward to his next iteration on 9-10 November, where he will host two cadet seminars on leading through underperformance and dysfunction. POC: MAJ Laura Weimer, x5031.

PL 300 Outreach and Visit to Picatinny Arsenal, NJ LTC McCoy and seven West Point cadets visited Picatinny Arsenal (PICA) on 11 SEP. PICA serves as the Joint Center of Excellence for Armaments and Munitions, providing products and services to all branches of the U.S. military. As part of their visit, LTC McCoy and Cadet Nijel Rogers, BDE Deputy Athletic Officer, served as panelists for Armament University's Leader Development Program, a professional development initiative for civilians assigned to PICA. Cadets also had the opportunity to visit several tenant organizations at PICA, including the Gaming, Interactive Technologies, and Multimedia Division, the Common Remotely Operated Weapons Station (CROWS) testing lab, the Armaments Technology Facility (ATF), the Gunner Protection Kit/Rapid Prototyping machinist shop, in order to gain insight on how the Army acquisitions process supports the warfighter. POC is LTC McCoy, x3177.

Capstone Team Conducts Initial Client Visit at the Configuration Management Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Last week, Cadets Samantha Dorminey, Milt Washington, Daniel Lache and Angel Santiago (who could not attend) visited Mr. David Tillotson, the Director, Configuration Management Office for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The team received their initial guidance from him and his staff. He asked the cadets and faculty team to develop an assessment system that the Secretary of Defense and other key DoD leaders can use to share status updates. This should be a very high-level and important product. The cadets look forward to the challenge. POC is Dr. Michael Kwinn.

Capstone Team Attends Government & DoD Smart Grids & Alternative Energy Symposium and Visits Pentagon.From 9 to 11 September, a capstone team, consisting of Cadets Jennifer Guzowski, Jacob Semerar, Alexander Ganz, and Katrina Mecklenburg (who could not attend), embarked on a mission to further investigate their research project of developing an Advanced Concept Energy system (ACES) prototype for the year 2040. The team attended an alternative energy symposium in Arlington, Virginia, in order to interview leading Government and industry experts on emerging energy technologies. Cadets interviewed many experts to include LTG(ret) William Lennox Jr. of Princeton Power Systems (56th Superintendent of USMA) and Dr. Darrel Massie(retired USMA Mechanical Engineering Professor) of Intelligence Power Energy Research (IPERC). Additionally, to further their professional development, MAJ(P) Ramirez provided the team a quick tour of the Department of Defense. During their Pentagon visit, they met Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, GEN Daniel B. Allyn. They also had an extensive discussion with the Assistant Deputy G1 (Army), Mr. Roy Wallace (SES) of his experiences during the 9-11-2001 tragedy at the Pentagon.

EECS Department Head’s Final Choir Trip before Retirement. The Cadet Catholic Chapel Choir, led by CDT Stephanie Pavelko, traveled with 24 cadets to Avalon, NJ for the 32nd consecutive year. The Catholic Choir shares in the musical liturgy in three different services with over 4,000 members of St. Brendan the Navigator parish and many visitors who travel every year from as far away as Florida for the event. The Catholic Choir was also joined by the Protestant Cadet Chapel Choir for a joint music ministry at the 5:00 Mass on Saturday. In addition, this year was the last trip for COL Gene Ressler, who was making his final visit to St. Brendan’s Parish after being the Choir OIC for over 20 years. In honor of the COL Ressler’s retirement, the Mayor of Avalon honored him with a Proclamation summarizing his 36 years of military service.

During various class hours 9 – 10 September, faculty members from the Department of History engaged cadets enrolled in HI301 in an innovative fashion outside of the classroom. Cadets learned more about 18th century linear warfare by participating in practical exercises using tennis balls. Lieutenant Colonel Dave Siry and Major Dave Musick led the exercises depicted below on 9 September. Cadets formed into two opposing armies and faced off against each other in the open ground adjacent to Jefferson Hall. The process also involved discussions about the challenges of this style of warfare, as well as ways that commanders they have studied tried to make improvements to their tactics in order to achieve more significant results both tactically and operationally. Lieutenant Colonel Jason Musteen led cadets in similar exercises on 10 September. Other instructors whose sections participated included Lieutenant Colonel Rick Black, Majors Rick Anderson and Andy Visser, and Captains Jon Romaneski and Josh Silver.

Ecological Research: On Tuesday, 9 Sep 14, Firstie Environmental Science majors enrolled in EV471 Ecology traveled to Wilkins Pond on the USMA reservation to take ecological samples as part of their term project research. During the morning, students sampled organisms, soils, water, herbs, shrubs, saplings, and trees in wetland and upland ecosystems. During the afternoon, students were assigned another ecological area for which they will be responsible to collect data, and using statistics, compare this ecological area to the control. Students will be required to write a scientific report, give an oral presentation, and create a poster as part of their term project research. The techniques and scientific methods learned provide the students the tools to evaluate ecological change and human impacts on the environment, and skills to present this information to an audience. The POC is LTC Mark Smith, mark.smith@usma.edu.

EV300 Biodiversity Lab Cadets enrolled in EV300, Environmental Science, participated in the Biodiversity Lab at Flirtation Walk on 10 September. During this lab, cadets are assigned a 16’ x 16’ grid in which they count species of fauna and flora (and some insects, too). Cadets then apply the “SCAZ” equation (S = c*Az) in order to develop a mathematical model that relates the plot’s area and its biotic and abiotic components to the total number of species found in their plots. Similar macro-scale models have been run to estimate the total number of species on Earth – and the numbers are quite astounding!

Vassar Visits USMA World War One Conference On Friday, 12 September, seventeen students and faculty members from Vassar College attended World War One Conference presentations in the Haig Room of the USMA Library in Jefferson Hall. The conference, jointly sponsored by the West Point Department of English and Philosophy and the Department of History, featured an array of panelists from various disciplines around the world. Upon completion of the day’s official events, Vassar guests joined faculty members and Cadets for dinner and a brief visit with COL Scott Krawczyk, head of the Department of English and Philosophy. The POC is LTC Thomas Veale, DEP, thomas.veale@usma.edu.

The First World War Conference at West Point From 11-14 September 2014, West Point had over 320 visitors to the panels and displays featured in Jefferson Hall as part of the World War I Conference, “Literature, Memory, and the First World War.” The conference included papers from international scholars from the University of Sussex (UK), University of Konstanz (GER), King's College (UK), Brazilian Command and Staff School, University of Cambridge (UK), Queen's University, University of Southampton (UK), and independent scholars from Eastern Europe (Poland). Besides a bevy of scholars from US institutions across the country, we also supported the Academy's NYC outreach program by hosting scholars from CUNY and SUNY, Rutgers, UCONN and John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

We also enjoyed visits by Dr. Hoehn and some of her students participating in the Vassar Initiative. Service academy participation included scholars from USNA, USAFA, USCGA, and the head of the Merchant Marine Academy's Ethics Department. Additionally, numerous faculty members from the Department of English and Philosophy as well as the Department of History presented papers and served as panel chairs throughout the conference. Dr. Vincent Sherry, the Howard Nemerov Professor in the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis, was the keynote speaker Friday evening at Herbert Hall. Sherry gave a moving talk during which he discussed how WWI changed the very definition of “sacrifice.”

On Saturday, we were honored to have Dr. Michael Neiberg as the keynote speaker for the conference dinner at Cullum Hall. Dr. Neiberg is Professor of History in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, PA. In his provocative talk, he provided compelling historical evidence that challenged many common and long-held assumptions about the causes of the Great War. To complete the conference experience, The Department of History provided conference participants with a personalized tour of West Point’s various historical sites. Overall, the conference was a great success both as a confirmation of USMA’s position as an institution devoted to serious scholarship and as a resource for the study of leadership, war, and culture. Moreover, it provided faculty, cadets, and community members a venue to engage in scholarly dialogue regarding the literature, memory, and social impact of World War I. We are grateful to all those who participated. The POC is MAJ Harry Jones, D/DEP, harry.jones@usma.edu

WEST POINT, N.Y.  – Mike Smith, who served the cross country and track and field programs at Kansas State for 20 years, has been named the Director of Track & Field/Cross Country at the United States Military Academy, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Boo Corrigan announced today. 

Smith, who has coached two Olympians and an NCAA champion, has been a part of three Big 12 championship teams. He becomes the 11th coach in program history.

“We are very excited to welcome Mike to the Army West Point family,” said Corrigan. “Mike’s profile stuck out from our remarkable pool of candidates and we all truly believe that he is the perfect person for the job. He has more than 20 years of experience with a great Kansas State program, and has a proven track record as a superior recruiter, coach and mentor. We can’t wait to get him started as we usher in a new chapter for the cross country and track and field programs.” Read More

The screening of Sebastian Junger's film Korengal was held at West Point on Monday, 22 September in Robinson Auditorium. After a book signing and an introduction by the Commandant, Junger gave some remarks before the screening of the 84 minute film. Junger and the late Tim Hetherington screened their film Restrepo here 2 years ago; Korengal is the sequel to Restrepo.

Starting in June 2007, Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger dug in with the men of Second Platoon, making a total of ten trips to the Korengal on assignment for Vanity Fair and ABC News. Each trip started with a helicopter flight into the main firebase in the valley and then a two-hour foot patrol out to Restrepo. There was no running water at Restrepo, no internet, no phone communication and, for a while, there was no electricity or heat; it was essentially just sandbags and ammo. Some days the outpost was attacked three or four times from distances as close as 50 yards. Hetherington and Junger – sometimes working together, sometimes alone – did everything the soldiers did except pull guard duty and shoot back during firefights. They slept alongside the soldiers, ate with them, survived the boredom and the heat and the cold and the flies with them, went on patrol with them and eventually came to be considered virtually part of the platoon. By the end of the deployment, they had shot a total of 150 hours of combat, boredom, humor, terror and daily life at the outpost.

Conditions for filmmaking couldn’t have been harsher. The surrounding mountains rose to a height of 10,000 feet – all of which was traversed on foot. Long operations meant carrying enough camera batteries to last a week or more, on top of the 50 or so pounds of gear required on even ordinary patrols. Cameras got smashed into rocks, clogged with dirt and hit with shell cartridges during firefights. Men were killed and wounded during filming, so there was a constant issue of when it was OK to turn on the cameras and when it was not. Only the filmmakers’ close relationship to the men of the platoon allowed them to keep shooting in situations where other journalists might have been told to stop. More on the film

The Toyota U.S.A. Foundation will distribute grants in 2014 to 23 organizations that offer innovative K-12 programs, which focus on science, technology, environmental science and math and serve diverse communities across all 50 states. More information on the 2014 grantees and their work is below.

West Point Association of Graduates, will receive $270,000 over two years to support efforts to maintain a pipeline of STEM-specialized talent for West Point and the Army with an emphasis on minority populations.

The President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, visited West Point, Sept. 22. While at West Point, he toured Trophy Point, addressed the Corps of Cadets in Washington Hall, enjoyed lunch with cadets and USMA Superintendent, Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr., and addressed cadets in Robinson Auditorium.

President Yudhoyono's visit is the first in a series, that will expose cadets to a variety of leaders from around the globe.

(Photo by: John Pellino/ DPTMS Visual Information)

Speech by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at USMA.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited West Point, Sept. 23. While here, he met with BG John C. Thomson III, Commandant, United States Corps of Cadets, toured West Point, and addressed CDTs on the topic of "NATO: A Long Blue Line for Security" in Robinson Auditorium.
Rasmussen's visit marks the second visit this week, aimed at fostering support across the globe.  Below is part of his speech.

“This is a visit I have wanted to make for a long time. During my five years as NATO Secretary General, I have had the privilege of working with many of this institution's outstanding graduates.

Truly exceptional leaders and commanders such as the current commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, General John Campbell. As well as two of his predecessors.

Indeed, the history of West Point and of NATO are intimately linked. The very first NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Eisenhower, was a West Point graduate. And so were twelve of the sixteen SACEURs who followed him.

In Iraq and Syria, we see the rise of the so-called Islamic State. I say so-called because it's not Islamic. And it's not a state. It's a group of terrorists that has committed the most savage atrocities against many thousands of people in the region. And against Westerners who were only trying to help those caught up in the Syrian civil war. Brave people like the American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff. And the British aid worker David Haines.

These terrorists are pouring oil on the flames of sectarianism that burn across the Middle East and North Africa. And we have already seen examples of our citizens going to those regions as foreign fighters, and then returning to our own countries. And threatening us here at home.

With such groups, there is no negotiation. Only violence and destruction. So we can't just talk. We need to act. And I welcome yesterday's strikes, led by the United States and several regional partners. We also need to support Iraq forces with supplies and training. And provide humanitarian support.” Full Speech

WEST POINT, N.Y.  - The Army women's tennis team makes its home debut this weekend as the Black Knights host the West Point Invitational, Friday through Sunday at the outdoor Malek Courts.

In Army's second weekend tournament of tournament play, the Black Knights are set to host players from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Syracuse, Seton Hall, Fordham, Lehigh, Albany, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Drexel, Stony Brook, Quinnipiac, Long Island University, Marist, Fairleigh Dickinson, St Peters, Bryant, Binghamton, St Bonaventure and Manhattan.

Play will get underway at9 a.m.on Friday and will conclude with the finals of both singles and doubles play on Sunday. Read More