West Point was founded on March 16, 1802. Since then, it has produced 2 Presidents, many astronauts, and numerous other notable American leaders. Most importantly, it has produced military leaders that have won America’s wars for over 2 centuries.
The recipe for West Point is simple. Duty, Honor, Country guides everything that is done at West Point to produce the quality and dedication in its graduates. The location, on a historic and key Revolutionary War outpost, is ideal to foster patriotism, introspection, and loyalty to country. Over the years, the main campus has expanded but for the most part still maintains its dark gray architecture and spartan austerity. The faculty follow an established and centuries old Thayer Method. Many of the professors are graduates. The Department Heads and Dean exist to provide a consistent and quality education for cadets through the ages. Without Duty, Honor, Country, West Point grads are no different than any other commissioning source and its expense should be questioned as unnecessary in the defense budget.
A close friend once changed jobs from the oil industry to tech. I asked him if that was hard as a senior leader to switch gears at mid-career. He stated it was easy because “leadership is leadership no matter the industry.” Similarly, the military concepts of leadership and Duty, Honor, Country are unchanging no matter how society and technology changes. A graduate from a century ago should be able to travel through time to the modern military and with a period of time to ‘catch up’ with technology and social changes, should be able to lead military formations just as well now as was done in their own time. A notable historical example of the importance of sound, basic leadership ability is the famed ‘Airborne Test Platoon’ that began to explore the possibilities of Airborne tactics and air power in June 1940. 4 years later entire divisions were doing airborne assaults into Fortress Europe. Airborne Divisions and Regiments were led by leaders that had graduated West Point years before airborne infantry was even an idea.
In essence, running West Point is easy. Stick to the script that has won wars for centuries and served the Army and the nation well. Although it seems daunting to run such a large and important organization, the job of Superintendent of the United States Military Academy is extremely easy. Admittedly, it is time consuming to supervise the complex organization that has evolved. All the Supe has to do is stick with the script and ensure that Duty, Honor, Country regulates everything that is done at West Point.
LTG Gilland inherited an existential mess at West Point. Then LTG Darryl Williams was caught up in the biggest cheating scandal in decades, cocaine culture, and the rise of toxic DEI. All LTG Gilland had to do was return West Point to its true and easy course by reinstating the concept of Duty, Honor, Country into everything. Instead, he has continued the silence in hopes scandals will go away, poured gasoline on DEI to enhance its damaging potential, and continued the irrational and unfair COVID mandates. Worse, he removed “Duty, Honor, Country” from West Point’s mission statement in 2024.
Consequently, he has helped to spawn the rise of concerned graduate organization such as the MacArthur Society, has been made to appear in front of several Congressional inquiries, and faces multiple lawsuits for hiding information about DEI and other toxic ideas from the public.
LTG Gilland is not unique. He is a part of the new class of Generals that misleads America, wastes taxpayer dollars, and seems to seek only more stars and lucrative jobs in the military industrial complex. The predictable result is the new tradition of being unable to win wars. All of this is contradictory to the Duty, Honor, Country concept. Following the hallowed creed would end all crises and restore public and graduate faith in the institution. Surprisingly, he continues to double down on his arrogance and propensity to dutifully comply with damaging political ideologies such as DEI and pushes West Point further away from the ideals on which it was founded.
In November, LTG Gilland even complained to concerned grads that their questioning of goings on at West Point were ‘making his life harder.’ Gilland is mistaken. He is making his own life harder and concerned grads are calling him on it. Pride and hubris prevent him from listening and considering what others are observing. It is unclear what he has against the concept of Duty, Honor, Country. If he adhered to this ideal, he would be transparent and push back against outside political influences that run counter to these 3 words. It is difficult to imagine a Supe that no longer believes in the 3 hallowed words from MacArthur’s famous 1962 speech.
The problem isn’t West Point. It is its leadership. Perhaps it is time to appoint a new Supe to restore West Point to it past greatness by following the time honored recipe of Duty, Honor, Country. It is that easy.