Army Football: Black Knights Become Army Officers at West Point Graduation

Fewer than five months after their Armed Forces Bowl victory brought winning football back to West Point, the large class of seniors who led the Black Knights to that victory graduated today and accepted commissions to serve in the United States Army. 

In all 1,031 cadets accepted diplomas in Michie Stadium under a bright, sunny sky after a rainy graduation week.  The graduates represented 79 percent of those who had started West Point four years ago and 147 of them, including many of the football players, had attended the U.S. Military Academy Prep School at Fort Monmouth, NJ.  The class had 171 women, and 68 cadets who were sons or daughters of West Point graduates. 

They say Michie Stadium is one of the best places in America to watch a college football game; it is a beautiful and traditional setting for graduation. 

Thousands of family members, friends and alumni filled the lower deck on three sides while about 1,000 members of the Corps of Cadets looked on from the upper deck.  Just the evening before each of the classes was promoted in rank, which is a huge lift for the freshman—they are "Plebes" no longer.

The West Point Band does a great job of presenting military, classic and popular music at West Point events.  At football games one of their traditions is to play the anthem or a representative song of the visiting school.  They give regular concerts at Eisenhower Hall and are annually called on by the Yankees to perform at Yankee Stadium on Opening Day or special occasions. 

When I reached Michie Stadium and went through security, a female cadet from West Virginia walked me through the stands to the gate for the press area.  Others served in a variety of capacities such as providing an honor guard to the senior military and government officials.  Others worked at the press area.  The happiest were, of course, the newly promoted sophomores.

The First Captain of the class of 2011 is Marc Beaudoin of Chelsea, ME.

The class president is cadet Joseph Simon II of Tampa, FL.

The valedictorian is cadet Kelley E. MacDonald of Carlisle, PA.

The graduates represented 79 percent of those who had started at West Point four years ago and 147 of them, including many of the football players, had attended the U.S. Military Academy Prep School at Fort Monmouth, NJ. 

Mr. John M. McHugh was sworn in as Secretary of the Army on Sept. 21, 2009, after serving in Congress for nine terms representing northern and central New York State.

As Secretary of the Army, he is responsible for the Army's annual budget of over $200 billion and leads more than 1.1 million in active duty through the Army National Guard, Army Reserve soldiers and over 400,000 civilian personnel.

Mr. McHugh received a B.A. in Political Science from Utica College of Syracuse University in 1970.

Admiral Mike Mullen attended last year's Army-Navy game in Philadelphia.  I met him at an event honoring World War II veterans in Italy six years ago.  He is a great guy and has done a fine job representing the needs of all members of the military.   

The '68 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis remarked on his frequent visits to Iraq and Afghanistan as Chairman: "I'm a sailor leading our military in two land wars, and I figured I needed to work overtime to understand what was happening in these places—and it was necessary that I really interact with our troops on the ground."

There is a great sense of place being at West Point for graduation.  The senior cadets wear their dress gray uniforms with summer white pants or skirts for the women.  Each has on his or her white cadet hat with visor and a red sash around the waist. 

The sign of graduation is the sword each carries to the side.

You cannot help but be impressed by the "Black Knights of the Hudson."

Lt. Gen. David H. Huntoon Jr. is a 1973 West Point graduate who was commissioned in the infantry and served with the Third Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) at Fort Myer, VA. 

He served with the Ninth Division at Fort Lewis, WA, the Third Infantry Division (Mechanized) in Germany.  During operations Just Cause and Desert Storm, he served with the XVIII Airborne Corps in Fort Bragg, NC.

He was the commandant of the United States Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, PA, and prior to his appointment to West Point in 2010, he served as director of the Army Staff, United States Army, Washington, DC.

General Huntoon congratulated the graduates, their parents and families.  He introduced the commencement speaker, Admiral Mullen, thanking him for frequently visiting soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan in hospitals, and for honoring the fallen when they arrive back in the U.S.

Admiral Mullen addressed the West Point graduation, beginning by humorously comparing the imperfections of his own record as a midshipman at Annapolis to that of West Point graduate General George Armstrong Custer in the 1860s.   

The Admiral asked the soon-to-be-commissioned officers to be ready to lead troops, but to also be statesman.  He described the role of the Army as one day fighting the enemy and the next building schools and wells in villages.  He asked the graduates to become involved in and provide leadership to government.

He honored those from the Academy who had died in service in Iraq and Afghanistan.  He described the service of a recent West Point grad injured in Afghanistan who refused surgical treatment, which would have taken him away from his unit, then was killed from another combat incident soon after.

The Admiral commented that the public appreciates the military but because so few families in America have a son or daughter serving, very few in America understand the military experience.  He called on the graduates to reach out to their fellow citizens.

The underclassmen watch the graduation behind signs honoring Army Heisman Trophy winners 1945 Felix "Doc" Blanchard, 1946 Glenn Davis and 1958 Pete Dawkins.

West Point cadets tend to keep an even persona, but the excitement in their eyes was evident going up to receive their diplomas from Academy officials and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

Having met Admiral Mullen a number of years ago, I know he is a gracious gentleman.  It must be one of the highlights of his role as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to attend graduations at the service academies and meet those who follow in his footsteps as young military officers.

Cadet Josh McNary was an extraordinary defensive player for West Point and was always approachable and thoughtful in interviews after the games.

A native of Houston, TX, his father, George, is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer.  His grandfathers are both veterans.  He did not receive scholarship offers out of high school so he decided to attend the USMA Prep School and walk on to the Army football team.     

Josh ended his college football career as Army’s all-time leader in sacks and tackles for loss.  He had an amazing junior campaign with 22.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 quarterback sacks.  His senior season he served as co-captain on the Army team, which won the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.

Among many postseason awards he received was the 2011 Pat Tillman Award presented by The East-West Shrine Game.  The award honors the player who best demonstrates service, character and sportsmanship; it symbolizes the type of award Tillman would receive if he were alive today.

Josh hopes to have a chance to try out for the NFL after completing his Army service commitments.

Patrick Mealy was a delightful cadet to get to know during the 2010 season.  He was always polite and excited about playing the game of football.

From Hyattsville, MD, Pat served as a co-captain of the Black Knights 2010 bowl-winning team.  He was frequently credited by coaches in mentoring the younger Army backfield players.

In his Black Knights career he rushed for 1,541 yards and seven touchdowns.  In his final game, the 16-14 bowl win over Southern Methodist, Pat carried the ball 11 times for 57 yards, including a 22-yard gain.

Second Lieutenant Mealy will join the Air Defense Branch of the Army.  We know he will do well and we will all continue to cheer for him.

Each member of the graduating class will join one of 17 branches or specialties within the Army.  Each branch has its own headquarters spread out around the country and will have different training requirements.  Most will take the Officer Basic Course, which will prepare the newly commissioned young officers to a join a platoon or another Army unit.

Infantry is the branch that 221 of the graduates will join and another 81 have been assigned to Armor.  These are the only two branches not open to women.  Field Artillery, Aviation, Corps of Engineers and Military Intelligence are several of the other major branches that members of the class of 2011 will join.

For the women graduates, 28 will join the Army Corps of Engineers, 20 will become Quartermasters, 19 will go to the Adjutant's General Corps and 16 will branch Aviation, which provides the opportunity to become helicopter pilots.

Brig. Gen. William E. Rapp is in his second year as Commandant of the cadets at West Point, a role in which he is responsible for military training.  Before coming back to West Point, he served with the Northwestern Division of the Army Corps of Engineers controlling floods, and before that he was in Iraq supporting General David Petraeus.  As Commandant he was responsible for the military training of the cadets at the U.S. Military Academy. 

A native of Dumont, CO, he is a 1984 graduate of West Point and holds a Masters and Doctorate in Political Science from Stanford University.

Gen. Rapp has been a guest on our West Point Football Report; we felt comfortable in approaching him for an interview because we saw that he was posting daily on Facebook promoting one accomplishment after another by West Point teams and members of the Corps of Cadets.  We thought that approach was a wonderful way to not only promote West Point to the public, but also build rapport with his cadets.

General Rapp's two frequent mottos are "Building leaders of character" and "Every cadet is an athlete."

Carson Homme from Kennewick, WA was a co-captain and the long snapper on the Black Knights football team.  He was an extraordinary student finishing as an honors graduate based on achieving a cadet performance score of 3.5 or higher.

Carson and teammate senior Jordan Trimble, were honored as members of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) 2011 Hampshire Honor Society.  The list is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who maintained a 3.2 GPA or better.  Army was the only service academy to have multiple members of the honor society.

Additionally he earned second-team Academic All-American accolades after posting a 3.92 GPA as a mathematical sciences and American history major.  Carson was named a semifinalist for the 2010 NFF William V. Campbell Trophy, which honors the nation’s top football-playing scholar athlete.

Somehow he also found the time to serve as a regimental commander and was responsible for leading approximately 1,000 members of the U.S. Corps of Cadets.

Congratulations to Carson Homme in excelling in all these important ways.

Dignitaries watch the swearing-in ceremony. 

Left to right is Lt. General David Huntoon, Admiral Mike Mullen, Secretary of the Army John McHue and West Point Command Sgt. Maj. Anthony W. Mahoney.

The commencement speaker has given his address, diplomas have been handed out, the oath has been taken, the alma mater has been sung and Benediction was offered.  The moment all were looking forward to was at hand—one last West Point tradition that occurs when the command "Dismissed" is given.

A spectacular moment at the West Point graduation is the moment the ceremony is over, the cadet First Captain, gives the command, "Dismissed" and all the graduates hurl their hats in the air like Frisbees.  Just an amazing sight. 

What I learned is that they allow the children of the graduates' families to line up in an end zone and, after the toss, collect and wear the hats. 

The cadets will break out their new officer uniforms right after the graduation for their commissioning ceremonies, which are held by teams or in small groups all over the post.

Donovan Travis, from Glendale, AZ was a top safety on the Black Knights football team.  He had five interceptions in 2010 for a career total of 11.  He had a large group of family and friends greeting after the completion of graduation.

"Are sown the seeds that, upon other fields, on other days, will bear the fruits of victory."

Congratulations to the West Point Class of 2011!

Ken Kraetzer covers West Point football for WVOX 1460 AM in New Rochelle, NY.  In the fall, WVOX and Sons of the American Legion Radio will air the "West Point Football Report" available nationally on WVOX.com.  Reports from the 2010 season are available on www.legionpost50ny.com.  Reach Ken on kgk914@aol.com