One of the jobs I had in the Army Reserve was an Attachment to the United States Military Academy as a Military Academy Liaison Officer, in addition to being Assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers, New York District. I worked in Western New York centered in Rochester with two other more senior officers at first, and when they moved on, I was the senior man and recruited two others to work with me. I interviewed candidates for the Military Academy and advised them of the opportunities afforded by West Point and by the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), as a college option. I always told them that West Point was hard, and that they wouldn’t like it, but that it was very worthwhile. Most years, the area that I covered produced at least seven cadets. I loved being the top guy, as I was the last several years I was in Rochester. It was also nice to see how the cadets had matured during their years at West Point. When they were home on leave at Christmas time, we had a social event, inviting that year’s candidates to meet them. We had another event to send off the new cadets who were entering that summer. It was also nice to receive an Army Commendation Medal and later a Meritorious Service Medal for the work I did as a Reservist for the Military Academy. I did that for thirteen years, 1976-89. Then, I became the Associate Director of Admissions at West Point as a Department of the Army civilian employee.
I was responsible for 4 three-day visits by high school guidance counselors, and one Admissions Participant Conference. I led the Invitational Academic Workshop each June, where about 400 rising high school seniors would come for a week-long program. Also, to be conversant with what the Admissions Officers were doing, I was responsible for the admissions files for the state of Kansas and was the officer on duty for the day on a rotating basis, for calls that came in from anywhere. I left Admissions after four and half years and went to work for the Army Corps of Engineers in the West Point Resident Office. As a reservist, I became a Drilling Individual Mobilization Augmentee and went to work in New York City once a month, first at New York District headquarters, then later at the North Atlantic Division headquarters.
When I was promoted to Colonel, in 1997, I again became a Military Academy Liaison Officer. Although I wasn’t the senior officer, I was the only one who had actual experience in the Admissions Office. I usually answered any questions posed by parents when candidates were taking the Physical Aptitude Exam in the West Point Gym. The exam took about an hour: it was pull-ups for men or a flexed-arm hang for women, a standing long jump, an awkward positioned basketball throw, and a 300-yard shuttle run. It counted 10% of what West Point calls a Whole Candidates Score but must be passed or the candidate is disqualified. (Sometime, more recently, that test was changed. The pull-ups or flexed arm hang remains. So does the basketball throw. The standing long jump was eliminated. The shuttle run was changed to 40 yards. There are now two minutes for modified sit-ups, two for push-ups, and a one-mile run.)
The parents asked lots of questions. I particularly remember how I answered some. A parent asked, “When will we know?” I said, “Well, Sir, you never know for sure, so don’t give up hope, but most offers are made by mid-March. Make sure to complete the file, because even if not offered admission, you might be offered USMA Prep School; Civil Prep, a program where students could go to a civilian school for a year and be provided special consideration under terms acceptable to the NCAA (funded by donations to USMA); or a three-year advanced ROTC scholarship. “Then, I told this story. A father from Kansas (First District, in the Kansas City Metroplex area) called asking that same question, and I gave him that response. What I didn’t tell him was that four candidates from that District already had offers of admission. I had already told this group of parents waiting for their son or daughter taking the Physical Aptitude Exam, that West Point had one of the highest “Capture Rates” of any college. Ours was always around 75%. That meant that for an entering class of 1200 students, we would offer admission to 1600 candidates. As an aside, when I visit candidates in their homes, I explain that Service-Connected nominations come from the President, who has 100 vacancies to fill each year, offspring of Active Duty or Retired soldiers; 100% disabled veterans, who have 12; ROTC and Junior ROTC who have 20. Soldiers, either Active Duty or Reserve get 170, with most coming from USMA Prep. Congressman and the Vice President have a total of 5 vacancies to fill throughout the four-year program. Most have one vacancy to fill each year, and two every fourth year. For every Congressional vacancy coming open, the congressman can nominate ten.
There are three classes of Appointments. Vacancy Fills, 150 Congressionally-nominated Qualified Alternates; or Additional Appointees from any nomination source for desired Class Size or Class Composition goals—Minorities, Women, Athletes, Soldiers, Leaders, or Scholars. In this case, of the four who were offered Appointments, two were Early Action candidates. More than 90% of those candidates accepted their offers. I figured that three out of four would ultimately accept, and since their scores were better that this man’s son, the son would not get an offer as the vacancy fill for that district, nor was he rated high enough to get an offer as a Qualified Alternate or Additional Appointee. In late March, one non-Early Action candidate declined his offer. A week later the second one did, too. The Early Action candidates waited until close to the National Reply Date, May 1, when all colleges expect answers from their offers. The last one rolled in on April 29. All four had declined. They most likely went to Air Force, much closer to Kansas than West Point. Some might have gone to Navy. We lose most decliners to the other Service Academies. So, by law, his son, fully qualified, and next in line in that district, had to be offered admission. Normally, the Congressman advises the candidate that West Point will make an offer of admission to him or her. Once the Admissions Committee meets and decides to make an offer, our office in DC is notified, and they in turn notify the Congressman. Then, we wait three days before sending a packet to the candidate. We’re not supposed to upstage the congressman. I called the house in Kansas. I told the father that his son would get an offer from West Point, but that the Admissions Committee would not meet again until May 7, and the Congressman would be notified first; he would notify his son by phone call or letter, and his son would get a packet from West Point about May 15. It brought laughter when I said that we’re not supposed to upstage the Congressman, and here I am telling a whole roomful of people that I did that. (However, I never told my boss that I did.)
The father wanted to know if he and his son could visit West Point before making a decision. I made arrangements, and they came two days later, on May 1. The Committee met on May 7, approved his offer, DC was notified, the Congressman was notified, the packet from us was sent. About ten days later, his postcard declining admission was received. He had accepted an offer from Pittsburg State University, a state school near the Missouri border. Since the other five candidates from that district had not completed their files, there was no one to fill the congressman’s vacancy that year. So, you never know.
Another parent asked what to do if her kid didn’t get selected. I related another story. A candidate from the 5th District of Kansas, which encompasses the whole western half of the state, applied. The candidate’s father was career enlisted, so she got a Presidential nomination right off the bat and applied to her Representative and the two Senators from the state. All candidates are advised to do so. She got a nomination from her Representative. Found lacking academically, she was admitted to the USMA Prep School at that time at Fort Monmouth, NJ, for the next academic year. She struggled academically at the Prep School and was not recommended for admission to the U.S. Military Academy by the Commandant of the Prep School. But as far as West Point was concerned, she was qualified. She had nominations again from the President and her Representative in Congress. Only a handful of candidates had applied in her district, most had not completed the full file, and those who had been offered admission had declined. The latest one had done so in early June. So, she got an offer, accepted, and reported with the rest of the Prep School students. She struggled mightily at West Point, had to go to the Summer Term Academic Program several summers, but survived to graduate with her class. The last I heard, she was a Major, still serving on Active Duty. The last question was “When is the best time for someone to apply?” The answer was in the summer or early fall of senior year of high school. Then, I related this story, which, I told the parents, had a tragic ending.
I was the duty officer one day in the week before Christmas. A parent called, asking for an application for his son. They lived in Maryland. I wrote down the information and sent it to the Records and Testing Office, who sends out the Pre-Candidate Questionnaire along with some materials that explain the application process. It is a quite involved process, which includes nominations from a Congressional or Service-Connected source before a candidate can be offered admission. Two weeks later, the parent called again because nothing from West Point had come. I guess it was lost in the Christmas mail rush. So, I personally sent another packet, and called the home a week later to confirm that it got there. The son sent in his Pre-Candidate Questionnaire, which showed that he was a viable candidate, so he was sent a Second Step Kit, scheduled a Physical Aptitude Exam, and a medical exam. The kit included papers to be filled out by high school officials detailing sports and non-sports leadership experiences. That counts 30% of the total score. For those keeping track, 60% of the score is for academic achievement: high school class rank and SAT or ACT scores. The Medical Exam process is administered by the Department of Defense Medical Exam Review Board, located at the Air Force Academy. They review exams for the Service Academies and ROTC Scholarships. Though not part of a Whole Candidates Score, it must be passed. The young man came for an overnight visit to West Point. I met him myself, and I was impressed. He was disqualified by the findings on the Medical Exam, but because he had a good total score, West Point recommended him for a waiver. But this was getting late in the admissions cycle. Early Action candidate had their files complete by the end of November and were acted upon in December. Most other vacancies were completed by the middle of March. Second-try candidates who’d gone on to college had their files reviewed in early April. Very few offers were made beyond that time; those were mostly vacancy fills for a Congressional district where a candidate declined an offer of admission. Late in April, the Admissions Office determined that three people, next by Whole Candidate Score on the waiting list, would be offered admission.
The son was at the top of the waiting list, but had not received a medical waiver, so he was passed over. There were no more offers of admission off the waiting list that year. The next day his medical waiver came through, good for the next admissions cycle, too. He applied again for the next year, went to college, did well, and was very likely to be offered admission when the second-try candidates were processed. Then, we received word from his family that he had been killed as a passenger in a car accident. What a shame. He would have been a great cadet and army officer.
Admissions, according to a Superintendent of West Point while I was there, is the most important part of the process; more important than Academics or Military Training. While complicated, from my experience, it is a very positive process. We look for reasons to qualify a candidate rather than to disqualify. We have some great candidates and we encourage them to complete their files. We encourage those who don’t make it on their first attempt to try again. After all, I’m the son of a man who didn’t get a nomination the first three times he tried. But on the fourth try he did, and he received a Vacancy Fill Appointment, finished first in his class in General Order of Merit, and became a General Officer.
Bob,
Enjoyed learning more about the admissions process and now appreciate a little better how I snuck in. Dropped out of college after my first semester at Lehigh University when my father was hospitalized for a couple of months and went to work for a year in the local textile mill while applying for admissions. Was too late then to get accepted at West Point but was offered a slot at the Merchant Marine Academy. Obviously declined going to sea in ships and kept my file open. Was later told by my Senator’s office I was third on his list. Top guy took a scholarship to Harvard. I eventually got a bit of a frantic call two weeks before we reported in from the Senator’s office asking if I was still interested and qualified since the guy ahead of me had just been injured in a car accident. Obviously told them yes, bought a pair of combat boots at the War College in Carlisle Barracks, then spent the next two weeks jogging in them before getting on the bus to our Rockbound Highland home.
Appreciated learning more in depth about everything going on behind the scene while we were all applying to join BOTL.
I think it’s interesting to note that the MALO program was started in 1974 because USMA had offered admission to every qualified candidate but still didn’t fill the class. Now candidates and parents who have been in touch with those folks know a whole lot more about the admissions process and have a better idea of what WP is all about.
I now live near Lancaster and go to Carlisle Barracks occasionally, though not since the pandemic started.
Thanks Bob, for this detailed explanation. I know my plebe roommate, Joe Brillante, has been an active MALO recruiter for many years. In my own case, I applied while in high school with my Congressman, Joseph Martin, of Massachusetts. He had been speaker of the house twice, and was the Republican leader in the House for many years. He was one of the only Republicans in the House from Massachusetts. To determine his nominees, he had the applicants take a Civil Service test. While I am not sure if this was his primary source in making his nominations, I do think he did not want to base his choices on politics or patronage.
Well, I received a nomination as the second alternate from my district. I passed all the required tests (medical, physical aptitude, and SAT), and waited. Unfortunately, the Principal nominee was accepted, as was the first alternate. So I went to University of Massachusetts in Amherst as a freshman. I enrolled in ROTC, and joined the UMASS Marching Band as a member of the drum section. My year at UMASS included a trip to the Tangerine Bowl, where we played a drum solo piece at halftime with the band, and lots of enjoyable time riding my motor scooter around western Massachusetts to date girls at the local colleges.
Sometime in the summer, before I began my freshman year, I received a call from Congressman Martin’s Office. They asked if I wanted to try again for admission to the class of 1969. My answer was, of course! So I dutifully showed up for the Civil Service Test again at the appointed place. I was pleased to find it was basically the same test I had taken the years before.
One day while our band was out on the field preparing for our next football game halftime show, the conductor, who stood on a tall stepladder, announced through his megaphone that he had received a phone call from Congressman Martin’s office. He explained that one of the band members had been nominated to West Point. That was how I learned that I would be his Principal nominee for the class of 1969.
I did finish out the year at UMASS, although I dropped a course in French, since i was not doing well and the teacher did not seem to like me. I concentrated on my Math courses, knowing that plebe math would be an important subject. And I tried to enjoy my remaining months of civilian college life.
I recently found an old book by Congressman Martin entitled “My first 50 years in politics.” It was a fascinating read, given the long history of his rise from a small town blacksmith’s son to the second in line for the Presidency. I will always be grateful to him for giving me a chance to join the BOTL.
I took a one week course at Braden’s Prep in Cornwall-on-Hudson before taking the US Civil Service Designation Exam for Admission to US Service Academies, on a Saturday. That was in the summer before senior year of high school.
There were about 50 of us there, and I got the highest score on the math portion on the first test on Monday–a 55. As you noticed, the preppers told us that the same questions were used over and over. So they kept giving us tests in math, English and spacial relations. On Saturday, there were three hours allowed for the test, and I was done in 20 minutes, and I got 100 on all three parts. That’s why I was Principal Nominee in my district in New Jersey. Rep. Rodino, who chaired the committee investigating Nixon, was my congressman.
Keep the good stories coming, Bob.
I had a stroke in 2013 resulting in aphasia. At first I couldn’t read, write or do math. As part of speech therapy, I’ve now written about 80 stories, some of which have appeared in thedaysforward.com. Eventually, Suzanne will get them all, but many are before our time as cadets and thereafter. I’m not sure if others will be suitable for this website.
Bob, Dave, et al. Strongly endorse Pete’s encouragement: Keep the good stories coming.
My nephew is now a HS senior seeking admission this July 2021. Responding to his request for a tour while he was still a sophomore, we traveled together to West Point in July 2019. Stayed in a Airbnb in Highland Falls managed by a Captain who taught Juice. (Having never spent a night in HF, the coincidence of staying at a place run by someone who was effectively my successor teaching EE a half-century later means David’s journey was destined for success.)
More relevantly, David is a stellar leader, skilled debater, and academic standout. He received a unique scholarship to earn college credits while living in a Kentucky college dorm during his last two years in high school. Since his father is an Army Vet of 31 years and David had previously campaigned for his local congressman, my nephew has that path for admission plus those from Senators McConnell and Paul, as well as status as a military brat.
Not sure how David’s journey will compare with the circuitous ones described by Bob or Dave, but I hope COVID conditions will allow me to witness his swearing in this coming summer.
You mentioned that your nephew campaigned for the local congressman. That sometimes is the ticket, but the DC office strongly encourages new Representatives and Senators to make it non-partisan and have all candidates compete together and let USMA pick the winner. That’s called Purely Competitive. Some pick a primary and have the rest competitive. Some still do the old system of a primary and numbered alternates.
Back in the old days, too, congressman could nominate people not domiciled in that district. In my dad’s case, Rep. Hartley, of New Jersey, of Taft-Hartley Act fame, refused to nominate him three years running, as a poor Italian kid whose father died in the Spanish Flu pandemic when my dad was 4 years old. On the fourth try, Hartley told a one term Rep. from Delaware to nominate him, so he was the Vacancy Fill for a place he had never even seen.
My younger brother Dick was nominated by F. Edward Hebert of Louisiana, received an appointment, but turned it down, going to Princeton on an ROTC Scholarship.
That is no longer allowed.
My older brother did not get a congressional appointment, but was number 9 of 30 Presidential appointments. Now, as you know, there are 100 as the class size increased.
Bob, thanks for the tutorial. You didn’t mention your “wavier” to get into West Point; you and the other Bob who was my roommate. Our Congressional delegation used the Civil Service test. I took it my sophomore, junior and senior years. Must have done well as I got on the lists. Took my physical test during wrestling season (I wrestled in high school and at WP). Therefore, I was in good shape! I visited Sen. Wayne Morse (D-OR) to tell him of my interest in the academies. Received a primary to WP from Sen. Neuberger, which I accepted; a primary to the Naval Academy from Sen. Morse and a first alternate to WP from Rep. Edith Green.
Sorry to hear about your stroke. Glad you are better.
There were several who must have been wavered for height including your roommate, who I’m guessing was Bob Brambila; Jim Mesite, and two others who didn’t graduate. I met those two in Plebe boxing, which is one reason I got 2.9 in boxing, the best grade I got in anything.
Very occasionally I was tasked to do the daily 1PM briefing for candidates and parents who visited the Academy. One time a parent asked, “Were the standards lowered when women were admitted?”
I got an acute attack of Wisenhiemers’ disease at that instant. I replied that yes, the standards were lowered. Several females glared at me. I went on to explain that the height requirement used to be 5-6 to 6-6, waiverable to 5-4 on the low end, 6-8 on the high end. Now the low end was 5-0 for a man, 4-10 for a woman.
Bob, thanks for your memories of the USMA admissions process and stories of working with parents and prospects! As a USMA admissions volunteer in the Savannah area, myself, I have met some outstanding young leaders wanting to serve in our Army – or the other services. It’s been an opportunity to meet and encourage the best of the best of this younger generation.
In 1987 I was invited to West Point along with some other Region and State Coordinators to hear an Admissions Brief and attend a football game. During the briefing, the Director of Admissions gave each of us a copy of “The Thirty Year Record.”
This listed average SAT Math and Verbal scores, along with some other statistics like how many were team captains, valedictorians, etc. I raised my hand and pointed out to the group that the class of 1969 had the highest average SAT scores in that period.
Soon after the first Gulf War ended, I fielded several calls asking if there could be a waiver for age. Several people involved wanted to come to USMA but would be overage. I replied that we had no ability to waive that requirement because it was law. The thing to do was to call Senator Nunn, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and ask him to change the law. Lo and behold, the law was changed a year later, adding a year to the top end of age.
Bob,
Thanks for the great information! I’m sometimes asked by USMA prospects about what they need to do to gain admission. In addition to pointing them to USMA-‘s on-line instructions, I’ll be recommending they check out your “The Days Forward” entry here.
BTW, here’s another Kansas story for you, my own: Though I was living in Alexandria, VA (my dad worked in the Pentagon), our home state was Kansas. So I interviewed in Hays, KS, for one of Representative Bob Dole’s nominations. I remember flying out there on a puddle-jumper, drinking one cup of coffee or cocoa before landing, deboarding, boarding, flying off again, coffee/cocoa drinking, etc. On the way back, I took a Greyhound bus, leaning my head against whatever would prop it up as the bus drove on through the cold, rain, and sleet. When I finally arrived home very sleep-deprived, I felt I had suffered the world’s biggest karate chop.
But I get ahead of myself. It seems half the world turned out for Rep. Dole’s interview board, especially a number of uniformed students from St. Joseph’s Military Academy, a local two-year college my dad had attended many years before. At any rate, the process Rep. Dole had set up seemed guaranteed to select a great candidate. I was quite surprised when I heard nothing back from him. I was surprised again when I heard back from my junior Senator. He said he was declining to give me second-alternate nomination because my senior Senator was giving me his first-alternate nomination. OK, well, then you can imagine my greater surprise when I then learned my senior Senator was declining to go ahead with his/my first-alternate nomination because he heard I would be getting a second-alternate nomination from my junior Senator! I suppose this logic worked with some in Kansas, but “I wasn’t in Kansas, anymore!” I was in the DC area, wondering if I was instead going to be going to Notre Dame or the University of Kansas! Then, what to my wonder, I received a third letter in the mail, this one saying I was being granted a Presidential Appointment. Again, since my dad was in the Army, I had somehow won out in the competitive allowance for children of service members!
The rest of the story relates to my wondering as to who then Rep. Bob Dole’s appointment. I could never guess. A number of times throughout the years I went through the USMA Register, looking for appointees from Kansas. Nothing seemed to compute. Then, one day, while reading a classmate’s eulogy/remembrance, I discovered the answer very close to home. It was Claude Alexander! From way down in southwest Kansas (from the very small town of Ulysses, which I didn’t even think was in Dole’s congressional district), Claude wasn’t among those whom Dole’s board interviewed, at least from the newspaper photo taken of us interviewees. While possibly gaining his appointment at the last minute, he was obviously an outstanding candidate. I personally know Claude was outstanding, as he was my conversation partner in Advanced Russian and was consistently the top student in our very small group! Great guy, as everyone who knew him will attest. So, I can only imagine all the other exigencies you outline in your story could have come to fruition. Voila! Small world. C’est la vie! QED! 🙂
Thanks again!
Bill Bahr, H-1
PS: I recently discovered that Jonathan Williams, USMA’s first superintendent and chosen in the main for his sterling character, was the grandnephew of Benjamin Franklin.
PPS: And, RIP, Claude! до свидания! Do svidaniya! Until we meet again!
I think that before there were larger classes, congressional nominations were limited to five–principal and numbered alternates. Once in Rochester, NY, the local Rep. had two vacancies, so could nominate twenty. She only nominated seven. Her board, including me, reasoned that the others who presented themselves to the board were not going to be competitive, so better to not get their hopes up, only to be dashed later on.
When I handled files from Kansas, many nominees appeared on several slates.
At least two Reps. from NY gamed the system. Candidates who were above a certain cutoff Whole Candidate Score were given a Letter of Assurance by Admissions, saying that if they got a nomination, and passed the PAE and Medical exams, admission was assured. So those candidates got a numbered alternate nomination. Someone else who didn’t was given the principal nomination, so that one got in, too.
Domicile is not the same as legal residence, I learned in training. It’s the place to which you “always intend to return.” So who is to say to someone that this is not your domicile? Claude was born in Kansas, and perhaps claimed some other town in Dole’s District. Or perhaps Dole’s nominees declined and he nominated him instead.
There were some very strange admissions stories, as we’ve seen.