Superintendent Leaves June 22

[Dude69]

Supe relinquishes command in ceremony at Ike Hall on Friday June 22nd.

Retiring after 43 years (last 5 years as Supe).

No official announcement of replacement (yet). Anyone...anyone?

See article under News tab on usma.edu website.

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened!" -Dr. Seuss

[ARMORMAN]

Holding my breath over this.....because there's a logical choice for "political correctors" lurking out there, and our esteemed institution has not just signed up 100% for political correctness over the last decade, but arguably we are at the tip of the spear. Most recent evidence was the Army's (finally!) kicking out "Commie Cadet", who was allowed to remain at and graduate from West Point.....Horrendous decision and horrible PA result.

Would love to see another combat officer as Supe. A role model for future warriors. Would love even more to see another ardent Army Football supporter. But I'm holding my breath..... We may well get a choice that sits really well with the vocal liberals who seem to dominate contemporary usma life.

[Go Frogs]

Wish we could vote! I'd vote for my classmate who just pinned on his 3rd star, former Commandant, JT Thompson.

[PrideandDream]

Armorman

Agreed. Nothing has the potential to not only stall our football success but also wreck our academy like a Supe who isn't focused on the mission critical tasks like creating warriors who are trained and expect to WIN. This is also crucial to all other sports, clubs, and other endeavors in which we compete.

PD

[wp1994]

Don’t expect anything official until the Senate has confirmed the officer. The Comm will serve as Supe in the interim.

I’m not sure who Armorman means by a logical choice for political correctness, but I’d love to hear more on that one. In the same comment that seems pretty positive about the current Supe, you then criticize the decisions that allowed the latest media attention getter to graduate. Whose call do you think that was? The fact that so many people don’t seem to want to believe is that he was investigated at USMA, and they didn’t find anything that rose to the level of a separation offense, or preventing him from getting commissioned. He walked somewhere close to 100 hours for conduct issues though, but that doesn’t fit he narrative that so many people want to believe.

Beat ‘em!

[JKillerK]

New Supe was present for graduation week. Wanted no fanfare. I believe some member of his family was graduating. Sat in the stands for the ceremony. He is the first African/American in the position. Waiting for Senate approval of the nomination.

[BigNick]

I liked this Sup's support of Army athletics and wish him the best in retirement for his many years of service to our Army. However, the minimum academic and military standards have been GREATLY lowered during his tenure. It has became very difficult to separate Cadets who performed below standards academically or for lack of military aptitude.

I believe the vast majority of graduating Cadets are just as good as ever- however I also believe that about 5-10% of the graduates are not up to bare minimum academic and military standards.

Look at the VERY, VERY low wash-out rate academically. Communists graduate! !! Why was this Cadet allowed to graduate?? Serious lack of duty performance by the Tactical Department, Comm, and Sup. I understand that the concept of high standards has faded in our current society but I expected that West Point would not be so profoundly affected.

My son and many of his classmates (Class of 2015) have told me that their companies had at least 5-10 graduating Cadets who were unfit to lead our soldiers and that the West Point officials were well aware of this situation but did not have the will or authority to separate these Cadets.

We must get a new Sup - hard core, battle tested, combat arms, focused, no-nonsense to reverse this tend.

[ARMORMAN]

OK, I just got 3 private messages regarding the new Supt. I won't betray the sources or the message, but I am not just hugely relieved, I am ecstatic!!!

If this man is confirmed, we are in outstanding hands for the next 4 years!!!
HOORAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PrideandDream]

https://usmadata.wordpress.com

In case any of you haven't seen or read the USMA response with tons of data on what is going on at USMA as a whole. Certainly there are one offs that none of us are happy about but looking at the bigger picture helps to understand how the institution is performing over time. One thing I do believe is that due to social media and the instant connections people have today that we hear and learn more and more about the discrete acts of individuals more than ever. We've had certain bad actors if you will go through in the past but never with the level of exposure that people have today. I'm not saying I like any of what happened I'm just saying I'm trying to consider the context.

Happy to hear about the new Supe and excited to see that there is hope about our future!!

PD

[3seconddelay]

My son and many of his classmates (Class of 2015) have told me that their companies had at least 5-10 graduating Cadets who were unfit to lead our soldiers and that the West Point officials were well aware of this situation but did not have the will or authority to separate these Cadets.

We must get a new Sup - hard core, battle tested, combat arms, focused, no-nonsense to reverse this tend.

My perspective, with my son and his classmates' (2019) experiences, is an inconsistent application of standards. The standards are there, but with increasing frequency there are USCC command exceptions made to minimum academic, physical and military standards, with second and third and even fourth chances granted. Superintendent discretion to not separate on a found honor violation, is an example of this. Honor Committees have not been completely cadet administered for a long time. Cadets frequently have lawyers now for Regimental and Brigade conduct Boards.

This started well before LTG Caslen's tenure. I think laying it on him is unfair. I do not think there is a direct correlation between the standards issue and Army athletics WINNING. The standards issue is much bigger than Army Football and LTG Caslen. It's West Point culture adapting to the world and overall LTG Caslen has it on the right path. Caslen is a winner and so is Army Football. Doesn't matter how big you are, you're going to hurt the next day after you play Army. Turning the losing culture of the football program around is a big deal. I trust the DoD is looking at the bigger standards issue and the perceptions surrounding it.