Spring Break ...Part II : Our Cadet

Cadet Mitchell Handsome

This is our Cadet. Well, he leant us an afternoon for which we took proprietorship, and will forever send him careboxes full of snickerdoodles. This generous young man is part of the Class of 2013- 50 years after my own Father graduated from West Point.
He met us in front of Grant Hall, 50 years ago, a meeting point for cadets and visiting young ladies. Now a take out deli and cafeteria dining for cadets. We grabbed a sandwich and sat down to begin bombarding Cadet Mitchell Handsome with questions and tales of The Point of yore. We then set out on a fairly comprehensive tour of campus. The new library- with wonderful view of the Parade Grounds and Hudson River. Academic halls, Eisenhower Tower (I think it is Hall, but Tower is better, doncha think?) The fine houses of the Superintendent, Dean and Commandant. Old things, new things, statues of MacArthur, Washington, Eisenhower, Some Dude With Spurs, the War Memorial with 2330? names on it, why, we don't know. But 50 years ago, at West Point, you had to memorize how many names were on the Memorial, and you still do today. We saw some Cadets, mostly running. They run. A lot. If you like to run, and math, and grey, maybe this is your kind of place. We saw the athletic complex. Well, one of them. There are athletic fields everywhere. Each Cadet plays a sport. In addition, they also have what they call a "lifetime sport". Cadet Mitchell Handsome plays Rugby. His lifetime sport is Scuba Diving. I wonder if they consider Zumba a lifetime sport? Cadet MH did not know about Zumba. This may be because he is not a 40 year old housewife with a YMCA membership.  In any case, they do offer Zumba at the Athletic Center. And everything else. Like, running.

Cadets playing frisbee (Lifetime sport?) in the shadow of Big George. Don't let the shorts and tee's fool you. It is not warm. They can dress like this because they 1) live in a really cold place, so 35degrees with a stiff wind is practically tropical and 2) they have just been running, and are about to go running.

Cadet Mitchell Handsome fielded our questions admirably, and gave me great hope for young men everywhere- grunted answers are not the only option! Answering some of our questions were probably pretty easy. "What do the pins you are wearing mean?" Answer: "This one is for academic standing, this one is for jumping out of perfectly decent flying planes" etc. Hmmm. After a few hours of wandering around campus with the courteous Cadet MH, I couldn't resist pushing. Just a little. "What happens when a Cadet gets pregnant?" Answer "They don't. Or they are no longer a Cadet at West Point."  "So, what happens if the father of the baby that got the female Cadet bounced from her education and career is also a Cadet? What happens to him?" Answer "Uhhhh....That, I do not know." Just getting him to think about another angle to math and running. Like 1+1=3, and run the other way.

The fam and  Cadet MH,  probably wishing he were memorizing the week's menu instead of trying to field my questions.

Eventually we made our way to Washington Hall. This is a massive place. This is where the Cadets file in, line up behind their assigned chair at their assigned table, sit when instructed and are served their meals family style, simultaneously, eat, drink and depart in approximately 20 minutes total. There are around 4000 cadets. So, if you can imagine a restaurant seating and serving 4000 at once....that gives you an idea of the undertaking that is Washington Hall. This is 3 squares a day, although the dinner is optional now, except for Thursdays. Other days you can stop by and pick up food to bring to your room and eat while you study. Or, you could send a plebe (first year cadet) to go get you food, I suppose. You can order them about pretty much constantly. They also have to serve the  upperclassmen, know what their beverage of choice is, and pour it, walk differently, talk differently, brace (see illustration Spring Break I) and pretty much get yelled at.

This is about 1/4 of the tables in Washington Hall, the fingers of the dining room go in 5 different directions.

Cadet Mitchell Handsome with the kidlets.

We ended our tour by heading to Eisenhower Tower (yes, probably hall, but... they didn't ask me before they named it). Here we went to see the Class of '63 Lounge. This was my Dad's graduating class. It was a bear to get into Eisenhower Tower, but Cadet MH figured it out, and we poked around. It centers mainly around a  huge auditorium which is where they have shows, plays and speeches from important military people, like President Obama.
A-hem.
In any case, the Class of '63 Lounge was eventually located. Here are the fine men of The Point.....

I know! Which one is which?! Hint: my Dad is the one with the long hair.

In all, an educational and hopefully, memorable day for all.
 Including our Cadet.