Old Grads March Back with New Cadets

After six grueling weeks, Cadet Basic Training (CBT) has ended. Despite the intensive training—rappelling a 75-foot rock face, enduring the House of Tears, surviving the new five-day field training exercise (during which it rained for two days straight), and more—new cadets reported “loving” Beast Barracks. They learned a number of practical skills in CBT for their future careers as second lieutenants, but, more than that, they learned a lot about themselves. “I’m tougher now,” said New Cadet Will Morningstar ’20, and New Cadet Chris Robertello ’20 reported experiencing “a transformation in attitude.” New Cadet Zach Aloma said that CBT plunged him into the unknown and made him realize that he could adapt to anything. He also learned the value of teamwork. “I never would have gotten through the battle drills of the FTX without my squadmates,” said Aloma. Perhaps New Cadet Kataliya Quinlan ’20 said it best: “I learned that I could push through more than I thought I could this summer and breach walls that I didn’t think I could break.” Quinlan needed to remember this lesson to accomplish CBT’s 12-plus-mile capstone mission, the March Back from Camp Buckner to Washington Hall. Supporting her and her fellow 1,275 new cadets from the Class of 2020 along the way were 316 Old Grads from 40 West Point classes spanning 69 years of the Long Gray Line, the largest number of graduate participants in the March Back’s 17-year history. This total included 119 members, another record number, from the Class of 1970, the 50-Year Affiliation Class for 2020. “Having the Old Grads march with us was awesome,” said Quinlan. “Seeing them do it really motivated me and made all the new cadets think, ‘If they can do it, so can we.’” Full Story»