West Point: The Army Challenge ~ 1969 US Army; US Military Academy; The Big Picture TV-750

Published on December 30, 2017

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‘Documents the story of a young man who enters the U.S. Military Academy and completes four years of study to qualify for a commission as a second lieutenant, U.S. Army… ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION TO THE ACADEMY, ITS MISSION AND TRADITIONS, AND PRESENT-DAY COURSE OF STUDY AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES – EMPHASIS ON THE VALUE OF A WEST POINT EDUCATION FOR CHARACTER AND VOCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.’

“The Big Picture” episode TV-750

Public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known as West Point, Army, The Academy, or simply The Point, is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in West Point, New York in Orange County. It sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City.

The Academy traces its roots to 1801, when President Thomas Jefferson directed, shortly after his inauguration, that plans be set in motion to establish the United States Military Academy at West Point. The entire central campus is a national landmark and home to scores of historic sites, buildings, and monuments. The majority of the campus’s Norman-style buildings are constructed from gray and black granite. The campus is a popular tourist destination complete with a large visitor center and the oldest museum in the United States Army.

Candidates for admission must both apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a member of Congress or Delegate/Resident Commissioner in the case of Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands. Other nomination sources include the President and Vice President of the United States. Students are officers-in-training and are referred to as “cadets” or collectively as the “United States Corps of Cadets” (USCC). Tuition for cadets is fully funded by the Army in exchange for an active duty service obligation upon graduation. Approximately 1,300 cadets enter the Academy each July, with about 1,000 cadets graduating.

The academic program grants a bachelor of science degree with a curriculum that grades cadets’ performance upon a broad academic program, military leadership performance, and mandatory participation in competitive athletics. Cadets are required to adhere to the Cadet Honor Code, which states that “a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.” The academy bases a cadet’s leadership experience as a development of all three pillars of performance: academics, physical, and military.

Most graduates are commissioned as second lieutenants in the Army. Foreign cadets are commissioned into the armies of their home countries. Since 1959, cadets have also been eligible to “cross-commission”, or request a commission in one of the other armed services, provided that they meet that service’s eligibility standards. Every year, a very small number of cadets do this, usually in a one-for-one “trade” with a similarly inclined cadet or midshipman at one of the other service academies.

The academy’s traditions have influenced other institutions because of its age and unique mission. It was the first American college to have an accredited civil-engineering program and the first to have class rings, and its technical curriculum was a model for later engineering schools. West Point’s student body has a unique rank structure and lexicon. All cadets reside on campus and dine together en masse on weekdays for breakfast and lunch. The academy fields fifteen men’s and nine women’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sports teams. Cadets compete in one sport every fall, winter, and spring season at the intramural, club, or intercollegiate level. Its football team was a national power in the early and mid-20th century, winning three national championships. Its alumni and students are collectively referred to as “The Long Gray Line”, and its ranks include two Presidents of the United States (as well as the President of the Confederate States of America), presidents of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and the Philippines, numerous famous generals, and seventy-five Medal of Honor recipients…

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