My second year of training a USMA Sandhurst Team began with record high temperatures in the lower 70’s throughout the Hudson Valley. Was this a sign of good things to come for the 2007 F2 “The Zoo” team? The warm air created a fog over the 200+ year old grounds of the most American soil in the country. If you ever visit, which I highly encourage, you will leave with a greater understanding and appreciation for those who wear a uniform and defend our way of life.

There is a saying that cadets are “a high school hero…West Point zero.” These young men and women comprise the finest this country have to offer. They are the valedictorians, class presidents and captains of the athletic team from wherever they came from. Once they put on the uniform before “Beast”, they are among equals in a large field of motivated, intelligent pre cadets. They are the hard steel that will eventually be polished into the sharp edge of an officer’s saber. Throughout the four years at the Academy, they are challenged in the area of academics, athletics and military skills under extreme pressure that most can’t comprehend. The result…a newly commissioned U. S. Army Second Lieutenant who leads and lives up to the reputation built by some of America’s greatest leaders.

more >