Talk:United States Military Academy/Archive 1

"military academy"
This page is missing 2/3 of the content it should have. There are four military academies:

West Point, New York: Army Annapolis, Maryland: Navy, Marines Colorado Springs, Colorado: Air Force New London, Connecticut: Coast Guard 

I'm sorry, but I don't have the time or knowlege to correct the page properly.--BlackGriffen

There is only one United States Military Academy. The other two service academies are the "United States Air Force Academy" and the "United States Naval Academy". The U.S. Military Academy only refers to the Army's academy at West Point. --rmhermen


 * And in fact there are four (that list should have included the Coast Guard Academy), and some might say five by counting the Merchant Marine Academy. &#8212; Bill 17:06, 2 Mar 2005 (UTC)


 * Some don't even count the Coast Guard, since you don't need a congressional nomination and its not a military branch except in times of declared war. Which was over 60 years ago.

When the Coast Guard is moved from its peacetime status to its wartime status, it becomes part of the US Navy. As such, it currently has units that are on wartime status in Iraq and Afghanistan. In all of the modern wars the US has been involved in, the Coast Guard has been responsible for Port Inspection and Security in the Theater of War and Ammunition Handling and Inspection.SSG Cornelius Seon (Retired) 14:50, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

The offical name is the United States Military Academy at West Point. West point only refers to the location, West Point, New York. It was created at a time where it was the only Military academy, and was originaly a fort. False Prophet18:17, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Unquestionably, there are FIVE service academies authorized by congress to exist as such. These are: United States Military Academy (West Point), United States Naval Academy, United States Air Force Academy, United States Coast Guard Academy, and the United States Merchant Marine Academy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dmchad77 (talk • contribs) 01:12, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary, the creator of LSD and famous for his "turn on, tune in, drop out" philosophy, graduated from West Point in the 1940's and served honorably in WWII. Also, David Lipsky's book "Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point" should be mentioned due to it's comprehensive insight and timeliness.

Kenneth James


 * Timothy Leary did not create LSD. Albert Hofmann did. ( A rundhati Bakshi (talk • contribs)) 22:12, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

He also did not graduate. He perfected the drop out, before he ever turned on or tuned in. Dr U 00:01, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

Supe Dates
There is a difference between (1900-????) and (1900- ), and the latter is what's required here. The former means that the person has died, but the date of death is unknown; the second means the person is still living.

I was unable to find a birthdate for the current Supe, butthis reliable page states he was 36 in 1986, making his birth year 1949 or 1950. &#8212; Bill 17:06, 2 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Gen. Goodpaster date of death
Supporting my edit this afternoon: an Associated Press release dated today (these releases don't stay online very long, buthere's the link) states that he died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Bill 23:07, 16 May 2005 (UTC)

curriculum
I think I read somewhere that from the 1850s on a 5 year curriculum replaced the 4 year curriculum. Is that correct? Should the article be changed in that direction? --85.74.154.165 21:33, 22 May 2005 (UTC)
 * I do not believe that is correct (though I am not positive) - a friend of mine graduated from West Point in four years. -Mark McCartney (talk) 18:03, 2005 May 25 (UTC)

West point does not graduate anyone after four years. Every graduate is a four year graduate.

You can graduate in five years, but only if it's for disciplinary reasons. The academy refers to these cadets as "turn backs" and, more often than not, they serve a year in the army as an enlisted soldier before returning to graduate with the next class.

The initial post is correct. I am a cadet at USMA, and for a brief period leading up to the Civil War, West Point used a five year program. It was reverted back to 4 years after the war, so the other posts are correct as well.

There's No Mention of West Point Graduates Who, Like Petraeus, Sat Out Wars Which Conscripts Had to Fight
It is an odd fact of West Point that a guy could enter it during the Vietnam War, planning to become a career officer, and then allow conscripts not planning military careers to actually fight the war. Then, after the war was over, the conscripts would go back to civilian life (or to graveyards) with their experience, while the newly minted officers would go forth into a non-war environment with their supposed expertise. —Preceding unsigned comment added by70.44.145.124 (talk) 21:40, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Specific ranks of General Officers/consistency
In the United States Military Academy and the List of United States Military Academy lists, some generals are listed as "Lt. Gen.", "Maj. Gen.", "General of the Air Force", etc., while others are listed as simply "Gen.", which can be a generic title for any General Officer, or may specifically refer to the O-10/four Star rank. In the superintendent list, for instance, Douglas MacArthur is listed as "Gen.", yet he was a Brigadier General (one star) when he was the Sup, and he eventually rose to the rank of General of the Army (five star). Andrew Goodpaster, for instance, held the rank of General (four star) prior to his appointment as Sup, but took a reduction in rank to Lt. General (three star) to take the Superintendent job because the job, at the time strictly required an three star. After leaving the Sup job, his four star rank was restored. I think that we should list the highest rank achieved for the Notable graduates list, but am uncertain what we should do for the Sup list. Rogerd 18:42, 28 May 2005 (UTC)

Benedict Arnold and West Point
West Point was key to holding the Hudson Valley during the Revolution, given its commanding position above the river. In 1780 Benedict Arnold was given command of the post at his own request and plotted to surrender it to the British, whose warships were anchored south of the fort. Arnold tried to time his treachery so that George Washington, who was visiting, would fall into British hands along with the post itself. Luckily for the Americans, the British officer, John Andre, who was working with Arnold on the plan, was captured and the plans became known in time for Washington to avoid capture.

Sexual Harrasment
A small reference to women being admitted to the academy followed with gratuitous sexual information broken down by percentage in reference to a single survey in 2004 does not remotely fit the context of this article or attempt to relay a neutral point of view.

If you cannot figure out why, please refer to What Wikipedia is not

Salient points:

Wikipedia is not a propaganda machine Wikipedia is not a soapbox, or a vehicle for propaganda and advertising. Therefore, Wikipedia articles are not:

Propaganda or advocacy of any kind. Of course, an article can report objectively about such things, as long as an attempt is made to approach a neutral point of view. You might wish to go to Usenet or start a blog if you want to convince people of the merits of your favorite views.

Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of items of information. That something is 100% true does not mean it is suitable for inclusion in an encyclopedia.

Continued
"This is sixteen percent less sexual harassment than the national average for colleges."

Don't know about that earlier post, but I removed this example of awful stats. Comparing all students (male and female) to the female cadet complaints is just the first problem with this line. Cory.willis 07:34, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

West Point
I'm not defending West Point or policing relevant content. I could similarly place well referenced information about the varieties of snack food most consumed on campus in 1955, broken down by percentage, and it too would be way out of place. The National Enquirer and Ken Starr might be interested and feel that it appropriate to report what percentage of people at an institution had anal sex in a certain year. Within the context of an article about a 200 year institution which has had dozens of scandals which dwarf your reference, your information is simply out of place. Dr U 03:43, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
 * There was no directive by Congress to the Department of defense to survey snack food nor would a report on snack food find prominent coverage in the media. See     and the Department of Defense report Fred Bauder 11:27, August 31, 2005 (UTC)

I have changed the information in the article, removing the links to the specific types of sexual assault reported. Fred Bauder 11:27, August 31, 2005 (UTC)

List of "notable graduates"
This is starting to get unwieldy and silly-looking, and as elsewhere, people will continue to add one here one there in dribs and drabs; the simplest thing is to take advantage of the Category system. The link now provided has the great benefit, additionally, of listing them all automatically, even those yet unwritten. There are in fact far more in the Category than were in that list: yet the Category is still only "notable" grads, since the thousands of non-notables, well, don't have Wikipedia articles. Bill 22:27, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

Beat Navy!
Beat them with a stick.

BTW, the list of Supes is large, and probably would benefit from being moved to its own page, like the notable grads were. Any objections?

Dr U 00:44, 3 December 2005 (UTC)
 * I would agree with the separate list, but you should still keep the current supe on the main page. You may want to consider addingtemplate:Infobox University (an example of this used is University of Kentucky).  --Rogerd 01:40, 3 December 2005 (UTC)
 * I went ahead and did the template:Infobox University --Rogerd 01:58, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

There should be some mention of Rollie Stichweh, the quarterback who played against Roger Staubach in the 1964 Army-Navy game, which featured the first-ever "instant-replay" on TV.

I believe the sports team should be made their own page and their division should be listed-DogPHman 02:56, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

Data for Infobox University
I was not able to find the precise size of the faculty, but the USMA web site states that the student to faculty ratio is 8/1, hence 4000 students/8 = 500. I would be surprised, however, if the number is exactly 500. If anyone has a source for a more exact number, please provide it. --Rogerd 04:36, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

Made some changes, have some thoughts
I've made the following changes, and have some thoughts mixed in.
 * 1) Tried to clear out some redundancy. I've combined two discussions of rank, which were in different formats (paragraph and list). Also, Duty, Honor, Country was mentioned twice in the main article, where only one time should be necessary (removed instance that broke flow).
 * 2) I've removed the $50 bill image with mention of Ulysses S. Grant. Although Grant did graduate from West Point, a monetary denomination doesn't really fit the context of this article. Also, one graduate should be enough; more than one can go on the notable alumni page.
 * 3) Speaking of, I've cleaned up the "notable alumni" section, which seemed a bit confusing. On this note, I feel notable graduatesand non-graduates should be combined into one article (and then possibly divided there).
 * 4) The organization section needs to be fleshed out.
 * 5) Finally, as the Superintendents section already has a separate article, maybe some content can be moved there?

Thoughts welcome. jareha 08:44, 10 December 2005 (UTC)

Category confusion
I reverted the well-intentioned edit, since Category:West Point graduates is already, and logically, a member ofCategory:United States Military Academy, not the reverse: the graduates are a subset, the academy is the set. Neither might we have both, since that sets up an infinite loop. (Category:West Point graduates is already referenced in the body of the article, also; so the link is there for the diligent reader.) Bill 23:42, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

Possible additions
Some thoughts on possible additions. There seems to be no mention of developments in curriculum. In mathematics, there has been a move to take seven math areas, and condense them into four that cover key parts of all seven. In academics, there has been a debate over whether USMA and all service academy graduates are too narrow and shallow as scholars. In the leadership area, officers are being required to have Ph.D's at the rank of General, and senior NCO's are required to have advanced degrees. Meanwhile, the difference between service academy graduates and graduates of non-military colleges has been found by statistical studies to be negligible; and statistical studies are no starting to indicate that employers see no difference between graduates of traditional residential colleges and those graduating from an online experience. The assumption is that the service academy education produces higher quality leaders; yet if statistical studies prove the trends true--that there is no difference--then military education actually goes against a true merit system. The off site links would do well to include mention of the book Dress Gray, by a female cadet. Finally, there is a book about the learning system at West Point, written by someone who was a key developer, which would be excellent to mention, but I could not locate the name or title in my notes. If someone else has that information, it would be great to include it.--jfdunphy 30 Dec2005 04:45 (UTC).

I have read the book Dress Gray and have personally spoke with numerous people that both knew the author and/or are referenced in the book. Not a single person I've spoken to has said that anything in it is remotely accurate. Thus, I would argue against it's inclusion. If anything, I would instead recommend In The Men's House, also written by a female cadet.

Heads-up
There is a Requested move to move West Point (disambiguation) back to West Point which is currently a redirect to this article. --Philip Baird Shearer 01:37, 18 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Bad idea. Bill 02:17, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Serious work needed
There is nothing really in this article explaining how the Academy works.
 * For example: how does one get in? Nomination, competition, appointment, the Prep School.
 * For example: the role of the Board of Visitors, Congress, etc.
 * For example: demerits, class standings, inspections, special inspections -- and historically, hazing, bracing, square meals, etc.
 * For example: the traditions, Hundredth Night, the more recent 500th Night, boodle, class spirit, the Pointer, escapades into Highland Falls or Newburgh (or even NYC), etc.

Lots more stuff of this kind. Someone with more first-hand experience than me should do a thorough write-up.... Bill 21:17, 28 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Just copy paste from USNA, USAFA or the USMMA. Same deal for all of them. &mdash;The precedingunsigned comment was added by 207.35.180.74 (talk &bull; contribs).


 * Mixed grade. For the appointment process, that's good thinking. For the rest of the stuff mentioned, there's very little in the brother academy articles either; and for the traditions, that's nonsense. This article really does need work. Bill 16:54, 13 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I apologize for the confusion. I meant simply for admissions process. &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.35.180.74 (talk &bull; contribs).


 * And now, acting on your suggestion, I picked up the USNA sections on the Appointment Process and Admissions, with a quick tweak; more may be necessary: I'm not familiar with today's details. Now will some current or former kaydet, or otherwise knowledgeable person, fill in the details at least on the important stuff: Board of Visitors, demerits, class standings, the Honor Code (which is just mentioned vaguely and in passing)? The rest would be nice, too. Bill 22:46, 13 February 2006 (UTC)


 * This page needs some better pictures of the overall campus--Cornell010 02:28, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Kristen Baker
Someone added text about her having a statue and display at the WP museum. Fact or sarcasm? Dr U 01:51, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

I believe it is a fact, but is only a bust, similar to the one of Henry Ossian Flipper.--129.252.176.4615:05, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

It's true. She has a portrait as well. Flipper has a bust, portrait, and display on the second floor of the library.

It says under admissions requirements that men must have one testicle
I looked at West Point's website and couldn't find anything confirming this. It needs a source.


 * Ridiculous anyway. I am pretty sure some poor soul who had been castrated in an accident would be not be denied admission just for that reason. Fred Bauder 13:41, 20 February 2006 (UTC)


 * When I was a (successful....) candidate in 1969 the lack of both testicles was indeed among the disqualifiers. So were a number of other odd things, for example any tattoo anywhere; I believe the latter has been relaxed, and now only prominent or disfiguring tattoos are a bar. Bill 15:18, 20 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Even if it is true, which I believe it is, is it really worthy of being on this page? There are probably a page of medical abnormalities that will keep you from gaining entrance to USMA, should we list them all?--BohicaTwentyTwo18:19, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

Silver
Westpoint is where the US government stores its silver, basically just like Fort Knox with gold. Someone should add that... A Clown in the Dark

The West Point Mint is contiguous to, but not on the campus of the Military Academy. It is near the base of the Academy's ski slope. Silver bullion is no longer stored there (except quantities sufficient for the coins minted there), but Government gold is stored there, in quantities second only to FT Knox. Dr U 03:21, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

West Point Museum
I read somewhere (I believe it might have been National Geographic..) that the sword of surrender submitted to General Mac Arthur on the USS Missouri at the end of WW2 in the Pacific is housed in the West Point museum. Is this true, and does Wikipedia (or anyone else...) know the history of this particular sword? (Swordsmith? Date of manufacture? Owner? etc??)

I think that there should be a link somewhere in this article to West Point Cadets' Sword. —Preceding unsigned comment added by121.96.210.88 (talk) 10:46, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

Nuclear Reactor?
Um, USMA has a nuclear reactor? Is that right? Dare I ask which building it is in?--BohicaTwentyTwo 19:49, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

Barton Hall, if I remember right. Dr U 21:57, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Bartlett Hall Banime (talk) 05:35, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

There is no reactor at Bartlett Hall. It does house the chemistry and physics departments, and some nuclear research is done there, but there is no reactor. The nearest one is at Indian Point, several miles to the south, and not affiliated with USMA. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.240.91.201 (talk) 05:10, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Points of interest
"It contains some of our most interesting national military treasures..." I suggest that this should be changed from our to America's. Not all reader's are part of "your" group. I know this page is probably a point of pride and is a centrepiece of a signficant project so I won't edit without prior participation... Garrie 04:14, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

TRADOC
Is USMA really part of TRADOC? The TRADOC Web site doesn't list USMA as part of the organization. I always thought, like USAFA and USNA, it was a Direct Reporting Unit (DRU) or something similar.Tarfu92 21:19, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

USMAPS info
My brother attended the Military Academy Preparatory School last year, and according to him, many Cadet Candiates were not given admission to USMA, some for PT requiriments, some for regulation violations, some for no reason at all beyond they were not suitable. I mention this because in the current article it reads that all members of USMAPS are given automatic admission to USMA, when this is not the case. Also, I wrote the Military Academy Preparatory School article last year, and would appreicate any help on it. I never attended USMAPs, but wrote from info recieved from my brother.

Zidel333 22:41, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

Yes, they are given an automatic admission as long as they meet the basic requirements, as opposed to having to redo the entire application process and get another nomination, etc. You can still get kicked out for failing to meet the standards physically, academically, or behaviorally. Banime (talk) 05:38, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

Famous People
Could someone please add a list of famous people (such as Edgar Allan Poe) who have attended?

Hidekatsu 17:43, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure he didn't graduate. Edgar Allen Poe 199.44.18.98 03:58, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Basic Mathematics
Could somebody better explain how Cadets learn mathematics?

The following from the site doesn't seem to add up. How do 4 platoons of 40 equal 120? or 4 squads of 7 equal 40?, etc.

"The Corps of Cadets has the following organization: (The number of cadets is approximate)


 * 1 Brigade (4000 cadets) which consist of:
 * 4 Regiments (1000 Cadets) which consist of:
 * 2 Battalions (500 cadets) which consist of:
 * 4 Companies (120 cadets) which consist of:
 * 4 Platoons (40 cadets) which consist of:
 * 4 Squads (7 cadets) which consist of:
 * 3 Teams (2-3 cadets)"

It's been said that the most dangerous thing in the Army is a Second Lieutentant with a map. Especially if he's calling in artillery using coordinates based on the above math skills! GCW50 19:31, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

These figures only consider cadets in line units. There are plenty more Cadets in Company, Batallion, Regimental, and especially Brigade Staff. Include these Cadets and you get a number over 4000. By the way there is something more dangerous than a 2LT with a map, a 1LT with an idea.

The numbers above are correct. Even when on staff, a cadet still keeps his parent company identification (A1, B4, etc) as his original placement in the corps. The only exceptions to this are high-ranking cadets on brigade staff, which includes only a handful of people.

Refusal to allow Jews to attend
My grandfather had to hide his ethnic background in order to attend the academy. I didn't see any mention of this (not my grandfather's case of course but the discriminatory practice). Has this been discussed as well as other ethnic groups who were also denied entery? I'll have to research this further and see what reliable sources can be found, thanks --Tom02:03, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
 * OK I am on the phone to mom, since I just found this . Need to get the family history checked. --Tom 22:10, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

This stuff is not true Banime (talk) 05:40, 18 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I wouldn't be at all surprised if it were true. Discrimination against Jews was pretty rampant and accepted in many parts of America for many years.  I'd be happy to cite evidence of anti-Jewish discrimination at many very prestigious institutions of higher education in the New York area, including several Ivy League institutions, during the first half of the 20th century.  I don't know whether or nor this occurred at West Point but given how widespread it was I wouldn't be surprised...  --ElKevbo(talk) 05:55, 18 November 2007 (UTC)
 * A quick search shows that anti-Semitism at West Point, real or imagined, was a concern as early as 1915:. --ElKevbo (talk) 06:07, 18 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I meant the official position of the institution was not "No jews." So he did not have to hide his ethnic background in order to be allowed to attend, however he may have had to hide it to avoid discrimination from fellow cadets, etc. Banime(talk) 19:01, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

Image Request
On the West Point Mint article, it says there was a bullion coin created in 2002 for the Mint's Bicentential that depicted a West Point Color Gaurd on one side of the coin. Can we possibly get a image of this? It would be a great addition to the article. I'm going to ask the Numismatics WikiProject for help as well. Zidel333 05:25, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Lot of works needs done
I challenge some of you to really try to get this article to Good Article status. As of right now the USNA article is the only Service Academy that is a Good Article and the USAFA article is up for nomination. I did not decide to nominate this article because it lacks inline citations tremendously and it would never pass a review, I strongly recommend that someone find references for all of the sections in the article and make sure you cite them correctly, other than that it does have a good structure and some good possiblities of being a Good Article. Message me if anyone has questions.--Joebengo 03:07, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

add Civil War section
West point was an important part of the civil war. Tons of the military leaders came from west point. There should be at least 1 section about it. Do not edit very much, except to change spelllling errors. I don't know if this is needed but I (and others) woulf find it usefull. Tenio 23:07, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Merger proposed (West Point Military Reservation)
The result was redirect by silent consensus. --B. Wolterding 21:57, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

I propose to merge the content of West Point Military Reservation into here, since that article is extremely short and seems to be directly related. I'm not a subject-matter expert, but maybe an editor of this article can tell me whether the information is worth being kept (then it should be merged here) or should be discarded. Please add your comments below.

Proposed as part of the Notability wikiproject. --B. Wolterding 16:45, 18 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Since no answers came up to this proposal, and the importance of that little piece of information is unclear, I will simply redirect the article here. The original content is always available in the edit history. --B. Wolterding21:56, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

West Point Tours site
A glance at my edits (e.g., Umbria) will show that I have no patience with link spam. But the official tour of West Point, low-brow though they be, is hardly "link spam". It's a very useful link for readers of Wikipedia; it's how 99.9% of us would visit the Academy. And lest the usual Wikimalevolence take hold of some, I have not the remotest connection with the tour operator.Bill 15:38, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

Main article notables
I would think that Grant and Eisenhower belong permanently under notables in the main article. Not many colleges have two US Presidents? Also, current top military leaders who are then "exiled" to the "List of.." when their term expires.Student7 (talk) 21:26, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

Camp Buckner
I copied a paragraph from an article called Camp buckner that is about to be speedy-deleted; it seemed more relevant as part of this article. I'll leave the decision about its fate to an editor more familiar with this topic than I am, but I didn't want the paragraph to be wasted without trying to use it. Keep it, delete it, re-write it, whatever you like. Accounting4Taste: talk 04:16, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Maren's Blog
This was (poorly) inserted by someone else, and was removed as "link spam". I went and looked, and it seems to me that, as a fairly detailed account of what a cadet goes thru, Beast Barracks for example, etc., it's a useful window into the Point and not "spam"; in sum, an improvement to the article. I won't satisfy anyone's hostile urges out there by engaging in a revert war — sorry to disappoint; improving Wikipedia is low on my priorities. If it's easy to do, fine. If flak, the hell with it. Bill (talk) 19:56, 22 February 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't see how it's particularly notable and adds substantively to the article. You're free to hold a different opinion and if you feel strongly go ahead and revert.  I think we'd most benefit from additional input from other editors.
 * But please don't accuse me of having "hostile urges." That's not productive.  --ElKevbo (talk) 20:46, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

Cross Commissioning
A year ago I added a citation needed tag to the section under graduation on cross-commissioning. No one has been able to find a citation in a year. In a couple days I plan to delete the entire section on cross-commissioning. Johnn 7 (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 17:34, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure why you're going to delete the section on cross-commissioning? I teach at USMA and the statement that fewer cadets are being allowed to cross-commission is true. My evidence is anecdotal, but if you're interested in numbers, you could ask the Corps of Cadets through a FOIA request. —Preceding unsigned comment added by69.206.74.94 (talk) 22:53, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Is cross-commissioning even allowed? If it is currently possible we should be able to find a reference somewhere. It wasn't allowed when I was there. Johnn 7 (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 16:20, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
 * It was allowed at Annapolis when I was there in the late 90s. The conventional wisdom was that (a) you had to find a cadet at another service academy with whom you could "swap" services and (b) you had to have strong ties to the other service (father, grandfather, etc.) for the idea to even be considered.  --ElKevbo (talk) 17:26, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Can we find source for this that is suitable for wikipedia? The tag's been up for over a year. Johnn 7 (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 17:52, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

I've added two paragraphs, with references, on cross commissioning. None of the references are on a globally accessible website (that I could find), but there you go. In general, the rules are as ElKevbo described but the current shortage of company grade officers in the Army has made the opportunities for cross-commissioning very scarce. —Precedingunsigned comment added by 134.240.241.3 (talk) 11:52, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

For what it's worth, I graduated from USMA this year, and one of my friends cross-commissioned into the Navy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by98.145.220.146 (talk) 04:17, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

A coincidence that I just looked at this now and it struck me as strange. I think those couple of paragraphs are irrelevant to readers. Maybe one sentence would be fine, but the average reader doesn't require abstruse technical details, right? I know this isn't a paper encyclopedia, but we have to think about relevance and reader interest. Is there some particular reason to have this information? That's one thing. Other thing is, someone went to some trouble to look it up, it seems, so I didn't want to delete it without a word. Can we have some thoughts on this point?--Asdfg12345 15:11, 15 November 2008 (UTC)

I agree. TMI about a minor topic. The only reference that could support the suspension was an internal memo no accessible to the general public. The topic is now removed. Ahodges7 (talk) 04:08, 5 January 2009 (UTC)