By Col. Bill Prince, US Army ret, USMA ’70
President of the MacArthur Society of West Point Graduates

MacArthur Society (MS) president Bill Prince here, one of the protagonists in what at least some of you reading this understood to be an invitation to me by the Superintendent to visit West Point.  I recall that classic line from Cool Hand Luke, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

Perhaps a review of the timeline will shed some light on this “…failure to communicate.”

On 26 July, I, along with a stalwart member of the class of ’77, Col. (Ret.) Andrew Manuele, attended the summer meeting of the West Point Board of Visitors (BoV)  held, this summer, at Camp Buckner.  Since we were not BoV members, we could only observe the proceedings; not speak or ask questions. The focus of the two hour meeting was on cadet summer training. Very impressive.

After the meeting, Superintendent LTG Steve Gilland motioned to me to accompany him to a quiet part of the room, along with Association of Graduates Col. (Ret.) Mark Bieger.  I had talked with LTG Gilland at the March BoV which happened to have been when he announced the elimination of Duty Honor Country from the official West Point mission statement, a decision which when the MacArthur Society broke the story, went viral.

Space does not permit a detailed review of our discussion.  I think it is fair to summarize LTG Gilland’s view that the MacArthur Society was not being fair in our reporting on issues at West Point.

My point, made repeatedly, was that West Point suffered from, in our view, a lack of transparency, and that MS members had been raising serious issues and asking pointed questions which WP, for the past several years, had not been answering.

I repeatedly ask him to give me a point of contact with whom I could dialogue so I could provide the West Point view on these issues. After refusing several times to do that, he ended our time together with “I’ll think about it” and then invited me to visit West Point in September.

I was delighted by his offer, hoping to get, first-hand, West Point’s view on a host of controversial issues.  I queried a number of gimlet-eyed Society members for input then drafted the following proposed agenda (reproduced here verbatim) organized by likely responsible officers or offices.

AGENDA

Meetings at USMA 09-13 Sep. 2024

BG R.J. Garcia, Commandant.

Topics:

Reports of pressure on the Brigade Tactical Department that 1/3 of 1^st class leadership appointments be minorities.

What is the current USMA policy regarding transgender cadets and are changes anticipated to the policy?  Have there been or are there currently any trans cadets?

Do (or would) transgender males converting to female compete against women, men or other transgenders?  Example boxing.

What is the current policy regarding pregnant cadets and are any changes anticipated to this policy?

BG Shane Reeves, Academic Dean.

Topics:

Future of the Minor in Diversity and Inclusion in light of recent NDAA Congressional action.

Invitation of Prof. Carol Anderson, Emory Univ. to address staff, faculty and cadets on 11 Feb. 2021.

Visits to the following classes:

SS392 The Politics of Race, Gender & Sexuality

HI461 Sex & Civilizations (later changed to Topics in Gender History)

HI463 Race, Ethnicity, & Nation

Prof. Morten Ender, Co-Chair Diversity & Inclusion Minor.

Topics:

Mentoring of cadets in “Deconstructing Patriotism” and “The Evolution of Cross Dressing in the Military and Gender Norms.”

Participation in drafting of “Policy Proposal: An Anti-Racist West Point.”

Lisa Benitez, Chief Engagement & Retention Officer.

Topics:

Change in function from Office of Diversity Inclusion and Equal Opportunity.

Status of ODIEO Leadership Conference.

Status of Affinity Groups. Are cadets segregated by race?

FOIA Office.

Topic: Reaction time responding to FOIA requests and handling of lawsuits.

PAO Office.

Topics:

Final adjudication – Cadets overdose on cocaine/fentanyl Mar. 2022.  Press release? Date?

Statement on 40 page “Policy Proposal: An Anti-Racist West Point” (June 25^th, 2020).  Press release? Date?

Honor Captain.

Topics:

Report of cadet stealing a watch in the Cadet Store.  Result?

Meaning of an “aspirational” Honor Code.

Association of Graduates.

Topics:

“Stakeholders” in 18 Month deliberations to eliminate Duty, Honor, County from the Official USMA Mission Statement.

Mike Morell, Senior Fellow at the Counter Terrorism Center.

In the lead up to my proposed visit, I had numerous afore mentioned gimlet-eyed Society members warn me that my visit would be carefully stage-managed; that I would not be permitted to stray into “sensitive” areas of discussion.  My viewing a “Potemkin Village” was mentioned several times. Or, finally, that the West Point leadership would simply uninvite me.

One very knowledgeable retired senior Army officer, upon reviewing the above, stated emphatically that the West Point leadership would, upon their viewing of my proposed agenda,  – ah, well, let’s just say “panic” – his wording much more colorful.

Perhaps naively, I pressed on. I assured the Superintendent’s XO, with whom I was in contact, that I would send to her or other interested parties, a draft copy of my visit’s After Action Report, for their review, comments, criticisms etc, prior to publication.

The denouement came on 13 August when the Superintendent’s XO advised me that I “…may have misunderstood the Superintendent’s invitation for you to come see West Point as an alumnus.”

Further, my “…request was outside the scope of the Superintendent’s offer to all graduates to come back and see the Academy and sit in on a class.”

Based on how energetically the Superintendent challenged MacArthur Society reporting, I thought, obviously in error, that he intended to prove to us how benighted we have been.

In my response to the XO, I apologized for my assumptions and advised that, “Having the leadership’s perspective on the (above) agenda items would have been very beneficial…”  I concluded, “We will do our best to gather information on issues of concern from other sources.”

And we definitely will!

At the very least, it would appear that we now have a rather concise list of what the West Point leadership does not want to discuss.  The unused agenda might even serve as background for lively discussions at class reunions and Founders Day celebrations.

For more information on the above issues, inquiring minds should access the MacArthur Society’s outstanding website, macarthursociety.org and click on News & Articles.  Another great resource is STARRS.us.

Nam Et Ipsa Scientia Potestas Est.

W.F. Prince ’70, Serve with Integrity
Col. (Ret.) U.S. Army Special Forces