My oldest just finished Basic at West Point!
 

My oldest son just completed Basic Training at West Point, and we got to high-five him on the way past us during their 12-mile March Back that concludes CBT. It's powerful to see 1,200 of America's finest youth march past to the applause of the many folks lining both sides of Washington Avenue; the relief, the pride, and the joy in what they are doing was evident on their young faces. Another amazing thing is that the alumni of West Point are invited to camp with them the night before and march along with them the following morning... and several hundred did (back to the class of 1948)! The "Long Gray Line" is a very real thing at the USMA.

Something has been getting in my eyes at odd times over the past few weeks as I process that my boy is gone...but he's off doing what he's always dreamt of doing and forging lifetime bonds with amazing peers.

Look at the smile- and of those around him too!


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Congrats to you and your son. What a great photo! It is quite a moving thing. I attended my son's Ranger School graduation last year and it was pretty overwhelming emotionally. First to see him so beat up and down 25lbs but he recovered pretty quick and graduation was amazing to watch!

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Congratulations to the both of you and your boys! Fine young men that you can be very proud of, which I know you must be bursting at the seams!

U.S. Army 12 B
Combat Engineer
82nd Engineer Battalion 1978-81

Wow. Very impressive.

Gotta love those BCDs!

That's fantastic Ken. Congrats to both of you.

BCDs! HA! Haven't heard that in a long time.

Bravo! Well done to those young patriots!!

Congratulations!

Duty. Honor. Country.

Congratulations!

What a great photo! My engineer's son also graduated the academy there last year. I'm so proud of that young man.

You have reason to be so proud. They are a class of our future leaders. Congrats to you both.

GO ARMY (BCDs good one)

West Point? Wow, 1st Class shop, very, very impressive. Congrats to him and YOU.

Awesome, feel the proud being the parents, job well done.

Congrats to him and you parents!

Well done! Congratulations.

Congratulations to the future ring knocker...:)

Congratulations to both of you!

Outstanding !

Thank you all. He has always had what I can only call a vocation to serve our country, and it never faded. What has been funny is that he's not alone; many of the new cadet parents we met sound just like us..."my other kids have zero interest, but this one somehow always wanted to serve".
Jerry- awesome stuff on your Ranger and pass on our respect. I've watched enough programs on the Rangers via the Military Channel and YouTube videos (pretty much all my cadet son would watch, lol) to have an idea of what that took.

To get back on Porsche topic, this shot is from a Porsche fun run some NY/NJ/CT Pelicans used to put together over on the Palisades a parkway. It was only a blink of an eye ago and yet the two of them were in the rear seats as we blasted up to the Hawks Nest. 10 years ago...
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Now look at him:

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Outstanding! Congrats to him and you.

Outstanding !!!!!!

Major congrats to you and your son, also to Jerry and Paul, (Seahawk), whose sons graduated Ranger school and VMI, respectively. :)

We only had one guy who wound up @ WP from my HS that I knew of, it's a big deal.

Pretty cool, my dad graduated from there in 1962 and still gets together with his classmates yearly. Go Army, Beat Navy!

I should update this thread, since he’s in his last year now. That was a blink of an eye and now he’s got a few months left before he posts to Fort Bragg and continues in his Infantry vocation.
We live just 20 miles from West Point so we’ve been able to make most big events over the years. We’re very fortunate since so many of his classmates are from all over the country and family visits are rare. To that end, we’ve had many cadets over for long weekends when they can get a weekend pass and want to get the hell out of there for a day or two and for some home cooking. To a man, they have been gracious, polite, smart as hell, and tremendous eaters. My wife pulls out all the stops when they’re here and cooks some huge meals, as happy as could be.


About a month ago we were there for his Class Ring Weekend ceremony. West Point does such a nice job with this as with most things: they take donated rings from prior graduates and melt the gold back in with the new rings so each ring has strains of gold from nearly every year going way way back... “The Long Gray Line”
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Today we just returned from there watching his team compete in the Sandhurst Military trials- 30 hour competition where they ruck over 30 miles burdened with all their equipment, and conduct shooting, swimming, and physical obstacle courses as a team. It’s an amazing event and makes you proud to know that this country can still produce young men and women of this caliber. It’s a wonderful environment and he’s made life long friends. It’s just unreal that it is nearly over and getting very sobering now as deployments begin to loom.

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Amazing! You should be very very proud.

Congrats! What an accomplishment! My son and his wife are at Bragg now. They love NC. Especially compared to being at Ft. Hood and that part of Texas.

Awesome kid! Congrats. I know the feeling. Welcome to the “proud papa” club.

Here’s a pic of my 24 yo. An aerospace Engineering grad who lives for flying helicopters. He often tells me he has won life’s lottery...all he’s ever wanted to do...

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Wishing your son a rewarding and safe career!

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Congrats!
And he has a hot girlfriend! :)

If you think of it, ask your son if he knows a cadet named Cole Kayser from Wyoming. He's my 1st cousin's son.

It's parents like you that produce young men and women capable of making the commitment necessary for being molded into that caliber. That's how this country produces such outstanding patriots. Well done you three!

All true - my Dad was West Point 1952 and his ashes are held there We plan on moving my Mother's ashes there in the Spring.

Special place. I wish your family nothing but the best as he moves into big Army.

For Choc: I have over three thousand hours in helicopters and can only smile at the journey he is on. I would start again tomorrow.

Best and thanks to all for raising such fine people.

Congrats to all. An honor to be selected and an honor to finish.

My grandfather was Class of '23, I believe, and spent time there under D. MacArthur as supe.

Thanks for all the kudos and well wishes and thanks to all those here that served and/or who have children in the service now. You have my admiration as well. God-willing, I hope to update this thread in May with the graduation hat toss.
I’ll say this, too- if everyone in Congress had a son or daughter in harms way, we’d use our Armed Forces differently. A parent watches current events (the Syrian border pissing contest as this week’s example) from a very different perspective.

Congratulations, and best of luck to him! Good for him for going infantry (I decided I could not -- like a shower at least once a month ;)). I bet it was awesome to watch him grow there over the 3+ years and easy, since you're so close. I am sure he will enjoy the rest of his Firstie year. And then... the real work starts.

Beat Navy!
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Thank you for the update. I love this thread. I am also in the proud papa club. We just got back from USNA a couple of weeks ago. We surprised our mid for her 21st birthday.

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Well done dads!

You mention your son will post to Bragg which is where my son is now. My son is also Infantry and spent his first year at Benning in BOLC and Ranger school. Is that where your son will head first or do West Point grads go through a different training process when they start active duty?

Jerry, I texted with him and that’s exactly what he will be doing after graduation and that’s all before he posts to Bragg. Cadets with a certain overall class rank can choose their branch AND post; at some point there is a cutoff and they go where the needs of the Army dictate you go unless they elect to extend their active duty commitment another 2 years beyond the 5 years they owe for their SA education.
He chose Bragg due to the Infantry opportunities there. Perhaps when he gets there in a year or so he can look up your son to learn the ropes.
By the way, he’s a huge car nut too. Does all his own work on his 1969 Mercury Cougar. This year as a senior he’s able to have it at West Point. Here it is up at Camp Buckner, where the cadets have to move their cars to for home football games.
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Awesome. What a great looking car! Feel free to send me a PM when he is heading to Bragg or if he has any questions before and I can connect them if he would like. My son posted to Bragg in April and may or may not stay there long term. That will be determined as he moves through the school he starts in December. Lots of milestones await. Ranger school graduation was amazing. Just be prepared to see him looking like he was in a concentration camp for a year. My son lost 40 of his 175 lbs in 4 months :(

Congrats! No joy greater than seeing your offspring succeed and make good choices in life. Thanks for sharing.