The following is
from the "Gray Matter" of 18 Nov 2010:
On Sunday evening, 7 November
2010, the members of the Class of 2011 assembled in the auditorium at Eisenhower
Hall to determine their initial branches of service upon graduation. For those
highly ranked academically, it was merely the confirmation that they had
received their first choice of branch. For others, it was a time of
trepidation—would they receive their first choice or be ranked into a branch far
down their preference list? Then there was always the chance that those in the
lowest quarter for a given branch might be ranked into another branch because a
lower placed classmate had opted for eight years of active duty instead of five
years plus three in the Reserve Component in order to get his or her first
choice of branch.
The system had been modified
somewhat this year, in that the “first brass,” presented by their 50-Year
Affiliate Class, the Class of 1961, through the West Point Association of
Graduates, was not in the sealed envelope distributed prior to the actual
ceremony by the Company TAC Team. So no amount of squeezing of the envelope
could provide a hint as to what was inside. The official party arrived at 7:30
pm, and the first captain, CDT Marc Beaudoin; the chaplain, Father Edson Wood,
and the commandant, BG William E. Rapp, made short presentations, as did Bob
Glass, representing the 50-Year Affiliate Class of 1961.
Bob noted that 50 years made quite
a difference in the branch selection process. How right he was. Instead of
submitting a number of branch choices to be ranked by computer, the entire
process was done five decades ago with an overhead projector displaying the five
available combat arms branches—Infantry, Field Artillery, Armor, Engineer and
Signal Corps—and the minimum and maximum number of lieutenant slots available on
a large screen. Each member of the class rose, in order of merit, and announced
his choice of branch (no women then), and the number of available slots in that
branch was reduced by one using a grease pencil. When the last slot was taken,
that branch was closed out. There was a slightly more complex system for
allocating Air Force slots. The Air Force Academy was just graduating its first
classes, and West Point still received a significant number of slots. Bob noted
that the Aviation, Military Intelligence and Air Defense Artillery branches
available to today’s cadets did not even exist 50 years ago.
Once your branch was assigned, you
returned to barracks. There was no celebration (other than individually) or
reception afterwards. Branch reps attended, but they did not pass out hats,
T-shirts or backpacks emblazoned with branch insignia. Of course, there were no
smart phones, so lines formed at the pay phones in the barracks, and few had
cameras with flash attachments (do you remember flash bulbs?), so photography
was limited. Bob also noted that, during his era, no one went Navy. Strangely,
he made no mention of his many Air Force classmates, no doubt due to the
shellacking the Falcons football team inflicted upon Army the previous afternoon
(22-42).
Then COL Haskins mounted the
podium and gave the word to open the envelopes. Once they were opened, and the
initial happiness, dismay or confusion demonstrated, hugs were exchanged, photos
taken, and smart phone call made. The class members then filed out to various
locations, where branch reps stood by with “first brass.” All but the
Infantry—they were so numerous that they moved to the front of the auditorium
and received their brass by rows. Their ranks were swelled by 38 graduates
assigned to other branches but detailed to spend an initial assignment with the
Queen of Battle. Upon leaving the auditorium for the reception in Ike’s
Riverside Café, the Grunts received baseball caps with crossed rifles.
Aviation, another popular branch, held a more elaborate formation in the
ballroom, ensuring that they would arrive last to the reception. The “first
brass” was held in a number of elaborate, velvet-lined, wooden boxes, and
Aviation officers (active and retired) proceeded down each row, pinning on the
brass, accompanied by another bearing an officer saber. Still another
representative passed out black baseball caps with the Army Air Corps insignia
(wings and a propeller, now the Aviation branch insignia) emblazoned thereon.
Other popular branches, such as
Field Artillery and the Engineers, had more informal ceremonies and finished
more rapidly. Down in Ike’s Café, it was pandemonium as each branch had tables
set up to distribute more souvenirs—branch hats, T-shirts, tumblers, even red
and white football jerseys with Artillery across the back and a large “11”
numeral. Dashing black Cavalry Stetsons appeared near the Armor tables—along
with a (hopefully) inert sabot anti-tank round. In dramatic counterpoint to it
all, a lone cadet stood at the doorway to the cafe—wearing a sign requesting a
branch swap. It appeared that he wanted to swap into Ordnance, or wanted to
swap out of it. Evidently he was successful—or totally disillusioned—because he
was not there about 30 minutes later.
By the numbers, the first man in
the class chose Infantry, the second selected Aviation, and the fourth took
Engineers. The seventh went Military Intelligence, the 26th chose the Adjutant
General’s Corps, and the 27th went Signal Corps. Before branch detailing, 230
men went Infantry (plus 38 others detailed in). The Engineers picked up 148
(including 29 women but had 12 detailed out), while Field Artillery followed
closely behind at 147 (5 women but had four detailed in). Aviation claimed 114
(17 women) while Armor had 83 (plus 30 detailed in) and Air Defense took 51 (six
women but had 30 detailed out) to close out the combat arms branches at 773
before details and 812 after. Of the branches with over 100 slots available,
Aviation closed first, Armor second, and Infantry third.
Leading the combat support/service
support branches was Military Intelligence with 69 (13 women), but 30 of these
were detailed into the combat arms for their initial assignments. The Signal
Corps received 46 (five women; nine detailed away); Ordnance 41 (10 women);
Quartermaster 30 (21 women); Adjutant General 29 (23 women); Transportation 24
(eight women); the Military Police 20 (14 women); Chemical Corps eleven (nine
women); and finance seven (three women) for a total of 277. The Medical Service
Corps picked up 20 (13 women), while 14 men and five women assigned to branches
in the above totals also were eligible for medical school and will attend once
accepted. Among the branches receiving a smaller allocation of slots, Medical
Service closed first (and first overall); Military Intelligence closed second
(and second overall); while the Military Police Corps closed third (fourth
overall).
Among the combat arms receiving
cadets who elected additional active duty to ensure their choice of branch,
Infantry topped the list with 58, followed by the Engineers (34); Aviation (29);
Armor (21); Field Artillery (19); and Air defense (13). Every branch added such
cadets except Chemical and Transportation, with Military Intelligence (18) and
Signal Corps (12) topping the combat support/service support branches.