Traditional hat toss at the conclusion of graduation
WEST POINT – A total of 994 members of the Class of 2015 were commissioned
as second lieutenants in the US Army as they graduated after four years
of study and training at West Point.
“To the Class of 2015, your West Point experience from Day One has
been all about developing you as a leader of character, a leader committed
to the values of Duty, Honor, Country,” said Superintendent Lt.
Gen. Robert Caslen Jr.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and West Point Class of 1974 graduate
Gen. Martin Dempsey, addressed the graduates.
“History awaits you. We need you to be exceptional. We don’t
expect you to be super-human, but you will try,” he said.
“I came here today to deliver to you the simplest message you will
ever receive while wearing the uniform of our Army – we trust you;
we trust to win our nation’s wars, to be leaders of character and
competence and consequence. We trust you to leave our profession better
than you found it,” he said.
General Dempsey, who coincidentally is a graduate of Cornwall High School,
also in Orange County, New York, did not mention the war on terrorism
or other current events facing the new second lieutenants.
