WEST POINT — The West Point Cadets of 2025 completed their 12.9-mile march back from the academy’s “Beast Barracks”, an annual slog new cadets complete in order to solidify their completion of basic training.
On Monday morning, 1,200 cadets marched from Lake Frederick back to the West Point campus, carrying approximately 40 pounds of gear. The annual ruck also shared the participation of former alumni from as far back as the class of ’58, of whom completed the trek alongside the new cadets.
Cadet Giovanni Biando of Pound Ridge said it was exciting and an honor to participate in a long followed tradition. “It’s an amazing feeling because we’ve built up to this for the last six weeks,” said Biando. “We’ve done all the military training and it all came up to this. We only have the short stretch we have and we are officially done with Beast. A week later, we get Acceptance Day, where we will be officially part of the Corps of Cadets, so it’s really exciting for all of us,” he said.
As Biando said, the following weeks will be a crucial part of the cadets’ time at the academy. Cadets will have a Reorganization Week, where they will meet their team leaders and receive various tools to help them in their studies as they anticipate their first day of classes on August 16th.
