History of United States Military Academy - World War II To Coeducation

World War II To Coeducation

Congress expanded the Corps of Cadets to 2,496 in 1942, and the academy reverted to a three-year course of study. The Class of 1943 was redesignated the Class of January 1943 and graduated six months early. Subsequent classes, from June 1943 through 1947, graduated in three years. The war years brought a greater emphasis on military training. In 1943, summer training was formally moved from the Plain to the new area recently acquired southwest of main post, which would later become Camp Buckner. Flight training was conducted at Stewart Field in Newburgh, and the academy graduated more than 1,000 commissioned pilots between 1943 and 1946. Nearly 500 Graduates gave their lives in World War II. In 1945, Maxwell Taylor (class of 1922) became superintendent, ushering in the beginnings of the modern Military Academy. Taylor expanded the size of departments, added several new professors, abolished antiquated courses in fencing and horsemanship, inserted the study of amphibious operations into the military curriculum, and added courses in nuclear physics, electronics and communications. In response to Eisenhower’s belief that American leaders needed to understand the psychology of the citizen soldier, courses were added in leadership and applied psychology. These changes provided graduates with a better understanding of how to motivate and lead the soldiers of a free society. Coursework in the humanities and social sciences increased to 40 percent of a cadet’s total workload. When the Korean War began, the academy continued on a steady course and did not face major disruption from the conflict. The Korean War and an honor scandal in 1951 led to a decline in admissions, so that by 1954, only 67% of the Academy's authorized strength was filled. The Academy responded with its first modern advertising campaign." In 1955, the Hollywood motion picture The Long Gray Line, based upon another book by Colonel Reeder and his sister, was completed, and the CBS dramatic series The West Point Story aired on television. Colonel Russell "Red" Reeder, Class of 1926, wrote several popular novels about fictional West Point cadets which first appeared in 1955. A massive review of the curriculum led to the introduction of electives, growing from zero electives that a cadet could have in his career in the late 1950s, to a maximum of eight by 1972. The increasing sophistication of the curriculum also affected the organization of the academic departments with, for example, the creation of two new departments in 1969 -the Department of History and the Department of Engineering. In the 1960s, the size of the Corps expanded from 2,200 to 4,400. Following the creation of the U.S. Air Force as a separate service in 1947 and until the graduation of the first United States Air Force Academy class in 1959, West Point cadets who met the eligibility standards could apply to be commissioned as Air Force officers.