Upon completing the prescribed course of study the graduates are eligible for promotion to the grade of Second Lieutenant in any corps or arm of the army, the duties of which the Academic Board may judge them competent to perform.
For instruction in infantry drill regulations and in military police and discipline, the Corps of Cadets is organized into two battalions, under the Commandant of Cadets, assisted by two battalion commanders (army officers), each company being commanded by an army officer. The cadet officers and non-commissioned officers are selected from those who have been most studious, soldier-like in the performance of their duties, and most exemplary in their general deportment. In general, the cadet officers are taken from the first class, the sergeants from the second, and the corporals from the third.
In an article in the July-August, 1904, number of The Journal of the Military Service Institution, Professor Samuel E. Tillman, of the United States Military Academy said:
“Any one returning to the Academy now after an absence of fifteen years will observe many striking changes, the most important of which are: The disappearance in large part of the annual and semi-annual examinations; the introduction of the intermediate examinations, that is examinations during the academic term, at the completion of some part of the term-course; the large increase in written recitations with corresponding decrease in oral; a great increase in practical and semipractical work in connection with the descriptive courses; the greater amount of time permitted for recreation exercises. These changes have greatly modified methods deemed of much importance for sixty years prior to 1890, yet it can be confidently asserted that the changes have enabled cadets to acquire a greater amount of information with less effort upon their part.... Cadet schools should always be training, developing and character-forming schools, as they control the students at the best formative period.”
Since 1840 the following changes have been made in the subjects taught, to-wit:
In 1853 Practical Military Engineering was added.
In 1857 Spanish was added.
In 1873 Ethics and Logic were dropped.
In 1882 General History was added and Physical Training was made a distinct course.
In 1909 Military Hygiene was added.