22. Immediately after reporting to the Superintendent for admission, and before receiving his warrant of appointment, the candidate is required to sign an engagement for service in the following form, and in the presence of the Superintendent, or of some officer deputed by him:
“I, ________, of the State (or Territory) of ____, aged ____ years ____ months, do hereby engage (with the consent of my parent or guardian) that, from the date of my admission as a Cadet of the United States Military Academy, I will serve in the Army of the United States for eight years, unless sooner discharged by competent authority.”
In the presence of ________.
The candidate is then required to take and subscribe an oath or affirmation in the following form:
“I, ________, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and bear true allegiance to the National Government: that I will maintain and defend the sovereignty of the United States, paramount to any and all allegiance, sovereignty, or fealty I may owe to any State or country whatsoever; and that I will at all times obey the legal orders of my superior officers, and the rules and articles governing the armies of the United States.”
Sworn and subscribed, at ____, this ____ day of ____, nineteen hundred and ____ before me. ________
QUALIFICATIONS.—No candidate shall be admitted who is under seventeen, or over twenty-two years of age, or less than five feet four inches in height at the age of seventeen, or five feet five inches in height at the age of eighteen and upward, or who is deformed, or afflicted with any disease or infirmity which would render him unfit for the military service, or who has, at the time of presenting himself, any disorder of an infectious or immoral character. Candidates must be unmarried.
Each candidate must on reporting at West Point present a certificate showing successful vaccination within one year; or a certificate of two vaccinations, made at least a month apart, within three months.
Note.—Candidates are eligible for admission from the day they are seventeen until the day they become twenty-two years of age, on which latter day they are not eligible.
It is suggested to all candidates for admission to the Military Academy that, before leaving their places of residence for the place of examination, they should cause themselves to be thoroughly examined by a competent physician, and by a teacher or instructor in good standing. By such examinations any serious physical disqualification or deficiency in mental preparation would be revealed.