Coat not buttoned throughout at reveille.
Cap visor dusty at guard-mounting.
The discipline is very strict, more so by far than in the Army, but the enforcement of penalties for reports is inflexible rather than severe. The reports are made by Army Officers, and by certain cadets themselves, such as file-closers and section-marchers, and the cadets make by far the greatest number of reports against one another, but no cadet ever reports another except when it is his duty to do so. If he fails to report a breach of discipline he himself is reported for the neglect. Cadets may write explanations for all reports against them, but they must write an explanation for absence from any duty or from quarters; for communicating at blackboard in section room; for neglect of study or duty; for disobedience of orders; for failure to register for a bath, and for failure to report departure or return on permit where such report is required.
When the Commandant accepts an explanation as satisfactory he crosses off the report, and four days after the date of reports, for which either no explanations or unsatisfactory ones have been received, he forwards them to the Superintendent, and he causes a certain number of demerits to be entered against a cadet for each report in a book kept for that purpose, and which the cadets may see once a week. Any cadet receiving more than one hundred demerits[18] in six months is dismissed from the Academy for deficiency in discipline. The result is that cadets invariably write explanations, and the form now used is as follows:
West Point, N. Y., ____ __, 19__.
Sir:
With reference to the report, “Absent from 9:20 A. M. class formation,” I have the honor to state that I did not hear the call for this formation. I was in my room at the time. The offense was unintentional.
Very respectfully,
John Jones,
Cadet prt. Co. “B,” 4th class.
For the first few weeks demerits are not counted against new cadets, but to teach them how to write them, explanations must be submitted for all reports. Whenever a cadet is reported absent, and he is on Cadet Limits, he is sure to write an explanation stating this fact and anything more he may have to say, because if he fails to do so he is tried by Court-Martial.[19]