An understanding of the uses of the buildings and some description of the prominent landmarks is necessary to a correct appreciation of the cadet’s life and activities. The survey that I have given in this chapter will show that West Point is indeed fortunate in many ways. Few places have been so endowed by Nature with such wonderful beauty and picturesqueness, and, in addition, a generous Congress has adorned the place with magnificent buildings equipped with the finest that money can buy for the training of the future United States officers.
CHAPTER IV
THE POWERS THAT BE
In a spacious room in the southeast corner of the massive Post Headquarters building dwells officially the man who orders all of the comings and goings of the residents of West Point: cadets, officers, and enlisted men and their families. He is detailed by the President to the immediate government and military command of the Academy and Post of West Point for a period of four years, and given the official title of Superintendent of the Military Academy, which carries with it the rank, pay, and allowances of a colonel.
The duties of the office are varied and complex. The Superintendent is directly responsible for the actual state of the discipline, instruction, police administration, fiscal affairs, and other concerns of the Academy. The necessary work is organized and under the control of various officers, his assistants, who constitute his staff. The office of Superintendent is regarded as one of the most desirable and most honored that the Government has to offer to an officer of the Army, and justly so, for the position carries with it a great responsibility, fascinating work, large powers, and enormous prestige. The President is in no way limited in his selection for the office. He may appoint an officer of any rank whatsoever, from second lieutenant to general officer, but the policy always pursued has been to intrust the important duties of the position to an officer of character, ability, and experience. The selection of the Superintendents of the Military Academy was confined to the Corps of Engineers from the establishment of the institution, March 16, 1802, till the passage of the law of July 13, 1866, which opened it to the entire Army. It is not an easy task to find just the man with all of the necessary requirements for this office. In addition to the officer’s military ability, grasp of affairs, and experience, it is desirable that his scholarly attainments be of a distinctly high order, for, since he is ex-officio the President of the Academic Board, he will find occasion to use his scholarship for the permanent benefit of the curriculum.
In general, the military demands upon the average officer’s time preclude the pursuit, on his part, of cultural and academic studies to any great degree, so that, while an officer may be of the highest moral character, have great experience, and on the whole make an admirable administrative chief, yet he might lack scholarship, which deficiency would lessen his value to the Academy as Superintendent.
Besides, the Superintendent should be a good judge of human nature, and in particular of young men. To be able to throw oneself back in memory to the age of twenty, re-grasp the fresh and immature viewpoint of youth, and then make the proper allowances for youth’s inability to see life as a whole, is a gift not given to many men. Some of us could do it if we would exert our minds, but many are incapable. Where sympathy and understanding of young men are lacking on the part of the commanding officer there is too often a tendency to judge a cadet by the standard held by his superiors which they have gained only through years of experience. Moreover, a broad man in command dissipates with a word all of the trivialities of military life that seem big for the moment, and relieves his subordinates of the haunting fear of an excess of participation in their affairs.
During the one hundred and fifteen years of its existence West Point has had but twenty-six Superintendents, each of whom has left a permanent influence for good at the Academy. The present incumbent, appointed in June, 1916, is Colonel John Biddle, Corps of Engineers, a graduate of West Point, Class of 1881.
The military staff of the Superintendent consists of the Adjutant, the Quartermaster, the Treasurer, and the Surgeon, all officers of the Army detailed to perform the duties of their respective offices.
The Adjutant is the Superintendent’s right-hand man. He is in fact his chief spokesman and representative in all official and social matters. He is, moreover, charged with all of the records and papers of the Academy except those relating to disbursements. Ordinarily, this officer is the personal choice of the Superintendent, for it is essential that perfect trust and harmony exist between these officers. It may be of interest to the layman to know that an Army Post is very much like a large family, or perhaps a patriarchal tribe would better describe the relations of the residents. The Superintendent is the head, and the Adjutant his executive officer.