The Economics Stem held a barbeque to bid farewell graduating econ majors, celebrate the end of the semester, and build esprit de corps within the program. During the gathering, Mr. Clay Glidewell '95, Director of Asset Backed Security Sales at Wells Fargo, spoke to the crowd of current economics majors about the practical applications of their degree. He referenced his experiences in the Army and in fixed income investments to illustrate to cadets the possibilities of an economics education.

Three Cadets competed on the opening day of the NCAA East Regional preliminary round at the USF Track and Field Stadium on Thursday.

"We had three competitors today," head coach Mike Smith said. "Keegan got into a good heat of the 1500 and just let the race get a little too far ahead of him. He didn't finish as well as he did most of the spring and that was the difference. The runner that finished just ahead of him advanced to the next round so he was close. I think he could get to the next level once he hone's his racing skills against the better competitors, like the guys he raced today." "Lee jumped well in the pole vault today. He just had too many misses. He needed to clear one more bar to advance to Eugene, Ore. In the end, he finished where he was ranked coming into the meet. He had a great career at West Point and leaves with numerous accolades and accomplishments. He is the best pole vaulter to ever come through the Academy and dominated the Star Meet and the Patriot League for all four years that he was here. "Briyah threw well today. She finished just about where she was seeded and threw the shot close to her season-best. Her athletic career came to an end today and tomorrow she will be on a plane and be at her graduation on Saturday afternoon. She leaves West Point as the most decorated female thrower in the history of the Academy. She dominated the Army-Navy Star Meet and the Patriot League all four years in which she competed and we will miss her." Read More

The 2018 NSERC-Military Academy Research Symposium (N-MARS) was held in the Command Conference Room of the Defense Logistics (DLA) building. In addition to NSERC-sponsored technical presentations on radiation transport and shielding, this event showcased CWMD-related research from a variety of disciplines. For example, USMA civil and mechanical engineering cadets provided a blast load analysis for an underground structure, while another team of systems engineering cadets presented a food security model following a catastrophic event. In total, the twelve oral presentations and almost a dozen posters shown during the N-MARS provided a broad sampling of DTRA research sponsored by the NSERC at all three DoD undergraduate Service Academies.

Johnny Surdick of the Army West Point men's lacrosse team earned his third postseason honor with an honorable mention nod by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association on Thursday. "The Army Lacrosse Family is very proud of another postseason accolade for John," head coach Joe Alberici said. "He is an elite player and is deserving of earning All-America status once again." Surdick, who garnered First Team All-Patriot League accolades and was named an Inside Lacrosse Media All-American, received honorable mention recognition for the second consecutive season. For the second straight year, Surdick led the Black Knights' defense in caused turnovers. He averaged 1.92 per game and ranked third in the Patriot League. The cow from Odenton, Md., added 42 groundballs this season while guarding the opponent's biggest offensive threat each week. Surdick tallied four assists in 2018 which was a career-high. Read More

Army West Point track and field standout Briyah Brown and football star John Voit were honored with the United States Military Academy's most prestigious athletic honor as they were presented with the Army Athletic Association Award this week at West Point. The AAA trophy is awarded annually to the male and female cadet-athletes who display the "most valuable service to intercollegiate athletics during a career as a cadet." This year marks the 114th anniversary of the AAA Award, which was first presented to football's Horatio Hackett in 1904.

Brown became the 11th female track and field athlete to earn the honor and first since Katelin Grant in 2008. Voit is the 78th Army football player to earn the AAA Award and first since Andrew Rodriguez in 2011. Brown, a team captain, swept the Patriot League Indoor and Outdoor Female Field Athlete of the Meet this season, which is the equivalent to player of the year. She was outstanding in both meets with victories in the shot put and weight throw at the conference indoor championships and followed that up by sweeping the hammer throw and shot put at the outdoor league championships. She currently holds the Academy record in the indoor and outdoor shot put and the weight throw. Brown finished with a total of 39 first-place finishes in her career and was named the Patriot League Female Field Athlete of the Week four times in 2017-18.

Voit, also a team captain, was a member of the senior class that brought the Commander in Chief's Trophy back to West Point for the first time in 21 years. He helped end Army's losing streak to Navy and ended his career with two wins over the Mids. The Wildwood, Mo., native led Army to its first 10-win season since 1996 and for only the second time in program history. Voit won a total of 24 games in his four seasons and had 18 victories in the final two years of his career. He finished his career with 120 tackles, 20.5 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. Read More

Grad Week 2018 started off rainy and in the low 60s, almost as if it were an extension of the dreariness of Gloom Period, which is perhaps how the Class of 2018 felt when they entered the Academy as lowly new cadets on a stormy R-Day in July 2014. Flash forward four days to Graduation Saturday, and it was all sun and in the 80s—a glorious day that matched the glorious feelings the 972 new second lieutenants must have been experiencing as they exited the Academy on top of the world after 47 months of hard military, physical, academic and character training.

“I remember you stumbling around on R-Day, wide-eyed and wondering what you got yourself into,” LTG Robert L. Caslen Jr. ’75, in his last official duty as West Point’s 59th Superintendent (there will be a change of command on June 22), told the members of the Class of 2018, the only class he has seen from the very beginning to the very end as Superintendent. “I have had the privilege of watching you grow, both individually and as a class, into amazing young men and women and leaders of character.”

The Class of 2018 includes 193 women (nearly 20 percent of the class, 77 branching combat arms), 105 African Americans, 80 Asian/Pacific Islanders, 78 Hispanics, 16 Native Americans, and 12 combat veterans. Of the class, 92 graduates are sons or daughters of members of the Long Gray Line, 17 of who have parents who are both West Point graduates themselves. Thirty-seven members of the class have earned prestigious scholarships—including five Fulbright Scholars, one National Science Foundation Fellowship, and one Rhodes Scholar—and will continue their academic studies after graduation and commissioning.

The graduation speaker for the Class of 2018 was GEN Joseph F. Dunford Jr. (USMC), the 19th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In a short but impactful speech he addressed two themes that should resonate with a class whose motto is “With Strength We Lead.” First, Dunford spoke about the exponentially evolving nature of the Profession of Arms. “There’s no substitute to taking a clear-eyed look at the threats you’ll face and asking how our force will adapt to meet those threats,” he said. “Challenge yourself to be the kind of leader who continues to think about, write about, and to lead change.” Second, he reminded the soon-to-be second lieutenants that, after graduation, it is no longer about individual capabilities, but rather about the team. “Lead from the front and put soldiers’ interests ahead of your own,” Dunford said. “If you take care of your soldiers, they’ll take care of you.”

After the order of "Class dismissed!" and the traditional hat toss, graduates changed uniforms “from cadet grays to Army blues” and headed to various ceremonies across post to be pinned with second lieutenant bars engraved with the numerals “68-18,” commemorating the bond these graduates have with the Class of 1968. That class, which just celebrated its 50th class reunion, has gripped hands with the Class of 2018 as its 50-Year Affiliation Class since that thunderstorm-filled R-Day back in July 2014.

The Army West Point baseball team learned it is headed to Raleigh, N.C., for the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and will face the host N.C. State on Friday night. The Black Knights take on the Wolfpack on Friday night, June 1, at 7 p.m. The other two teams at the regional are Auburn and Northeastern and those two squads are playing at 2 p.m. on Friday. The regional format for the DI baseball championship is a double-elimination tournament format with the winning 16 teams advancing to Super Regionals, which will be held from June 8-11. The top eight teams remaining will host the Super Regionals on-campus in a best-of-three series with the eight winners advancing to Omaha. The College World Series will be held from June 16-26/27 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. The eight Super Regional winners will compete in two four-team double elimination brackets. The two winning teams from each bracket will play in a best two-of-three championship series to determine the national champion.

COL(R) David Howlett, a New York native and member of the New York bar, gave a guest lecture to law and environmental science majors enrolled in Environmental Law on the challenges that the Army has faced in meeting its obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA Case studies discussed included the challenges at Makua and Pohakoloa Training Areas in Hawaii, as well as in the Army's Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Army Transformation, a process that continues. Colonel Howlett has been an Army environmental law practitioner since 1995, to include serving as Chief of the Litigation Section at the Army's Environmental Law Division, part of the U.S. Army Legal Services Agency. Colonel Howlett's presentation and the ensuing discussion brought to life for cadets the abstract challenges of the NEPA statute, its attendant regulations, as well as litigation risks for commands taking significant actions that require NEPA documentation and analysis.

Rookie August Cook of the Army West Point track and field team qualified for the NCAA Championships with a top-five performance in the javelin throw on the final day of the NCAA East Regionals at the USF Track and Field Stadium on Saturday. August Cook had throws of 64.86 meters (212 ft., 9 in.), 64.78 meters (212 ft., 6 in.) and 65.85 meters (216 ft. 0 in.). He ranked fifth out of 48 competitors in the javelin throw and was one of 12 who qualified for NCAAs. Cook was nearly within half a meter of his personal best of 66.36 meters, which he set at the Patriot League Championships. It was the sixth-best javelin throw in program history. Cook qualified for the NCAA Championships with a fifth-place showing in the javelin with a toss of 65.85 meters. Grayson Hill finished 42nd in the event with a throw of 55.67 meters. Jeff Giannettino tied for 16th in the high jump, clearing the bar at 2.06 meters. Cook will compete at the NCAA Championships on June 6 at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Read More

Over the course of the spring semester, cadets and faculty from the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering participated in the annual survey of glass eels arriving in the Hudson River. Glass eels are young-of-the-year American Eels (Anguilla rostrata), that were born in the Sargasso Sea and carried by currents to coastal waters of the eastern United States. In March, April, and May the tiny, translucent glass eels are caught and counted by volunteers in a citizen science program coordinated by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. Eels grow and mature in freshwater lakes and streams for 20 to 40 years before making the return trip to the Sargasso Sea to spawn. Data from this program are used to track the recovery of eel populations in the Hudson and its tributaries.

Photo: CDTs Michael Bruce, Nick Lake, and Arran Rounds remove glass eels from a fyke net in Quassaick Creek, Newburgh, NY

Trey Martin's solo blast in the seventh inning broke a 7-7 tie and gave the Army West Point baseball team an 8-7 win over Columbia on Sunday night at Doubleday Field. The Black Knights (36-22) saw their first three players in the lineup record multi-hit games with Jacob Hurtubise leading the way with four hits in five plate appearances. Columbia (20-28) had five players with two or more hits, including Liam McGill's three hits and two runs scored. Army got on the board first with a three-run third inning. The first run came on an opposite field solo home run from Anfernee Crompton for his first collegiate homer. The Black Knights added two more with a triple off the bat of Josh White. He lined a 2-0 pitch into the gap in left center, scoring Hurtubise and Jon Rosoff to give Army a 3-0 lead at the end of three. The Black Knights plated their third run of the game in the following inning as Drake Titus drove the ball to the gap in left center for a double and then he scored on a looping single by Hurtubise to left field to give Army a 4-0 lead. Read More

Sgt. Burdette from "Renegade" company of the Cadet Summer Training Task Force, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) coaches rising firstie, CDT Peffers on zeroing a M4 at the range.

Photo by 2nd Lt. Cora Moody

Tickets for the NCAA Raleigh Regional are extremely limited, if available, on sale now. In addition, single session tickets, if available, will go on sale Friday, June 1st at 8:00 a.m. Prices, Tournament Books: $60.00 - Adult, $30.00 - Youth | Single Sessions (only available game day) $15.00 - Adult, $10.00 - Youth.

2018 NCAA Baseball Raleigh Regional, Doak Field at Dail Park – Raleigh, N.C. (All Times Eastern)Friday, June 1
Game 1 – #3 Northeastern vs. #2 Auburn – 2 p.m. – ESPN3
Game 2 – #4 Army vs. #1 NC State – 7 p.m. – ESPN3

Saturday, June 2: Game 3 – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 – 2 p.m. – ESPN3 | Game 4 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 – 7 p.m. – ESPN3

Sunday, June 3: Game 5 – Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 – 2 p.m. – ESPN3 | Game 6 – Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 – 7 p.m. – ESPN3

Monday, June 4 (If Necessary): Game 7 – Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 – 7 p.m. – ESPN3

An interdisciplinary team of twelve cadets from the Radiological and Imaging Data (RAID) Swarm capstone participated in a Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) field demonstration named the ‘Huckleberry Hustle,’ which included cross-DoD, interagency, and international partners. This event took place at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Radiological Response Training Range (RRTR), and enabled cadets to demonstrate their drone swarm technology in an operationally representative environment. The team operated an autonomous swarm of six quadrotors with onboard radiation detectors over a radioactive contamination site, and fused data collected, in real-time, into an activity heat map. Cadets also demonstrated the ability to use fixed-wing drones with an onboard camera to provide over-watch situational awareness of ground CBRNE teams. A total of 44 drone sorties were conducted over the week-long exercise. The team consists of two nuclear engineering, two computer science, three mechanical engineering, three systems engineering, and two electrical engineering majors.

Army West Point center Bryce Holland was named to the spring watch list for the Rimington Trophy, which is awarded to the top center in college football. In order to create this list, the committee accepted nominations from programs across the country that submitted their current starting centers for consideration. This preseason, centers were nominated from every conference, with 57 total nominees and 27 past watch listers. The Pac-12 leads the list with 10 nominations followed by the ACC with eight. Holland was one of two independent centers to be named to the list, joining Notre Dame's Sam Mustipher. He is also the only service-academy center on the watch list. The Arizona native has played in all 26 games the last two seasons and has won a total of 18 games as the starting center for the Black Knights. He anchored an offensive line that led the nation in rushing yards per game at 362.3 and in total rushing yards with 4,710 in 2017. He also guided the line to block for 50 rushing touchdowns, which was second in the nation and an academy record. Read More

LTC Matthew Armstrong’s article entitled “Dynamic shear rheology of a thixotropic suspension: Comparison of an improved structure-based model with large amplitude oscillatory shear experiments,” was cited as one of most influential articles from the last two years in the Journal of Rheology (https://aip-info.org/37VU-P4A8-884HBL6A6C/cr.aspx). The article, published in March of 2016, ranked among the top 20 articles published since that time. Because of its impact, this article is available to download for a limited amount of time.

Article available here: https://sor.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1122/1.4943986?Track=JORMCAPR2018&dm_i=37VU%2CP4A8%2C4HBL6A%2C2KJ6B%2C1

The Army West Point football team will play six home games this season at historic Michie Stadium and all games are set to kick off at 12 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. Following the season opener on the road at Duke on Aug. 31, the Black Knights are home for the next two Saturday's with Liberty and Hawai'i and then Army returns on Oct. 20 for a tilt against Miami (OH). The Black Knights finish out the rest of their schedule with three-straight home games prior to the Army-Navy Game, presented by USAA. Army welcomes Air Force on Nov. 3 and the FCS foes Lafayette (Nov. 10) and Colgate (Nov. 17).

Season tickets, group tickets and mini plans are all on sale now for the 2018 season. To purchase a mini plan online for the upcoming season, Click Here. For purchasing season ticket memberships online, Click Here. For group tickets, Click Here. Fans can also call the ticket office at 877-TIX-ARMY (849-2769) or the Army A Club at 845-938-2322.

MAJ Zach Griffiths and Cadet Bryce Johnston traveled to D.C. to tour the Capitol and meet with the Special Operations Legislative Affairs (SOLA) office. This trip furthered an on-going Faculty Research Funded project into how Special Operations Command interacts with Congress. The visit provided the USMA guests with an overview of SOLA’s daily operations and their mechanisms for assessing effectiveness. The trip also afforded Cadet Johnston the opportunity to meet with members of the office in preparation for his upcoming SOLA Academic Individual Advanced Development (AIAD) this summer. Research into SOLA’s Congressional engagement will continue through the fall. MAJ Griffiths and CDT Johnston plan to submit their first product, an overview of SOLA’s contributions to the Special Operations community, to Special Warfare magazine this summer, and ultimately intend to pursue publication in the Special Operations Journal.

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The 2nd Aviation Detachment recently installed a Redbird motion flight simulator in their hangar facility at Stewart Airport. In addition to supporting the detachment, the simulator will support training for the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering's (CME) fixed-wing pilots as well as cadets on the Flying Team; a club now sponsored by CME. The simulator can be configured to replicate different aircraft, and its use for additional engineering research is being explored.